Assuming those numbers are correct, are remembering that this is only for US,
We can see that the wii is played disproportionately(sp) less for its sales, compared to the 360/ps3

It's actually a well known fact since the first Wii was sold. The thing gets played only on the weekend/holidays with a lot of people around, unlike the other two.

I love these fanboyish "well known facts" which are neither facts nor well known.

Here are the real facts (which have all been mentioned and ignored by some people in the thread):

- These statistics refer to USA only
- These statistics refer to the January-October 2008 period
- The Wii only became the top selling American console in May 2008

Taking these facts into account, you can see the Wii is very competitive in terms of played hours.

It shouldn't surprise anyone if the play time per Wii is lower than PS3/360 due to the Wii capturing more demographics, but this isn't only limited to the Wii. The PS2 also captured some of the same demographics, although not as much as the Wii did. They're called "winning consoles".

Where the PS2 and Wii gain is in sheer userbase size, which in due time makes up for the negative factors. For example, even though the 360 sells more games per console than the Wii, the Wii sells more software in total worldwide.

What a sad, pathetic thread...not because of you, 11th11, but sad nonetheless.

A few thoughts.

First of all, to those who doubt how well surveys work -- remember that surveys of about 1,000 people predicted to within a point or two how 100,000,000 (that's 100 million)-plus would vote in the recent USA presidential elections. Done well, surveys are fairly accurate.

Second, Neilson has been the authority in the US on television viewership for decades -- so it probably knows a thing or two on how to do this.

Third, it has been noted that since the Wii has casual players, its percentage of use is going to be lower. I am not sure that I have seen the corollary though, that more obsessive gamers are on other consoles. This is on-line FPS gamers who play for hours on end. That would help to increase the stats for many other consoles (Xbox 360, Xbox, PS3), and would decrease the others since the statistics are being reported in a relative rather than absolute (hours of usage) stat.

Fourth, 45% the gaming time appears to be older consoles, compared to only 38% for current consoles (with the rest on others). That means there is quite a bit of room for growth and expansion still out there. What form that takes though is subject to several variables. However, I would not want to be selling something expensive that requires upgrades around the living room right now.

Mike from Morgantown

 I agree with his opinion. The PS3 controller does suck. It was a huge step down comfort-wise from the PS2 controller.

@mike_intellivision I totally agree with what your saying.  With the install base that the last gen consoles have it should not be a surprise that people are still playing them.  As you say Nielsen is the standard that all TV ratings are based on so they will have some experience with polls.

 Yeah...they came to my house. I know exactly how they are and they want to know everything about you watch, play, when you're watching it and everything. Thats their ultimate goal. As the digital age is moving on it's getting easier and easier for them too.

 ????  What are you talking about?  The PS3 controller is exactly the same shape as the PS2 and PS1 controllers.  A bit lighter and no cord.  I'm wracking my brain trying to figure out how that is hugely less comfortable than earlier controllers.

Why damage control, why not just accept? These numbers are real, in the US at least, imagine what they imply.

People who buy the PS3, aren't really playing on it as much as other console owners.

Hell, I can easily see that. You buy it and play the big games on it, like MGS4, ect. It's not like a lot of Americans are cruising PSN with their American friends, like they are XBLA. That's just not happening.

Also, believe it or not, Wii owners play the hell out of some Guitar Hero 3, and Wii Sports, so yeah. These numbers are right. I don't see a lot of American's going out and picking up VC or PES for the PS3. They play what their friends have. It used to be a PS2, now it's an Xbox 360. Usually if we have a PS3, we "also" have a PS3.

Of course, it is a survey....HOW THE HELL DO YOU THINK NUMBERS ARE FIGURED!? We can't ask EVERY SINGLE PERSON, so we use a Survey. ioi uses a survey, NPD uses a survey, everything, ever, that has a statistical figure, uses some sort of survey, even if it is of their own inventory.

These numbers have no credibility because they are a "survey?"

Are you f'n kidding me?