Nielsen: Wii Has Lower User Activity than PS3 or 360

[Chris_D]

Straight from Edge-Online (http://www.edge-online.com/news/nielsen-wii-has-lowest-user-activity) comes the report of another Nielsen user activity survey.


The research firm said Wii owners used their consoles 6.8 percent of the total amount of time that they could have used the system during Nielsen's measurement period during December 2008.

This compares to Xbox 360's "Active User Percentage" of 11.4 percent and PS3's 10.6 percent, which both led the way amongst current and last-gen consoles.


Nielsen noted that Xbox 360 and PS3 have more features (particularly multimedia capabilities) than other consoles measured in the survey, which would lead to more usage.


You can view the full report on Nielsen's website (http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/media_entertainment/the-state-of-the-video-gamer-suitable-for-all-ages/).

OK, I know there are a lot of CoGers who play their Wii more than any other console so how about you let us know what keeps you coming back :).

Source - Edge-Online (http://www.edge-online.com/news/nielsen-wii-has-lowest-user-activity), Nielsen (http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/media_entertainment/the-state-of-the-video-gamer-suitable-for-all-ages/).

Note: The survey does not appear to cover handheld usage.

[KamaItachi]

OK, I know there are a lot of CoGers who play their Wii more than any other console so how about you let us know what keeps you coming back :).

Note: The survey does not appear to cover handheld usage.

Pretty much the only reasons I don't put more time into my Wii is that 1) I can't hook it up to my monitor, so I will always lose when it comes to a fight over the tv 2) The price of domestic games in Australia, which are usually 50% over what I can get my 360 games imported for. Otherwise there's easily a dozen games I'd grab for the machine.

[x Returner x]

I don't keep coming back I have grown to hate the Wii I use to love it. I haven't touched it in months. I do have Mad world and will play it some day I just don't want to turn on the Wii.

[Hemalin]

This seems pretty obvious, the PS3 and Xbox 360 can play DVDs.

And the chart showing more numbers. It looks like Edge messed up the numbers a bit, quoting Xbox instead of Xbox 360.
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i264/Hemalin/consoleusage.png

[Chris_D]

Thanks Hemalin, fixed that.

[Iron Past]

I don't know why, but that chart makes little sense to me.

I use the Wii, but only sparingly when a decent game comes out. The controller annoys the shit out of me, and not just because of the waggle, so that tends to color my purchases as well.

[OUX]

What in the hell is with the age groups in that chart?

[Chris_D]

What in the hell is with the age groups in that chart?

I suspect it's the most predominate age group for that console but if I have time later I'll try and find out.

[Ravenlock]

I use the Wii more than the 360 for gaming, but I have the 360 on far more often because I use it to stream media from my PC and from Hulu.

That said, I don't use either of them for gaming all that much, just a couple of hours per week. My PC and DS both get more gaming time than either of my consoles. I would like very much to go back and beat some of my Wii games (and tackle Fable 2 which I haven't even started), but I just haven't had the free time. A game I can play for a half hour at the computer or flip open the DS and knock out during my lunch hour is what gets my attention right now.

I am really excited for The Conduit, though. That'll be a Day 1 purchase for me, I think, and I'd be surprised if I don't put in the time to beat that one.

[Farsight]

My Wii is unplugged. If I weren't so lazy it'd be ebay-ed by now. It's more likely that I'll break the PS2 out of storage than plug the Wii back in. MLB Power Pros probably controls 100x better on the PS2, and Persona 4 sounds heaps more entertaining than anything on the Wii.

[Iron Past]

I suspect it's the most predominate age group for that console but if I have time later I'll try and find out.

I'm not sure I buy the PS2 and X360 primary age groups being 12-17, or the Wii's being 6-11 for that matter. It's just a Nielsen survey though, so it's hardly definitive.

[Telefrog]

I still haven't plugged in my Wii to update the system.

