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Thread: Video Game Systems for Kids

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    Default Video Game Systems for Kids

    How many people collect game systems for kids? How many people consider kid game systems as actual consoles?

    This thread downstairs inspired me to make this thread.

    For the longest time I didn't consider kids game systems to be consoles, and I have never considered them to be worth collecting for. Yes, I am talking about you, Sega Pico and also you View-Master InteractiveVision. To me, systems like these are little more than an interesting foot-note in the history of video gaming.

    What's been happening in recent years is that more and more we see video game systems being developed specifically for children.

    In 2002 Fischer Price relased the Pixter. Though this is a cartridge based format, it is easily dismissed as not being a true video game system. More like a kids toy mock up of a Palm Pilot.

    Recently Vtech released the Vtech V.Smile.



    And also the V.Smile Pocket.



    Clearly these are true video game systems. But do they have any value as game systems? In my opinion, no; especially as their software is not entertain, it is to educate. Perhaps they are more of a toy than a true console?

    But then I read this press release and they are coming out with a Vtech V.Smile Baby for kids aged 6-36 months. I am excited, as my kids are 5 and 17 months. I am definately getting this product for them as soon as it comes out, whether I consider it to be a console or a toy. I regconize the value that the game medium has in terms of education and interactivity.

    [I even eBayed an InteractiveVision for my 17-month old son, which he loves.)

    In short, do you consider these systems to be true consoles? Do you collect for them? How do you fellow DPer daddies (or mommies) feel about these sort of game systems?

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    Great Puma (Level 12) DeputyMoniker's Avatar
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    I don't collect for them. I have a hard enough finding money, space, and time (to play) for the systems that offer games I want to play. I've never considered them to be game systems, just kids toys but I guess for their target age bracket, they are game systems.



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    Crono (Level 14) Pantechnicon's Avatar
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    I picked up a Socrates a few years back at Goodwill. I remembered this system from its heyday although I was too old for it at the time of its release. For the one I found I was fortunate enough to get along with it some extras like the graphics pad. In other words, I have enough Socrates components to represent what the system was about and what it could do. But because my interest extends no further than its 80s retro factor it remains in storage.

    I tried to hook it up for my kids (ages 8 and 5) a couple of times. They liked it, but in the final analysis Socrates, as an educational tool, can do nothing for them that the Windows-PC's sitting in each of their rooms cannot do better.

    I guess what I'm trying to say is that the value one places on these things is entirely relative. DP by and large is about video gaming. Consoles such as Socrates and Pixter, while having the appearance of gaming machines, are not necessarily in this classification. But if you're interested in these things, it shouldn't matter whether or not the DP guide says anything about the cash value of your Socrates Speech Module. Collect what interests you first and foremost and let dollar amounts be of secondary concern.

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    Strawberry (Level 2) Mr.collection's Avatar
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    Default My Reply

    My mom bought me my Pico when it came out for $100, but I haven't touched it since 1999. Although today I just picked up another Pico with some games I didn't have for $8. So you could say I collect Pico stuff but thats it.
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    Don't think of me as a youngn' just a collector that learned his basics from a Pico.
    I just like that tingling feeling in my eyeballs when I play VB.
    I am looking for a Mini Neo Geo 2- slot 13".

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    Bell (Level 8) CosmicMonkey's Avatar
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    Tbh, I wouldn't let my kiddies near the things for a looong while. There are many ways to play with and educate your kids without having to resort to computers.

    My son is only 20months old, but when he does get a bit older I'll be spending my time reading to him, playing with Playdoh, painting etc... I really don't want him staring any any sort of screen till he's at least 8 or 9 (I was 8 when I got my NES).

    I know it's harder to escape from technology these days, but I want him to grow up not having to rely on electronic gadgets and gizmos for entertainment. Your imagination is a great plaything, and I don't want to lessen his. Obviously, all this is great in moderation, and I'll be keeping at that. But I'd rather he played a proper game for fun, than some crap endutainment title.

    But then, I don't like advertising. I think it's unfair that all these companies throw adverts on TV aimed at kids, who aren't old enough to understand they're being blagged. The main point of the adverts is to get the kids going for the constant 'I want, I want....' and hoping the parents give in. I'm currently obtaining as many good/educational oldskool kids TV shows as I can, so I can run my own Kid's TV channel via the Xbox Media Centre. (Anyone know where I could possibly get the original Playschool TV show in .avi format please, I wanna go through the Round Window)

    On a side note, he was actually still for a whole 5mins watching me play Metal Slug X the other day. That's the longest he's sat in one place, ever. Then he got bored and wondered off to cause chaos....

