Xbox games for 7-year-old boy?

December 18, 2006 2:17 PM

Xbox games for 7-year-old boy?

My nephew is getting an Xbox for Christmas (not a 360, the old one). I'm not a gamer (I think the last game I bought was Doom). What can I get him that's fun and not uber-violent?

He also has a Nintendo DS if you have any thoughts on that one. Thanks.

posted by wheat to computers & internet (24 comments total)

Super Monkey Ball Deluxe.

Aparently Shrek 2 is "harmless, inoffensive, middle-of-the-road action for young children, and there aren't too many other games around that fit that bill with much success," though I've never played it myself.

I'd recommend some sports games but they might be a bit hard for a seven year old, I don't know. Pro Evo Soccer 5 is ace.

Simspon's Road Rage?

Also: Top 10 kid Games on Xbox.
posted by Robot Rowboat at 2:40 PM on December 18, 2006

I'd recommend any of the tony hawk series and lego star wars 2.

you can always check out gamespot and ign they'll have enough information available for you to conclude if they are right for your nephew.
posted by Kudos at 2:42 PM on December 18, 2006

Lego Star Wars I & II

The second game covers the original trilogy, the first game is the prequels, so obviously you want the former if you're only getting one.
posted by Nahum Tate at 2:42 PM on December 18, 2006

As far as the ds goes, Mario, Yoshi's Island and wario ware are essential.
posted by Kudos at 2:48 PM on December 18, 2006

Crash Nitro-cart is a good one or two player racing game for kids.
posted by saffry at 2:57 PM on December 18, 2006

DS: Mario Kart DS.

Xbox: Seconding the two Lego Star Wars games. I've not played the Xbox Super Monkey Ball, only the GameCube version, but the single-player might be a bit frustrating for him depending on how good he is at computer games in general. The multiplayer stuff is great though.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:58 PM on December 18, 2006

Any games with a dancemat (e.g Dance Dance Revolution). Get two dancemats.
posted by Hogshead at 3:02 PM on December 18, 2006

I just want to caution against combining two of the suggestions: do not get the Lego Star Wars game for the DS. It blows on that platform, but it got good reviews on the full-size systems.
posted by flipper at 3:23 PM on December 18, 2006

I'd recommend any of the tony hawk series

I would recommend AGAINST the Tony Hawk games. A couple years ago my 9 year old nephew was playing one and he found a secret spot inside a strip club complete with pole dancer. His Mom happened to walk in at the same time. Let's just say I'm still hearing about it. While they are generally tame, there is the occasional thing that is not kid friendly. There's a reason they're rated T.

My nephew likes Need for Speed Underground. While the story mode seems adult the game is rated E and his mom never had a problem with anything that he saw. As a bonus it was really neat to see him work so hard at the story mode to unlock stuff so he could customize his car (his favorite part of the game).

Also good are the sports games, either EA or 2k Sports (my and my nephew's favorite being the former). Amped 2 is good clean fun if he's into the extreme sports.
posted by saraswati at 3:29 PM on December 18, 2006

Pocket Bike Racer? It's that game that was $4 at Burger King, Apparently there's versions for both the xbox and the 360. It looks pretty fun, and might provide that Tony-Hawk-like gameplay, without the strippers.
posted by god hates math at 3:50 PM on December 18, 2006

Pocket Bike Racer is absolutely terrible. If you're going to get a Burger King game, Big Bumpin' is an infinitely better choice.

There's a whole lot of all-ages stuff on the DS. New Super Mario Bros., WarioWare Touched!, Mario Kart DS, Puyo Pop Fever (if you can find it)... the list goes on, really.
posted by DoctorFedora at 4:02 PM on December 18, 2006

Any of the Sponge Bob games, but my kids liked Sponge Bob the Movie best. Dance, Dance, Revolution is popular too. By the way, Simpson's Road Rage is definitely too violent for a seven year old.
posted by caddis at 4:07 PM on December 18, 2006

At gamerdad.com, you can search for reviews based on platform, age appropriateness, and rating on a scale of 1 to 5. I just got some useful results by plugging in "xbox," "6+," and ratings higher than 4. The reviews include commentary on how well kids should like the game.
posted by liet at 4:21 PM on December 18, 2006

I will second (and third, and fourth) the Lego StarWars games. I have an 8 year old who would happily play those games 24 hours nonstop if he were allowed.
posted by stupidcomputernickname at 5:57 PM on December 18, 2006

I'll second the Lego Star Wars 2 suggestion. My 6 year-old son loves it, and so do I. Great game.
posted by mattholomew at 6:08 PM on December 18, 2006

The original Blinx game (Blinx: The Timesweeper) was pretty good, as I recall.
posted by djgh at 9:18 PM on December 18, 2006

Sneak King. It's only $3.99 at Burger King! Seriously, the plot requires you to sneak up on people and surprise them with fast food!
posted by dcjd at 9:20 PM on December 18, 2006

Oh, and second Pro Evolution Soccer - which I believe is called Winning Eleven in the US.

If the Xbox came with the original (i.e. big) controller, I'd also recommend the Controller S (so called because it's smaller). Personally, I think it's a better controller, and perhaps more suitable to a child's hands.
posted by djgh at 9:21 PM on December 18, 2006

I suggest a gamecube for $50 on Ebay. Zelda, smash bros, all kinds of great, kid appropriate stuff.
posted by craniac at 9:59 PM on December 18, 2006

Fuzion Frenzy is a pretty fun party game. Grooverider: Slotcar Thunder is a slotcar simulation racer. Both should be fairly cheap if you can find them.

I've heard good things about Shrek 2, but stay away from the first one as it's a nightmare. The 3D Pac Man platformer is also annoying. Actually, most platformers seem to suck so I would avoid any without serious praise.

The Burnout series is great, but may be too complicated for him.
posted by ODiV at 10:11 PM on December 18, 2006

get him burnout revenge. fantastic. absolutely not too complicated for a seven year-old.
posted by incessant at 10:41 PM on December 18, 2006

SSX Tricky. Snowboarding game, and under $20.
posted by The Deej at 2:30 AM on December 19, 2006

GameTab does a great job of gathering up the reviews for most released title and assigning them a positive rating percentage. It's sort of like Rotten Tomatoes. Here's GameTab's list for Xbox games ordered by Rating. They have a list for the DS as well.
posted by dgeiser13 at 10:08 AM on December 19, 2006

My nephews 5 and 8 love the burnout games for ps2, I dont know what is equivlent on the xbox but they just think crashing cars and getting points for it is the funnest thing ever.

They also really like some of the newer Marvel Vs Capcom Street Fighter games, playing spiderman is pretty fun for some reason.

On the DS, mario seems to be a safe bet, I actually got my nephews hooked on brain age after they saw all the adults having so much fun with it, if youre into educational games its a safe bet.

Other games they like, simpsons road rage, alien homonid on GBA (imported), pokemon on the gba, any of the street fighters, NBA Street, etc... Ive tried to get them to play fps shooter multiplayer games so I can play with them but jumping shooting and walking seems to be way too much to handle.
posted by skrike at 10:34 AM on December 19, 2006