The best gaming system to grow with a 5 yr old girl?

If you are thinking about something from Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo, I would try to hold out for another year or so as I am expecting that they will all be releasing new platforms.

At the earliest it will be 2014, as they did not announce anything during E3 (with the exception of Wii...the Wii-U thing is coming soon, but I don't find it to be that alluring). The life expectancy of this generation of consoles was about 10 years. I think it's been...7or 8?

Edit - On topic response:
The Wii can be fun for kids, and the 360 Kinect is great for everyone. I'll give the tired response of "make her play outside", but there's nothing wrong with a game now and then...just enforce moderation.

The Great Outdoors!

Please think before you get her one. I got my grandson a playstation at age 5 and I regret it so very much. He is 100% a loner who only wants to play his games, read about them and talk about them. He has no desire to be creative, to play, to make friends, he doesn't want to even think about earning a living in 2 years. He has no desire to get his own place, to learn to drive, to have a girlfriend. His only focus has been from the time he turned 7 has been video gaming. His mom used to push him out the door to make him go play, the other kids quit asking him because he didn't want to play he only wanted to talk about video games. He is 16 now and many many times we have tried to get him to stop or slow down. We took it all away and he made friends with a kid from school, we were so happy. Turns out they were at his house playing video games. We stopped letting him go there and he was like a caged animal. Pacing and figeting, whining complaining, pouting acting like a kid does when they are beyond bored. He made life miserable for us having to listen to him. I told him I would pay for any and as many activities he wanted to do including going to movies. I said I would drive him the 40 miles to town so he could do anything and I would wait in the car or at mc donald until he was ready to go. He wanted nothing but those video games. I blame myself all the time for introducing him to that game system so young. I ruined his life.I took a creative boy who used to make inventions and set elaborate traps for pretend ghosts, draw kingdoms and talk to us non stop I turned him into a kid who spends all of his time escaping reality. Please think, maybe she could wait.

I feel bad for your grandson...not because you got him the console...but because of your way of thinking. Not every person is going to be like their elders. He is still a young boy and growing into his life...and I PROMISE you, the things like not wanting to get his driver's license or a job and things like that do NOT stem from video games...that is just absurd. That is due to the way he was raised. How are the role models in his life? How is his education. I really dont want to know the answers to these as I'm not here for a debate about this...but it is more questions for you and the parents. Quit blaming video games for the way you raise your children.

I 100% agree with this^ your grandson is who he is whether he was ever introduced to games or not. My family always had some type of game system in the house, I was never even interested in them. No one in my family became socially awkward because of video games. I'm sure your lack of acceptance since the age of seven has allot to do with how he's turned out and it's no wonder he's turned to video games as an outlet, just because he doesn't fit into your cookie cutter mold of how he should be doesn't mean there is anything wrong with him.

In the UK the number of wii games in the shops has dropped dramatically, so I don't see much longevity there.We have one and I should probably be stocking up now!

Please think before you get her one. I got my grandson a playstation at age 5 and I regret it so very much. He is 100% a loner who only wants to play his games, read about them and talk about them. He has no desire to be creative, to play, to make friends, he doesn't want to even think about earning a living in 2 years. He has no desire to get his own place, to learn to drive, to have a girlfriend. His only focus has been from the time he turned 7 has been video gaming. His mom used to push him out the door to make him go play, the other kids quit asking him because he didn't want to play he only wanted to talk about video games. He is 16 now and many many times we have tried to get him to stop or slow down. We took it all away and he made friends with a kid from school, we were so happy. Turns out they were at his house playing video games. We stopped letting him go there and he was like a caged animal. Pacing and figeting, whining complaining, pouting acting like a kid does when they are beyond bored. He made life miserable for us having to listen to him. I told him I would pay for any and as many activities he wanted to do including going to movies. I said I would drive him the 40 miles to town so he could do anything and I would wait in the car or at mc donald until he was ready to go. He wanted nothing but those video games. I blame myself all the time for introducing him to that game system so young. I ruined his life.I took a creative boy who used to make inventions and set elaborate traps for pretend ghosts, draw kingdoms and talk to us non stop I turned him into a kid who spends all of his time escaping reality. Please think, maybe she could wait.

Thank you for having the courage to share your story. It's very powerful and I hope that people will pay attention to your experience. I have made mistakes with my daughter and how much access she has to electronics, but she also paints, creates things with blocks, and builds roads and railroad tracks for all her trains and cars. She loves outside and is fascinated by all living things (I encourage her to play with bugs!).

It's no longer your fault that your grandson is having so many difficulties. He is getting to an age where he will have to start taking responsibility for himself. The best thing that his family can do is love him, but also not enable him. My parents put their foot down in my teens, if I wasn't in school or working and following their rules, then I was no longer welcome in their house. They enforced the rule; not fun at the time but now I am doing very well in my life. ONLY because I got my butt kicked when it needed kicking. Tough love is sometimes an action we must take if we do love our kids/grandkids.

Edit: Please don't pay any attention to some of the negative comments that some people responded with. You shared your own personal experience. A person's own experience is not "wrong' and we can always learn from it. IF we want to. Sometimes the truth hurts so it's easier to ridicule and deny the truth.

I have 4 daughters. I have a Wii, Xbox 360, and 4 DS's. My kids play the Xbox 360 and the DS's about equal time. The Wii is not used much at all anymore.

Edit - they are 11, 9, 7, and 3

Tilran your response to me was:
I feel bad for your grandson...not because you got him the console...but because of your way of thinking. Not every person is going to be like their elders. He is still a young boy and growing into his life...and I PROMISE you, the things like not wanting to get his driver's license or a job and things like that do NOT stem from video games...that is just absurd. That is due to the way he was raised. How are the role models in his life? How is his education. I really dont want to know the answers to these as I'm not here for a debate about this...but it is more questions for you and the parents. Quit blaming video games for the way you raise your children.
My response to you is
You have no idea how my grandson was raised or loved. You are answering based on your life experiences and opinion. I never said how I felt about him, and in point of fact he is one of the most loved child I know of. He is a respected part of our family and included in all decisions, discussions and ventures. I know he talks non stop about video games because he talks to us about them. I can tell you all about the games because I listen and let him talk. I know about all the things he is not interested in because we talk, I listen to him. He has never been ridiculed, put down or otherwise made to feel less than our precious grandchild. His system was taken away and replaced with efforts to expand his world, nurture his mind, get his view of the world enlightened. He has been given his system back and he is now a little more involved in real life but I was making a point for starting the gaming systems a little later in a childs development. For you to put your inadequate feelings about what was obviously done to you is out of line. You do not need to make up things in order to give you something to write in your comments. I feel sorry for you who obviously feels the need to post a comment even though you have no information to give the OP but instead focused in on someone you felt like you could bully. Wrong.

I LOVE how people demonize technology, all while typing on a message board! Hypocrites.

I recomend the ...Outdoors and imagination

This!

You do realize Christmas is in December, right? In December, the majority of the states have cold weather and staying outside for long lengths of time with a 5 year old isn't idealistic?

as a technologically challenged person, I like the wii. It's designed for people like me. We also have the kintect (the husband is into all that stuff) and while the dance thing is nice... a 5 yr old isn't going to really play with it.


good luck choosing. maybe ask her parents, or is it a surprise kind of thing?