No violence in holiday's 'most wanted' games by teens, tweens?

(Credit: Activision)

Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band II are the two most wanted games for the 2008 holiday season for 8- to 17-year-old boys and girls, according to a holiday gift survey by gaming retailer Game Crazy (conducted by Weekly Reader Research). These are followed closely by Mario Kart and Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party II.

I'm having a hard time swallowing these results, mostly because these all seem too "family friendly." Game Crazy, after all, is owned by Hollywood Entertainment and could lose customers if the results were more "adult." The participants consisted of 965 qualifying respondents (owning at least one video gaming system), made up of 488 boys and 477 girls aged 8-17. The only difference between the genders: the boys want Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, while the girls don't.

With several shooter sequels coming this fall, including Gears of War 2 and Far Cry 2, and the massive global conflict fun of Tom Clancy's EndWar, where's all the blood and guts and destruction in these games? Surely kids still want to shoot and blow stuff up, right?

A more complete breakdown of the survey results are as follows:

Girls:

• 8-10 years old
  • Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party II (rated E10+) - 18 percent
  • Guitar Hero World Tour (rated T) - 14 percent
  • Rock Band II (rated T) - 11 percent
• 11-13 years old
  • Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party II (rated E10+) - 24 percent
  • Guitar Hero World Tour (rated T) - 16 percent
  • Mario Kart (rated E) - 15 percent
• 14-17 years old
  • Guitar Hero World Tour (rated T) - 20 percent
  • Rock Band II (rated T) - 17 percent
  • Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party II (rated E10+) - 15 percent

Boys:

• 8-10 years old
  • Guitar Hero World Tour (rated T) - 18 percent
  • Mario Kart (rated E) - 14 percent
  • Rock Band II (rated T) - 11 percent
• 11-13 years old
  • Rock Band II (rated T) - 17 percent
  • Guitar Hero World Tour (rated T) - 15 percent
  • Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (rated T) - 14 percent
• 14-17 years old
  • Guitar Hero World Tour (rated T) - 15 percent
  • Rock Band II (rated T) - 14 percent
  • Mario Kart (rated E) - 13% percent

[hunter3742]

Just out of curiosity, would rated M games even be offered as options for younger ages on that survey to respondents saying they are 17 or younger?

[joshua.goldman]

The details of the questions weren't released but I shot an e-mail off to them to see what exactly was asked. The results make it feel like they were given six choices and told to rank them. That's just me guessing, though.

[MillerLowlife]

I have a feeling that if you actually bothered to do any research for your article you would have found that even among the average gamer, who just happens to be 25 - 40 years of age, the Music and Rhythm Action genres have made serious inroads over the past 3 years.

You would also most likely find that the teens and tweens age group are far more interested in game franchises such as Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Mario Kart, Super Smash Brothers, Viva Pinata, and Brain Age.

You would be well advised not to believe everything your Congressional Representatives tell you, especially these days.

[hunter3742]

Inroads, yes. More popular than, say, Halo or Gears? Not a chance.

Look at the sales rankings on pretty much any site. Rock Band 2 is usually at the top, along with Force Unleashed - no surprise, they just came out and recent releases always sell best. Looking at pre-orders though, Gears of War 2, Fable 2, Fallout 3, and CoD: World at War, all of which are rated M games, are at the top - well ahead of GH: World Tour or DDR.

Looking at sales going back throughout the year, you can see the same trend - rated M RPGs and FPSs take the top spot. For that matter, look at what games are setting sales records - Halo 3 and GTA4, for starters. Comparatively, rhythm action games aren't even a blip on the radar.

I'm guessing that the survey included only choices that the people in the given age group should be able to buy themselves - i.e. rated T at most. Without more data, though, it's impossible to tell. Personally, I'd have more faith in the genres that have been proven to sell well continuing to do so.

[MillerLowlife]

"Inroads, yes. More popular than, say, Halo or Gears? Not a chance.

Look at the sales rankings on pretty much any site. Rock Band 2 is usually at the top, along with Force Unleashed - no surprise, they just came out and recent releases always sell best. Looking at pre-orders though, Gears of War 2, Fable 2, Fallout 3, and CoD: World at War, all of which are rated M games, are at the top - well ahead of GH: World Tour or DDR.

Looking at sales going back throughout the year, you can see the same trend - rated M RPGs and FPSs take the top spot. For that matter, look at what games are setting sales records - Halo 3 and GTA4, for starters. Comparatively, rhythm action games aren't even a blip on the radar.

