By Parija B. Kavilanz, CNNMoney.com senior writerFebruary 17 2008: 6:50 PM ESTNEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The toymakers' motto for 2008: If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
Toy companies, eager to grow sales in a stagnant $22 billion market, are on an all-out offensive against the iPod, Wii, PlayStation and other hot gadgets with new sophisticated tech toys of their own.
These new tech toys are being unveiled at the annual American International Toy Fair in New York that kicked off Sunday.
"Electronics and the Internet. That's what kids are obsessed about today," said Jim Silver, editor and co-publisher of Toy Wishes magazine. "They have an iPod, they are on Facebook and some are e-mailing by age five."
Although Mattel (MAT, Fortune 500) and Hasbro (HAS), the No. 1 and No. 2 toymakers, jumped on the electronics wagon a few years ago, the trend is even more pronounced this year as these companies strive to win back market share they've lost to electronics sellers.
The concern for parents is that some of the latest gadgety toys come with a hefty pricetag, which could be a problem at a time many Americans aren't willing to spend lavishly.
For example, Mattel's Fisher-Price preschool division will unveil a $180 "Kid-Tough" portable DVD player specially designed for a three year old.
Speaking as a, to be diplomatic, less-than-affluent parent I take serious issue with this toy trend. I have a three year old. Yes, I let him watch DVDs. But am I going to buy him hi s own portable DVD player? No way. I know parents who have TVs in their toddlers' bedrooms and I think it's disgusting. But I digress.
The obsession with high-tech toys is a total money pit for parents. Between how fast technology becomes out-dated, how fast kids outgrow things and how fickle the little devils are I can't imagine spending the amount of money needed to but the latest and greatest kiddie gadgetry.
And to me, the money isn't even the most distressing issue. A lot of these new toys remove the imagination from play time. There's a slough of cars and trucks that run on their own and change course when they hit something. Besides the kid-centric video game son the major consoles there are designed for toddlers and elementary schoolers. don't get me wrong, video games are fun but they're formulaic. The younger the target audience for a game is the more directed it becomes. The games for little guys are like prettier versions of the old 8-bit games we used to love. You're in a 2D side-scrolling world with only one path from point A to point B. Sure, there's a challenge but where's the imagination? I remember grabbing a few toys (guns and swords, of course) and playing for hours in the middle of a story on par with anything a game designer could come up with.
When Xander plays with his toys the fly to the moon, they talk to each other and have amazing adventures. Sure, there are a bazillion Ninja Turtles or Transformers games out there, but it's my little guy's imagination that let's Raph and Bumblebee take on Megatron (who Xander informs me is a butthead).
With the newfound maturity of content and acceptability of being an adult gamer our kids have literally decades to play with their XBox or watch DVDs. Do we really need to start them earlier when they could instead be making up their own stories and having their own adventures?
