The Family Gamer Awards FGA suggests ideal Nintendo DS games for different family age-groups: Infants, Juniors, Students, Workers, Parents and Seniors.
These awards complement PEGI's age-appropriate ratings by suggesting games each age group will enjoy. Rather than warning families about which games are inappropriate, we suggest which games each age group will get the most out of.
The games awarded for infants for example, not only contain appropriate content for 3 year olds but are also easy enough for them to play and enjoy.
Although most Gameboy Advance games are too demanding for very young players, its combination of low price and massive catalogue of games makes this ideal for more able junior gamers.
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Gameboy Advance: The original Gameboy Advance console is available second hand for around £10.
- Supports: Gameboy Advance and Original Gameboy games
- Pros: Longer battery life. Removeable AA batteries.
- Cons: Not backlit hard to see in sunlight.
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Gameboy Advance SP: The redesigned Gameboy Advance console is available second hand for around £15.
- Supports: Gameboy Advance and Original Gameboy games
- Pros: More compact clam shell design. Backlit screen.
- Cons: Shorter 7 hour battery life due to backlit screen. A late revision to model numbers "AGS-101" has an upgraded even brighter screen.
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Gameboy Micro: The minaturised Gameboy Advance console based on a candy-bar mobile phone shape is available second hand for around £40.
- Supports: Gameboy Advance games.
- Pros: Very compact design. Brighter backlit screen than Gameboy Advance SP. Digital sound and brightness controls.
- Cons: Shorter 6 hour battery life due to bright screen and smaller battery.
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DS: The original DS is available second hand for around £40.
- Supports: DS and Gameboy Advance games.
- Pros: Older model much cheaper than DSi or DSlite. 6 hour battery life.
- Cons: Less bright screen not good for outside play. Build quality not as solid as later models.
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DSlite: The redesigned DS is available second hand for around £70.
- Supports: DS and Gameboy Advance games.
- Pros: It is a sleeker and more compact design. Much brighter screens and improved 9 hour battery life.
- Cons: Hinges often fail so ensure that there are no plastic stress marks on them before buying second hand.
- GBA Games for Infants (3 to 6 yrs)
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The best games for toddlers, very-young children and pre-school kids from 3 to 6 years old. These games work with the basics of play and should easily engage the super young players in our families. Simple and easy controls and bright colours engage young players in some educational and informative games.
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- GBA Games for Juniors (7 to 11 yrs)
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The best games for primary school, junior and young children aged from 7 to 11 years old. These games provide experiences that connect with a basic joy of discovery and play. Although still simplistic they engage with a wide range of basic principles.
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Wario Ware: Twisted: Although still hard to get in the UK, this minigame collection offers some of the most entertaining (and frustrating) challenges around. All of them are controlled with a simple built in tilt sensor that makes them ideal for juniors.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Runner Up
- Date: Spring 2007
- Platform: GBA DS version(s)
Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django : The novelty here is that the game has a solar panel on it. This isn't used to charge the console itself, but rather affects how the game plays. You need to charge up your in-game character with the solar panel, and ensure you only attempt certain areas when there is plenty of daylight.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Runner Up
- Date: 2004
- Platform: DS GBA version(s)
- GBA Games for Teens (12 to 15 yrs)
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The best games for secondary, high-school, teenagers, adolescent kids and young-adults aged from 12 to 17 years old. These games provide thrilling experiences that major on brash, loud protagonists and aim to connect with the teens in our families.
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Rebelstar Tactical Commander: A detailed turn based strategy game where resources and landscape must be made best use of to gain the upper hand. Following on from games like Laser Squad and XCOM Enemy Unknown, this offers a compelling experience that will tax even the most able of student's grey matter.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Age Group Runner Up
- Date: 2005
- Platform: DS GBA version(s)
- GBA Games for Students (16 to 17 yrs)
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The best games for students, studying, college, school and young-adults aged from 16 to 17 years old. These games provide experiences that are great to share in halls, offer multiplayer thrills, or demand commitment and dedication to progress.
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- GBA Games for Workers (18 and over)
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The best games for those with full time jobs, workers, 9-to-5-ers, employed hard-core gamers 18 years and over. These games provide more of a challenge in both dexterity and problem solving. They are often more about strong single player experiences that hard working hard core gamers. Although these are often longer experiences that are also ideal to switch off and chill out after a long day at the office.
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- GBA Games for Parents
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The best games for parents, mums, dads, carers, aunties and uncles. These games connect with the gamer on a more mature level. Story driven and often open ended, the experiences here provide space to play with complex issues and engage in moral dilemmas. Either that or to escape the grind of the work/home balance.
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Legend of Zelda The Four Swords: Not only is this a simple way to start playing Zelda adventure games, but by connecting four GBA consoles and using them to control the multiplayer this creates some of the most unique family gameplay we've seen.
Family Gamer Award Details
- Award: Game of the Year
- Date: 2004
- Platform: Gamecube GBA version(s)
- GBA Games for Grandparents
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The best games for grandparents, older, senior, grown-up, mature, retired and wiser people.
These games provide a slightly slower, although no less challenging experience. Time and consideration are of the essence as our most senior gamers enjoy interacting with other players and perfecting their approach.
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