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When our 8-year-old son started asking for video games, I knew we were about to get into an uphill battle. Anytime we go to friends’ houses that have game consoles, he goes into full zombie mode, then has an epic meltdown once the sensory overload wears off. Since he inevitably traps his 6-year-old brother, we essentially seal their fate.
So when our neighbors started raving about a motion-based gaming console called Knicks StadiumMy first instinct was to close it. The phrase “game console” alone was enough to put me in a state of mental stagnation. Add to that my own memories of tennis sessions on the Wii, where I nearly took out the ceiling fan, and I was in the “no” camp.
But after doing some more research, I was intrigued enough to give it a try.
Screen time is not something I take lightly. With three kids ages 2 to 8, my husband and I have always been intentional about how and what they watch. They don’t have tablets of their own, and most of their screen time happens on our family TV, which means everything our older ones are exposed to will quickly trickle down to our younger ones. So anything we bring home should fit all of them. I know it’s a long way off, but the Knicks are surprisingly close.
A rare moment of sibling harmony thanks to Hungry Hungry Hippos at Nex Playground.
Getting started is easy
The controller itself is refreshingly simple. It is a small cube, slightly larger than a Rubik’s Cube, equipped with a circular camera, motion sensor, indicator light, two power ports, and an HDMI connection for a TV. There is no controller other than the basic remote to navigate the menus. In most games, your body is in control.
Setup is fast. Plug it in, connect it to your TV, and you’re ready to go. It doesn’t store video or upload footage to the cloud, which was an immediate plus. It also comes with a magnetic privacy cover that you can place over the lens when not in use.
Nex Playground Cube Controller and Remote.
At $250, it’s not cheap, but it’s less than some popular gaming consoles for this age group, e.g Nintendo Switch 2. This gives you a starter pack of five games: Fruit Ninja, Go Keeper (soccer), Starri (think Guitar Hero for your whole body), Party Fowl (AR emoji craze) and Whack-a-Mole. Additional games require a subscription: $89 per year or $49 for three months, which unlocks a library of more than 50 games and counting. New titles dropped even as I was writing this.
Game library: 5 included with console, 50+ with subscription.
The library extends surprisingly widely. There are adaptations of board games like Connect Four and Candy Land, character-based games like Peppa Pig, Bluey, and the Ninja Turtles, and sports games like baseball and, yes, tennis — without the danger of a ceiling fan. There’s also parent-friendly content like Zumba workouts, which I may or may not fully stick to on a rainy afternoon.
Even my little girl got in on the action, often making her way through the Hungry Hungry Hippos when her siblings finally agreed.
Play is where he wins
The movements range from swinging your arms to keep the ball in motion, to jumping or launching your entire body, and are much more aggressive than the game actually requires. (I’m not about to tell kids otherwise.) After a 45-minute session, my kids feel tired and sometimes sweaty. Nex Playground entertains and burns energy in one fell swoop.
The graphics also look intentionally simple and arcade-like, which suits the simple gameplay experience. There’s no first-person story to get lost in, and no level to climb into a new world at 9pm on a school night. Some games keep score, which awakens the competitive spirit in my kids, but the atmosphere is more collaborative and wasn’t an incentive for as much fighting as other games. If anything, the opposite has happened.
I still don’t like to use the screen by default when my kids are bored, so we try to use it sparingly. In our house, piano practice is the only thing that opens up playtime on the weekend, and the fact that they’ll be sitting at the piano for an entire hour tells you everything you need to know.
Nex Playground is a motion-based gaming controller that helps with vibration control.
The judgment that matters most
But the real test: Will it hold up against an 8-year-old who died on a Nintendo Switch?
Short answer: Yes. At least for now. He’ll still pick the key if you ask him, but not for the reasons you’d expect.
“The field is more stressful,” he told me, which helped me seal the deal. His current favorite is Homerun Hitters. “It’s basically a baseball game where you face world-ranked players. My brother and I are really good at it.”
This is from a child whose main hobby is annoying his younger brother. The fact that he said “me and my brother” as a group was an unexpected bonus.
The Switch may still appear on your Christmas list this year. Realistically, I know I’m on borrowed time. As kids get older, “cool” becomes currency, and the action-based cube probably won’t hold up against an Xbox or Switch once playdates turn into side-by-side gaming sessions.
Nex Playground is not a replacement for these. It’s more than just a wrap. It gives them the taste of gaming without all the usual side effects. Even if I eventually cave, I can still see it attached to the occasional family game night or as a sibling dispenser on rainy days.
In the meantime, I’ll enjoy this simpler version of the games while I still can. He’s in no rush for me to return this review unit. More importantly, neither do I.