The number of games consoles in US television- owning homes has increased by 18.5% since the fourth quarter of 2004. The information comes courtesy of The Nielsen Company, a major American market research company.
This figure comes from Nielsen's report entitled The State of the Console. The report does not differentiate between consoles, the only criteria is that it must work through a telly. According to the company's figures there are now 45.7-million console in US households, compared to 38.6 million in 2004.
The survey took in some 12,000 households containing TVs, and monitored console usage from the fourth quarter of 2004 through to the fourth quarter of 2006. SPOnG would like to point out that the PS3 and Wii were only launched Stateside in that last quarter of '06.
Nielsen also asserts that 4.4-million households are connected to the internet via their consoles, again before the Wii and PS3 could be taken into account. Further to that, Nielsen reports some two thirds of all men in America aged between 18 and 34 have access to a console.
It all sounds ridiculously promising for the industry, doesn't it? Let's not get ahead of ourselves and start proclaiming that the market is flooding with casual users just yet, however. Nielsen also reports that in the fourth quarter of 2006 the top 20% of users accounted for 74.4% of all console usage. Those guys are averaging 5 hours and 45 minutes a day. The hardcore among us are still putting in the hours, it seems.
Still, just short of a 20% increase in penetration is not to be scoffed at. Nielsen also notes that between September 18th and December 31st last year 93.8 million 'Mercans used a console. It's also encouraging that the figures come from just before the next generation cycle gets into full swing.
Nielsen has had a busy year so far in the games industry. Click here for SPOnG's report on the company's findings on Blu-ray and HD.
This figure comes from Nielsen's report entitled The State of the Console. The report does not differentiate between consoles, the only criteria is that it must work through a telly. According to the company's figures there are now 45.7-million console in US households, compared to 38.6 million in 2004.
The survey took in some 12,000 households containing TVs, and monitored console usage from the fourth quarter of 2004 through to the fourth quarter of 2006. SPOnG would like to point out that the PS3 and Wii were only launched Stateside in that last quarter of '06.
Nielsen also asserts that 4.4-million households are connected to the internet via their consoles, again before the Wii and PS3 could be taken into account. Further to that, Nielsen reports some two thirds of all men in America aged between 18 and 34 have access to a console.
It all sounds ridiculously promising for the industry, doesn't it? Let's not get ahead of ourselves and start proclaiming that the market is flooding with casual users just yet, however. Nielsen also reports that in the fourth quarter of 2006 the top 20% of users accounted for 74.4% of all console usage. Those guys are averaging 5 hours and 45 minutes a day. The hardcore among us are still putting in the hours, it seems.
Still, just short of a 20% increase in penetration is not to be scoffed at. Nielsen also notes that between September 18th and December 31st last year 93.8 million 'Mercans used a console. It's also encouraging that the figures come from just before the next generation cycle gets into full swing.
Nielsen has had a busy year so far in the games industry. Click here for SPOnG's report on the company's findings on Blu-ray and HD.
Read More Like This