If you visit Club Penguin and meet the other penguins you’ll quickly discover that you may be the only one in the virtual playroom that doesn’t have a colored outfit, accessories, and an igloo. If you’re a WebKinz devotee, you’ll undoubtedly have a menagerie of WebKinz pets, at $10+ a pop, each with their own […]

A year ago David Pogue, the NY Times technology columnist, wrote about the new Nintendo Wii. It was a complete sellout before the holidays. Most people were talking about flying nunchuks smacking into their TVs, but a prescient Pogue nailed it. “What surprises me most,” he said, “is how few people are commenting on the […]

The good news is that kids are not just sitting in front of their PC screens in isolation anymore. They’re involved with networks of friends as the Internet has become a social meeting place. This season many Internet sites will require the purchase an offline toy–a stuffed animal or doll—to gain access to […]

As the holidays approach (yes, that would be earlier and earlier each year), those who watch can detect the hot trends in kids’ digital toys. This year I’m betting on four hot areas in the high tech gaming world.

Offline toys with online worlds: Webkinz started it and now every furball and doll in creation has […]