[Narradisall]

Is this really a shock to anyone?

I know people that get more time out their DS's than Wii's, even when they at home.

I don't think its a console thing, they just really lack lots of compelling games.

[Doctor Setebos]

In my house, the DS gets considerably more play time than the Wii. I still love the Wii, and I'm really looking forward to some of the games that will be coming out this year, but the DS is where it's at for the time being.

[Cyndair]

Initially my Wii got a lot of use. Especially when people came over to hang out. Now, a lot of my friends have gotten their own Wiis so Wii Sports isn't much fun to them anymore when they come over. What ends up happening now is that they are interested in the PS3 games that I have. It's like the Wii was a gateway drug to a lot of my non-gaming friends. They are interested in gaming and they want to see what they don't already have. We end up spending most of our time playing Rock Band 2 and easy access games like Flower or Burnout: Paradise.

As far as personal use, I haven't touched my Wii since de Blob came out. Kinda makes me sad actually. My PS3 is getting all the attention between Persona 3, Killzone, and Resident Evil 5.

[Smoof]

Is this really a shock to anyone?

I know people that get more time out their DS's than Wii's, even when they at home.

I don't think its a console thing, they just really lack lots of compelling games.

There's something to it, no doubt. I'm mainly a PC gamer, but I have a DS, Wii and PS2. Out of all of them, the PC and DS see roughly equal amounts of play time (quite a bit), while the Wii and PS2 are turned on once every few weeks. I thought having Gamefly would make me more prone to turn the Wii on and play it, but even with Dead Rising for Wii (which isn't bad), I don't feel compelled to play. Even when I get Mad World from GF, I probably wont play it much. Almost all the games on my queue are DS games.

But, to be fair, I think I would have this same problem if my Wii were a 360 instead. Consoles don't motivate me.

[axion]

Pretty much the only reasons I don't put more time into my Wii is that 1) I can't hook it up to my monitor, so I will always lose when it comes to a fight over the tv

You can actually :). Here (http://www.vdigi.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=2&category_id=3&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1&vmcchk=1&Itemid=1) is the cable I use and it works like a charm, and this one (http://www.amazon.com/Wii-PS3-VGA-HDTV-Cable/dp/B0015MISAG?&camp=212361&linkCode=wsw&tag=cog-20&creative=380801) was just on the front page of CoG.

[Primus]

I am one of those XBOX PSWii60/ DSP jackasses and I must say I have learned my lesson this generation. I will not waste my money like I did this time around. 99% of my time is spent on my 360, despite owning the whole lot. It just caters to what I want in gaming more than the rest. The Wii is clearly not aimed at my demographic, and 80% of the compelling games for my PS3 are already on my 360 (which coincidentally is where all my friends are). I have found that I just am not interested in what handhelds have to offer. I will just emualte shit on my computer if I feel like playing some obscure 2D Japanese RPG (a feeling that usually passes quickly).

Next gen I am only going to get one console, and I won't even attempt to buy it on day one, as it will need ot provid eme a good library.

So, as far as I am concerned, yes I spend a hell of a lot more time on my 360 than my Wii.

[Gorvi]

My Wii doesn't get used much, but that's mostly because I have very limited game time. That, and I'm playing FFXI again, so the 360 gets used for that by default now. The PS3 is where I grab most of my games, though, so between that and FFXI on the 360, those are pretty even. If they ever put out FFXI on the PS3, I really wouldn't need the 360, I simply don't have time to play all the games I want on one console these days, let alone 2 or 3.

[quidmonkey]

Contrast this with the NPD findings that online usage is 360 > Wii > PS3.

[Gorvi]

Contrast this with the NPD findings that online usage is 360 > Wii > PS3.
Meaning: they're both surveys that take a small sample size of a couple of thousand people and extrapolate that to try to draw a conclusion as to what the habits are of the country as a whole. It's a flawed practice, but one that is widely accepted.

