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PS2 kicks Xbox and Wii ###

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By Bill Andad on Jan 4th, 2009 4:07 am
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If you thought that gaming was all about next generation technology, HD graphics or innovative input systems think again. If the results of a survey into console usage in the US during 2008 is anything to go by, it would appear that gameplay is still in charge.

The Nielsen research shows that more people were playing with their old PlayStation 2 that their new PlayStation 3. Heck, it showed that more people were playing with that PS2, in terms of the number of minutes spent using a console throughout the year, than the Nintendo Wii or the Xbox 360.

Rather interestingly, I thought, was the fact that the old generation Xbox even managed to beat the PS3 into 5th place.

Of course, a lot of this taps into the sheer numbers of older consoles that have been sold and are still out there in daily use. So while the PS3 can claim to have sold around 18 million, and the Wii 40 million, neither can compete with the PS2 and its incredible tally of 140 million consoles sold.

The official Nielsen game console usage chart for 2008 looks like this:

  1. PS2
  2. Xbox 360
  3. Wii
  4. Xbox
  5. PS3
  6. Gamecube
  7. Other
4 Years Ago
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Your numbers are, as far as I can tell, correct, however I feel like your conclusion that the PS2 is "kicking ###" is somewhat incorrect.

One reason for this is that, as you have said, the PS2 has a significantly higher tally mainly for the reason that it's had about a 6 year head start, and so a lot more people have one. If we divide these numbers by the number of years each console has been out, so as to hopefully reduce the offset, we see much, much smaller margins.

Another factor that I don't think you've mentioned is the PS2/PS3 relationship vs the Gamecube/Wii relationship. Granted, the importance here is not apparent at first glance. Allow me to explain:

When the Wii was released, I think it's safe to say most Gamecube users converted to the Wii. Your numbers support this -- the Wii scores much higher then the Gamecube on the given chart. However! When the PS3 was released, a good number of people decided not to upgrade, and stayed with the PS2. I'm not going to speculate on why this is, though it's likely that the price tag was a major factor.

The result of this split is that Nintendo has taken it's Gamecube players, more or less cut them off, given them the Wii, and thus split their player base between the two consoles. However, what we see on Sony's side is that more people have stayed with the PS2 then gone to the PS3, and so their player base is more centralized on one console, bringing their numbers for that console higher.

At least, that's how it seems to me.

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