Gaming may nowadays be a pursuit for all ages, but that doesn’t mean that the appetite for the hobby amongst kids has diminished – indeed, new research from US stats firm NPD suggests that games are dominated parent’s Christmas spending power in 2008.

For the five weeks up to and including Christmas 2008, 41 per cent of all money spent on 9-14 year olds was spent on video games and consumer electronics.

Both Nintendo and Sony were namedropped amongst the top brands named in the survey, alongside the likes of Hannah Montana, Nike and LEGO.

“In today's economic environment, it is becoming increasingly important for companies to grow certain categories in order to better attract a larger consumer audience, and to increase dollar share beyond specific age groups,” NPD’s Anita Frazier explained.

“Knowing who’s buying products for kids, where they’re buying and what in-store promotions are helping them with their purchase decisions will help fine tune promotional and merchandising plans.”