the buzz log
Obamas Got Games
Nintendo Wii: Barack Obama approves of this console.
As though the all-time best-selling home video gaming system hasn't received enough attention for restoring family togetherness time, keeping the elderly fit, and being the savior of an otherwise bleak holiday gift-buying season—now Obama has given it his presidential (elect) stamp of approval.
Although the puppies are still pending, the New York Times noted this week that daughters Sasha and Malia got a Wii for Christmas. The gift has sent the Buzz world afire: Joystiq raised the notion of a video game czar. Another wag blogged, "Is it time to make a joke about Wii, the People?" Another punned, "Obama says 'Yes Wii Can.'"
While the Nintendo Wii is helping to improve Obama's bowling game, which had been famously and justly derided during his campaign, GigaOm applies a far more impressive analysis of how the incoming No. 44 embodies the Wii as a dark horse who became popular: "Instantly appealing like the Wii, Obama is popular not because of his library of policies, but because he is changing the way the game is played." (In case you're curious, that post dubs Hillary Clinton as the Xbox 360 and John Edwards as the PlayStation 3.)
The new White House Wii also prompted one Wired reporter, who bought the console for his parents this past Christmas, to suggest that the Obamas hangout with his peeps. The tongue-in-cheek invite does introduce an interesting notion: How about a multiplayer game (a la World of Warcraft or Runescape) led by the First Family? Instead of stimulus checks, maybe watch for a balance board in a mailbox near you.
Filed under: Video Games, Nintendo, Barack Obama
Playing With Diamonds and Pearls
With the release of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, owners of Nintendo DS and DS Lite systems have uncharted territory to explore, and we've been seeing the reverberations in Buzz.
The word "pokédex" may not mean much to the uninitiated, but searches on "pokémon diamond and pearl pokédex" indicate that it's an essential tool when you're on a quest to capture and train the wide variety of species in Diamond and Pearl's new land of Sinnoh.
Fresh Pokémon games mean that adventurers have different kinds of Pokémon (aka "pocket monsters') to discover, and some gamers are too excited to wait for these creatures to present themselves in the virtual world. Hence the Search spikes on "new pokémon," "new pokémon pictures," and "pokémon diamond cheats." We've even spotted searches on particular creatures: "lucario," "arceus," "piplup," and "chimchar" are current standouts, with some users asking for more practical advice, like "how to get lucario" and "where to find drifloon."
Poké-themed searches tend to come from boys under 13. Spend enough time in the company of ten-year-olds, and you might learn more than you ever wanted about Pokémon abilities, evolutions, types, and attacks. And, if you're someone who buys birthday presents for the Poké set, mark your calendars for June 25—that's the release date for the first Wii Pokémon game, Battle Revolution. Do we even need to tell you that Battle Revolution is already spiking in Search?
Filed under: Video Games, Nintendo, Pokemon
Super Mario Forever
No doubt about it—the Nintendo Wii is a huge success. Still, its lack of "must-have" games is cause for concern. You can only play "Wii Sports" so many times before it gets stale. Fortunately, the just-released "Super Paper Mario" should give gamers new thrills.
The heavily-hyped title is already causing a stir in Search, up 338% this week. That got us thinking about all of Mario's past adventures. Over the years, he's explored dungeons, raced go-karts, hit homeruns, and rescued the extremely capturable Princess Peach about five zillion times. Amazingly, the plumber's popularity has never waned.
As a salute to the mustached hero's staying power, we went digging through Mario's pipes to see which adventures draw the most Buzz. Game on!
Filed under: Video Games, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo
Ladies Love Nintendo
The Nintendo DS may not be the most popular console in the Buzz, but it is the only one drawing a majority of its searches from females. Over 53% of last week's queries came from the ladies—proof Nintendo knows about marketing to both genders.
A look at searches on Sony's PlayStation Portable reveals the electronics giant could learn a thing or two from the "Big N." 73% of queries on the PSP come from gents. While that's not necessarily a bad thing, Sony might be advised to pursue the female audience with a bit more gusto. After all, they spend, play, and search, too.
Filed under: Video Games, Nintendo, Nintendo DS
top movers
| Rank | Subject | 1-Day Move |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ford 400 | Breakout! |
| 2 | Indonesia Ferry | Breakout! |
| 3 | Jordan Chandler | 3481% |
| 4 | Evan Chandler | 2322% |
| 5 | American Music Awards | 1841% |
| 6 | John F. Kennedy | 1529% |
| 7 | Turkey Stuffing Recipes | 1361% |
| 8 | Liam Hemsworth | 1172% |
| 9 | Lou Dobbs | 1142% |
| 10 | Hendrick Motorsports | 888% |
top leaders
| Rank | Subject | Move | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Black Friday | +340 | 1290 |
| 2 | NFL | +489 | 670 |
| 3 | Jennifer Lopez | +451 | 515 |
| 4 | New Moon | -67 | 250 |
| 5 | American Music Awards | +236 | 249 |
| 6 | UFC | -36 | 239 |
| 7 | Miley Cyrus | +66 | 169 |
| 8 | Hulu | -11 | 154 |
what's the buzz?
A subject's buzz score is the percentage of Yahoo! users searching for that subject on a given day, multiplied by a constant to make the number easier to read. Weekly leaders are the subjects with the greatest average buzz score for a given week.
For more detailed information, visit our FAQ.