Video games: should we buy a Switch ? A PS5 ? Or a PC ?
Whether during our talks to professionals or parents, or when we are contacted directly by email, we are often asked about the “need” to invest in new video game hardware. Should we buy a Switch ? Then a PS5 ? And finally a PC ? Here is a brief recommendation in answer.
To begin with, you need to understand that the choice of a game or its platform is very strongly linked to peer social pressure. We buy in order to follow the trend and be part of the group. But this is obviously not the only way to ensure that sense of belonging.
One of the major difficulties that all video game players (including the oldest…) have to face is frustration. It is particularly hard for children to manage. The good news is that video games are an excellent way of learning to manage it ! The heavier news is that this skill is hard to learn through play alone, and it is mostly with the help of an outside person acting as a framework that this management is gradually learned. This process is sometimes long (and thankless for parents…), which is why we encourage parents not to give up, to devise a joint supervision strategy between the two parents, and to allow themselves to recharge their batteries when they feel worn out.
We regularly explain that each platform has its qualities and weaknesses. For example, the great strength of the Nintendo Switch is that it is possible to put a game on “pause” at any moment. There is no risk of losing any progress, provided the battery does not run out (but this can be an opportunity to ritualise the end of play: when we stop, we plug the console into the mains). Of course, games played online do not allow this option, but the ones you mention are not online games.
To learn to manage the difficulty of the frustration linked to stopping play, we recommend giving children indicators that let them find their bearings in time before the cut-off occurs. For example, by setting a timer to ring 10 minutes before the end of the agreed time. That way, it is up to them to learn to manage the time they have left by asking themselves a question such as “Do I have time to start this fight again in 10 minutes?”. Obviously, this does not happen in one go, and do not despair, but be uncompromising about the moment of the end, since they were warned of the remaining time in advance. Let us also remember that access to screens should not be offered in terms of a “right to a set time per day”, but rather in terms of priority of activities.
And what should you reply when the child wants to change platform (and therefore invest, often quite expensively) because the “trend” has moved to PC and no longer to Switch, for example ? It is then wise to ask whether adding the PC is really necessary. If your child is already having fun with the Switch, would it not be an extra complication for parents to manage ? It might be better to use only the Switch at first, and once the child has been able to show their management skills (of priorities, emotions, etc.), it may be possible to accompany them in discovering the PC. Since, as a reminder, on PC it is not possible to pause at any time, it is a more difficult gaming context to manage.
If you would like to take the plunge, we recommend the following PC games, which favour two-player cooperative play (to be downloaded and installed from the Steam programme):
- Pile Up : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-374aafSqNs
- Unravel two : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2TmLrTl6gs&t=31s
- Sackboy, a big adventure : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAaEqyE_Hfg
- Lego The Skywalker Saga : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n49TsZAwFEs
- And the very recent Curse of the sea rats, which looks promising : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq995S7Jj3c
For other game recommendations, remember to subscribe to the newsletter, or find the previous columns here https://www.3-6-9-12.org/les-revues-de-jeux-video/ , or on the site www.semperludo.com.