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    Pac-Man (Level 10) Snapple's Avatar
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    I don't see the point of getting the system as an educational tool. There are enough edutainment titles for the PC and for other systems, so you don't have to waste money and space on a new system with poorly planned games.

    As far as being collectable, I don't see why you can't collect them. They are video game systems, and they are unique. You just have to accept that they aren't going to have much resale value.

    When I have the extra money and the drive, I'd like to track down a Casio Loopy myself. It only has games for little girls, and they're in Japanese. So I don't think I'd get much fun out of it. But that doesn't mean it can't be collectable.

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    Alex (Level 15) InsaneDavid's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Snapple
    I don't see the point of getting the system as an educational tool. There are enough edutainment titles for the PC and for other systems, so you don't have to waste money and space on a new system with poorly planned games.
    The V.Smile stuff isn't that bad actually - a big step up from the junk kids electronics Vtech has been releasing for years. It's designed for kids to be able to use 100% on their own, which is nice since you don't have to worry about them deleting critical system files, etc.

    I will say that video games taught me to take care of my stuff. I got my 2600 Jr. when I was three (just as the industry was going to pot) and have it still as well as all the carts and so forth. It was video games and not computers (honestly I hate computers - I mean it's a metal box filled with exposed circuits inches apart, held in place by little screws and the force of their connectors) that began my understanding of electronics.

    Don't get me wrong, I know my way around computer hardware and software. I just always laugh a little when someone who can run a game server year after year and has two miles of fiber running through their house and upgrades their hardware every other week... is told to solder a switch between JP1 and JP2 on a video game console and then looks at you like you're speaking an alien language.

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    Apple (Level 5) evildead2099's Avatar
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    According to the geniuses at Time Magazine, the Xbox 360 is a suitable toy for a tyke. Read all about it (not to mention my response) at http://www.digitpress.com/forum/view...ighlight=tykes

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    Apple (Level 5) evildead2099's Avatar
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    Default Re: Video Game Systems for Kids

    Quote Originally Posted by Zadoc
    they are coming out with a Vtech V.Smile Baby for kids aged 6-36 months. I am excited, as my kids are 5 and 17 months. I am definitely getting this product for them as soon as it comes out, whether I consider it to be a console or a toy.
    I've read various reports which suggest that very young kids shouldn't even start watching television until they are at least 2 years old

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    Default Re: Video Game Systems for Kids

    Quote Originally Posted by evildead2099
    Quote Originally Posted by Zadoc
    they are coming out with a Vtech V.Smile Baby for kids aged 6-36 months. I am excited, as my kids are 5 and 17 months. I am definitely getting this product for them as soon as it comes out, whether I consider it to be a console or a toy.
    I've read various reports which suggest that very young kids shouldn't even start watching television until they are at least 2 years old

    And I have kids and I can tell you that videos such as Baby Einstein, et. al. do stimulate children's minds better than wooden toys and plastic things with flashy lights and sounds.

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    Quote Originally Posted by CosmicMonkey
    My son is only 20months old, but when he does get a bit older I'll be spending my time reading to him, playing with Playdoh, painting etc...
    Your son is 20 months old and you DON'T read to him?


    Who says that 15 minutes a day of an interactive video learning tool is designed to replace Play-D'oh or reading? Who says you need one or the other?

    That's like saying I got my son a Leapfrog Learing Pad and therefore I can't read to him my old Dr. Seuss books because they are no obsolete.

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    Quote Originally Posted by CosmicMonkey
    Tbh, I wouldn't let my kiddies near the things for a looong while. There are many ways to play with and educate your kids without having to resort to computers.

    My son is only 20months old, but when he does get a bit older I'll be spending my time reading to him, playing with Playdoh, painting etc... I really don't want him staring any any sort of screen till he's at least 8 or 9 (I was 8 when I got my NES).

