When I think of the Nielsen ratings, I think of the traditional television survey sent to the prototypical American family with a dog and two and a half kids. While they sit in front of the TV together, in a house with a white picket fence, eating their dinners on trays, they note the shows they watch and at what time. This way of thinking has been shattered – no, demolished – by the latest Nielsen ratings (*.pdf link) which showed me that in addition to television, they also cover cell phones, gaming, and videogames. Yeah, I know, right?
According to the survey, the Xbox 360 topped all other dedicated videogame consoles, in terms of minutes used, by pulling 23.1 percent of the share, with the PlayStation 2 and Wii coming in at 20.4 percent and 19 percent, respectively. Of all the survey respondents, those minutes could almost be equally divided between men and women, as the percentage of females who play videogames for at least an hour a week was marked at 45 percent.
This all goes to show that the next time I think I am being beaten by a girl in multiplayer, I am probably right. And I do not mind in the slightest.