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Forums - Gaming - When's the right time to introduce my toddler to console gaming?

Its never too early to introduce a toddler to dark souls so he can learn life is hard and he needs to git gud.
Seriously now, you talking about pitfall brings me back so many memories. It was also my first videogame back in 1987, pitfall was great.
Why dont you try to introduce him to older systems? You can get a nintendo 8bit lookalike with several games really cheap, and since it uses only two buttons it might be easier for him. ALso would be a great chance for you to play all those games again.



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I would say you are already late =p mine started before 24 months on tablet, could say that from 12m they were already using it to watch yt and nf, sometime after they started playing those toddler games on tablet. Console was between 3 and 4y;



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My daughter used to sit on my lap when I played. She picked it up when she was ready.



Each child develops at a different pace. So let it happen when he wants it to happen.



 

 

I don’t know. Maybe pick up an NES Classic. I started gaming on an NES when I was three. I played a lot of Excitebike because not only could I race, but I could design tracks as well. There is merit to him playing outside as well, but that doesn’t mean he can’t enjoy a little video game action. Since you have a Wii U, perhaps you could try Mario Maker as well. That could be fun. It’s all about balance. I started when I was three, and I did alright by myself, now I’m a writer. Truth is, you know your own kid better than anyone, so you make the call, and I’m sure it’ll be alright. Good luck.



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d21lewis said:

My daughter used to sit on my lap when I played. She picked it up when she was ready.

We know the lady wasn't your daughter no matter how many times you used that excuse to explain away why a strange lady was sitting on your lap, also how many bars have consoles ?.

Now to answer the post at birth is the correct answer since you need as much time as possible to enjoy beating them, because a dark day will surely come when they beat you and it's not nice being both schooled and trolled by a preschooler or so i've heard.

PS. VGChartz is a place where crazy gamers hangout is it really the best place to get a sensible answer to this question, if that's what you wanted you could have PM'd me.

Last edited by mjk45 - on 29 April 2021

Research shows Video games  help make you smarter, so why am I an idiot

I like the idea if trying some 8-bit era games. I don't own any of the old consoles, or the modern "classic" consoles, but isn't some stuff available with the Switch online service?



Maybe Ni No Kuni 1 on the PS4? Didn't it get a remaster?



I know I'm too late, but if you're still interested in opinions, my suggestion is similar to what I think a couple of people already said before: if you want to introduce your toddler to an activity, do it with reading instead of gaming. The reason is very simple: in a scenario where your child is not introduced to any hobbie whatsoever, it's way, way, WAY much more likely that he gets into gaming than into reading, so introducing him to gaming is kind of redundant, because that's almost 100% guaranteed to happen sooner or later - and I'd say sooner rather than later.

If you introduce him to reading, however, you'll be giving him a very nice hobbie that wouldn't otherwise grow on him as easily as video games. In fact, even if you introduce him to reading, I'd say it's quite possible that he just stop doing it anyway at some point in his life. But it's still worth trying, because the more hobbies the merrier, in my opinion, and reading has the potential to be a particularly enriching one. Also, I need as many future customers as I can in case I ever get to publish a book.

What I'd do is looking for a moment of the day to be alone with him, reading him some book that is appropriate to his age (maybe some with cute, colorful drawings that he can watch while you read the story), and when he can read himself, do the same thing, but the other way around: he reading and you listening, just being there with him and maybe reacting to what is happening in his book (or something like that; I'm never gonna have kids, so I actually don't know what's the best way to proceed with them). But anyway, my point is that, by the time he grows up, reading could have become a habit that he will have very fond memories of, instead of a tedious activity that he's forced to do as some boring school task.

And at the same time, more probably than not, he will also be getting into gaming, and the two of you will be spending some quality time and sharing memories playing games too. Double win!



I'm mostly a lurker now.

I'm in the same situation. My twins are 2.5 years old. I've let them try some NES (Super Mario Bros, Donkey Kong, etc.). They have no idea what they're doing and don't really have a grasp on the relationship between button presses and what happens on the screen, but they have fun ( and sometimes fight over the controllers...no unplugged controller mind tricks work on them) and they actively ask me if they can "watch video games" on the TV. I keep it as one more toy for keeping them entertained. My son likes watching me play "the blue guy" (Mega Man 3). I also play a lot with them in my lap. But eventually they try to grab the controller.