Sixty percent of kids 8-17 expect to 1) get a game they didn’t want or a game for a console they don’t have, or 2) not get any or all of the games they asked for, according to a study by Weekly Reader Research cited by USATODAY. It also found that 80% of kids said they’d ask for a videogame this holiday season, and 59% for a game console. Their five favorites are Guitar Hero, Mario Party DS, Super Mario Galaxy, My Sims and Halo 3. Key advice for getting the right games, USATODAY says: know what console the child has and know the child’s game picks. I would add: Know the games’ ratings! Go to ESRB.org to see if a child’s pick is age- and maturity-level appropriate. Meanwhile, as the New York Daily News reviews the three top consoles: Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3, the Los Angeles Times reports that Microsoft is pushing to broaden the market for Xbox Live and the online gaming it enables. See also “Support for young videogamers,” zooming in on what online gaming can be like for tweens and teens.
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