56% Of US Households Own A Gaming Console


Nielen has released its annual U.S. Gaming: A 360° View survey and according to the company 56% of U.S. households now own a gaming console.

The survey reveals that the number of consoles in homes has been fueled by rises in mobile and tablet gaming which pushed gaming purchases up by seven percent.

In less than stellar news total game spend for “core buyers” has remained unchanged year-over-year while digital content and subscriptions were up 8 percentage points.

Here are some interesting facts from the Nielsen report:

Today’s Gaming Landscape:

  • Over half of households (56 percent) own at least one current generation gaming console as of January 2012, up from 50 percent last year
  • There is increasing overlap and competition in the mobile / handheld / tablet gaming space: 66 percent of households with kids age 6-12 that own a Nintendo DS or Sony PSP also have an Apple iOS device
  • Android OS gaming peaks among adults 25-34 while iPhone gaming is distributed more evenly across age segments
  • Gamers increasingly play across multiple screens: 24 percent play on two or more of a console, a PC or a mobile / tablet device, up from 17 percent in 2009

In other interesting numbers 65 percent of consoles are located in living rooms with Nintendo taking the console lead at 75 percent.

In the meantime the Nintendo Wii U is revving up for launch while Microsoft and Sony are still a while away from launching their next generation products.

Do you think the gaming industry is being hurt by a lack of new gaming consoles over the last few years?

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