Hasbro's I-DOG will be available this fall; Price:$24.99.

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - There's no doubt that Monopoly,Trivial Pursuit and Pictionary are among the undisputed game classics of the toy world.

But can they really compete with today's hot new playthings like Sony's PSP, Leapfrog's computer pen and a robo-pet called the "I-DOG?"

Chris Byrne's, an independent toy industry consultant, doesn't think so.

"Will a kid prefer to play a PSP Spider Man game or a Monopoly Spider Man edition? Probably the PSP version," said Byrne. "The bottom line is that there will always be space in the toy box for Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit but board games are up against very tough competition," Byrne said.

Industry watchers say the biggest threat to board games comes from the fast growth of tech toys. In other words, a toy isn't a toy if it doesn't have an electronic component to it.

Electronics toys were definitely the dominant trend at this year's American International Toy Fair, an annual industry event where toymakers unveil the hottest creations that will hit store shelves in time for the holidays.

Among the buzz makers were Hasbro (Research)'s "I-DOG," a palm-sized interactive robo-pooch that responds to music by dancing along to whatever song that you're listening to.

Jakks Pacific (Research) debuted its new lineup of TV plug-and-play gaming units and Radica Games is gearing up to deliver two new updates of its hit "20Q" game, the first hand held game to use artificial intelligence for the classic game of 20 questions.

Sure there was a sprinkling of newer versions of board games but not the traditional cardboard variety with dice and little play parts that you actually hold and play with.

Instead, what you're seeing is a hybridized product like Hasbro's new "Star Wars" Trivial Pursuit interactive DVD game and Mattel's Scene it?, which is a DVD movie trivia game.

Said Byrne, "Board games had a more prominent place in the 60's to the mid-80's in kids' interactive play. With the arrival of Atari and Sega, board games started to become less relevant with kids and they're certainly not their most favorite thing to do today."

Hasbro, the No. 2 toymaker after Mattel (Research), doesn't think so even though the leading maker of board games posted an unexpected loss last quarter on the back of weak sales of both its trading card and board games.

Analysts estimate that those two product categories together account for as much as 40 percent the company's total sales.

In a conference call with analysts, CEO Al Verrecchia attributed the decline to retailers' changing their order patterns for games. According to Hasbro, toy sellers are buying more inventory of games -- about 38 percent -- in the fourth quarter and are keeping their orders lean for the rest of the year.

Hasbro spokesman Wayne Charness disagreed with Byrne, saying that the recent sales slump in board games is not symptomatic of the their fading appeal to kids today. (See correction below)

"We don't think that the fundamentals of the business have changed," Charness said. "Nothing can take the place of a board game in getting a family to sit down and interact with each other."

That may be so but according to market research firm NPD Group, total sales of games and puzzles fell 3 percent to $2.3 billion in 2004 versus the previous year.

"There is some concern about the ongoing encroachment of video games in the traditional toy and games markets," said Timothy Conder, analyst with A.G. Edwards.

At the same time, Byrne cautions against saying that board games will ultimately vanish altogether. "Look at the popularity of Cranium," he said. "The way the toy industry works is that you'll constantly get intermittent bursts of old classics making comebacks. The toy cycle right now doesn't favor your traditional Monopoly or Pictionary."

Click here to read more about how Hasbro is hyping up "Star Wars."

Correction: An earlier version of this story dropped the word "not" from this sentence: Hasbro spokesman Wayne Charness disagreed with Byrne, saying that the recent sales slump in board games is not symptomatic of the their fading appeal to kids today." CNN/Money regrets the error. (Go to the corrected paragraph)