Survey says, yes, teens and tweens still want video games this holiday
by James Ransom-Wiley 
{ Oct 27th 2009 at 7:30PM }
What we want to know: If 86 percent of surveyed youngsters are asking for at least one video game this holiday gift-getting season, what miserable manner of childhood have the other 14 percent been living? No doubt leading a crusade to bring joy to teens and tweens everywhere (and, uh, recoup some losses), retailer Game Crazy has put together a handy buyer's guide for concerned parents.
Don't know which video games to get your kids because they haven't clearly indicated them in large, bold, triple-underlined letters on their wish lists? Just follow these simple guidelines:
- For the "Girly Girl" whose fashion obsession is getting way too costly: Wii Sports Resort
- For the "Music Addict" who's not worth spending real guitar lessons on: Guitar Hero 5
- For the "All Things Sports" lover who's just a tad bit uncoordinated to enjoy "outside" sports: Wii Sports Resort
- For "The Adventurer" who needs to learn that "real life" is largely confined to the indoors: New Super Mario Brothers Wii
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
nukee @ Oct 27th 2009 7:36PM
The only game I plan on asking for is the new Ratchet and Clank. Don't really have the time to play it until the holidays so I might as well get it then.
NitroMikeo @ Oct 27th 2009 7:37PM
I see what you did there!
SpyderTaco (PSN: Ar4chNova89) @ Oct 27th 2009 7:38PM
I want an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!
WiredKnight: Keeper of Threads @ Oct 27th 2009 7:39PM
You'll shoot your eye out.
The Most Interesting Man in the World @ Oct 27th 2009 7:48PM
How about some Lawn Darts?
Reuben @ Oct 27th 2009 7:51PM
I watch that movie every single year, and I'm Jewish.
Arturo @ Oct 28th 2009 8:31AM
lol win comment of the day.
Dustin @ Oct 27th 2009 7:39PM
All this is saying to me is buy a Wii. Well I bought a Wii. I haven't played it in months.
manyquestions @ Oct 27th 2009 7:47PM
Congatulations. Your medal will arrive in 3 to 5 business days.
manyquestions @ Oct 27th 2009 7:47PM
Congratulations. Your medal will arrive in 3 to 5 business days.
manyquestions @ Oct 27th 2009 7:48PM
Darn. I noticed the spelling error after it was too late.
Mr Khan @ Oct 27th 2009 7:56PM
Yes, hooray for you. You complained about how you don't play your Wii. It's a revolutionary concept.
Rob S. @ Oct 27th 2009 8:10PM
My god, someone not playing with their Wii, this has never happened to anyone else in the world ever!
Dafrety @ Oct 27th 2009 8:50PM
I don't know what's wrong with you, I play with my Wii all the time.
WiredKnight: Keeper of Threads @ Oct 27th 2009 7:39PM
Is this something that Michael Pachter managed to come up with?
Darth Bradwart, Dark Lord of the Sith @ Oct 27th 2009 7:58PM
Pachter suffers from NPD, so if he had done it, his name would be stamped all over it.
manyquestions @ Oct 27th 2009 8:44PM
And by suffering from NPD he has an acute case of Nuero-Pacther Disorder.
Marius @ Oct 27th 2009 7:39PM
Why hide it Joystiq you know most of the teens will be gettin M rated games
So go buy your Modern Warfare
Spike (GT: SitriStahl) @ Oct 27th 2009 7:48PM
anyone who thinks small children don't play m-rated games have never been on halo 3 matchmaking
Massmass @ Oct 27th 2009 7:54PM
Another reason to ditch the pretenses and just make an AO rating legitimate and not Porn related. If the developers and publishers would grow some backbone and say take it or leave it Walmart, there'd be little fight. Games are worth too much for retailers to nitpick over one year in age and it'd finally legitimize the industry. Of course, retailers would then be even more accountable for selling to underage consumers, but it sure would be nice to have a GTA that wasn't neutered.
Darth Bradwart, Dark Lord of the Sith @ Oct 27th 2009 7:58PM
Both the MPAA and the ESRB rating systems need a total overhaul. They're too broad. 'M' is so wide it's pathetic. And PG-13 needs a re-think too.
E10+ was a step in the right direction. But more is needed.
Bandit5317 @ Oct 28th 2009 12:29AM
@Spike:
Halo 3 isn't half as bad as COD:WaW when it comes to little kids.
Zing @ Oct 27th 2009 7:45PM
Survey conducted by Prof. DoYaThink? from the university of the blinking obvious.
Just in: Same survey predicts sun will rise tomorrow, pachter agrees.
Marius @ Oct 27th 2009 7:52PM
well your survey is wrong, since the sun doesnt rise
Zing @ Oct 27th 2009 7:56PM
Not my survey, take your pedantic butt to the office of Prof/ DoYaThink
Massmass @ Oct 27th 2009 7:57PM
What the hell is a sun? I'm a gamer and I only see a white blob in the sky that gives me my light, although sometimes it likes to play Hide & Seek.
