According to latest data provided by the Nielson Company as it launched GamePlay Metrics, a new data tracking service for the gaming indutry, suprisingly,the Ninteno Wii is mainly bought by people from more well to do families, even when it is the most cheapest next-gen console around.

The data was collected from more than 12,000 households to report on monthly usage of the major gaming consoles and PC games. Other studies showed that the most popular console to be played in a normal household was the Playstation 2 which was way ahead of its competition with 42.7 percent usage. The next popular at 17 percent was the Xbox console. The least used was the Playstation 3 at 1.5 percent.

While Nintendo's Wii might be the least expensive system in the latest generation of consoles, it's actually more likely to turn up in the homes of the affluent. That's among the findings the Nielsen Company revealed today as it launched GamePlay Metrics, its gaming industry data-tracking service.

Borrowing the infrastructure of Nielsen's well-established TV-monitoring service, GamePlay Metrics combines data from more than 12,000 households (roughly 33,000 people) to report on monthly usage of the major gaming consoles and PC games. The company says GamePlay Metrics can 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."

black_wing79 via gamespot.com »