"We said, 'Let's turn guilt into gold. Let's let moms say yes to video
games,'" said Julia Fitzgerald, VP-marketing for VTech. "We focus on
fun for the child and an age-appropriate curriculum for mom."
VTech is tapping into the trend of children playing video
games younger and younger. That trend is fueled by the long-held desire
of youngsters to do what their older siblings are doing but also -- as
video gaming passes its 30th anniversary -- to do what their parents
are doing.
The average age at which kids first use a video-game console is now
just 6.3, according to NPD Group's Kids and Consumer Electronics study.
However, more than a third of 4- and 5-year-olds have played some kind
of video game.
Wii for small children. (Whatever happened to Legos?)
This seems rather obvious: market video games to younger and younger children and have a consumer base for longer and longer periods of time (quoth Yeah Yeah from The Sandlot: "For. Ev. Er.").