According to its data, Sony‘s PlayStation 2 accounted for 42 per cent of video game console usage during June in the US and PC gamers played World of Warcraft more than four times as much as any other PC game.

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 Games and Nielsen Wireless VP Jeff Herrmann says, "With Nielsen GamePlay Metrics, we have significantly advanced the understanding of how video game consoles are used and which games are actually being played.

"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.

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 customisable communities ("modders") like Grand Theft Auto and Counter-Strike rounded out the top 10.

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.