Toys Kids And Parents Want Most

Bakugan, a game based on a Japanese cartoon, was the most searched for toy on Google this holiday season.

Just what is Bakugan? If you don't know the answer, you're not alone. Typing in "What is Bakugan game?" will bring up about 1.1 million hits on Google, or about as many as the query "What is a good credit score?"

For those of us who aren't 8-year-olds but are merely shopping for them, Bakugan is a game played with magnetic cards and action figures based on a popular Japanese animation show on the Cartoon Network. It's also the most-searched for toy on Google during the 2008 holiday season.

Google's list of the most-searched for toys spans from Bankugan at No. 1 to "Little Big Planet," a videogame for the Playstation 3 in which users can design their own levels and share them with their friends, at No. 10. The toys on the list--which range in price from less than $10 to more than $150--provide a rogue's gallery of reasons why even shoppers with tight budgets are braving malls during the holiday season.

The high search results on Google also suggest that shoppers are continuing to move toward online retailers as a way to beat crowds.

For parents, the items on the list will be familiar by now--perhaps painstakingly so. While not as hard to find as a Nintendo Wii, Bakugan toys and accessories have sold out within minutes at various retailers across the country. But thanks to its relatively low technology--each action figure comes inside a small ball that is opened by a magnet--the toys are often restocked daily.

But even those parents with the best of intentions are clearly shopping for themselves as well. "Guitar Hero: World Tour" comes in right after Bakugan on the list of most-searched toys. The videogame, which lets users play along with popular songs with simulated guitars, drums and a microphone, sells for around $200 and is available for the major games console.

Playable tracks include the Eagles' "Hotel California," Michael Jackson's "Beat It" and Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again." Tweens raised on Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers can't be the only ones asking Santa for the chance to play along with those classics.