Too young for a DS?

[Cyrrex]

My wife and I are considering getting our oldest son a Nintendo DS for Christmas.  He is only four-and-a-half.  I can think of a number of benefits for getting him one (and I don't mean shutting him up and sitting him in the corner), but a part of me wonders if it isn't a bit too soon....maybe it's some leftover from my own upbringing.  In an odd twist, I am the hesitant parent in this equation, while my video game hating wife is in favor of it.

Can a kid that age even deal with and get enjoyment out of a DS?
Even if he can, is it too early to start him on something like this, even if we ensure moderation?

All viewpoints welcome.

[Trippy]

Some of the touchscreen stuff may require a bit too much fine motor control for somebody his age depending on the game. Using the D-pad and buttons shouldn't pose any problems and you can have him play GBA games on it (for which there's a better selection of games for young kids) if the touchscreen is too hard. The DS might actually be a bit too big for him depending on the size of his hands. A GBA may actually be a better fit.

[Yegolev]

The DS Lite is probably a good size.  I don't know what sort of games you might get, though, since I don't let my son get his nasty mitts on my DS.  My son will be three in January and is capable of using the stylus, but he's not normal.  He has no trouble using my Razer mouse with speed set to 9/10 to play the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse web games at 1280x960 without any assistance.  So, I would expect him to have some trouble with very fine movements but if you find something that doesn't require pinpoint precision it should be fine...?  The reason I don't let him use my DS Lite is, well, it's Daddy's toy and Daddy secretly doesn't want Mommy to touch it, either.

[voodoolily]

You could be a good parent and get him one of those Leapfrog handheld things so he learns math and shit while he thinks he's playing video games. I love gaming, but when I have a kid they're not gonna get real games until they're old enough to do chores.

[Yegolev]

The main reason that we don't have one of those LeapFrog or V-Smile thingies is that there is too big of a gap in the dexterity and intelligence levels for my son.  Things that would challenge him intellectually have controls which are a bit much for him, while things that he can control are not things he is likely to learn from.  He knows the names of the planets and various characteristics, for Pete's sake, telling you that Jupiter has a red spot, Neptune is the windy planet, and so on.  He's a little past finding the red square, and is somewhat scary at times.  It was weeks before I realized that Neptune was, indeed, the windy planet; I thought he was remembering something he saw on Blue's Clues.  I have stopped wondering where he picks up this stuff, it's just a mystery.

When it comes to drinking from a cup without spilling it, though, he's your average two-year-old.  I can't get him to drive Lightning McQueen around with the Xbox controller since he just can't work the stick and a button at the same time.  Still, I think we might get a V-Smile and see how it plays out.

[Xanthippe]

I have a 10 year old and an 8 year old (both of whom have DSs as well as GBAs).

What I would worry about with a 4.5 year old and a DS is losing the stylus.  You better buy a bunch of them, and train the kid to always always always put the stylus back in the DS instead of on the couch, and always always always put the DS in one place and one place only.  That's been our biggest headache.

Or you could get a GBA now for him and buy him a DS later.

Don't waste your time with LeapPads or V-Smile thingies.  There's some good software out there for small kids for regular computers; if you get those other things, you have to buy their software.  Which he'll use but for a very short time before he's outgrown it, and then it'll just be more clutter to get rid of.

At that age, my kids enjoyed the Blues Clues software, which was somewhat educational.  Beware though, there's a lot of buggy crap out there (especially in the bargain bins).  Little People had some good software too.

[Yegolev]

Xanthippe reminded me that GameTap has several kids edutainment titles for various ages.  It seems to have a good parental control system as well, so kids can't fire up something damaging like Planescape, Might & Magic V or anything with the stink of Roberta Williams on it.

[WindupAtheist]

The main reason that we don't have one of those LeapFrog or V-Smile thingies is that there is too big of a gap in the dexterity and intelligence levels for my son.

You should have kept re-rolling before hitting accept.  Now you'll have to get him some agility pots.

[Yegolev]

If you roll a couple 17, you keep it even if there's an 8 in there.

[voodoolily]

What I would worry about with a 4.5 year old and a DS is losing the stylus. 

Especially down his/her throat, or in the eye. I choked on Barbie shoes until 2nd grade.

I'm going to be the most boring parent ever.