New Feature-Driven, Value-Laden GamesLatest Trend In Children’s Games (NAPSA)—For today’s parents, paying more attention to the video games their children play is a must. Most importantly, they want to see whether the games they’re buying will capture their kid’s imagination and attention beyond an hour. One of the latest trends that addresses this need is the move towards quality video games that extend kids’ interaction with the characters they’ve grown to love through other mediums, including film and TV. Kids regard these games as an opportunity to partake in great gameplay, along with their favorite friends. Developers are also offering up cinematic graphics, hidden bonuscontent, great music and in some instances, functions that blur the line between gaming and computer-like functionality. Video Games Moving Beyond Great Play The result is that parents, who typically don’t play games themselves, can be comfortable knowing that the games their kids are playing are safe and offer wholesome, family fun. They can also breath a sigh of relief, knowing that the money they’ve spent for the “latest and greatest” game will provide hours of play—and hence, value—for their purchase. One example of this trend is 7= ee Disney Interactive’s new Lizzie McGuire: On the Go! for Game Boy Advance, designed specifically for tween-agegirls. In addition to the fun arcade game When Cheerleaders Attack!, the title includes PDAfunctionality that lets players keep track of friends’ contact information, important dates and horoscopes. The gamealso features multiplayer gamesfor girls to play together. “Let’s face it, you could spend your entire Christmas budget just on video games for your kids,” says Holly White, another of two girls who are Game Boyfanatics. “These days, I’m really focused on longer play value, not a gamethat my kids will tire of the minute they finish all the levels. I look for known entertainment brands, like Disney, and features that go beyond straight gameplay.” Popular Movies Becoming Gamer Favorites Richard Ow, a video game analyst with market information group The NPD Group, Inc., has coined 2003 “the year of the movie-based video game.” Marketers have become increasingly savvy to this new trend. For example, Disney Interactive is giving gamers a sneak peek of Disney’s The Lion King 144 movie, which comes to DVD in early 2004, in its Disney’s The Lion King 144 for Game Boy Advance. The game features the wellknownspirited fun and humorof Timon and Pumbaa as they search for Hakuna Matata. Throughout the game, kids are awarded with exclusive clips from the upcoming movie. The companyis also providing a cinematic payoff with its Disney’s Brother Bear title for Game Boy Advance by including many of the movie’s memorable characters for kids to interact with and scaling effects to make chase scenes more dramatic. With the dizzying number of gametitles on retailers’ shelves these days, it makes sense for parents to look closely at the longterm entertainment value of the video games they purchase before handing over their hard-earned money this holiday season.
