Nielsen Games - Gameplay Metrics, the subdivision of Nielsen Media Research, has released it annual media fact sheet regarding video game usage. According to Nielsen’s polling, the Xbox 360 was the most used game console in the United States in 2009. The consoles were ranked in terms of minutes used:
- Xbox 360 - 23.1% PS2 - 20.4% Wii - 19.0%
If these results are accepted at face value, Microsoft has to be pleased that it is leading its home market in popularity, since the overseas market (excluding the United Kingdom) has been much more challenging. Despite this, Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer did announce yesterday at CES that the Xbox 360 has now shipped more than 39 million units worldwide.
Surprisingly, Nielsen did not include the PS3, which either means it is not faring as well stateside or was excluded for some other reason. Even so, Sony announced at CES that it shipped 3.8 million PS3 units over the holiday season, so perhaps next year’s Nielsen results will show significantly more usage of the PS3. The continued popularity of the PS2 is very impressive and shows that it may actually exceed Sony’s planned “10-year cycle” lifespan.
Nielsen also reported that 73% of all United States households own a device used specifically for gaming and that 54% of United States households own a video game console or handheld system. Out of that 54%, 41% own a current generation device. Only 23% of homes own a “handheld console,” which seems to indicate that Nielsen failed to poll children under the age of 8.
Gaming isn’t just for men anymore, either. Nielsen found that 45% of gamers who played a minimum of one hour a week were female. So guys, if you play your cards right, perhaps you can convince your significant other to replace romantic comedy night with two hours of World of Warcraft?
Do the above results surprise you? Let us know what you think!
Source: PC World; G4tv.com
