Nintendo DS

mamaz27 · October 2013

We are thinking of getting our son a Nintendo DS for his 5th birthday in December. Is this a good age to start him with a DS? Also, I know there is a newer version that came out this year. Should we spend the money on the newer version or get the older one and hope that we can still find some games over the next few years. Any experiences with a DS are appreciated!

rsd12 · October 2013

All three of my boys have a ds. The two older ones have a 3ds and my youngest received a handme down ds. We can find all the games they want for either, but only 3ds games are for 3ds systems and 3d is really bad for their eyes so they are not allowed to use the 3d part of it. They don't mind at all. You can get used games at GameStop for a fraction of the cost of a new game.

I think 5 is fine, my oldest got his at 6, my middle at 5, and my youngest needed one (ha) at 3! We use them mostly for long doctors appointments and long car rides.

JaneSaintClair · October 2013

I think 5 is probably fine -- my 5-year-old was playing on her aunt's, and aside from some games that required more reading than she was capable of, she had no problems.

Nintendo just came out with the 2DS, which will play 3DS games in 2D -- it might be a cheaper option to have access to the newest games at a lower price point.

neverblushed · October 2013

We also got my son one when he was 5.

One thing to know is that many DS games (as opposed to games and apps for the iPad/phone) really require the player to be able to read. There are DS games aimed at the preschool audience that don't require much reading, but they're mostly garbage. iPad/phone apps for pre-readers are actually much better than most of the titles you can get for a DS. So if your child isn't reading at all, you might want to hold off, or else he'll be coming to you for help every time he picks it up.

When my son was 5, he could sound out words and read level 1 and 2 "easy reader" books, but he didn't have the confidence or the motivation to take the step up to short novels like Magic Tree House. Playing Pokemon Platinum on his new DS pushed him over the hump to the next stage. Within a few days of getting his DS and that game, he became a fluent reader!

soontobemrsbuccheri · October 2013

My 12 year old son got a Gameboy at the age of 6. We went out and bought a used gameboy color and a few games. At that time, he was into dropping everything under the sun and I wanted to see how "attached" he became to hand held games. By the time he was 10, we purchased a DS for him. Which he had for quite a while before upgrading to the 3DS. He got the 3DS last year for Christmas. He's gotten a few games for it since then, but he doesn't get to play it as much as he'd like. He has to "earn" it. With his behavior disability, we use a chore chart to see if he's earned the DS for the weekend at his fathers, etc. He does really well with it. He doesn't have many "bang bang shoot em up games" for it, but more educational ones. He's learned a lot and it has brought us closer as he likes to show us certain things and answers.

Good luck.

Virgo&Aquarius · October 2013

I would go ahead and get it for him. I got DD a DSi when she was 5 and she busted it up pretty quickly but it was good while it lasted. The games were fairly cheap off Amazon too

rsd12 · October 2013

I highly recommend the nerf case! We have never had an issue with the dsi and I have three boys!

mommyginab · December 2013

Since he is only 5, I would recommend a preowned 3ds from GameStop. They aren't making any new Ds games now, but the older Ds games will work on a 3ds. I say preowned because he is 5, and it's cheaper. My 12 year old has been a gamer since 4, he started out on those plug n play games, and has now graduated to an xbox360.

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