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Games for a 4 year old?


cjdavies
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I'd assume Fruit Ninja would be perfect even for kids that young - you only use your arms, you play in short bursts and overall it's good fun.

 

The other one that seems appropriate would be Kinectimals, which allows you to drive radio-controlled cars and kick footballs and stuff, as well as obviously play with your animals.

 

Do not be tempted to get the cheaper alternative, Fantastic Pets. I tried the demo and it was completely broken! :eek:

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These are ones that are meant for the younger audience, not sure if a 4 year old could do them though.

 

Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster

Nicktoons MLB

Kinectimals (Might be a little tricky for him)

Carnival Games: Monkey See Monkey Do

Penguins of Madagascar - Kinect: Dr. Blowhole Returns Again

Kung Fu Panda 2

Fantastic Pets

 

These games arnt out yet, but will probably be good for younger kids

Nickelodeon Dance

Alvin & the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked

 

My 3 year old brother liked, Googly eyes and Bobble head a lot. Theyre free on Kinect Fun labs. I had to help him though.

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Simple games which are not timed, but more as their own pace, SS: Once upon a monster, Kinectimals.

 

As for non kinect, Peggle, Racing games are also good, Forza as it's not violent.

 

I started gaming when I was 4-5. I remember playing the SNES and playing roadrunner, Street fighter. Anything which is disney movie based is generally kid friendly as well, Cars 2 being a good all round game.

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Content-wise, any of the games on the Kinect would be okay for a child. Size-wise, your kid may or may not have trouble getting the kinect to accurately read his movements. For the most part, though, just read the reviews and find the games that are actually good. Kinect Sports and Dance Central are the two best at the moment.

 

Simple games which are not timed, but more as their own pace, SS: Once upon a monster, Kinectimals.

 

As for non kinect, Peggle, Racing games are also good, Forza as it's not violent.

 

I started gaming when I was 4-5. I remember playing the SNES and playing roadrunner, Street fighter. Anything which is disney movie based is generally kid friendly as well, Cars 2 being a good all round game.

 

I'm failing to see the correlation between games for a 4 year old and not violent... I was 3 years old when my parents introduced me to Wolfenstein 3D and Doom. I was on Duke Nukem 3D by time I was 7. Violence in videogames is not bad for children. A persons behavior and decisions later in life are not derivative of the fact that they play violent videogames at any age. It's entirely dependent on the parenting and how well the child is brought up in understanding the difference between cartoon/videogame violence and violence in real life.

 

I'm not glorifying guts, gore, and sex in videogames by any means, but the games that typically employ this kind of content are going to better teach children valuable skills for the real world. Obviously playing Resident Evil, for example, isn't good for teaching you how to survive a zombie apocalypse, but all of the encounters require strategy to overcome. All of the objects you find and all of the puzzles you encounter have a purpose in the game and you have to think logically to overcome them. Videogames like this teach you to be an innovative thinker and a strategizer. (Hell, you wanna get really detailed, Resident Evil 4's teaches you the value of being conservative due to limited ammo and also teaches the value of organization because of the hands-on inventory system.

 

So if you get technical about the request for good games for a 4 year old, I would suggest Dance Central and Rise of Nightmares as the best games for a 4 year old as they both have skills to be taught that a 4 year old obviously would still be in the process of developing (Advanced body movements with DC and Problem Solving in RoN.)

 

Of course, Sesame Street is always good too I guess. I taught myself to read with Final Fantasy and Zelda, but I guess Sesame Street can try to do that too...

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  • 2 weeks later...
Just go with a wii, or anything nintendo. Its a great corporation/whatever it is, for children and family. Pokemon is still the best even at 20.

 

I want to c*ck slap you for saying that first bit. No kid should be subjected to the disgrace that is the Wii. I agree with one of the posters above. I hate referring to my childhood consoles as stepping stone systems, but the NES and SNES are what I grew up playing and I rarely ever had an "I'm stuck" moment. And when I did, my mom usually helped me beat the part I couldn't get past lol. Those early Mario games are the most user-friendly and addictively fun games I think I've ever played. And there's a vast library of NES/SNES games out there for dirt cheap. Not all of them are family-friendly, but it was much, much rarer to see an M-rated game back then. Infact, the ESRB was non-existent during the NES years. But, I'd recommend the SNES to anyone, any day.

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I want to c*ck slap you for saying that first bit. No kid should be subjected to the disgrace that is the Wii. I agree with one of the posters above. I hate referring to my childhood consoles as stepping stone systems, but the NES and SNES are what I grew up playing and I rarely ever had an "I'm stuck" moment. And when I did, my mom usually helped me beat the part I couldn't get past lol. Those early Mario games are the most user-friendly and addictively fun games I think I've ever played. And there's a vast library of NES/SNES games out there for dirt cheap. Not all of them are family-friendly, but it was much, much rarer to see an M-rated game back then. Infact, the ESRB was non-existent during the NES years. But, I'd recommend the SNES to anyone, any day.

 

The NES and SNES are great... for anyone who grew up in that time.

 

I can almost guarantee that the majority of kids today would not want to play SNES or NES over the Wii. They will want to play what their friends play, and whether you believe it or not that will more often than not be a Wii or a DS. That's just what is 'in' at the moment. To be honest, I think the Wii is a perfect starting point in gaming for them anyway - there's a vast library of games (although admittedly 90% of this is pure crap) and it's easy to get into for someone not used to gaming.

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