Nielsen Games released its April 2009 data for top console usage and PC game titles with Playstation 2 and the role-playing game World Of Warcraft topping their respective lists.
The Lord of the Rings Online cracked the Top 10 in April, rising to the #3 spot for total minutes played %. While the total share number was modest, the average number of weekly minutes played was a robust 891, the most for any game in the Top 10. The publisher, Turbine, had announced special promotional subscription fees for the persistent online game that runs from April-June, celebrating the two-year anniversary of the game’s release.
For console gamers, PS2 narrowly holds onto the top spot as most overall played console in terms of gaming minutes. With 21.6% of all minutes, PS2 held off Xbox 360’s 21.1%. Meanwhile, Nintendo Wii dropped down a full 3% (to 17.7%) since it’s high in January of 20.7%, perhaps suggesting the initial excitement of playing new Wii games or Wii consoles from the holiday season has begun to wane. Will the May release of Wii Punch-Out!! boost the May numbers? Stay tuned…
| Top Game Consoles January 2009 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Rank | Console | Usage
Minutes % |
| 1 | PlayStation 2 | 21.6 |
| 2 | Xbox 360 | 21.1 |
| 3 | Wii | 17.6 |
| 4 | PlayStation 3 | 10.5 |
| 5 | Xbox | 6.7 |
| 6 | GameCube | 2.6 |
| 7 | Other | 19.9 |
| Source: Nielsen Games – GamePlay Metrics™
Usage Minutes % is the percent of all measured console minutes “Other” consists of any other console systems found in the home |
| Top 10 PC Game Titles: April 2009 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Game Title | Publisher | Share | Avg. Mins Played Per Week |
TMP% |
| 1 | World of Warcraft | Blizzard Entertainment | 12.154 | 614 | 43.910 |
| 2 | Second Life | Linden Lab | 1.584 | 842 | 5.624 |
| 3 | Lord of the Rings Online | Turbine | 0.600 | 891 | 3.559 |
| 4 | Dark Messiah of Might & Magic | Ubisoft | 0.672 | 744 | 3.283 |
| 5 | Half-Life 2 | Vivendi Games | 1.490 | 347 | 2.499 |
| 6 | Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword | 2K Games | 0.804 | 526 | 1.957 |
| 7 | Bookworm | PopCap Games | 3.339 | 137 | 1.905 |
| 8 | Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos | Blizzard Entertainment | 1.804 | 237 | 1.660 |
| 9 | Chessmaster Challenge | PlayFirst, Inc. | 9.712 | 54 | 1.657 |
| 10 | Sims 2, The: Mansion and Garden Stuff | Electronic Arts Inc. | 0.908 | 356 | 1.654 |
| Source: Nielsen Games – GamePlay Metrics
Share is the percentage of the gaming audience measured that played the title. TMP% represents the percent of total minutes played from the Top 100 non-casual/pre-installed PC games measured. |
