Learning Game Consoles for Young Children?

revco_38 asks: "My wife and I are looking into purchasing a game based learning console for our 4 year old boy this Christmas. The two front runners are the VSmile from VTech and the Leapster from Leapfrog. Does the Slashdot community have any experience with either of these products? Are there any other products similar that should be considered? We also have a 2 year old boy so something that lasts would be nice."

One Word:

[CrazyClimber]

Legos

GameCube

[turtled]

I play GameCube side by side with my four year old. It is amazing the things he remembers and associates with. The way he can control characters is awesome. It builds map skills, memory skills, and hand eye coordination.

Re:Is this really a good idea?

[macrom]

I seriously doubt this parent is going to substitute a preschool-aged video game system for human interaction. My daughter (3.5) is at school almost 8 hours a day. I think most kids like her get enough interaction that a bit of video game time isn't going to damage them forever.

That said, we like the VSmile a lot. The basic cartridge that it comes with has a few games on it, and she does OK with it. It took a bit of practice for her to figure out how to use the joystick properly, and she likes to hit the colored buttons just to hear the guy say them over the TV. Most games that we've played only require the joystick and the big orange button, so getting started is easy. The graphics are probably SNES quality, along with similar sound. We had to get extra carts, though, cause the one it comes with gets old fast.

The other thing I like about the VSmile is it has a portable counterpart. Think TurboGrafix 16, but for kids. We haven't purchased it yet, but I have to drive my daughter a few hours each way on my custody weekends, and that's something to help entertain her when we've played out all the Barney and Veggie Tales CDs...

One final comment -- if you get the VSmile, get the AC adapter. It takes 3C batteries, but they get eaten quickly, especially since small children are prone to turning the unit on without you knowing (and hence leaving it on for an extended period of time).