A study conducted by NPD has found from a sample size of ”just over 20,000” U.S. citizens that the Xbox 360 is the lead for console multiplayer.
They also found that 87% asked said they played online via their PC, which is down from 90% last year. Portable and console gaming online has seen a ”statistically significant increase.”
Little was given on the PlayStation platform but they did note that the ”PS2 fell dramatically and PS3 moved up from fifth place to third place.” The Nintendo Wii accounted for 29%, which has leapt up from 2008’s figure of 18%.
Ultimately, and to no surprise, the PC remains ”the most widely used platform for online gaming activities.”
13 to 17 year olds make up 22% of total online gamers, which has increased from 17%, while the older age ranges decreased but no figures were given.
See below for the methodology used by NPD for this study.
Methodology
The report is based on online survey responses from just over 20,000 members of NPD’s online consumer panel ages 2 and older (respondents age 2-12 were captured via surrogate reporting).
Respondents had to personally play video games on a PC, video game system or device used for gaming. In order to qualify as an online gamer, respondents had to use one or more of the following systems to play games online: Nintendo DS/DS Lite handheld system, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Sony PSP handheld system, Xbox, Xbox 360 or PC. Both online gamers and gamers overall (whether online or offline) were included in the study.
The survey data is weighted to represent the U.S. population of individuals ages 2 and older. Fieldwork was conducted from January 6-26, 2009.
Source: Shacknews
