full text:
"World of Warcraft" and "Halo: Combat Evolved" Were the Most Played PC Games
Nielsen GamePlay Metrics(TM) Launched by Nielsen to Measure PC and Console Video Game Usage
Sony's PlayStation 2 accounted for 42 percent of video game console usage during June, and PC gamers played World of Warcraft more than four times as much as any other PC game, Nielsen reported today as it launched Nielsen GamePlay Metrics(TM), the first service of its kind to electronically track video game console usage and games played on PCs.
68.1 million individuals used a video game console in June, playing an average of 7.5 days during the month. On the days they played, Xbox 360 users logged an average of 2.2 sessions, with an average session length of 61 minutes. In contrast, PlayStation 3 users' logged an average of 1.9 sessions, with an average session length of 83 minutes, on the days they played.

                         Nielsen GamePlay Metrics
                        Console Usage Report Trend
                           June 2007 / May 2007

                              June                             May

                              # of                            # of
                   % of   Sessions       Avg      % of    Sessions       Avg
                  Total     During   Minutes     Total      During   Minutes
                   Mins       Days       Per      Mins        Days       Per
  Console          Used     played   Session      Used      Played   Session

  PlayStation 2    42.3      1.95        62       45.7       1.88       58
  Xbox             17.0      2.17        62       15.1       2.03       53
  Xbox 360          8.0      2.21        61       12.1       1.93       68
  GameCube          5.8      1.76        55        6.9       1.71       57
  Wii               4.0      1.78        57        3.0       1.70       52
  PlayStation 3     1.5      1.88        83        1.3       1.66       58
  Other*           21.3      1.84        62       15.9       1.76       56
  All             100.0      1.99        62      100.0       1.89       58

  * Other consists of any other console systems found in the home, such as
  vSmile, Sega, FC Twin video system, Game Wave Family Entertainment System,
  etc.

"With Nielsen GamePlay Metrics, we have significantly advanced the understanding of how video game consoles are used and which games are actually being played," said Jeff Herrmann, Vice President of Nielsen Games and Nielsen Wireless. "This is the first glimpse of metered in-home video game player data, providing game publishers, console manufacturers, advertisers and competing entertainment media with the most accurate, objective, and quantifiable metric available. We believe this will change the discussions surrounding which games get developed for what consoles and how publishers represent their actual audience to advertisers."
Nielsen GamePlay Metrics provides electronic ratings and proprietary survey data to show who is playing games, on which systems, at what times and, when integrated with other Nielsen data, illustrates which other media platforms are also engaging gamers and which consumer goods they're likely to buy. Ultimately, GamePlay Metrics will establish a metric that can be used for buying and selling dynamic and static advertisements in PC and console video games.
PC Game Rankings
World of Warcraft from Blizzard Entertainment was the most played PC game in June, according to Nielsen's GamePlay Metrics, outranking the next most- played game by four times. In addition to World of Warcraft, the top five PC games for June included Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 from Microsoft Game Studios, The Sims from Electronic Arts and RuneScape from Jagex. The most popular genre was Massively Multiplayer Online Games with four titles in the top 10, including RuneScape and three titles from the Warcraft franchise. Legacy blockbuster franchises with strong customizable communities ("modders") like Grand Theft Auto and Counter-Strike rounded out the top 10.

                         Nielsen GamePlay Metrics
                         Top PC Games - June 2007

                                                 Avg # of   % of Total
         Prev                                     Minutes      Minutes
         Months                                    Played       Played
  Rank   Rank     Game Title             AA%**   Per Week     Per Week

   1        1    World of Warcraft       0.845       1043       17.959
   2        3    Halo: Combat Evolved    0.171        510        3.648
   3        2    Sims, The *             0.155        235        3.316
   4        6    Halo 2                  0.138        509        2.939
   5        7    RuneScape               0.131        673        2.788
   6       12    Madden NFL 07           0.097        378        2.060
   7       27    Warcraft III            0.093        671        1.991
   8       11    Warcraft                0.087        508        1.852
   8        4    Counter-Strike *        0.087        478        1.846
  10        8    Grand Theft Auto *      0.084        314        1.790

  Source:  Nielsen GamePlay Metrics

  ** AA% is defined as: Percentage of all PC gamers who played a title at
  least once during the reporting period.
  * indicates franchise

Additional Findings
Nielsen GamePlay Metrics is built upon the same data collection infrastructure as Nielsen's TV ratings system, and can derive in-depth information about console gamers and their households. For example:

  -- There are seasonal use patterns of game play. In April, Wii's peak
     usage hour was 5PM, and now, during Summer Break, Wii usage peaks at 8
     PM.
  -- Wii households are upscale. They are more likely to earn more than
     $100,000 income per year.

Nielsen GamePlay Metrics Methodologies
Nielsen GamePlay Metrics uses console data collected from the Nielsen's People Meter TV sample combined with Nielsen GamePlay Metrics' proprietary audio signature library that matches the unique audio signature of every game tracked on the six most widely available video game consoles, including PlayStation 2, PLAYSTATION 3, Xbox, Xbox 360, Wii and GameCube. The GamePlay Metrics user sample includes more than 12,000 households with approximately 33,000 individuals.
About The Nielsen Company
The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions and recognized brands in marketing information (ACNielsen), media information (Nielsen Media Research), online intelligence (NetRatings and BuzzMetrics), trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek).
Web site: http://www.nielsen.com/

Share this content via:HTML: for your myspace, blog, or web site

' />
BB: for your bulletin boards or forums
URL: for your Email, IM, or link to this page