Friday, March 13, 2009

PC Remains an Online Gaming Leader

The PC continues to dominate all other gaming systems in terms of usage for online gaming, research firm NPD Group has found in the study, Online Gaming 2009.

According to NPD among online gamers surveyed, 87 percent play PC games, down from 90 percent from a 2008 survey.

Of the 20K surveyed, 25 percent said they used a console for online gaming, up from 19 percent in 2008.

Xbox 360 led the console online gaming pack, with 50 percent of online gamers saying they use Microsoft's machine to play online. Online gaming usage on the Nintendo Wii increased from 18 percent in 2008 to 29 percent in 2009. PS2 dropped "dramatically," NPD said, while PS3 moved to third place on the usage chart, with 20 percent of online gamers saying they used the system to play online.

Microsoft's concerted effort to make online gaming a major component of its console strategy began when the company decided to include a standard ethernet connection in the original Xbox. The Xbox Live online gaming service launched in 2002. Nintendo has been slower to jump on the online bandwagon, but now offers online play and a storefront, while PS3 has the highly-touted Home virtual world and PlayStation Network.

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