A study undertaken by market research group Nielsen measures the amount of ‘game-minutes’ used on each console. Its results show that in October the PS2 was responsible for over 30 percent of all console gameplay, with the Xbox 360 trailing in second with an 18.3 percent share.
Nielsen’s research is based on the same methodology as its TV ratings. In many homes across America Nielsen has installed "people meters" on the home entertainment areas, whereby information is collected through usage of a host of entertainment devices, from TVs to Blu-Ray players and game consoles. As such, the group cannot measure handheld usage in this way.
Nielsen explains to Edge that the data shown is an average of the usage over the course of the 10 months from January-October. "The PS2 usage percentage has steadily declined over the course of 2008 but has leveled off the past quarter or so to around 30%" a spokesperson said.
The full list also claims that the original Xbox had amassed more usage than Sony’s PS3. The full list can be found below:
PlayStation 2 (30.2% of “all measured console minutes”)
Xbox 360 (18.3%)
Wii (13.5%)
Xbox (9.1%)
PlayStation 3 (7.7%)
GameCube (4.4%)
Other (16.9%)
Update: Edited for Clarification.