Find out about kids' video games

Kids' video games are growing in popularity, and more and more parents are trying to find out what kinds of video games their children can play - with the accent on safe, useful fun.

Video games for kids are part of a booming market, too. Last year, the video games industry was worth a whopping $13.5 billion, with top titles including Lego Star Wars 2 and THQ's Cars game.

You might already play video games with your kids, using your PC - or a Nintendo, Xbox or Playstation games console, for example.

Or maybe you're a complete newbie to kids' video games!

Let's get going with a few basics:

What kind of stuff do you need to play a video game?
What kinds of games are there?
What video games are safe for younger kids to play?

Kids' video game basics

More:
Game Boy Advance games for kids

Video games for kids
Parents' views

Early childhood video games
Featuring PC video games rated EC

Video games and children
Top tips for fun play

Kids' video games survey

What do you need to play a video game?

Use your computer...
You can use your computer to play video games. The games come in DVD format - you'll have to check that they are suitable for either Windows or Mac. In this case, your computer is your "games platform."

A platform simply refers to whatever system you use to play your video games.

...or a video game console
You don't have to play video games using a DVD on a computer, however. You'll have heard of Nintendo, Playstation - and they produce their own platforms for you to use, too. There's Nintendo's Wii (pronounced "we"), Sony's Playstation 2 or 3, or the Xbox 360 from Microsoft, for example.

Nintendo, Playstation and Xbox games are played with a video games console. A console is like a computer in a box, designed just for interactive entertainment. You plug the console into your TV to watch what's happening, and most consoles come with a controller that you hold and use to interact with the game.

Very popular also are...

...Handheld game consoles
These are pocket-sized, with the controls, screen and sound all within the one small unit. Nintendo's DS Lite series (DS stands for dual screen) featuring touch-screen technology is one example.

What types of video games are there?

There are video games for girls, games for boys, educational video games, sports games, games based on movies and kid characters, as well as family fun games.

When searching for suitable kids' video games, you'll have to ensure that the game is playable on your specific platform. So, if you own a Playstation 2, you won't be able to play a game that's only been produced for an Xbox 360. I checked out a Curious George video game - it was available for Playstation 2, the handheld Game Boy Advance, Xbox and for the PC, too.

So - what other video games for kids are there?

Console based games

Out of all the console based games, I found that Playstation 2 seemed to offer the most choice for young kids.

I found games for Curious George, Finding Nemo, Cat in the Hat, Spiderman, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Ice Age 2, Shrek 2, and many more titles rated as suitable for kids aged 6 and older.

There were very few console games for children younger than 6 years old on any console platform - but this is bound to change in the future.

PC video games

For computer games using Windows, there was a much bigger selection for little kids. The following examples are rated Early Childhood:

Dora The Explorer Fairytale Adventures - where Dora becomes a princess in Fairy Tale Land and must save Boots who has been put under a spell by a mean witch
Giggles Computer Fun Time for Baby - My Animal Friends - for babes up to 24 months. Keyboard tapping activities, songs, and lots of cause and effect fun with ducks, bunnies, monkeys and more
My Little Pony PC Playpack - prepare a pony for the Friendship Ball, decorate the castle, make invitations and get a new hairstyle!

Discover more about early childhood video games.

How do you know if a video game is suitable for your child?

The ESRB - the Entertainment Software Rating Board - assigns ratings to all video games. Let's look at some ratings:

EC - Early Childhood rating
These kids' video games contain "content that may be suitable for ages 3 and older. Contains no material that parents would find inappropriate." Dora's game, the Giggles and the My Little Pony video games mentioned above come into this category.

E - Everyone rating
E titles "have content that may be suitable for ages 6 and older. Titles in this category may contain minimal cartoon, fantasy or mild violence and/or infrequent use of mild language." A Finding Nemo game, and Curious George game were rated E.

E10+
- This category tells you that the game is suitable for everyone over the age of ten - so don't get this confused with the E rating. These games "may contain more cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes."

The ESRB website allows you to plug in the title of a kids' video game and check its rating - very useful.

To sum up...

Console based games for very small children are practically non-existent at the moment. But for kids of 6 years of age and above, there's a fair choice of games available - although it depends on the platform you're using.

PC video games offer much more choice from early childhood and up. If your kids are already playing online games, a video PC game format should be easy for them to adapt to. PC games remain very popular.

ESRB ratings are useful when you're deciding whether a game is suitable for your child.

More kids' video game reviews and info coming up very soon - stay tuned!

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