[02-11-00 09:06 PM ET] WESTERN HEMISPHERE'S LARGEST TOY SHOW RETURNS TO NEW YORK FEB 10-18 biz.yahoo.com HASBRO TO UNVEIL KID APPROPRIATE VIDEO GAMES[1.]
biz.yahoo.com ...WALL STREET NOT BUYING INTO HIGH TECH AND TOYS [2.]http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/000210/br8.html ...
[1.] "...Hasbro Interactive will unveil an array of interactive games at next week's American International Toy Fair, February 13-17, in New York, where digital play promises to be among the hottest categories of toys and games. Hasbro Interactive will introduce a full line of age-appropriate video games for children, leading with its TONKA© brand and the TONKA SPACE STATION for the Sony PLAYSTATION©, as well as video games based on such hot children's properties as NICKTOONS(tm) and NASCAR RACERS©. The company, which helped pioneer interactive play, will also showcase new CD-ROM Playsets that combine a keytop toy and multimedia software, several new TV game show titles for the PC and Sony PLAYSTATION, and racing games based on NASCAR© and FORMULA ONE© licenses.
Children's Entertainment
With the introduction of titles for the Sony PLAYSTATION based on strong brands and exciting new licenses, Hasbro Interactive is enhancing its position in the area of Children's Entertainment. NASCAR RACERS, NICKTOONS RACING and TONKA SPACE STATION lead the way.
Based on the exciting, new animated TV series, which made its debut February 5 on the FOX Kids Network, NASCAR RACERS puts kids into a 3-D futuristic world of NASCAR racing. Kids live out the adventures of the TV show by taking control of one of the cars of the NASCAR Unlimited Division racing teams, as featured in the series. The racing doesn't end there, because it's a wild cross-country race for everyone's favorite Nickelodeon cartoon characters in the new NICKTOONS RACING game. Who will win the title King of all Cartoons? Ready... Set... Go!!! The fun continues as TONKA JOE reaches for the stars in TONKA SPACE STATION. The United Nations has chosen TONKA to develop an international space station. Kids are challenged to assemble, maintain and protect their very own TONKA space station. Ages: 6 and up; Platform: Sony PLAYSTATION and Windows 95/98; Approximate Retail Price: $39.99 and $29.99 respectively; Available: October 2000..."
[2.] "...The toy industry is enthralled with high tech the same way that stock investors can't seem to get enough of the Internet.
And while the buzz for this year's American International Toy Fair in New York seems to say there should be a new high-tech toy for every tot, Wall Street isn't buying it.
The shares of many toy companies have been slumping in the past year even as they incorporate the Internet and computer chips into their merchandise.
``Digital play is going to be a real force in traditional toys,' said Herb Baum, president of Hasbro Inc. (NYSE:HAS - news), the No. 2 U.S. toy maker, at the American International Toy Fair press conference on Thursday.
Toy Fair, a yearly ritual in which toy makers court toy buyers, analysts and the press, opens Sunday and runs through Thursday in New York.
It's not enough any more for a toy to be cuddly or cute. Computer chips, motion detectors and Internet links are becoming almost standard fare in toys that until now have been more high touch than high tech, such as dolls and stuffed animals.
Although high tech has souped up the latest toys, Mattel Inc.'s (NYSE:MAT - news) foray into interactive play cost Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jill Barad her job after the Barbie and Hot Wheels maker bought The Learning Co. for $3.5 billion. The software company deal led to worse-than-expected losses at Mattel, and last Thursday, Barad's resignation.
Mattel's stock slipped 1/4 to 10-1/4 a share on Thursday in New York Stock Exchange trading, down from its 52-week high of 30-5/16. The shares of rival Hasbro fell 3/4 to 15 on the NYSE, also well off a 52-week high of 37..."
(WallStreetRadio.com Newswires(tm)). |
