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What gaming system should I get for my 12 year old?

I bought my kids a Switch when it first came out, but they have kind of aged out of it, or at least that's what they believe. They want to play games that are not available on Switch but I don't think they even know if they prefer Playstation or Xbox. Is one better than the other? Are they both readily available to purchase or is one or both still in short supply?
 
Jeff Lerner said:
What gaming system should I get for my 12 year old?

I bought my kids a Switch when it first came out, but they have kind of aged out of it, or at least that's what they believe. They want to play games that are not available on Switch but I don't think they even know if they prefer Playstation or Xbox. Is one better than the other? Are they both readily available to purchase or is one or both still in short supply?
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I'd recommend an Xbox Series S with the GamePass membership. GamePass has TONS of games that you can play with it for a monthly fee. It's good because even if your kids don't like the game they can just move onto the next one. That way you're not blowing $40-$60 on a game they may not like.

www.xbox.com

Xbox Game Pass Games Library | Xbox

Explore the Game Pass library and play hundreds of games.
www.xbox.com
 
Jeff Lerner said:
What gaming system should I get for my 12 year old?

I bought my kids a Switch when it first came out, but they have kind of aged out of it, or at least that's what they believe. They want to play games that are not available on Switch but I don't think they even know if they prefer Playstation or Xbox. Is one better than the other? Are they both readily available to purchase or is one or both still in short supply?
Click to expand...
Both are still super slim pickings. I don't own an Xbox, but that might be a more flexible option since it has the Series S or Series X along with Game Pass access (and Game Pass for PC too).
 
wokeupnew said:
I'd recommend an Xbox Series S with the GamePass membership. GamePass has TONS of games that you can play with it for a monthly fee. It's good because even if your kids don't like the game they can just move onto the next one. That way you're not blowing $40-$60 on a game they may not like.

www.xbox.com

Xbox Game Pass Games Library | Xbox

Explore the Game Pass library and play hundreds of games.
www.xbox.com
Click to expand...

EvanBenner said:
Both are still super slim pickings. I don't own an Xbox, but that might be a more flexible option since it has the Series S or Series X along with Game Pass access (and Game Pass for PC too).
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Supposedly Playstation is expected to roll out it's equivalent to Game Pass this month or next. Unproven so obviously no way to say if it will be as good, but just thought I'd throw that out there as a consideration.
 
Quick Final Fantasy X update. I am officially done with the unfun minigames, and can get back to the parts of the game I enjoy. After the great Blitzball grind, I still needed to do the Butterfly game and the lightning dodging to get two of the final upgrades for the celestial weapons. The butterfly game wasn't too bad, my only real complaint was that it's really hard to know where the butterflies actually are in the 3D space. This minigame was more meh than anything. Now the lightning dodging, this was REAL frustrating. Found a guide that showed the best place to do it, but I still struggled. After failing at 181/200 dodges, I started to consider if it was worth it, and put the game away that day. I did some digging online, and found that the HD remaster has some lag/input issues, and after deciding to give it another shot the next day, I entered a crazy flow state and got the 200 first try. I kept dodging for a bit after I hit 200, and realized that the times when I was failing were due to me hitting the button too close to the initial flash before the lightning hit. While most of the time it wasn't an issue, you could see that there was a longer delay between the flash and the strike, and the input was being registered as a miss for doing it too early. So if you ever attempt this on the HD version, being a little slow is better than fast. Anyways, I'm now grinding out some levels and items so I can take on the Dark Aeons and end game bosses, as well as upgrade my armor.
 
Tillman said:
I played it back when it initially released, on Stadia of all things and it ran pretty damn well. I really enjoyed it, that said I understand it's a far better game these days, so I'm sure you're having a way better experience
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Yeah I tried it briefly when it came out. It's night and day. Still got some jank but man is it pretty at times and plays so much better.
 
Having a blast with Forza Horizon 5. I think I'm playing it in the same way my wife plays Animal Crossing: chilling out, having a wee drive about, and have a few races. For some reason my Horizon Live isn't connecting, but I'm more than happy playing Solo. Not sure at what point I class it as "finished", but for now I'm really enjoying it.
 
Anyone here played Yoshi's Crafted World for the Switch?

Wondering if it is worth it at $40 on the MAR10 deals today, especially with me having a trip to Vegas this week and having time to play something?
 
frodo-pkt said:
Anyone here played Yoshi's Crafted World for the Switch?

Wondering if it is worth it at $40 on the MAR10 deals today, especially with me having a trip to Vegas this week and having time to play something?
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We have it and have played co-op. It's back on our backlog, but we enjoyed it quite a bit for however far we made it. Adorable af.
 
I'm stuck on how to use the Spinning Scythe move in Horizon Forbidden West.

I have been trying to complete the tutorial for it for an hour now and have yet to once activate it.

To use the move it says "R1 - R1 - Pause - R1 R1".

I do R1 RI wait a second or two R1 R1 but it always tells me "Wrong Input" and exits the tutorial for the second set of R1's.

What in the world am I doing wrong. The move goes off in the real world against machines no issue.
 
