Unsurprisingly the PlayStation 2 is top dog with estimated “Usage Minutes” of 31.7%. In second place comes the Xbox 360 with 17.2%.
The PlayStation 3 trails in fifth place with 7.3%, behind the original Xbox with 9.7%. Nielson sampled over ”12,000 households with approximately 33,000 individuals.”
Video Game Console Usage
PlayStation 2 - 31.7% Usage Minutes
Xbox 360 - 17.2% Usage Minutes
Wii - 13.4% Usage Minutes
Xbox - 9.7% Usage Minutes
PlayStation 3 - 7.3% Usage Minutes
GameCube - 4.6% Usage Minutes
Other - 16.2% Usage Minutes
Data from Jan - Oct 2008. Usage Minutes % is the percent of all measured console minutes. ‘Other’ consists of any other console systems found in the home.
Nielsen GamePlay Metrics began tracking in 2007 and also detailed their methodology, which it’s presumed hasn’t changed since then. See below for the details.
Nielsen GamePlay Metrics uses console data collected from the Nielsen’s People Meter TV sample combined with Nielsen GamePlay Metrics’ proprietary audio signature library that matches the unique audio signature of every game tracked on the six most widely available video game consoles, including PlayStation 2, PLAYSTATION 3, Xbox, Xbox 360, Wii and GameCube.
The GamePlay
Metrics user sample includes more than 12,000 households with approximately 33,000 individuals.
Nielsen GamePlay Metrics uses PC data collected from the Nielsen’s Video Game Tracking Survey. Video Game Tracking is a weekly online survey of 1200 gamers 7 - 54 years of age. Qualifications include ownership of a console or PC, play video games at least 1 hour per week and have purchased at least one or more video games in the last 6 months. The Video Game Tracking online survey has been in the field for more than two years (104+ weeks).
Source: Shacknews