[quidmonkey]

Meaning: they're both surveys that take a small sample size of a couple of thousand people and extrapolate that to try to draw a conclusion as to what the habits are of the country as a whole. It's a flawed practice, but one that is widely accepted.

That goes without saying. But Nielsen is dealing with usage; NPD is dealing with online usage.

[TheFlyingOrc]

Meaning: they're both surveys that take a small sample size of a couple of thousand people and extrapolate that to try to draw a conclusion as to what the habits are of the country as a whole. It's a flawed practice, but one that is widely accepted.

Seriously? You're a polling denialist? A well-thought survey IS representative of the nation as a whole, as long as they make sure to target many regions /income brackets/groups.

edit: Ah-hah! I thought the PS3's age bracket was high, but then I remembered the BluRay player.

[quidmonkey]

Couple of tidbits:

Females 25 years and older make up the largest block of PC game players, accounting for 46.2 percent of all players and 54.6 percent of all gameplay minutes in December 2008.

The most played games on the PC are card games from Microsoft, with Solitaire being the most played game in December 2008 with over 17 million players.

[Panthera]

My Wii doesn't get used much, but that's mostly because I have very limited game time. That, and I'm playing FFXI again, so the 360 gets used for that by default now. The PS3 is where I grab most of my games, though, so between that and FFXI on the 360, those are pretty even. If they ever put out FFXI on the PS3, I really wouldn't need the 360, I simply don't have time to play all the games I want on one console these days, let alone 2 or 3.

Well... the PS3 does support FFXI, but that's probably not what you're after. :)

[Gorvi]

Well... the PS3 does support FFXI, but that's probably not what you're after. :)
Oh, man, that looks so freakin' awful on my new LCD. Seriously, it wasn't too bad on my old projection (though not great), but the PS2 version on my LCD via the PS3 looks so bad it's nearly unplayable. The 360 version, on the other hand, is absolutely the hotness. :)

[Chris_D]

I think they're focusing their energies on the FFXI sequel on the PS3/PC.

[Gorvi]

I think they're focusing their energies on the FFXI sequel on the PS3/PC.
Rapture it's called right now, they've said it's PS3/360/PC. That one has me a bit worried though, they need to make the engine scalable so that it can transition easily to the next generation of consoles. I wouldn't expect it to launch any earlier than mid to late 2010, and by that point you're going to be hitting the later half of this console cycle.

[Panthera]

Oh, man, that looks so freakin' awful on my new LCD. Seriously, it wasn't too bad on my old projection (though not great), but the PS2 version on my LCD via the PS3 looks so bad it's nearly unplayable. The 360 version, on the other hand, is absolutely the hotness. :)

The PC version even moreso. :D

I've shown you a couple of these images before, but... dear god! I can see forever.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23829905@N08/sets/72157603907817463/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23829905@N08/sets/72157603926010541/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23829905@N08/sets/72157603928756211/

[Gorvi]

The PC version even moreso. :D

I've shown you a couple of these images before, but... dear god! I can see forever.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23829905@N08/sets/72157603907817463/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23829905@N08/sets/72157603926010541/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23829905@N08/sets/72157603928756211/
You're a bastard. ;)

[Ravenlock]

I am one of those XBOX PSWii60/ DSP jackasses and I must say I have learned my lesson this generation. I will not waste my money like I did this time around. 99% of my time is spent on my 360, despite owning the whole lot. It just caters to what I want in gaming more than the rest. The Wii is clearly not aimed at my demographic, and 80% of the compelling games for my PS3 are already on my 360 (which coincidentally is where all my friends are).

Somewhat ironically, the same basic logic is exactly why I do have a Wii.

I very much want to play Nintendo's first party titles, which are pretty much universally great (or at least, I find them to be, I realize that doesn't apply to everyone). I don't want to go a generation missing out on the Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Smash Bros, Pikmin, etc titles. And they're only available on Nintendo's console, so that necessitates having a Wii.

