Our friends at M2 Research recently put out a report called Kids and Games: What Boys and Girls Are Playing Today, which outlines the major gaming trends and preferences among children. Some of the report findings include:

• Nintendo still dominates with kids in the portable space
• Apple is becoming a significant player especially with girls.
• 44% of tween girls (8-11) are now using an Apple device to play games
• 58% of teen girls (12-15) are now using an Apple device to play games
• 17% of teen girls (12-15) play games on the Sony PSP
• 44% of teen boys (12-15) play games on the Sony PSP
• The videogame franchise girls prefer is the Mario series
• 36% of teen boys prefer Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
• The key demographic for online games are boys and girls ages 8-11.
• 91% of tween boys play games online
• 93% of tween girls play games online
• Facebook is now the favorite website among tween (8-11) boys and teen (12-15) girls

The report also includes:

• Overview of Markets and Trends Specific to Kids Gaming
• Companies to Watch
• Buying Habits
• VC Investment Update
• Marketing Games to Kids
• Survey data collected from 5,000 kids

M2 analysts Louise Curcio, Billy Pidgeon, and Wanda Meloni developed Kids and Games: What Boys and Girls Are Playing Today in partnership with KidSay, a research company that has been tracking kids’ preferences for over 10 years. M2 Research and KidSay have formed a strategic partnership to create this ongoing report series, which will be released twice per year.

IDC analyst Billy Pidgeon expects connected consoles to generate over $2 billion in 2008 and to grow to over $7 billion by 2012.

Billy Pidgeon over at IDC estimated the size of the video game market in a recent research report:

• “Industry revenue for dedicated console and handheld hardware and software attained an unprecedented high of $46.4 billion in 2007 and will grow 22.9% in 2008 to reach $57.1 billion.”

This research report actually came out before the DFC Intelligence report, but given two analysts have estimated the $57 Billion number, it’s probably safe to use.