I'm guessing that the survey included only choices that the people in the given age group should be able to buy themselves - i.e. rated T at most. Without more data, though, it's impossible to tell. Personally, I'd have more faith in the genres that have been proven to sell well continuing to do so."
- hunter3742

I'm not exactly sure where you are getting your figures from but I can give you the sales numbers from Amazon.com's Top 20 for July/Aug 2008.

Being that Amazon.com is one of the biggest video game retailers in the world, it is basically a certainty that the NPD Group - which just happens to be the yardstick by which the gaming industry is judged by as far as sales are concerned - proves that you are incorrect in your assertion.

The Sales Chart - Amazon.com Top 20 for July/August 2008

1) Rock Band: Special Edition - Nintendo Wii
2)Wii Fit - Nintendo Wii
3)Super Smash Brothers Brawl - Nintendo Wii
4)Mario Kart Wii with Wii Wheel - Nintendo Wii
5)Guitar Hero: On Tour - Nintendo DS
6)Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - Playstation 3
7)NCAA Football 09 - XBox 360
8)Civilization Revolution - XBox 360
9) Final Fantasy IV - Nintendo DS
10)Rock Band: Special Edition - Playstation 2
11)Civilization Revolution - Playstation 3
12)Soulcalibur IV - Playstation
13)New Super Mario Brothers - Nintendo DS
14)Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures - Nintendo Wii
15)We Ski - Nintendo Wii
16)NCAA Football 09 - Playstation 3
17)Mario Kart DS - Nintendo DS
18)Brain Age - Nintendo DS
19)Brain Age 2 - Nintendo DS
20)Soulcalibur IV - XBox 360
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I also think that it is quite unfair of the author of this article to suggest that the Game Crazy survey is guilty of being disingenuous, at best, and totally dishonest, at worst, without supplying one shred of evidence other than his crack-journalistic instincts to back up his statements.

[MillerLowlife]

"Inroads, yes. More popular than, say, Halo or Gears? Not a chance. Look at the sales rankings on pretty much any site. Rock Band 2 is usually at the top, along with Force Unleashed - no surprise, they just came out and recent releases always sell best. Looking at pre-orders though, Gears of War ,Fable 2, Fallout 3, and CoD: World at War, all of which are rated M games, are at the top - well ahead of GH: World Tour or DDR. Looking at sales going back throughout the year, you can see the same trend - rated M RPGs and FPSs take the top spot. For that matter, look at what games are setting sales records - Halo 3 and GTA4, for starters. Comparatively, rhythm action games aren't even a blip on the radar. I'm guessing that the survey included only choices that the people in the given age group should be able to buy themselves - i.e. rated T at most. Without more data, though, it's impossible to tell. Personally, I'd have more faith in the genres that have been proven to sell well continuing to do so."
- hunter3742

I'm not exactly sure where you are getting your figures from but I can give you the sales numbers from Amazon.com's Top 20 for July/Aug 2008.

Being that Amazon.com is one of the biggest video game retailers in the world, it is basically a certainty that the NPD Group - which just happens to be the yardstick by which the gaming industry is judged by as far as sales are concerned - proves that you are incorrect in your assertion.

The Sales Chart - Amazon.com Top 20 for July/August 2008

1) Rock Band: Special Edition - Nintendo Wii
2)Wii Fit - Nintendo Wii
3)Super Smash Brothers Brawl - Nintendo Wii
4)Mario Kart Wii with Wii Wheel - Nintendo Wii
5)Guitar Hero: On Tour - Nintendo DS
6)Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - Playstation 3
7)NCAA Football 09 - XBox 360
8)Civilization Revolution - XBox 360
9) Final Fantasy IV - Nintendo DS
10)Rock Band: Special Edition - Playstation 2
11)Civilization Revolution - Playstation 3
12)Soulcalibur IV - Playstation
13)New Super Mario Brothers - Nintendo DS
14)Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures - Nintendo Wii
15)We Ski - Nintendo Wii
16)NCAA Football 09 - Playstation 3
17)Mario Kart DS - Nintendo DS
18)Brain Age - Nintendo DS
19)Brain Age 2 - Nintendo DS
20)Soulcalibur IV - XBox 360
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I also think that it is quite unfair of the author of this article to suggest that the Game Crazy survey is guilty of being disingenuous, at best, and totally dishonest, at worst, without supplying one shred of evidence other than his crack-journalistic instincts to back up his statements.