| THE LYCOS 50TM PRESENTS ITS FIFTH ANNUAL LIST OF THE MOST POPULAR TOYS AND VIDEO GAMES FOR 2004
Poker-Related Items Top This Year's List of Most-Searched Toys;
Dragonball Z: The Legacy of Goku, Hottest Video Game
SpongeBob SquarePants, Most-Searched Licensed Character
WALTHAM, Mass. - November 22, 2004 - Lycos, Inc. (www.lycos.com), a network of diverse and community-driven Internet brands and the wholly owned subsidiary of Korean Internet leader, Daum Communications Corp. (KOSDAQ: 035720), today announced its fifth annual list of the most popular toys and video games for 2004 based on The Lycos 50TM (http://50.lycos.com). The Lycos 50 is a weekly list of the most popular people, places and things users are searching for online. For a complete list of The Lycos 50 top toys and video games for 2004, go to http://50.lycos.com.
The Top 10 Most-Searched Toys reflecting search activity over the past four weeks, ending November 13, 2004:
- Poker
- NEOPETS
- Playstation 2
- Harry Potter
- Xbox
- YU-GI-OH! Cards - Magicians Force
- Barbie
- Transformers
- SpongeBob SquarePants
- Bratz Dolls
The Top 10 Most-Searched Video Games reflecting search activity over the past four weeks, ending November 13, 2004:
- Dragonball Z: The Legacy of Goku
- The Sims 2
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
- NBA 2005
- Halo 2
- Star Wars: The Sith Lords
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
- Doom 3
- Star Wars Galaxies
- Unreal Tournament 2004
"General searches for toys have gone up 255 percent over last week," said Dean Tsouvalas, writer of The Lycos 50. "But unlike previous years, the big video gaming systems are no longer the top searched toys on Lycos. This year, poker and poker-related items like poker chips, poker books and poker tables top the list. The popularity of poker gifts has been fueled by the global phenomenon of the World Poker Tour, which continues to average a 'poker millionaire a month' in its 16-tournament season."
Bratz dolls have also generated 117 percent more search activity in the past week, although still not generating as many searches as video games. If Web searches are any indication, the most popular dolls on wish lists this year will be Barbie, Bratz dolls, and American Girl dolls.
"The Bratz and American Girl Dolls rank below Barbie in search traffic, but given that many Barbie searches continue to come from adult collectors, we believe the Bratz and American Girl dolls will be the top toys for girls in 2004," Tsouvalas added. Based on search activity in July, The Lycos 50 predicted the American Girl Dolls as "one to watch" this holiday season. The American Girl Dolls rank directly below the Bratz Dolls, coming in at number 11 this year.
With the exception of Transformers, toys from the 1980's, which saw a massive resurgence in popularity last year, did not make the top 10 list this time around. Dropping in search popularity in 2004 are the Care Bears and My Little Pony. Meanwhile, SpongeBob SquarePants appears to be the most popular licensed character searched for this holiday season, making the top 10 list for the first time.
This also marks the fifth straight year that The Sims rank as one of the most-searched video games. But the big news this year is the popularity of the multi-player video games like Unreal Tournament 2004 and Star Wars Galaxies. Also making the list again are the Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards. "The cards are more popular than ever this year due to a printing error in the Dark Paladin card from the one of the bonus packs, making the cards more of a collector's item," Tsouvalas said.
The online toy and department stores seeing the most rise in search activity over the past week include Toys "R" Us, up 265 percent; Target, up 258 percent; and WAL-MART, up 25 percent.
About Lycos, Inc.
Lycos, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Daum Communications, Corp., the leading Internet company in Korea and a leader throughout the Asian markets. Lycos, Inc. has in its portfolio a broad range of highly rated, popular specialty sites including Lycos.com, Angelfire.com, Hotbot.com, Matchmaker.com, Quote.com, Tripod.com and Wired.com. Other Lycos products include Raging Bull, Lycos Mail and Gamesville. Lycos was acquired by Korean Daum Communications Corp. in September 2004 and has its US headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts. Daum Communications Corp. is traded on the KOSDAQ: 035720, www.daum.net.
©2004 Lycos, Inc. Lycos® is a registered trademark of Carnegie Mellon University. All other product or service marks mentioned herein are those of Terra Networks, S.A., Lycos, Inc. or their respective owners. All rights reserved.
Contacts:
Kathy O'Reilly
Lycos
781.370.2700
koreilly@lycos-inc.com
|
