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Nielsen: majority of US app purchases are games, iOS users play twice as long
Apparently, folks in the US love gaming on their mobile devices and really don't mind forking over dead presidents to do so. That's according to a recent 30-day study by Nielsen pertaining to apps across mobile platforms. The company found gaming apps to be the most popular in that period, citing that 64 percent of users played and 93 percent would pay to play. The average amount of time spent gaming was 7.8 hours, although iOS users took the award for most dedicated by nearly doubling that to 14.7 hours. Android loyalists followed with 9.3 hours of fun times, but those with BlackBerry, Windows, and "feature phones" kept things closer to business hitting under five hours each. Also notable, is that people rocking Berries and dumbphones usually opted for pre-installed games over downloads. You'll find the full breakdown by hitting the source link, and we'll get back to besting our Real Racing 2 lap times.
Second Life pwns Gordon Freeman, Warhammer Online, others
Wagner James Au at New World Notes is carrying some surprising data from ratings giant, Nielsen Media Research. From actual measurements of usage across over 180,000 homes in the USA, Linden Lab's Second Life (paradoxically measured under the 'PC games' category) rates the number two most played title, just behind World of Warcraft. Forget Warhammer Online, or EVE Online, they don't even make the top ten. World of Warcraft and Second Life beat out Gordon Freeman (Half Life 2), Civilization IV and StarCraft. As for actual weekly usage, Second Life is top of the pops at an average of 760 minutes per user per week. World of Warcraft earns the top spot with 653 minutes per user per week, but has a whole lot more users. How about Google's YouTube, the 800 pound gorilla and market leader of online video? Just 47 minutes per week (figure from C|net). Facebook? 84 minutes per week. Myspace, just 10.5 minutes per week (figures from ITProPortal). This data is measured from actual homes, as we mentioned. Almost 200,000 of them, so it isn't just data that's centric to the hardcore gamer. This is a random sampling of ordinary people. Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.
Wii clinches bronze in console usage stakes
The white coats at Nielsen have been at it again, analysing our gaming lives and charting the consoles we use most. Unlike the Nielsen study we posted about previously, this one takes into account pre-Wii/PS3/Xbox 360 platforms. This means that the PS2 stormed to a predictable, convincing victory: 30.2% of "all measured console minutes" were dedicated to Sony's nine-year-old machine. Despite its smaller user base, the Xbox 360 was second with 18.3%, while the Wii came third with 13.5% -- high enough, we feel, to put any no-doubt-hilarious Wii/dust jokes to rest. Excellently, the GameCube is following the PS3 more closely than you'd think. A quick disclaimer before you scuttle past the break to see the data in full: these numbers cover January to October 2008, there's no word on whether non-U.S. gamers were surveyed, and handhelds aren't mentioned, though are presumably bracketed in the "Others" category. Multiple console owners who are richer than us: how closely do your own habits follow this pattern?
Nielsen: Wii usage is second to Xbox 360
A study by Nielsen Games found that the Wii's usage comes in second compared to other consoles the Xbox 360. Among 10-26 year olds, the Xbox 360 reigned supreme, while for those above 27, the PS3 Xbox 360 also held a steady lead. Interestingly, the Wii owned the middle ground in usage for both demographics, with the Xbox 360 and PS3 switching places.The Nielsen study, conducted between April 2007 and February 2008, lumps all that data into one pool, so it's not hard to see where some issues might lie. It would certainly be interesting to see monthly breakdowns and observe if the Wii and PS3 received noticeable usage increases once high-profile games started showing up during Holiday '07. We also wonder what effect usage of console Blu-ray or DVD functionality had on the data. But what we're actually most curious about, is where the PS2 would be had it been incorporated into the data?Update: Nielsen amended its 27+ data, apparently the Xbox 360 and PS3 info was accidentally reversed for the demographic; fixed image to match.Source: How much use does Wii get?Source: Correction[Via GameDaily, Thanks Master X]
Across the land, Wiis are being neglected
Consumer research bods Nielsen recently set out to answer mind-poppingly important questions such as: just how long did an average play session on the Wii last for somebody in North America between the ages of 10 and 26? The results suggest that we should all be paying a little more attention to our poor, neglected Wiis.While Nintendo's platform enjoys a decent share of gamers' overall gaming time, the rest of Nielsen's statistics paint a damning picture. The Wii lags behind the Xbox 360 and PS3 in both the "average number of sessions a day" and "average usage days per month" (disgraceful commitment there from the over-26 demographic) sections.The average Wii session also doesn't last as long as those on its two rivals, though no wonder with all of those required installations and ridiculously protracted cut-scenes, amirite? What's that? We're just being sore losers? Fine. Whatever.
