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We're considering the possibility of getting a Wii, Xbox or some sort of gaming platform for my son for Christmas. Does anyone have opinions about which platform might be most suited for a gifted child? Any good experiences with particular games.Â
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We're hoping to move beyond the internet games he's currently playing, thinking it would be nice to use a more pleasant controller than the keyboard, and to have games that are more involved.
I don't think any of these systems are more or less suited for a gifted child. When it comes to video games, kids are pretty equal. We decided on a Wii when my youngest was 8. We were resistant to bring it into the house at all to be honest but settled on the Wii because it's more family friendly. We all love it though I admit, it doesn't get much use (due to time constraints and not dissatisfaction.)
I also agree that the video game consoles are not more or less appropriate for a gifted child than a neuro-typical child.
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What tye of games do you want DS playing. You can get controllers to use with your computer. If I were looking for "gifted" games, I would actually be more likely to look for PC games (like the physics/marbles ones, incredible machine, civilization type games, etc...).
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Around our house video games are definately NOT a "gifted activity" lol
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I don't think any of these systems are more or less suited for a gifted child. When it comes to video games, kids are pretty equal. We decided on a Wii when my youngest was 8. We were resistant to bring it into the house at all to be honest but settled on the Wii because it's more family friendly. We all love it though I admit, it doesn't get much use (due to time constraints and not dissatisfaction.)
Now that I've experienced the Kinect, I would no longer consider the Wii more family friendly than the XBox 360. We've had kids as young as four (an uncordinated four at that) be totally sucessful with the Kinect. I'm *really* impressed with it.
Thanks for these answers. These are the sort of things I was looking for. I have thought about getting him computer games, or a controller for the computer rather than a gaming platform, but I need to see if there are many games available for Mac, which is what we have. I could also probably get him an inexpensive computer (pc-based) of his own, I suppose. I know he would like that because the Lego Create program is more suited to PCs.
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I have been very hesitant to bring this into our home, but I am wondering if this year Christmas will be a disappointment to him if it doesn't include something along the lines of a Wii or DS.
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I know that most games aren't geared towards gifted kids in particular, but it seems like I've seen some that have more extended play with role play/ developed story line, etc. Also, because my son just needs more input in general (than the NT kid), I thought if there were high quality games I would be OK with it. I have a younger daughter, and it gets difficult trying to keep up with both of their needs since my son's are seemingly constant. 
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Thanks for your help.
We have more gaming systems in my house than you could guess. My husband and I both play and we have a Wii, an Xbox 360, a PS2 (older system), a DS, and two DS Xls. I wouldn't recommend the DS for a "family" system because the screen is small and it's a one person game. (Unless you have more than one and then you can link them.) The PS2 is a good game system and has tons of cheap kids games available, but it's already one generation from being "new."
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It depends on what kind of games you like and what type of controller you like. The Wii and Xbox 360 are both excellent systems.  (So is the PS3, but it's newer and has fewer titles available.) The Wii has a motion-controller and nun-chunk that is a bit harder to use for my kids. On the other hand, there are lots of family titles for the Wii that make use of that motion-controller and my boys really like them. They also really like the Super Mario titles for that system and that controller. The Wii is a newer system so it has fewer titles available, but still has plenty to choose from.
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The Xbox 360 is a bit older and uses a traditional "button-masher" controller. The controller is easy to learn. There are more titles for this system, but probably not as many "family" titles. It's probably going to be an obsolete system before the Wii. I love this system, though. It's my preferred platform for ease of use.
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In either choice, I highly recommend the Lego Star Wars games for a 7 year old. They're very fun and not scary at all. We had a good time with Mini-Ninjas, too. I found "Mario and Sonic Go to the Olympics" series to be too hard for kids and boring for adults, but "Super Mario Galaxy" and "Super Mario Galaxy 2" were right up their alley. (But they make me dizzy to look at.)  We had high hopes for "Endless Ocean" for the Wii, but it was pretty boring. My kids really enjoyed the free sports games (bowling, baseball, golf) that game with our Wii.
We don't have a gaming system at all, but my ds has ended up using a gaming PC and for him it's been the best option. The PC games have allowed him to do a fair bit of programming. He has gravitated to a lot of games which provide a PC "sandbox editor" or which allow a user community of "modders" to tinker with the code, creating modifications of the games, new levels, new maps, new scenarios and so on. For instance, my ds wanted to introduce the younger kids at the computer gaming club he's part of to a lovely flexible little German game called "Clonk," but decided that for instructional purposes with the young kids it would be helpful for them to be able to assign themselves to one team or another over the LAN, so he wrote a script from scratch which he ran with the program allowing them to do just that.Â
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For a kid who is (or might become) very interested in how computer games work, the PC game environment allows them to take a lot of games, or bits and pieces of games, apart and tinker around with their innards. My ds started doing this at about age 9 and around age 11 or 12 he really took off with it. This summer he built a gaming PC on his own from new and scavenged parts and is sitting pretty now with a very powerful machine that he invested a lot of time and money in.Â
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A Mac (much though I love mine) does not unfortunately lend itself to this kind of use. The really sophisticated, powerful and popular games do not get built for MacOS.Â
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Obviously a gaming PC is not an inexpensive option, but for us it has been an excellent long-term resource which has many uses for our four kids, above and beyond gaming.
