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Nintendo DS tops Inishowen Santa list 11.12.07

by Jordan Kelly, Inishowen Independent

COMPUTER consoles and games are the most sought after items for Christmas this year among boys and girls across Inishowen, a survey by the Inishowen Independent shows.
Traditional toys like bicycles, tractors and dolls are also high on the wanted list. Results of the survey show that the hand-held Nintendo DS computer game is the most sought after gift for Christmas this year for both boys and girls, and is by far the most sought after item for girls, beating Bratz into second place.
The popular console has been reduced in size this year compared to the bulky original released a few years ago and this handheld console allows the player to interact with the game being played using a small pen on the touch screen.
A heavy advertising campaign in the months leading up to Christmas with a whole host of stars may explain its popularity.
However not far behind the DS Lite are a range of Sony PlayStation games and consoles although these are more popular among boys than girls.
Many children seemed to want either the PlayStation 2 or Playsation 3 while the PlayStation Portable (PSP) is also extremely popular.
The newly released PlayStation 3 is due a price cut in the upcoming weeks to help boost sales making a more intense competition for both Nintendo and Microsoft.
Meanwhile it would seem that while the Nintendo Wii is a popular choice as a gift for adults, it is less popular with children coming in at number ten in the top ten for boys and at number seven in the top ten most wanted gifts for girls.
Luke Kelly from Buncrana tries the Nintendo DS Lite for size.
Instead many of the peninsula’s girls are more interested in the Bratz range of goods with girls from all over Inishowen seeking anything from the range which includes dolls, lunch boxes, clothing, keyboards and many other accessories.
Musical items including guitars and drum kits are sought after by some of the youngsters in Inishowen but don’t make the top ten for either boys or girls.
That said MP3 players and Apple iPods did make the top ten for girls though were much further down the wish list for boys. High School musical products were also in the top ten for girls and nowhere to be seen in the boys list.
Girls also appear more interested in other art forms as well and art materials feature prominently in the girls list coming in at number four in their top ten.
Despite the changes in technology which has led to a whole host of new items being sought after it is interesting to note that bicycles remain a favourite with both boys and girls coming in at number two on the boys wish list and at number three in the girls list.
And bicycles are not the only form of transport to feature in the top ten for boys and girls. The remote controlled John Deere Tractor comes in at number 8 on the boys who also have remote controlled cars in the top ten.
Quads come in at number seven for boys and at number ten for girls.
Other popular items requested by children across the peninsula are prams and pushchairs, karaoke machines, Baby Annabelle, football shirts, scooters, Bob the Builder, Power Rangers and phones.
Books don’t make it into the top 50 items for either boys or girls.
If you were to buy eight items out of the Top Ten toys for the boys this year it would come to an astonishing €1,729.
For the girls it becomes a bit cheaper building up to €1,136 if eight out of the Top Toys for girls were purchased.
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