A majority of kids expect at least some disappointment when they unwrap video game gifts this holiday season, a new nationwide survey of 8-17 year-olds reveals. Sixty percent of those surveyed for the 2007 Game Crazy Holiday Gift Tracker anticipate getting a game they do not want, getting a game for the wrong system, or not getting any or all of the games on their holiday wish list. Their expectations come from experience. According to the survey, nearly half of all kids (49 percent) said they were disappointed with a video game-related gift they received last year.
“We went straight to the source to find out what kids want and what their expectations are this holiday season,” said Wes Sand, Senior Vice President at Game Crazy, the second-largest specialty game retailer in the country. “We knew video games and game systems would again be popular items on holiday wish lists, but we were surprised at how little confidence tweens and teens have in their parents’ and grandparents’ ability to pick the right gifts.”
Santa Claus fared only marginally better. Forty-five percent and 44 percent of those surveyed anticipate getting an unwanted game from a parent or grandparent, respectively, while 37 percent expect one to come as a gift from Santa Claus.
“Kids are extremely passionate about video games and game systems, and find it amusing when adults don’t know their Wii from their Xbox,” said Leah Ingram, a gift-giving expert and mother of 10- and 12-year-old daughters. “They say they’ll do the darndest things to get a game they want.”
Nearly one-third of kids polled said they would teach a sibling how to play a game, listen to their parents’ favorite radio station in the car, or do two months of household chores if it meant getting the right game as a gift.
“If you don’t shop for games often and are time-crunched during the holidays, it can be easy to pick a gift in a hurry that either disappoints or that you later wonder, ‘Did I buy the right game?’” Ingram said.
Cracking the Game-Buying Code
To help parents, grandparents and other gift givers this holiday season, Ingram and the video game experts at Game Crazy offer several tips for choosing great video game gifts.
First and foremost, ask. Since buying gifts blindly from a wish list can be risky, if you ask first, there’s a very good chance kids know what they want and can steer you in the right gift-buying direction.
Know your recipient and align their interests with game content. “Great gifts are highly personal,” Ingram said, “so buy video games that involve the recipient’s other hobbies or interests. If your child or grandchild likes music, consider a game such as Guitar Hero III or Rock Band. If they’re into sports, Madden 08 or Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground may be fun for them.”
Learn about and use the video game ratings system. Three in five kids (62 percent) say they expect to ask for a video game this holiday that they know is rated above their age level. “Just like movies have ratings, so too do video games,” explained Patricia Vance, president of the Entertainment Software Rating Board, which assigns game ratings. The letter ratings on the front of the package suggest age-appropriateness and content descriptors on the back give some detail about the game’s content. “The important thing is to know what’s in the game and to use that information to determine whether or not it’s one you consider age-appropriate for the child to whom you’re giving it,” Vance said. Parental controls that are available on the newer game consoles also operate on the basis of ESRB ratings, and help parents make sure that the games their kids are playing are ones that carry ratings they deem suitable.
Match the game content with the player’s skill level. More than 30 percent of kids expect a parent or grandparent to buy them a game that is too advanced for them. For younger children, consider if the child has the fine-motor skills and comprehension to succeed at the game. If not, they may become frustrated quickly. For older kids, consider whether the content is challenging enough.
Buy the game for the right system. Nearly 30 percent of kids polled in the Game Crazy survey said they expect to get a game they want this holiday, but it will be for the wrong system.
Make sure you can get involved in the fun. “My daughters are sometimes frustrated when they get a great game that they’d like to play together, only to discover that it’s a game for one player only,” Ingram said. “As a family, we try to buy games that allow for four players so we can have family time together playing video games.”
To help parents and grandparents prevent disappointment during the holidays, Game Crazy has created a free “Parent’s Guide to Game Buying” brochure that contains these and other helpful tips for purchasing video game titles and systems. The brochure is available at all Game Crazy retail locations or can be downloaded from their respective Web sites.
Game Crazy has also produced a video game wish list that is available at www.gamecrazy.com. Kids can complete it online and email it to a parent or grandparent or print it and fill it out by hand. The wish list also indicates each video game’s rating.
Hot Games and Systems for the Holidays
In addition to asking kids about their expectations for receiving video games and related gifts this holiday season, the 2007 Game Crazy Holiday Gift Tracker also asked what games and systems they want most. Eighty percent of the kids surveyed plan to ask for video game titles, while 59 percent intend to ask for a game console and another 22 percent intend to ask for a handheld system. Eleven percent of respondents plan to ask for both.
The Nintendo Wii, Sony PS3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 top the list of most-wanted gaming systems among all 8-17 year olds. Guitar Hero III, Mario Party DS, Super Mario Galaxy, My Sims and Halo 3 are expected to be among this year’s hottest-selling titles.
SURVEY METHODOLOGY
The 2007 Game Crazy Holiday Gift Tracker survey was conducted online August 17-20, 2007 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 +/- 3.2 percent at the 95 percent confidence interval.