Tweens and Teens Reveal the 'Most Wanted' Video Games for Upcoming Holiday Season

[KristoferB]

Tweens and Teens Reveal the 'Most Wanted' Video Games for Upcoming Holiday Season

Guitar Hero World Tour, Rock Band II, Mario Kart and Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party II Top Wish Lists for 8-17 Year-Old Boys and Girls

WILSONVILLE, Ore., Sept. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Parents and grandparents can expect video games to be on the top of children's holiday wish lists this year, according to a recent survey by Game Crazy, a national video game retailer. The survey reveals that nearly all tweens and teens (90 percent) expect to ask for a video game this year.

In the second annual Holiday Gift Tracker Survey conducted by Weekly Reader Research, Game Crazy went straight to the source to discover the hottest video games for the 2008 holiday season. Results show that Action, Simulation and Racing games will be in high demand for Holiday 2008. This information parallels the most desired titles across all ages and genders, which are: Guitar Hero World Tour, Rock Band II, Mario Kart and Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party II.

Most-Wanted Games in 2008 (8-17 Year-Old Boys and Girls)
-- Guitar Hero World Tour (Rated T) - 17%
-- Rock Band II (Rated T) - 15%
-- Mario Kart (Rated E) - 12%
-- Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party II (Rated E10+) - 11%

Girls Want to Boogie...

With the music genre expected to be extremely popular this season, it's not surprising that girls across all age groups picked Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) Hottest Party II and Guitar Hero World Tour on top.

Girls
-- 8-10 Years-Old
-- Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party II (Rated E10+) - 18%
-- Guitar Hero World Tour (Rated T) - 14%
-- Rock Band II (Rated T) - 11%

-- 11-13 Years-Old
-- Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party II (Rated E10+) - 24%
-- Guitar Hero World Tour (Rated T) - 16%
-- Mario Kart (Rated E) - 15%

-- 14-17 Years-Old
-- Guitar Hero World Tour (Rated T) - 20%
-- Rock Band II (Rated T) - 17%
-- Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party II (Rated E10+) - 15%







... And Boys Want to Rock

Boys across every age group also agreed that music games will really sing this holiday season. Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band II came out on top of the pack, chosen by 16% and 15% of total male respondents, respectively.

Boys
-- 8-10 Years-Old
-- Guitar Hero World Tour (Rated T) - 18%
-- Mario Kart (Rated E) - 14%
-- Rock Band II (Rated T) - 11%

-- 11-13 Years-Old
-- Rock Band II (Rated T) - 17%
-- Guitar Hero World Tour (Rated T) - 15%
-- Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Rated T) - 14%

-- 14-17 Years-Old
-- Guitar Hero World Tour (Rated T) - 15%
-- Rock Band II (Rated T) - 14%
-- Mario Kart (Rated E) - 13%


Finding the right game is a must this holiday season, but it's equally important to ensure that the game is for the right system. The 2008 Holiday Gift Tracker Survey reveals the most widely-owned gaming systems across gender and age groups.

Top Video Game Systems Owned
Girls
-- 8-10 Years-Old: Nintendo Wii (51%), Playstation 2 (49%) Nintendo DS
(48%)
-- 11-13 Years-Old: Nintendo DS (63%), Playstation 2 (45%), Nintendo Wii
(44%)
-- 14-17 Years-Old: Nintendo Wii (53%), Playstation 2 (46%), Nintendo DS
(43%)

Boys
-- 8-10 Years-Old: Nintendo DS (58%), Playstation 2 (56%), Gameboy
Advanced (51%)
-- 11-13 Years-Old: Nintendo Wii (61%), Playstation 2 (50%), Nintendo DS
(48%)
-- 14-17 Years-Old: Nintendo Wii (62%), Playstation 2 (51%), Xbox360
(51%)



Respondents: 965 qualifying respondents (own at least one video gaming system) composed of 488 boys and 477 girls aged 8-17 years old

SURVEY METHODOLOGY

The Game Crazy survey was conducted online August 17-31, 2008, by Weekly Reader Research. One thousand U.S. male and female participants, ages 8-17, were recruited from Weekly Reader Research's INSIDERS survey research community. Random sampling procedures were employed to ensure the respondents accurately reflect the nation's 42.7 million 8-17 year olds in terms of age, race/ethnicity, gender and census region. The margin of error is +/- 3.1 percent at the 95 percent confidence interval.

About Game Crazy

Game Crazy(R) (Game Crazy | Home) is the nation's second largest specialty game retailer with more than 560 locations across the country. Hollywood Entertainment of Wilsonville, Oregon, was acquired in 2005 by

Movie Gallery, Inc. and operates Game Crazy. Movie Gallery, Inc. is the second largest North American home entertainment specialty retailer with more than 3,300 stores located in all 50 U.S. states and Canada.

Source: Game Crazy