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Miranda
there are lots of options out there. if you were more interested in PC gaming, Compaqs are pretty inexpensive and made by HP. there's one model that's pretty readily available that we got for like $350, but that didn't include getting an monitor. the wii has a lot more family-friendly games available, the kinect I think is going to be really opening up the xbox 360 to a lot of more family type games and there's a much wider range of games available for it. and either wii or xbox I love the Lego games (Star wars, Batman, Indiana Jones, and Harry Potter) they have lots of puzzles to be solved within the games and I still find they make me think. and for the wii the Mario games are great. I'm not going to comment on other systems because I have limited experience with the others.Â
We have more gaming systems in my house than you could guess. My husband and I both play and we have a Wii, an Xbox 360, a PS2 (older system), a DS, and two DS Xls. I wouldn't recommend the DS for a "family" system because the screen is small and it's a one person game. (Unless you have more than one and then you can link them.) The PS2 is a good game system and has tons of cheap kids games available, but it's already one generation from being "new."
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It depends on what kind of games you like and what type of controller you like. The Wii and Xbox 360 are both excellent systems.  (So is the PS3, but it's newer and has fewer titles available.) The Wii has a motion-controller and nun-chunk that is a bit harder to use for my kids. On the other hand, there are lots of family titles for the Wii that make use of that motion-controller and my boys really like them. They also really like the Super Mario titles for that system and that controller. The Wii is a newer system so it has fewer titles available, but still has plenty to choose from.
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The Xbox 360 is a bit older and uses a traditional "button-masher" controller. The controller is easy to learn. There are more titles for this system, but probably not as many "family" titles. It's probably going to be an obsolete system before the Wii. I love this system, though. It's my preferred platform for ease of use.Â
We don't have any Sony products but have an X-Box, X-Box 360 (and will be getting a slim w/the larger hard drive soon), Wii, Nintendo 64 (lol), & 2 DSs.
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We have the new Kinect and I have to say... it just BLOWS the Wii out of the water. If your child specifically wants Mario/Nintendo titles, then I'd go with a Wii. Otherwise, before Christmas you'll be able to get an X-Box 360/ Kinect package that will be great for the family. The games are really very fun. And they are easy enough to use that I have seen adults and 4 year olds having fun together while actuallly *trying* to win :)
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I don't consider the Lego games "educational" but they are GREAT. DS has really liked them. A warning, though, the Harry Potter is much harder than the others (Batman, Star Wars, Indiana Jones) have been.
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We have a Wii, a DS and a PS2. DD is 7. On the Wii her favorite is Endless Ocean. I know it is kind of slow for some people, but she has spent hours exploring all the oceans and learning about a lot of sea life. She wants to get SCUBA certified and become a marine biologist. I love it because it is non violent. She doesn't like Mario or the Lego games, but she has only played them a few times at friends' houses. She likes some of the sports games on the Wii, and all the Spore games. I prefer the Wii to the DS by far. The DS is just poking at pixels with a stylus and staring at a tiny screen. I would probably go for the Kinect if I was buying a system this year. We don't have very many computer games because we have a Mac, and as PPs said, there aren't that many. DD would love to have the PC Wall-e game. I was totally resistant to any gaming systems, but dh started it with the DS a couple years ago and dd has really enjoyed all the games.
We have more gaming systems in my house than you could guess. My husband and I both play and we have a Wii, an Xbox 360, a PS2 (older system), a DS, and two DS Xls. I wouldn't recommend the DS for a "family" system because the screen is small and it's a one person game. (Unless you have more than one and then you can link them.) The PS2 is a good game system and has tons of cheap kids games available, but it's already one generation from being "new."
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It depends on what kind of games you like and what type of controller you like. The Wii and Xbox 360 are both excellent systems.  (So is the PS3, but it's newer and has fewer titles available.) The Wii has a motion-controller and nun-chunk that is a bit harder to use for my kids. On the other hand, there are lots of family titles for the Wii that make use of that motion-controller and my boys really like them. They also really like the Super Mario titles for that system and that controller. The Wii is a newer system so it has fewer titles available, but still has plenty to choose from.
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The Xbox 360 is a bit older and uses a traditional "button-masher" controller. The controller is easy to learn. There are more titles for this system, but probably not as many "family" titles. It's probably going to be an obsolete system before the Wii. I love this system, though. It's my preferred platform for ease of use.Â
We don't have any Sony products but have an X-Box, X-Box 360 (and will be getting a slim w/the larger hard drive soon), Wii, Nintendo 64 (lol), & 2 DSs.