    You know, if you can get all the way till your kid is 8 or 9 years old before they use a television, then all I can say is, well done. But in the real world, that is going to be quite hard to do. Originally, I actually hoped to do the same thing, and I was lucky enough, that my first child got virtually nil TV viewing in his frst 30 months. Of course, starting at about 2 1/2, he started seeing some movies here and there. Kid type movies. He also watched Bear in the Big Blue House.


    Now he's five and he watches all kinds of kids movies and action/adventure type movies. He was really into the first Star Wars movies when he was like 4 1/2 or so. On alot of the movies, we will skip past the scariest parts. For example, we'll let him see Spiderman or Jurassic Park, but we will skip past the more violent parts of those kind of movies.


    The sad thing, is that he has a 3 year old brother that is exposed to stuff that he shouldn't really be seeing until he's five, but he ends up watching stuff that his brother watches. They don't spend very much time in front of the TV though, they mostly play outside or indoors and both of them have incredible imaginations. I will play with them often, and we will play with Dinosaurs or various action figures, and we will do all kinds of little adventures. So, at this point, I would have to say that their imaginations haven't been ruined with the amount of TV use that they've had so far.


    The key is all things in moderation.

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    Great Puma (Level 12) bangtango's Avatar
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    Default Do these count?

    They probably don't count but I have a large "collection" of Tiger and Konami handheld games, the type they did for kids. Anything handheld. Many are terrible, from a gameplay standpoint, but I used to buy one or two a year for $20 a pop new. Double Dragon and Shinobi (by Tiger) were semi-playable. On the other hand, Simon's Quest and Ninja Gaiden stunk. Now I buy them up whenever I see them for 50 to 99 cents used. They are absolutely and positively worthless but I have no plans to purge them. Kind of neat.

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    I love video games, collect them, buy them, sell them, talk about them.
    But when I someone asks me to recommend a game suitable for a 4 year old, I want to revoke that parent's licence to parent.

    Video games, essentially, are a great time waster and a hobby. There's no room for a developing mind to throw away perfectly good time learning living his/her life to get slack jawed at a screen. This is just my opinion.

    I'm an old pro of fark, so if there are any haughty rebuttals, give'er.

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    Pac-Man (Level 10) PDorr3's Avatar
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    Even if the Pico is considered a videogame system, I myself will never buy one, unless I can get it very cheap. There are just certain limits for me when it comes to collecting.

    Visit my YouTube page: Pete's Game Room

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    Default V.Flash is pretty good, actually

    We bought our daughters a V.Flash for Christmas. They love it, and will play it for hours if left alone. Then again, they would play my PlayStation and Dreamcast when they were hooked up. Now it's either the V.Flash or the Game Cube (I only have two consoles hooked up at any one time, as I also have to have room on my switcher for a VCR, DVD Recorder and LaserDisc Player).

    We have three V.Flash games so far, including the pack in (which they love). Every time we go to Wal Mart or Target most games are sold out.

    It's a pretty neat little system. The controllers are even flipable for either righties or lefties, and are far better than any Atari controller I've ever had. There are actually three different systems that VTech offers (not counting the portable). The V.Baby. The V.Smile. And finally the V.Flash.

    My kids just love video games. They don't much care what the platform is.
    "We've come for your daughter Chuck"

    -Beetlejuice

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    Unfortunately (for me), these systems don't seem to have a strong library of action games that I care about - shooters and action platformers. There's often platformers, sure, but shitty licensed collect-a-thons seem to be the main fare.

    For the other stuff, well, I've gotten pretty good about clamping down on my collector impulse so that I don't buy stuff merely because it's different or unusual. It's got to be fun or represent a way to make a buck.

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    Pear (Level 6) TurboGenesis's Avatar
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    I had bought my daughter a Pico a few years back when she was 3 and she used it sparingly. She seemed to enjoy it a bit but it never really took off. I also picked up an InteractiveVision but have never hooked it up as it still sits in its box stored away.

    My daughter is now 5 (6 in April) and currently enjoys playing Wii Sports for her video gaming enjoyment. Game time is usually limited to about an hour or so on Sunday (any more time cuts into my gaming time ).

    On topic, I have a few childrens consoles but my main intention was to introduce my daughter into video games though grown up consoles did that just fine.

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    Key (Level 9) Mattiekrome's Avatar
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    Me an the wifey got my daughter the VSMILE BABY for Christmas this year... She's still to young to play it, so its still boxed up, havent even busted the box on it yet


    PSN: SouthRox

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