But luckily, 80 - 90% of the compelling games for the 360 OR the PS3 also come to the PC, so I can just play those there. Having the Wii and a good gaming PC gives me 80-90% coverage of every good game out there (I missed out on Uncharted and MGS4, but that's about it so far this gen that I wish I could play), whereas going with 360 or PS3 as my console choice would eliminate all the Nintendo titles while only getting me that extra 10 - 20% of 360/PS3 titles. It was a pretty easy equation IMO.

As it happens I ended up getting a cheap 360 in a sale early this year primarily to stream video to my TV with (I haven't played any games on it aside from Burnout and Crackdown, but having TVersity and Hulu is fantastic), but the Wii + PC kept me quite happy for the last couple years of this gen.

[Urizen]

Nielsen issued a correction. (http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/kevin-ohannessian/not-quite-conversation/who-really-gets-most-play-wii-wins-and-playstation-3-l)

[Telefrog]

Nielsen issued a correction. (http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/kevin-ohannessian/not-quite-conversation/who-really-gets-most-play-wii-wins-and-playstation-3-l)

The correction isn't very surprising:

Nintendo may have the biggest market share with the family-friendly Wii, but Microsoft has more dedicated users spending longer hours playing the Xbox 360. You can attribute the difference in time to the Xbox 360's greater number of "hardcore" games and the millions of hours gamers spend playing online with the Xbox Live service. Whether that lead holds in March and through the summer remains to be seen.

The 360 still gets consistently more playtime over the year. The Wii gets more during the holiday gift-giving aftermath of January.

Edit: By the way, the excuse that "the labels were incorrect" doesn't fly. The labels are the same in both charts. The actual data points changed in the month of January.

[quidmonkey]

Nielsen issued a correction. (http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/kevin-ohannessian/not-quite-conversation/who-really-gets-most-play-wii-wins-and-playstation-3-l)

One wonders if money is changing hands.

[Johan]

Does it really matter how much someone else uses an entertainment device? I certainly don't find any more enjoyment from mine knowing that the PS3 barely beats out the Xbox, or any of these other 'facts.' It's a bit like knowing your neighbors are statistically whacking off more or less than you. If that affects your own enjoyment, then....well...then...

yikes.

[Narradisall]

does it really matter how much someone else uses an entertainment device? I certainly don't find any more enjoyment from mine knowing that the ps3 barely beats out the xbox, or any of these other 'facts.' it's a bit like knowing your neighbors are statistically whacking off more or less than you. If that affects your own enjoyment, then....well...then...

Yikes.

his more impotent than me, i tell you!

[Chris_D]

It's a bit like knowing your neighbors are statistically whacking off more or less than you. If that affects your own enjoyment, then....well...then...

yikes.

And some just don't like it when others are enjoying themselves :p.

[MalReynolds]

Mine is PS3-PSP-360-PC

[TheFlyingOrc]

Does it really matter how much someone else uses an entertainment device? I certainly don't find any more enjoyment from mine knowing that the PS3 barely beats out the Xbox, or any of these other 'facts.' It's a bit like knowing your neighbors are statistically whacking off more or less than you. If that affects your own enjoyment,
As I've said a million times before, it's no stupider than caring about which sports teams do good.

[quidmonkey]

As I've said a million times before, it's no stupider than caring about which sports teams do good.

Except with sports you've got balls, holes and black men.

[TheFlyingOrc]

Except with sports you've got balls, holes and black men.

You're thinking of porn.

[quidmonkey]

You're thinking of porn.

Freudian slip.

Difference?

[Julip]

I use my Wii for party games so it gets the least play. I only have so much time to play games, so I want to play them on the consoles that look good. Or my PC. I'm an MMO fan.

The Wii is fun for getting girls to play games though.

[Variable Gear]

Casual gamers don't waste their lives playing games as much as the hardcore do? Somehow, this doesn't surprise me.