DS vs PSP for 5 yo

[clc053103]

Hi all! My soon to be 5 YO wants one for his birthday. He already has a Leapster 2 and he really wants to move on, and I think based on his skill level he could. I am curious as to which you would recommend, as DS loves Mario Bros (which is on DS) but I heard PSP would be easier for him to use? Also does one feature more learning games, as I would lean towards the learning aspect.

Thanks for your input in advance!

[SnuggleBuggles]

DS because it is so much more common. That means there are more games for it, especially used and older games (if you get the DS Lite then you can also use Game Boy games in it- cheap, great older Mario games). There are educational games out there. They are fun and decent but sometimes just playing is a good thing. :) I have never seen a kid have trouble with the DS- these kiddos catch on quickly to video games!

Beth

[geochick]

My ds is almost 6.5. He just upgraded his DS to a DSi XL. He's so happy. There are so many games for his age level.

My 4yo dd also just got her first DSi. There are at least 5 good games for even her level and interest.

I HIGHLY recommend the DS, and so would all the kids in my neighborhood.

[clc053103]

Thanks! So the next question is:

DSi, DS Lite, or DSi XL? I guess I don't understand the difference except that XL is a bigger screened version of DSi. I checked the nintendo site and that didn't even clear it up for me.

[SnuggleBuggles]

DSi can do a million extra things, like take pictures and download games. While cool, you lose the ability to play the Gameboy games so that limits some of the games you could buy. We chose to get the Lite because I didn't think we needed the extra features. Of course, ds1 would like the DSi but he would probably hate to lose the ability to play all the old Mario games that they made for the GB.

Beth

[geochick]

My son (didn't want to type ds - ha ha) liked his ds-lite for a long time, and it would still be great, BUT THEN he played our neighbor's dsi. The coolest feature on the "i" isthe camera. I didn't think my kid would use it, but it's really fun. His favorite thing is taking pictures of friends and family, then using some of the distort features to make us look silly. Then he uses the stamps and doctors the pictures with creativity. For travel, we can load up a chip with digital books. We're getting ready to go on a car trip. We loaded up the dsi with Harry Potter, and lots of Roald Dahl stories so my ds can listen to them in the car with headphones. We like the XL because for not that much more money, you can have a much nicer screen. There are only 2 colors to choose from, though. My dh likes the "i" because he can browse the online store and get additional games, etc. There are parental controls.

I'd go with the "i." You choose the screen size. We didn't think our son would use the "i" features when we got it for him at age 4. BUT - now that he's 6.5, he really likes it. We should have gotten it from the start.