US: Wii Beats PS3 in Online Gaming

Xbox 360 heads the pack

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US: Wii Beats PS3 in Online Gaming
US market research company NPD has revealed that the Wii is more widely used for online gaming than the PlayStation 3 in North America.

Using a sample of 20,000 people, in its Online Gaming 2009 study NPD revealed that, in the category of console gaming, online use of the Wii rose from 18% of the sample group last year to 29% this year.

Despite the Wiis rise in online popularity (or simply, more people in the sample now own a Wii) The Xbox 360 is top of the pile for console-based online gaming and now accounts for 50% of all console-based online play.

No percentage figure was given for PlayStation 3 - which ranked fifth last year to third this year. Also unsurprisingly, NPD said that online use of the PS2 dropped "dramatically".

Of the sample, 25% of respondents used consoles and handhelds for online gaming - up from 19% last year. NPD called this 6% jump "statistically significant".

The (Windows) PC remains the most prominent platform for online gaming, although it saw a slight decline year on year.

If there's one thing this report tells us, it's that developers and publishers really ought to start taking the Wii more seriously as an online platform.
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