Each year Neilson, the ratings people, release the results of a survey showing who is playing what in terms of video games. Last year, they found that even 2 years after the release of the Playstation 3 (PS3), the Playstation 2 (PS2) was the dominant system in terms of play time, followed by the Wii – but also noted that the PS2 showed the greatest decline in share. (note: their own ‘state of the gamer’ report for 2008 contradicted that and showed the XBOX360 2nd and Wii 3rd) Now they have released the report for 2009, and there are some dramatic shifts and interesting finds enclosed in their report!
Some of the findings:
Percent of households with a device used PRIMARILY for gaming: 73%
Percent of households with a gaming console or handheld: 54%
Percent of households with a ‘current generation’ gaming console (i.e. X360 / PS3 / Wii): 41%
Percent of households with a handheld console: 23%My only question on this – 23% of households in the US means about 25 million households, yet the DS alone has sold nearly 50 million units in the US alone! (perhaps even more since the holiday numbers aren’t final yet) Add to that nearly 20 million PSP sales in the US, and would mean about 3 handhelds per house that has a handheld. Well, looking at my house … 4 PSPs and 4 DS – so I guess we’re doing our share!
The demographics have also tracked game playing by females, as video game historically have been male-dominated:
Percent of gamers that are female (defined as playing at least one hour per week): 45%
Percentage of Nintendo Wii owners that are female: 49%
Percentage of Sony Playstation Portable (PSP) owners that are female: 52%While I have no problem with the Wii number, something seems off with the PSP at 52% female. After all, everything about the PSP really screams ‘young adult male demographic’.
Finally, they rank the top 3 consoles in terms of ‘share of gaming minutes’:
XBOX360 – 23.1%
Playstation 2 – 20.4%
Wii – 19.0%The console rank is not very surprising – last year Sony’s PS2 had over 28% share, with the X360 and Wii at 17.4% and 16.4% respectively. This year the PS2 dropped quite a bit, with the X360 picking up a large chunk of that drop – which makes sense when you compare the releases on the platforms.
What do you think? What are your own gaming habits and what systems do you and your family own?
Check out the full report here. from Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/06/nielsen-survey-says-most-psp-users-are-female-xbox-360-most-pla/
I have loved technology for as long as I can remember - and have been a computer gamer since the PDP-10! Mobile Technology has played a major role in my life - I have used an electronic companion since the HP95LX more than 20 years ago, and have been a 'Laptop First' person since my Compaq LTE Lite 3/20 and Powerbook 170 back in 1991! As an avid gamer and gadget-junkie I was constantly asked for my opinions on new technology, which led to writing small blurbs ... and eventually becoming a reviewer many years ago. My family is my biggest priority in life, and they alternate between loving and tolerating my gaming and gadget hobbies ... but ultimately benefits from the addition of technology to our lives!
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