The annual ‘most wanted’ top ten toys for Christmas has been published and if you are a parent it is going to be very expensive. On the other hand if you are Steve Jobs you are going to be laughing like the crazed brain-washing maniac that you are (note: writer’s personal opinion may not actually represent TheSixthAxis. Or sanity).
Nearly all of the top ten ‘wants’ are electronic, a sign of how tech-savvy kids are these days. The top ten is as follows:
- iPhone 4 (14%)
- iPod touch (13%)
- iPad (12%)
- Kinect for Xbox (6%)
- Zhu Zhu Pet Hamsters / Kung Zhu Hamsters (5%)
- Flip Video Camera (4%)
- Toy Story 3 Jet Pack Buzz Lightyear (4%)
- PlayStation Move (4%)
- LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4 Video Game (3%)
- Barbie Video Girl (3%)
Gold, silver and bronze for Apple and a strong showing for Kinect. Playstation Move is further down the list but by Christmas will have already been in the shops for three months so many people may have purchased it already.
It’s interesting to note that Christmas stalwart LEGO only makes an appearance via a videogame. How times have changed and in case you were wondering, pictured below is a Kung Zhu Hamster in his ninja battle armour.
Source: The Telegraph
JamboGT
That hamster is dynamite!
Raen
Sweet, Buzz Lightyear
bunimomike
I’m with Kris on this one. I want a real jet pack too!
Nauraph
Lol, will it work if you tape your own hamster in that err.. Kung Zhu suit?
XisTG
that hamster is hilarious, i bet kids will try to put the armor in their real hamsters :)
Watchful
Kids trying to put that armour in their real hamsters would be something to call the RSPCA about!
Liberi Fatali
They’re not toys!?
But armoured hamsters that’s what I call a toy.
tantalus_blank
Ok now I want a Kung Zhu hamster! :P
And man are kids dumb…I mean iPhone 4, really? Seriously?
bunimomike
Why not? It’s a great smart-phone and has some truly wonderful games on it. It’s what people are seeing and what people are wanting. Sales figures don’t lie (unless you lied about the sales figures in the first place). ;-)
tantalus_blank
I was going to post a bit of a rant about advertising and whatnot before realising I’d only be insulting your intelligence. So all I’ll say is that I see it the same way most people see Kinect :)
bunimomike
That’s insulting to iPhone. I’m no Apple fan. Not one bit, but they have the best platform for a mobile phone (right now) if you want it do an enormous amount of things, well. It’s not about the hardware, it’s about the service they provide.
There is a stunning new game doing the rounds and it’s called ‘Cut The Rope’. There’s a reason why it’s only currently available on Apple devices. It’s because it’s a closed system and the developers can hopefully make a living from the love the put into making such a game.
People want the best and the iPhone offers a genuinely solid hardware experience coupled with great games. THIS is why it’s so highly sought after. Not because it’s the best hardware. Not because it has the largest screen (which it doesn’t). It’s ALWAYS been about the service. The software. The user experience.
Don’t get me wrong, there are downsides to this closed system too but from a consumer perspective it obviously doesn’t matter to most people.
minerwilly
I agree , it even irks me the way the icon for this link is that Apple logo . Its like all websites and radio stations etc etc all buy into this Apple thing and perhaps some of their staff have them so they just keep on pushing pushing promoting it on everyone .
I too see the Iphone/Ipod/Ipad thing as similar to the Wii, X-Factor and perhaps even down the line Kinect in the respect that it isn’t necessarily the best at what it does but its the most popular . Its like if something is pushed enough it kind of brings out a kind of old hive mentality within an incredible amount of humans .
Heres something that springs to mind . Me and a couple of my mates used to like a song called Dont Stop Believin by Journey , now in work we love to play Absolute Radio and they play all classics from the seventies eighties nineties etc and they often would play the Journey song and the girls would constantly be nagging whats this crap cant we put on Chav FM and listen to some Leona Lewis or whatever .
The moment Susan Boyle covered it on X-Factor and then some stupid show called Glee do a god awful version it suddenly becomes the coolest song ever and all the girls in work suddenly all love it and it got to a stage where i couldn’t escape that bloody song in every bar & club, even gangs of annoying students singing it pissed at 3am walking past my house …. grrrr! .
There is definitely a kind of follow the crowd mentality in us humans that is none so more prevalent than in products with an “I” in front .
If Cheryl Cole , Jordan & Simon Cowell started marketing shit and saying it was good to rub on your face a huge amount of people would do it .
Decent phone though !
seedaripper1973
you’re getting old mate ;-) dunna fret i feel the same way… :'(
colossalblue
My nephew wants an iPhone. He’ll be 7 on the 21st of December. He wants it for the games though so it’s actually an iPod Touch he wants. Still really expensive for his parents if they do cave in though!
And this is one more reason in the “don’t have kids” column.
djhsecondnature
The power of no is remarkable. :-p
seedaripper1973
If ever a +1 was deserved, it’s right there kids!
ToastEggsBacon
Sorry but any parent who buys their child an iPhone 4, be it on an expensive contract or the £499 upfront cost on PAYG, must be f*cking mental. Even if you can afford it from a financial point of view theres the “not bringing your child up to be a vaccuous, spoilt tw*t” factor to consider.
Madness.
Pedromr
I second that. People forgot that “no, you can’t have it” is a valuable source of learnig to kids.
ico
While the first four on the list may be representative of what people want I can quite imagine what they get will hopefully be a different story. Wants – Ipad. Get – Satsuma wrapped up. Thought there was still a credit crunch kicking around right now.
Personally I think the hamster looks grand. It’d bring tears to Richard Gere’s eyes (note this is based on the cuteness of the hamster rather than any other unfounded rumours).
Klart
Richard Gere and hamsters? That’s what he meant by keeping good ole John warm during the winter!
JamboGT
At first I though, wow this is insane, look at what kids want nowadays!
Then after thinking about it I realised I got in order a Spectrum48K, a Master System and a Playstation for christmas, they are just as extravagant really.