Remember that study of video gamer habits Nielsen released earlier this week showing the Wii in third place and the Playstation 3 in seventh, last even after the GameCube and original Xbox? It was wrong.

Fast Company reports that they’ve been told that the graph was mislabeled. The real graph, which now appears in the official report and in the image above, shows that the Wii is in second place, after the PS2, for console usage and the PS3 is in fifth place, beating out the GameCube and original Xbox.

Whoops. I hope there aren’t any other mistakes in the oft-cited, typically trusted data. Reached for comment this morning, a Nielsen representative said the report does not contain any other errors.

Who Really Gets the Most Play? Nielsen’s Revised Chart Upends the Video Game Market

Entertainment research firm Nielsen have released a fresh set of usage statistics, giving us an insight into not how many consoles are out there, but how many are actually being used.

There are all kinds of charts and colourful graphs contained within the report, but the key findings were:

- That the PS2 is still the most-played machine out there (though this is of course steeply declining)
– People who own an Xbox 360 or PS3 play them a lot more (nearly 2x as much) than people who own a Wii play on one.
– Of six consoles listed (PS2, PS3, 360, Xbox, Wii & GameCube), the Wii has the lowest percentage of active users, the shortest average playtime session and the second-lowest number of average days used per month (only the GameCube trails).

Make of those findings what you will.

Also released at the end of the study was a list showing the ten most-played PC games amongst Nielsen’s study group. If you think the chart will be topped by Dawn of War II, Left 4 Dead or even World of Warcraft, well, you’re wrong.

Broken into two charts – one for men, and one for the ladies – Solitaire tops both charts, while World of Warcraft comes in at #7 on both. The only other “proper” game on the list was Half-Life 2 on the male charts, presumably for all the Counter-Strike players out there.

You can check out the full report, including all those pretty graphs, below.

[Nielsen]

Nielsen, masters of the survey and the percentage point, have come up with a rough idea of how long you play each of the three consoles for. And by “you”, they mean “everybody”.

So it’s not just the 18-35 year-old male that’s been surveyed. We’re talking kids, adults, the elderly, and across both genders to boot. So, yeah, everybody.

Their findings? Shocking. Highlights include (and this is for the period Oct-Dec 2008):

- The most-played console for men aged 18-34 was the PlayStation 3
– The most-played console for men aged 2-18 was the Wii
– The most-played console for men aged 35+ was the Wii, closely followed by the PS3
– As for the ladies… well, you’d think it’d be the Wii across the board, but it’s not. While young girls and those 35 and over spent most time playing Nintendo’s console, in the 18-34 demographics, it was neck and neck between the PS3 and 360.

*Note – the above graph shows only October. If you hit the link below, you’ll see many of the more hotly-contested categories switch places in November and/or December

Overall findings? That – at least as far as this survey group goes – the young and the old go for the Wii, while those 18-34 prefer the other two. Which, of course, you didn’t already know, which is why you’re so shocked about now.

Nielsen Study [Nielsen, via GameDaily] [Image]

The video game industry racked up impressive sales in 2008, pulling in more than $21 billion in sales in the United States alone. That makes for a similarly impressive marketing tab.

According to researchers at the Nielsen Company and its Monitor-Plus advertising monitoring service, the industry spent an astounding $823 million promoting its video game wares to consumers. Hey, you gotta spend money to make money, right? Surely we wouldn’t complain.

Nielsen and business intelligence and research firm EEDAR announced alongside their findings their intentions to “provide detailed analysis of historical marketing campaigns in the video game industry” as part of a long term agreement.

That means we’ll probably have solid data on whether the industry will spend the better part of a billion dollars on marketing and promotion this year, something we’d be surprised to see in the lagging economy.

That $823 million may seem like a lot, but it’s less than 4% of the industry’s total revenue for 2008. And considering how much Rockstar Games and Valve spent last year promoting Grand Theft Auto IV and Left 4 Dead, we’re wondering how the rest managed to get by.

We get a fair idea of which games sell the most. But what about the games we play the most? Little harder to quantify. That hasn’t stopped surveyors Nielsen from trying to find out!

According to their “best of 2008″ lists – which record stuff like the ten highest-grossing movies, biggest-selling albums, etc – America’s PC gamers spent more time playing World of Warcraft than any other game. Indeed, you spent more time playing World of Warcraft than the other nine games in the top ten combined.

Nielsen also recorded – again, on the basis of most time spent playing rather than highest-selling – what America’s most popular console was. And surprise, it wasn’t the Wii. While Nintendo’s console was obviously the top seller for 2008, it’s still got a ways to go to catch up the install base of the PS2, which racked up nearly 3x as many playing hours as Nintendo’s machine could manage.

Oh, and yes. That is the original Xbox getting more use than the PS3 (with the GameCube not that far behind, either). Ouch.

“The growth of in-game advertising, both current and projected, makes it an attractive medium for brands looking to reach hard-to-reach consumers”, said Elizabeth Harz, EA’s Senior Vice President of Global Media Sales. “This study solidifies what many in the industry have known for a long time: in-game ads are effective and well-received by the gaming community”.

Hooray! We’re only alienating 18% of the gaming public! Hit the jump for the rest of the numbers, most of which seem to be aimed more at attracting advertisers rather than assuaging consumer concerns.

Landmark IGA-Nielsen Study: 82% of Consumers React Positively to Receiving Contextual In-Game Ads During Game Play

New research data from 1,300+ consumers indicates brands receive measurable lift in perception, awareness when advertised in-game

Tuesday 17th June/…Integrating dynamic advertisements into videogame environments provides brands a measured lift in overall consumer awareness and opinion of the products they are exposed to during game play according to the Consumers’ Experience with In-Game Content & Brand Impact of In-Game Advertising Study, a landmark research study conducted by Nielsen BASES and Nielsen Games on behalf of IGA Worldwide, the leading in-game advertising network.

