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General discussion

Help: What's best handheld game system for 9 year old

Oct 13, 2009 3:46AM PDT

Hi- Any suggestions would really be appreciated. My 9 year old daughter is tormenting me for a portable game system. I have never purchased a video game system -portable or otherwise- so have absolutely no idea how to choose. As I said, she is 9 years old, and this will be her first system. I do have a laptop computer at home and wifi, if that matters. My computer has a couple of USB ports, but no slot for any kind of memory card, like we have in our camera. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good system for my daughter?

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Personally
Oct 13, 2009 7:11AM PDT

Personally, I'd say for a pre-teen girl, the Nintendo DS is probably the clear winner. Whether you want to go with the DS Lite or DSi is something you can let your daughter decide. The basic rundown is that the DS Lite can play GameBoy Advance games, so you have a bigger selection of games. PROBABLY not a big deal if this is the first one you're buying. The DSi has video chat cameras and some social networking type stuff built into it.

But more than that, the DS (Lite and DSi both play the same set of games) will have the bigger selection of games likely to appeal to a pre-teen girl. It also comes in a variety of pastel colors. The appeal of which is largely lost on with heterosexual males, but really seems to be an important factor for girls.

DS games are self-contained cartridges, so there's no need for any separate memory card for saving games on. Though you can often get memory card readers for under $10.

And maybe one of the most important features of the DS, is its clamshell design. I'm sure you're all too aware how hard kids can be on things, and so provided she remembers to close it when she's done using it, it should do wonders for keeping the screens in one piece, and delay the inevitable day when she comes crying to you because she broke it in some way or another, and wants you to get her another, because you're seen as an inexhaustible supply of money at that age.

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Thank You
Oct 13, 2009 10:32AM PDT

...so much. I'm totally a novice at this, you've been really helpful.

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AGREED
Oct 14, 2009 5:08AM PDT

DS LITE.

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best hald held for daughter
Oct 14, 2009 6:39PM PDT

I agree D.S.the best!