Lycos Presents Its 9th Annual List of the Most Popular Toys & Video Games This Holiday Season, Based on Web Search Activity

Apple's iPod Trumps Poker as the Most-Searched Toy of 2008

Barbie Continues Reign as Most Popular Doll; Gaming Consoles see Big Comeback led by Wii; Vespa Scooter, Most Popular Grown-up Toy

New in 2008: KOTA the Triceratops, Fisher Price New Elmo Live, & Bakugan Battle Brawlers

WALTHAM, Mass., Nov. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Lycos, Inc. (www.lycos.com), a leading provider of social publishing, media and search services, today announced its ninth annual list of the most popular toys and video games this holiday season, based on web search activity. For a complete list and commentary of the Lycos Top Toys and Video Games of 2008, go to http://50.lycos.com. Users can also voice their opinions on this year's list, and weigh in on weekly Internet trends and pop culture on the Lycos 50 Blog located at http://lycos50.tripod.com/blog/ or follow the Lycos 50 on Twitter.

    The Top 25 Most-Searched Toys this Holiday Season: 
    1) iPod                         14) Spongebob Squarepants
    2) Poker                        15) KOTA the Triceratops
    3) Naruto                       16) Gundam
    4) Pokemon                      17) Monopoly 
    5) Dragonball                   18) Neopets 
    6) Barbie                       19) Fisher Price New Elmo Live 
    7) Inuyasha                     20) Bratz Dolls 
    8) Blackjack                    21) Disney Princess Movie Maker 
    9) Webkinz                      22) Scrabble 
    10) Wii                         23) Rubik's Cube 
    11) Harry Potter                24) Bakugan Battle Brawlers
    12) Xbox 360                    25) Cranium Family Edition 
    13) Playstation 3

    The Top 25 Most-Searched Video Games this Holiday Season: 
    1) RuneScape                    14) Gears of War 2
    2) Halo 3                       15) Wii Fit
    3) Final Fantasy XIII           16) WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009
    4) Diablo III                   17) Fable 2
    5) Grand Theft Auto IV          18) Fallout 3
    6) World of Warcraft            19) Dead Space 
    7) Resident Evil 5              20) Saints Row 2
    8) Guitar Hero World Tour       21) Resistance 2
    9) Call of Duty: World at War   22) Far Cry 2
    10) Street Fighter IV           23) The Sims 3
    11) Tomb Raider: Underworld     24) Gran Turismo 5 Prologue
    12) Rock Band 2                 25) BioShock
    13) EverQuest II

Apple's iPod (#1) gets a hand up on Poker (#2) to top the 2008 list of most-searched toys with web users this holiday season. For the past 3 years, Poker, and specific poker-related items like poker chips, poker cards and poker sets, has landed in the number one spot on the Lycos list. But this year, the Apple frenzy, including hot-searched items like the iTouch and iPod Nano, helped propel iPod to the number one spot on Lycos's Top Toys and Video Games list for the first time ever. Harry Potter (#11) makes a fifth consecutive appearance in 2008, with Harry Potter games, books and DVDs dominating Harry Potter-themed searches.

New in 2008 is KOTA, the Triceratops Dinosaur (#15), generating more search interest than the very popular Guitar Hero World Tour (#8) and Fisher Price's New Elmo Live (#19). Meanwhile, not so hot in 2008 are Hannah Montana-related toy items, which made a big splash in 2007, but fail to make this year's list as Spongebob Squarepants (#14) takes over as the top licensed character-themed toy of 2008. Spongebob was last seen on the Lycos Top Toy list in 2005. And when it comes to dolls, Barbie (#6) continues to reign, extending her run on the annual Lycos list of Top Toys and Video Games to nine consecutive years of appearing in the Top 10. Barbie generates 10 times more search popularity than the Bratz Dolls (#20) and is 150 percent more popular in online interest than the Polly Pocket franchise.

Gaming consoles see a big resurgence in search popularity in 2008, with the Nintendo Wii (#10) capturing the most search interest, generating 25 percent more search activity than the Xbox 360 (#12) and Playstation 3 (#13). Also seeing a resurgence in 2008 are old school classics Monopoly (#17), Scrabble (#22) and Rubik's Cube (#23). And while it's considered more of an adult toy, the Vespa Scooter deserves an honorable mention on this year's Lycos list of Top Toys and Video Games, as the economy appears to be driving search interest in this most popular toy for grown-ups.

Five of the top 25 toys in 2008 originate from the popular world of anime including Naruto (#3), Pokemon (#4), Dragonball (#5), Inuyasha (#7) and Gundam (#16). The most popular search related queries for the kings of anime include character toys, playing cards, video games, magazines, board games, puzzles and DVDs. Meanwhile, one new toy making the 2008 list may be unfamiliar to most adults, but if search activity is any indication, expect the Bakugan Battle Brawlers (#24) to be flying off the shelves this holiday season.

On the video game front, the massive multi-player game RuneScape (#1) scores big with web users for the fourth consecutive year as the most-searched video game of 2008, while Final Fantasy makes its first appearance on the list since 2005, with Final Fantasy XIII (#3). Also racking up points online, making first-ever appearances on the top video games list, are war-themed games including Call of Duty: World at War (#9) and Gears of War 2( #14), while Guitar Hero World Tour (#8) and Wii Fit (#15) are the most popular Wii-themed games based on web searches in 2008.

Also new in 2008 are Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 games Fable 2 (#17), Fallout 3 (#18), Street Fighter IV (#10), Dead Space (#19), Far Cry 2 (#22) and BioShock (#25). This also marks the fourth consecutive year the Madden football-themed games fail to make Lycos's Top Toys and Video Games list.

About Lycos, Inc.

Lycos, Inc. operates search and social media web sites that foster online communities, including the new Lycos Cinema community, bringing people together one flick at a time. Other Lycos products and sites include Lycos.com, Hotbot.com, Tripod.com, Angelfire.com, Gamesville.com, Lycos Mail, Webon, WhoWhere.com and The Lycos 50(TM). Lycos, Inc. (www.lycos.com) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Daum Communications Corp., a leading search and Internet portal in Korea. Lycos was acquired by Korean Daum Communications Corp. in October 2004 and has its U.S. headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts. Daum Communications Corp. is traded on the KOSDAQ: 035720, www.daum.net.

(C)2008 Lycos, Inc. Lycos(R) is a registered trademark of Lycos, Inc. All other product or service marks mentioned herein are those of Daum Communications Corp., Lycos, Inc. or their respective owners. All rights reserved.

SOURCE Lycos, Inc.

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