Elden Ring is a decent game. Absolutely not deserving of universal 10/10s but 8/10~ would be fine.

I know it's meant to be extremely ambiguous in missions and guidance but it could use just a little bit of streamline. Just a little bit. I've been referencing this map so I can seek out crafting materials, spells, armor, sites of grace, etc. It's trying to not be a map marker game but it could allow for some things to be easier to follow.

The numerous smithing stones, different books that I need to find to bring to someone to learn more spells, it could be streamlined. Just have one smithing stone, or even be more creative with the naming. it's just increments of [1], [2], [3], etc. Why not call it minor, lesser, adept, great, greater, etc. like in Skyrim? the naming could be better.

As for gameplay, I failed miserably on getting to Stormveil castle in the first region so I decided to "git gud" in another area where single enemy were yielding 1000 runes per kill. Grind for a few hours and all of a sudden I was level 50. It feels cheap, but I'd rather be OP and have more fun running around than worrying about dying every time I approach an enemy. I also realized I don't need to kill every enemy and ran past many I was hung up on in the castle. Boss battles are also much easier when I saw someone mention dodging towards the enemy rather than away or to the side. For some reason they're designed to have a hit window a little bit away from them and not immediately in front. After I figured that out it was much easier.
 
wokeupnew said:
Elden Ring is a decent game. Absolutely not deserving of universal 10/10s but 8/10~ would be fine.

I know it's meant to be extremely ambiguous in missions and guidance but it could use just a little bit of streamline. Just a little bit. I've been referencing this map so I can seek out crafting materials, spells, armor, sites of grace, etc. It's trying to not be a map marker game but it could allow for some things to be easier to follow.

The numerous smithing stones, different books that I need to find to bring to someone to learn more spells, it could be streamlined. Just have one smithing stone, or even be more creative with the naming. it's just increments of [1], [2], [3], etc. Why not call it minor, lesser, adept, great, greater, etc. like in Skyrim? the naming could be better.

As for gameplay, I failed miserably on getting to Stormveil castle in the first region so I decided to "git gud" in another area where single enemy were yielding 1000 runes per kill. Grind for a few hours and all of a sudden I was level 50. It feels cheap, but I'd rather be OP and have more fun running around than worrying about dying every time I approach an enemy. I also realized I don't need to kill every enemy and ran past many I was hung up on in the castle. Boss battles are also much easier when I saw someone mention dodging towards the enemy rather than away or to the side. For some reason they're designed to have a hit window a little bit away from them and not immediately in front. After I figured that out it was much easier.
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The Elden Ring and Population: One on the Oculus have been the most fun I've had gaming in years.

I do agree about the complete lack of guidance in Elden Ring, as far as quests, but I'm not above using the old internet to guide me. Also, after I found an area to grind levels where the enemies are about 1300 runes a pop, I found an area where there is a way to get about 11000 from one enemy that can be respawned 2-3 times per minute. I'm am not above being OP, as I'm at like 120 and have only knocked out the first 3 major bosses.
 
wokeupnew said:
Elden Ring is a decent game. Absolutely not deserving of universal 10/10s but 8/10~ would be fine.

I know it's meant to be extremely ambiguous in missions and guidance but it could use just a little bit of streamline. Just a little bit. I've been referencing this map so I can seek out crafting materials, spells, armor, sites of grace, etc. It's trying to not be a map marker game but it could allow for some things to be easier to follow.

The numerous smithing stones, different books that I need to find to bring to someone to learn more spells, it could be streamlined. Just have one smithing stone, or even be more creative with the naming. it's just increments of [1], [2], [3], etc. Why not call it minor, lesser, adept, great, greater, etc. like in Skyrim? the naming could be better.

As for gameplay, I failed miserably on getting to Stormveil castle in the first region so I decided to "git gud" in another area where single enemy were yielding 1000 runes per kill. Grind for a few hours and all of a sudden I was level 50. It feels cheap, but I'd rather be OP and have more fun running around than worrying about dying every time I approach an enemy. I also realized I don't need to kill every enemy and ran past many I was hung up on in the castle. Boss battles are also much easier when I saw someone mention dodging towards the enemy rather than away or to the side. For some reason they're designed to have a hit window a little bit away from them and not immediately in front. After I figured that out it was much easier.
Click to expand...
For me, the lack of guidance is part of the immersion and atmosphere. It can be nerve-wracking to think you may be missing NPCs or side quests, but for the first play through my philosophy is to just try to be thorough but accept I’ll miss stuff. Ng+ or a fresh new playthrough are the time I’ll pull up an actual checklist and hit up every quest and item I can find. I do think this is the most clear of soulsborne games; the guiding light gives you a general direction to move in. I do keep a doc of bullet points to collect little hints, lore, and reminders of beasts/areas I’m not yet ready for.

Overall, the Elden Ring hype, backlash, and counter backlash, all remind me of Wes Anderson: it’s not for everyone, but the sheer prominence of the work and level of praise coming from the fanbase cause confusion and derision from non-fans. It’s anchovies on pizza: I dream about it at night, but I completely understand why someone would find it yucky.
 
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