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Nielsen Corrects Console Usage Report

Kris Graft's picture

By Kris Graft

April 9, 2009

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Research firm Nielsen has amended its recently released report that claimed the Wii has the lowest amount of usage.

In January 2009, Wii was second only to the massively popular PlayStation 2 in usage. Nielsen told FastCompany the correct usage minute percentages across all consoles were: PlayStation 2: 23.7 percent, Wii: 20.7 percent, Xbox 360: 18.2 percent, PlayStation 3: 9.0 percent, Xbox: 7.9 percent and GameCube: 3.3 percent.

Nielsen notes: "Looking at the total usage minutes across all consoles for 2008, PlayStation 2 with the largest installed base still leads all other consoles. However the PlayStation 2 usage minutes are trending significantly down for the year. GameCube and Xbox usage minutes are slowly trending down for 2008. The Xbox 360 and Wii usage minutes are trending upward."

Nielsen corrected and reposted its report on its blog.

tommy's picture

I been spending most time on the Wii. At the moment playing Super Mario 64 on the virtual console. I'll swing back to PS3 though when titles like Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 and Tekken 6 are released.

Bharatkumar's picture

James, very well said. I think the other posters only read the headline not the article. The Wii is a different experience than an Xbox 360 or PS3. You cannot watch a movie on the Wii, you can on the Xbox 360 (even blu-ray) and Xbox 360. The report shows all console time (game play, watching videos, etc) not just game play. Therefore, I don't think Nintendo will see this as negative. They built an innovative, inexpensive video game console, not a video game console and multi-media center.

The correction does show that the PlayStation 3 is growing, but slowly. The good news for Sony is this year, that growth seems to be accelerating. In the article mention on FastCompany, there is a neat graph that shows February 2009 market penetration versus actual game usage.

For the Wii, I would like to see some better quality titles. Seems like Nintendo comes out with the most innovative games for the platform. I can get by with just Wii Sports, and Wii Fit. Where are the really innovative other studios for Wii????

James_Stanard's picture

Maybe it's just me who is confused, but this doesn't sound much like a correction. The previous article stated that of those people who own a Wii, they play it less than than those people who own other consoles play theirs. In a situation where a player owns more than one console, it would be assumed that they give less time to the Wii than the others.

But that article must not have flattered Nintendo very much, and they put pressure on Nielson to "rephrase the data" in order to give them a more positive spin. (Not that Nintendo needs any more positive spin.)

So here it is: Of all people in the world, more people play Wii than everything else (except PS2). Gosh, gee... Could it be because there are something like twice as many Wiis in the wild as there are 360s and maybe triple the number of PS3s?

The original article--which was not contradicted by this article in anyway--only implied that Wii gamers don't play as many games as other console owners. I'd think that's probably a result of selling consoles to many "non-core gamers". Some of those Wii owners maybe only turn it on when their grandkids come over.

GiobbiT's picture

Yep agree James, that's correct.

E. Zachary Knight's picture

Yes Nintendo muscled their way in and intimidated Nielson and forced them to change the data. That makes such logical sense.

grognard66's picture

Actually, there is a laundry list of "retractions" Nintendo has forced this generation (remember the "Wii is just two Gamecubes duct taped together" retraction?) from a wide variety of sources both in and out of the industry. Nielsen sells this information to companies like Nintendo and doesn't want to alienate one of the few companies with so much money they can waste it on worthless/poorly designed studies such as this one.

Kenology's picture

Hey... I warned them that this corrected info would be hard to swallow. I didn't anticipate the spin being this ridiculous though. It's quite entertaining!

Ozzman_79's picture

Looks like some people actually use their dust collectors after all, despite what they seem to think. Who'd have thought.

CyberData4's picture

Never needed a report to tell me how my playtime on the Wii fared. I have a 360 and a Wii, and I haven't touched the Wii since Smash came out. Since then it's been collecting dust. I'll plug it back up once the conduit and punch out release. Until then there are just more entertaining game for me on my 360.

Now, that's just me. If others are playing their wii 40 hours a day...good for them. That doesn't magically make the time I spent gaming on my 360 "unfun."

toadwarrior's picture

Who said the 360 is unfun? In the previous article it sounded like people were implying the Wii was unfun.

The 360's problem isn't fun but quality seeing how the system breaks after a few weeks use.

Dan_Chippendale's picture

what a joke.. can a company be trusted if they makes such big blunders?

E. Zachary Knight's picture

Nielson is actually very successful and trustworthy. But like any research firm, they are prone to human mistakes such as mislabeling a graph or not connecting the right dots. One mistake out of 30 years of honest and careful work, does not negate everything they have done. Especially when the mistake is in something they have only been recording and reporting for less than 2 years.

Kenology's picture

lol!

When Wii is the lowest on the MISTAKEN graph earlier in the week, you say:
"of course it's played less than PS3/360. It doesn't take a genius to know that most wii owners are consumers who probably use the wii for a couple of hours max a week like they might watch a DVD or read a book etc. PS3/360 users are the kinds of gamers to plough hours into a title every night."

When Wii is the highest in the CORRECTED graph, all of a sudden Neilsen can't be trusted!

Thanks for the laugh, Dan!

NickgamertagO1's picture

So I guess gaming is at the top of Wii owner's entertainment priority list then?

E. Zachary Knight's picture

Either that or Wii owners are more likely to be part of the Nielson's test households. They do try to be as diverse as possible, but it can only go so far when participation is voluntary.

toadwarrior's picture

There seems to be a lack of comments on this story.

Danonino's picture

Little Big Mistake.
Seriously, how much importance has a source with such unprofessional procedure?.

Kenology's picture

Suddenly, all the trolls are back under the bridge... eating crow, I presume.