PS2 Most-Played Console In 2008, WoW Tops PC Gaming

[Pulsar_t]

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_i ... tory=21695

January 2, 2009

Nielsen: PlayStation 2 Most-Played Console In 2008, WoW Tops PC Gaming

In 2008, gamers collectively spent more time with their PlayStation 2 than any other console. That's according to media research company Nielsen, whose "Top Tens" of 2008 calculated video game console usage, as well as the top PC games.

The company's methodology, also famously used in the TV industry, is to use data from households that it monitors for media usage, and then extrapolate across the entire United States.

Nielsen's data, which actually covers the period from January through October, found that PS2 users accounted for 31.7 percent of the total time played from all nationwide gamers. The Xbox 360 was the year's second-most popular console, with 17.2 percent of the time, followed by Wii at 13.4 percent.

Interestingly, Nielsen says that the first-gen Xbox currently sees more usage than the PlayStation 3, with 9.7 percent versus 7.3 percent, respectively. The GameCube still made the surveyors' list with 4.6 percent of total time, and an "Other" category accounts for the remaining 16.2 percent.

"Other", Nielsen says, includes "any other console found in the home" - it appears that the research did not include portable hardware like the Nintendo DS or PSP.

Unsurprisingly, Blizzard's World of Warcraft tops Nielsen's most-played PC game list, seeing an average of 671 minutes played per week. In any given minute, the data says, almost 1 percent (0.723 percent) of all PC gamers are playing WoW.

Nielsen's full list of most-played PC titles, with average minutes per week and what percentage of PC gamers are playing them at that moment, is as follows:

1. World of Warcraft (Blizzard)
- 671 minutes per week (0.723% of gamers)
2. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision)
- 403 minutes per week (0.163% of gamers)
3. Halo: Combat Evolved (Microsoft)
- 295 minutes per week (0.092% of gamers)
4. The Sims (Electronic Arts)
- 213 minutes per week (0.09% of gamers)
5. The Sims 2 (Electronic Arts)
- 291 minutes per week (0.086% of gamers)
6. RuneScape (Jagex)
- 451 minutes per week (0.084% of gamers)
7. Diablo II (Blizzard)
- 313 minutes per week (0.065% of gamers)
8. Team Fortress 2 (Valve)
- 371 minutes per week (0.063% of gamers)
9. Counter-Strike (Valve)
- 282 minutes per week (0.062% of gamers)
10. Counter-Strike: Source (Valve)
- 426 minutes per week (0.061% of gamers)

Nielsen's full set of Top 10 lists, which also include television, books, and other media, are available at its official website.
POSTED: 05.22AM PST, 01/02/09 - Leigh Alexander - LINK

[noiseredux]

I love my PS2.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

i played Soul Reaver, and both MGS's for PS2 this year, not my most played but its in the top 3 or 4.

[corn619]

Its still the most popular console in my house.

[fingersmaloy]

Ya just can't beat that library. Especially now that used PS2 games are dirt cheap.

[noiseredux]

Ya just can't beat that library. Especially now that used PS2 games are dirt cheap.

Hells to the yeah.

[Hatta]

I'm on the lookout for a PS2 with a network adaptor, so I'm expecting the PS2 to be one of my top consoles for 2009.

2007 was the year of the Xbox for me. 2008 was a strange one, a little bit of everything. In terms of actual minutes played, I think my N64 came out on top. Lot of old Dos games too.

[noiseredux]

I'm on the lookout for a PS2 with a network adaptor, so I'm expecting the PS2 to be one of my top consoles for 2009.

2007 was the year of the Xbox for me. 2008 was a strange one, a little bit of everything. In terms of actual minutes played, I think my N64 came out on top. Lot of old Dos games too.

Y'know, all I did was go to GameStop and say "hi, I'd like to buy a fat PS2 with a network adapter" and the guy went in the back room and got me one. I did no hunting at all. I guess they dnt sell the network adapter separate, but they definitely had models with them pre-installed ready to go. Awesome.

[Hatta]

What are they charging down at Gamestop? I've been seeing them on craigslist for ~$80 for both the adaptor and system. I just never seem to get to them in time. But that's ok, there's a lot of fun to be had in the hunt too.

[noiseredux]

I'm pretty sure I paid $80. It was over the Summer. I can't quite recall.