“With young adults now spending on average 6 hours a week gaming, advertisers should be excited at how well their messages were embraced and the brands positively perceived,” said Justin Townsend, CEO of IGA Worldwide. “The consumer insights we’ve gleaned from this data will help drive the industry’s first research-based in-game advertising measurement standards as well as strengthen IGA’s position as an effective in-game ad network brands can trust to efficiently deliver their message to target audiences.”

One of the most important factors confirmed by the Study is that most consumers reacted positively to in-game ads: 82 percent felt games were just as enjoyable with ads as without. In addition, there was an average 61 percent increase in consumers’ favourable opinions of products advertised in-game post-play.

“The growth of in-game advertising, both current and projected, makes it an attractive medium for brands looking to reach hard-to-reach consumers,” said Elizabeth Harz, EA’s Senior Vice President of Global Media Sales. “This study solidifies what many in the industry have known for a long time: in-game ads are effective and well-received by the gaming community.”

One of the most comprehensive in-game advertising effectiveness research studies completed to-date, Nielsen tested multiple variables with multiple brands across multiple games, as opposed to just a single brand in a single game. The research also showed how IGA’s in-game unique advertising opportunities generate significant advertising value across key ad metrics.

“In-game advertising is an opportunity to present targeted brand messaging to a highly desirable demographic. This new data shows how important it is how the targeted and contextual ads are displayed in videogames. Participating in this study with IGA Worldwide has provided valuable new insights into effectively using the medium.” said Chad Stoller, Executive Director, Emerging Platforms Organic, Inc.

Nielsen surveyed over 1,300 PC gaming participants in their homes by linking IGA’s proprietary measurement software with research trackers embedded within sample game disc. This unique methodology allowed for unprecedented in-depth analysis of consumer receptivity to in-game ads. The participating brand advertisers included Taco Bell, Jeep and Wrigley and game titles were provided by Electronic Arts and Activision.

Select Findings from the Study:

• There is an average 44 percent increase in post-game aided recall from pre-awareness;

• Positive brand attribute association increased 33 percent across all brands;

• Over 70 percent of consumers who were most opinionated about in-game ads, felt the ads made them feel better about the brand, feel more favourable toward the brand, make them more interested in the brand, and believe the ads are for innovative/cutting edge brands;

• Over 60 percent of the most opinionated consumers feel the ads catch their attention, make games more realistic, do not interrupt the game experience, and are promoting relevant products;

• In-game ad exposures with a duration over 2 seconds, as they are measured in IGA’s in-game ad methodology, generates on average an almost 30% increase in key ad metrics, including ad noticeability +100%, recall +42%, and fit +27%, vs. ad exposures with a duration of less than 1 second

“This study offers proof that dynamic in-game advertising is an influential digital ad medium,” said Dave Anderson, Senior Director Business Development, Activision. “Just as important to us is how users react to the ads. From the research it is clear that the overwhelming majority of consumers enjoyed the gaming experience just as much, if not more, with dynamic ads present. As game publishers, it is reassuring to know advertisers and consumers both stand to benefit from dynamic ads.”

IGA’s network offers dozens of games across multiple genres and platforms, as well as a range of standardized awareness advertising formats with digital measurability. The Company’s advertising products and metrics are in-line with the ad industry and measure ad exposure during game play, including key metrics like minimum time viewed, size and angle thresholds.

Videogame advertising is poised to grow to a $2B global industry by 2012 according to eMarketer, making games the fastest-growing major advertising medium. As a result, advertisers are making significant investments in the in-game environment as an effective strategy to reach target audiences.

The rest of the PC gaming genre’s top performers are below, with video game console usage stats after the jump.

Top 10 PC Game Titles in the U.S.
Apr-Nov 2007

1. World of Warcraft
2. The Sims
3. RuneScape
4. Halo: Combat Evolved
4. Halo 2
6. Counter-Strike
7. The Sims 2
8. Madden NFL 07
9. Grand Theft Auto
10. Counter-Strike: SourceIt’s somewhat surprising to see both the original Xbox and GameCube still outperforming their successors, but I suspect those two older consoles won’t hold their spots next year. A bit less surprising, however, to see the gap between those still using their PlayStation 2s versus those playing on a PlayStation 3.

Video Game Console Usage
Apr-Nov 2007

1. PlayStation 2 – 42.2 %
2. Xbox – 13.9 %
3. Xbox 360 – 11.8 %
4. GameCube – 7.1 %
5. Wii – 5.5 %
6. PlayStation 3 – 2.5 %
7. Other – 17.1 %

Oh great. I suppose we’re in for a flood of comments from the Other fanboys now. They’re the worst.

The Nielsen Company Issues Top Ten U.S. Lists for 2007 (PDF) [Nielsen]

Ten things I learned at the presentation by Nielsen Vice President Jeff L. Herrmann about their new measuring system for game play.

1. Men aged 18-49 play lots of video games.
2. Lots of people own consoles.
3. A lot of people watch American Idol.
4. Women play video games too!
5. A lot of kids play on the Wii, and they mostly play when they get
back from school.
6. Gamers who play on the 360 and PS3 – they tend to be older – play
in the evening.
7. Gamers are mostly playing on the PS2.
8. Gamers are getting interested in next-gen gaming.
9. The most played PC game is World of Warcraft.
10. After stating that the heaviest gamers play an average of 10 hours a week, Mr. Herrmann explained that he would rather use that time for
sleep.

Jean Snow