Is it that bright thing that forces me into the shadows every bedtime?
Darth Bradwart, Dark Lord of the Sith @ Oct 27th 2009 8:05PM
The light...it burns us!
WiredKnight: Keeper of Threads @ Oct 27th 2009 8:34PM
@Massmass
Just retreat to your windowless basement. Get a minifridge and a microwave so that you can survive for weeks without endangering yourself. Oh, and a bucket.
The Most Interesting Man in the World @ Oct 27th 2009 7:49PM
I've got the GoW remakes on my list.
CH3BURASHKA @ Oct 27th 2009 7:53PM
This is quite a shock!
Also, where the hell is Demon's Souls on that list? Where's the "H4rdc0r3 G4m3r!" category?
Darth Bradwart, Dark Lord of the Sith @ Oct 27th 2009 7:55PM
Boop...boop...boop...Beep! Wii Bias Detected!
Seriously, if you really asked a kid, those games would likely not be on the top of his list.
Mr Khan @ Oct 27th 2009 7:59PM
Can't fight the statistics, right? Aside from GH5, those will be two of the top three best-selling games this holiday
Chromekreeper @ Oct 27th 2009 10:47PM
games arent really on the top of my list, but mostly because i already got uncharted 2 and soon to be MW2, also because i sorta feel bad that 50% of my free time is me staying inside
Traceur_Ryuk [All Digital until December] (PSN: Ryuk_shinigami) @ Oct 27th 2009 7:59PM
Parents, if you are "researching" on games to buy your kids and you happen to stumble upon this. Don't buy them Mature rated games. Because this is YOUR kid online.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkTf1lgcCyA
We don't like them.
DubiousCow @ Oct 27th 2009 7:59PM
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT FROM PAID MEMBERS OF JOYSTIQ: BUY A WII. SUPPORT NINTENDO, THE WORST COMPANY OF THEM ALL.
Mr Khan @ Oct 27th 2009 7:59PM
You misspelled "Best"
Darth Bradwart, Dark Lord of the Sith @ Oct 27th 2009 8:00PM
Umm...this is a Game Crazy survey. Not Joystiq...
Idiot!
CitizenSnips @ Oct 27th 2009 8:02PM
lol. Yeah their really a terrible company...
DubiousCow @ Oct 27th 2009 8:12PM
Haha you do realize that Nintendo pretty much gives you the same bullshit every year? Nintendo's easy way out is to just rehash old games, so it's the same game every "new game". Plus, Wii Sports Resort was probably the worst thing I have ever seen. But hey, Nintendo fanboys will rabidly attack this with fury. How dare someone talk bad about their master company. Oh dear.
WiredKnight: Keeper of Threads @ Oct 27th 2009 8:36PM
Sorry, what was wrong with Wii Sports Resort? It was hard to see you legitamate reasoning through all the fanboy rage.
I don't own a Wii, but I've played the game at a friend's house a few times and thought it was pretty fun.
WiredKnight: Keeper of Threads @ Oct 27th 2009 8:37PM
Wow, grammar fail.
*your *legitimate
DubiousCow @ Oct 27th 2009 8:41PM
Hey, yeah, how old are you?
WiredKnight: Keeper of Threads @ Oct 27th 2009 8:46PM
23, what does that have to do with anything?
Mr Khan @ Oct 27th 2009 9:17PM
Really? Resort was a tremendous improvement over the original. The original was a game you just sort of toyed around with, Resort was something you could really *play*
Plus the fully fleshed out alternate modes, and the many unlockables and hidden secrets. And airplane mode and frolf, both so awesome they deserve mentions on their own.
The only real rehash Nintendo has done lately, at least a rehash that they didn't blatantly mark as such (New Play Control) was Wii Fit Plus.
Darth Bradwart, Dark Lord of the Sith @ Oct 27th 2009 8:08PM
*Blasts with Force Lightning*
Unlimited...POWER!
Martin Greenberg @ Oct 27th 2009 8:29PM
"Oh, and parents, whatever you do, don't buy the oft-requested "Call of Duty" for your kids. It's rated M -- for Mature! -- for a reason."
I hope most parents will ignore this completely, as they should.
WiredKnight: Keeper of Threads @ Oct 27th 2009 8:39PM
Why, you like having 12 year olds in your matches?
Spike (GT: SitriStahl) @ Oct 28th 2009 3:45AM
@wiredknight
everyone knows, regardless of age, everyone on live without descended testicles are 9, bonus points of the kid complains that they aren't 9, they're 7, epic win if they say that their mommy didn't buy it for them, their daddy did
The Dark Wayne [Planeteer: Power of the Batusi] @ Oct 27th 2009 8:47PM
NO! I NEED HIM! HE MUST STAND TRIAL!
Darth Bradwart, Dark Lord of the Sith @ Oct 27th 2009 8:53PM
I'm part of the New Sith, Anakin. We don't have room for whiny brats like you.
Really, how did Anakin go from being such a whiner to an utter badass as Vader?