| Video game consoles have come a long way | | | | place in the Nielsen ratings (19.8%). The Xbox 360 |
| since the Atari 2600 system and "Pong". So when | | | | was king of the ratings, earning 24.1% of usage |
| talking about the most popular video game | | | | minutes. Meanwhile, the Wii took third place |
| systems, it would be logical to assume that last | | | | (16.0%), and the PS3 was in fourth place (12.4) |
| year's top console could consistently be one of | | | | Nonetheless, the staying power of the PS2 is |
| the most up-to-date systems. The Nintendo Wii, | | | | nothing short of incredible, considering how rapidly |
| Xbox 360, and Playstation 3 probably would come | | | | the gaming industry changes. Still, newer doesn't |
| to mind. | | | | necessarily mean better. Remember all the hype |
| Are you ready for a shocker? The most popular | | | | surrounding Sony's unveiling of the PS3? Nielsen's |
| video game console of April, 2009 was the | | | | figures show that it's fallen well behind the Xbox |
| PlayStation 2! Yes, it's the same gaming system | | | | 360 and Wii, in terms of minutes played. So |
| that Sony had released nearly a decade earlier, in | | | | there's something to be said about playing games |
| 2000. About 140 million units and 2,000 games | | | | on the oldie-but-goodie PS2. |
| later, the PS2 is still going strong. | | | | How about those Nielsen ratings for PC games? |
| You might be wondering: how is the "most | | | | "World of Warcraft" continues to be the most |
| popular" gaming system being defined? PS2 | | | | popular PC game on planet Earth. In fact, it's not |
| earned the title based on recent Nielsen ratings. | | | | even close! When Nielsen released its monthly |
| The ratings are calculated by totally the number | | | | figures in April of 2009, about 45% of all minutes |
| of minutes gamers spent playing particular | | | | that PC gamers racked up were for "World of |
| consoles, during an entire month. When Nielsen | | | | Warcraft" alone. Interestingly, while players |
| published its statistics for April of 2009, | | | | average more time playing other games, those |
| PlayStation 2 was at the top, earning 21.6% of all | | | | games have fewer players. As of November |
| gaming minutes that month. The second most | | | | 2009, "World of Warcraft" still topped the charts, |
| popular gaming system was right on the PS2's tail, | | | | with "Warcraft 3" earning the second spot. |
| with Xbox 360 earning 21.1% of the total minutes. | | | | Gamers weekly spent about 8.7 hours and 7.6 |
| Nintendo Wii was farther behind, at 17.6%, and | | | | hours playing the two games, respectively. |
| PlayStation 3 was next at 10.5%. | | | | It remains to be seen how the gaming systems |
| You should certainly take these figures with a | | | | will rank in Nielsen's ratings, in 2010. The PS2 will |
| grain of salt. One factor is that in April 2009, | | | | likely drop further in the charts, as newer |
| Xbox 360 games were selling better than all the | | | | systems produce more advanced games. But |
| other video game consoles. Also, Nintendo | | | | consider the fact that on average, gamers are still |
| released a significant amount of original titles | | | | spending twice as much time playing PS2, as they |
| towards the latter half of 2009. In fact, by | | | | are playing PS3! |
| November of 2009, the PS2 dropped to second | | | | |