rfduncan

I have a nephew who is now 6. I wanted to get him a Gamecube game for Christmas during the upcoming TRU sale and am torn between two choices. Paper Mario sounds like a winner, but I am not sure how much on screen reading is required. He's just learning to read so if it is essential to gameplay that may not be the way to go. Is Donkey Konga or Pikmin 2 a better game to meet this criteria? Obviously I need an E rated title, but not all E rated titles are really playable by a 6 year old. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance - any advice/insight would be greatly appreciated!

CreatureX

I would recommend Super Monkey Ball, Mario Kart, Mario Sunshine.

PixyJunket

Paper Mario, as an RPG, will require a lot of reading. Personally, if I had a 6 year old I'd get that to encourage better reading skills, you could sit with and help him with it. On that same note, I'd get another game just so he doesn't get frustrated with it and not have anything else to fall back on. Mario Kart would probably be an excellent choice.

dick_grayson

definately. Good post!

Groucho

He would have a ball with Donkey Konga. Hell, so would you.

BeckysBoy

Agreed on Donkey Konga. If he doesn't have Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, that'd be a great way to go too. It's like playing a cartoon but includes a lot of problem solving and logic puzzles. Should really fire his imagination. There's also some reading involved, so keep that in mind.

Goldberg74

One of the $20 titles is Ty The Tasmanian Tiger... he might like that.

My kids love the Mario Party games, and my 6 year old kicks my keister at Super Smash Bros Melee every time. It's rated "T", but its just the Cartoon Violence.

Auto'd DVD's

I'd say Super Monkey Ball or the arcade classics. You can't go wrong with Pac Man/Galaga (my 6 and 8 yr old love those). My 4 yr old plays Super Mario Sunshine-but "play" basically equates to walking around with the super soaker until it's out of water.

BigDave

Mario Kart would be fun for a kid and adult.

Maybe even Luigi's Mansion. I can't remember if it had lots of reading in it or not.

sniper308

I just got my six year old Mario Kart and he seems to like it quite a bit.

I have heard really good things about the SpongeBob game but have not had any first hand interaction with it.

I'd shy away from games that require a ton of reading. at age 6. My son has started reading and is doing very well, but it can become frustrating still in the context of playing a game.

rfduncan

Mario Kart is a good call - I forgot about that b/c we were playing my version of it last Thanksgiving and Christmas.

And actually HE turned ME on to Super Monkey Ball!

Thanks for the ideas! I'm thinking something like PacMan Vs. might be good and Donkey Konga now...

Falc04

My son, 9, has a bunch of games but the one his 2 sisters like and can play by themselves, ages 5 & 7, is Super Smash Bros. I recently bought Mario Party of 5 with the girls in mind, but they can't seem to catch on to that as well.

darkside

My son is now 10 and he says one of the reasons he most wanted to learn to read was so he would know what the characters were saying in the RPGs I played without help. He would always sit and watch me play games like FFVII and Chrono Cross and I would read the non spoken dialog to him. Reading PixyJunket's post reminded me of that.

So I totally agree with the Paper Mario suggestion. You can combine that with other stuff like Mario Kart and Pac Man Vs.

bmello

My 5 yr old loves Mario Golf and Mario Cart.....Of course me too.

jediwicz

Custom Robo is very simple and a good multiplayer game. Kirby Air Ride is also now a Players Choice and VERY easy to play (it only uses one button).