PlayStation 2 Accounted for 42 Percent of Video Game Play in June, Nielsen Reports

"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

    NEW YORK, July 26 /PRNewswire/ -- 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. 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.
     Nielsen GamePlay Metrics uses PC data collected from the Nielsen's
 Video Game Tracking Survey. Video Game Tracking is a weekly online survey
 of 1200 gamers 7 - 54 years of age. Qualifications include ownership of a
 console or PC, play video games at least 1 hour per week and have purchased
 at least one or more video games in the last 6 months. The Video Game
 Tracking online survey has been in the field for more than two years (104+
 weeks).
     Additional data, including rankings of console video game titles and
 the electronic metering of PC game titles are in testing and will be
 available to select Nielsen GamePlay Metrics clients in the near future. On
 July 5, 2007 Nielsen announced a collaborative agreement with Sony Computer
 Entertainment America to develop a measurement system for computer game
 advertising that includes the sharing of video game console data. The
 Nielsen-Sony data will also be provided within GamePlay Metrics service in
 the near future.
     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). The privately
 held company is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in
 Haarlem, the Netherlands, and New York, USA. For more information, please
 visit, www.nielsen.com.
 
 

SOURCE The Nielsen Company