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We have the new Kinect and I have to say... it just BLOWS the Wii out of the water. If your child specifically wants Mario/Nintendo titles, then I'd go with a Wii. Otherwise, before Christmas you'll be able to get an X-Box 360/ Kinect package that will be great for the family. The games are really very fun. And they are easy enough to use that I have seen adults and 4 year olds having fun together while actuallly *trying* to win :)
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I don't consider the Lego games "educational" but they are GREAT. DS has really liked them. A warning, though, the Harry Potter is much harder than the others (Batman, Star Wars, Indiana Jones) have been.
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Oooo... Thanks for the tip. I've been eyeballing the Kinect, but haven't had a chance to play with one yet.Â
We have had a wii for a couple of years. Probably would get the kinect if buying today but that being said the wii has been good without getting overly gamed out. DS is a gifted 9 year old. His favorite games have always been the official sports games like NBA and 2 K baseball because he can create his own teams, players and scenarios. Of course he is a baseball stat nerd so it is a perfect match.
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Another vote for Wii (or the new Kinect, I suppose). Those games can be more social, I think, and so I like them for that reason. They're also a good way to connect with other 9-11 year old kids. Very often kids will start playing Wii at our house, and then move on to other play. For my slightly geeky kid, that's a good thing.
I'm just now getting a chance to reply to the question above about what we ended up getting. DS decided (in his letter to Santa) that he wanted a Nintendo DS, much to our surprise, so that's what we got him. Then when we saw my Dad last week he gifted us with a Wii which was a total surprise! We have had so much fun playing it, and oddly, DS's behavior has improved. I'm wondering if the active games are helping his sensory issues? I don't know, but I'm so glad we have it.
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I have to say, I disagree with some of the comments above about gaming not being an activity that suits gifties any more than a NT child. Through my research, I found lots of good games for smart kids, like the Professor Layton games, Fluidity, Scribblenauts, Drawn to Life, Logic Machines, and other games that involve more than hitting guys with lightsabers. (although he loves those games too!) If anyone has any more game suggestions for creative kids, please let me know.
I have to say, I disagree with some of the comments above about gaming not being an activity that suits gifties any more than a NT child. Through my research, I found lots of good games for smart kids, like the Professor Layton games, Fluidity, Scribblenauts, Drawn to Life, Logic Machines, and other games .....
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I have to say, I disagree with some of the comments above about gaming not being an activity that suits gifties any more than a NT child. Through my research, I found lots of good games for smart kids, like the Professor Layton games, Fluidity, Scribblenauts, Drawn to Life, Logic Machines, and other games that involve more than hitting guys with lightsabers. (although he loves those games too!) If anyone has any more game suggestions for creative kids, please let me know.
This made me laugh harder than I think I've ever laughed before. My son has asperger's and an IQ well into the gifted range. He is extremely creative and is verbally gifted. And his favorite game on both the Wii and the DS is star wars related (and he masters them after only 3 or 4 times playing them). He also has been obsessed with Star Wars since he was 3, knew every line to every movie before he was 4. He has 5 or 6 light sabers in his collection. I thought Star Wars *was* for smart, creative kids....being that I'm pretty sure George Lucas was a pretty smart creative person. LOL!
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Sorry...I'm sure you didn't mean to make it sound that way, but it really sounded like you thought Star Wars was for the less smart, uncreative kids. :lol: My son *loves* his Star Wars games because that's his special interest, and it allows him to zone out and have fun.
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(Then again, I should be banned from this forum. His other favorite game? Draw to Life Spongebob. Nothing says "game for smart kid" than Spongebob, eh? LOL!)
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He'll enjoy the DS I'm sure! We have 2 DS's, PS2, Xbox and an ancient N64. The Xbox gets the most use probably. We thought about getting a WII for our kids for Christmas, but I'd prefer the kinect since there aren't controllers involved. I think any gaming system decisions should probably be based on the games the kids are interested in more than the actual system.
I don't consider the Lego games "educational" but they are GREAT. DS has really liked them. A warning, though, the Harry Potter is much harder than the others (Batman, Star Wars, Indiana Jones) have been.
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 Really? I think Batman's much harder than Harry Potter. But at the moment, I'm way addicted to Harry Potter Lego with my 4 year old.Â
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I'm just saying that my original question was which console to buy for a gifted child, because of the appropriate games available for that system. I guess through my research I learned that Wii was a good system for us, because it offers the titles I mentioned. They stretch your mind a little more your average shoot 'em up or platforming games.
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I got the impression from some of the comments that people thought that I thought gifted kids might somehow have superior skills at playing, for example, Mario Brothers. That isn't what I was saying at all. Like any activity, some forms are better for gifted kids than others.
