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Console Usage Data Implodes World; LHC Jealous

With a new year comes perspective on the past which, in the gaming industry, tends to come in the form of lists. Everyone’s got a list around this time of year and The Nielsen Company didn’t want to be left out. The marketing metrics mega-company has released their 2008 “Video Game Console Usage” data and the results will most likely surprise you. Take a look.

Rank Console
Usage Minutes %
1 PlayStation 2 31.7
2 Xbox 360 17.2
3 Nintendo Wii 13.4
4 Xbox 9.7
5 PlayStation 3 7.3
6 GameCube 4.6
7 Other 16.2

With 42 million units shipped across the United States and a retail price of $130, it’s no surprise that the PlayStation 2 took the lion’s share of peoples’ game time in 2008. What is surprising is that the Xbox 360 trumped the Wii for play time despite having sold several million more units. I don’t claim to understand how the world works but I know that I hardly used my Wii in 2008 and I’ve heard the same remarks from many others.

That last bit was surprising, but what’s completely bewildering is that more time was spent playing the original Xbox than PlayStation 3 in 2008. The console that the PlayStation 2 sent to an early grave now has more mindshare than Sony’s latest offering. Microsoft may have cut and run from the original Xbox themselves but surely someone in Redmond is smiling at these figures. Rounding out the chart is the GameCube which — combined with the Wii — gives Nintendo just a few seconds more mindshare than the Xbox 360 and the ‘Other’ entry which likely includes all the Sega Saturns, Nintendo DS’, Intellivisions, PSPs, and Atari Jaguars that people played in 2008.

Just to be clear, this data isn’t for the entire year; it was measured from January through October. Still, there aren’t any figures that are neck-and-neck so it’s safe to assume that by the real year-end the rankings remain unchanged. So, any educated guesses on what the 2009 numbers might look like?