Massively http://massively.joystiq.com Massively http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Massively http://massively.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[World of Warcraft tops most played list of 2008]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/02/world-of-warcraft-tops-most-played-list-of-2008/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/02/world-of-warcraft-tops-most-played-list-of-2008/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/01/02/world-of-warcraft-tops-most-played-list-of-2008/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Nielsen Research has published its January through October numbers about the top 10 PC games and top 10 consoles by amount of time played. Once again World of Warcraft tops the charts. In fact, WoW has more time played than the other nine titles listed - combined.

Coming in at position 6 is Runescape, the browser-based game that could. It had just slightly less share than The Sims 2. Numbers for only October are available on the Nielsen website and show a different makeup for numbers 2-10, with WoW still in first. We can only imagine what this data will look like for November 2008 with the added game time of those who bought Wrath of the Lich King.

MassivelyWorld of Warcraft tops most played list of 2008 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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An interesting report on social media by the Nielsen group recently found that Club Penguin, the kid-friendly browser-based MMO acquired by Disney last year for a robust $350 million, may be plateauing or even declining in growth in the face of newer, more competitive social media experiences. While the Nielsen methodology is never made expressly clear (and no direct competitors managed to crack the Top 10), the report does indicate that using the same methodology, they found a 250% growth rate year-over-year just last August.

MMO vet Raph Koster is less than surprised by this development, attributing the slight decline in unique visitors more to the increased competition in that space, rather than any specific detriment in Club Penguin itself. Raph speculates that we'll continue to see the market fragment as more kiddie MMOs enter the market. And, judging my store shelves these days, they're coming in droves. While he seems to be of the opinion that the days of these niche MMOs competing in the same arena as MySpace and Facebook are over, that doesn't mean there isn't a lot of money to be made and kids to be entertained.

MassivelyAre Club Penguin's days of growth numbered? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 21 May 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>casualclub-penguindisneyfacebookkiddiemarket-fragmentationmyspacenielsenraph-kostersocial-mediaWed, 21 May 2008 19:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Nielsen ratings say WoW is top dog of the PC domain]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/12/nielsen-ratings-say-wow-is-top-dog-of-the-pc-domain/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/12/nielsen-ratings-say-wow-is-top-dog-of-the-pc-domain/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/12/nielsen-ratings-say-wow-is-top-dog-of-the-pc-domain/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

GamesIndustry.biz has their hands on the latest data from the Nielsen Company that tracks game usage from April to November this year. It isn't a big shocker that World of Warcraft has the highest percentage of PC players in an average minute, as they are doing amazingly well by everyone's estimation, but Nielsen was able to provide a figure on the average amount of hours played per week: just over 17.

This seems like a huge amount for the average. Obviously there is a large quantity of very heavy users that are skewing it that way, but it must mean that it's not uncommon for even the most casual players to sink in a few hours here and there. The closest competitor to WoW for people playing in an average minute was The Sims, and its average usage was 5 hours a week. Not even close.

It is worth noting that Runescape comes in at third place for the PC, above Halo and Halo 2. Oh, and forget the big 3 in current-gen consoles -- the Playstation 2 is still where it's at, taking up 42 percent of all console-gaming time.

MassivelyNielsen ratings say WoW is top dog of the PC domain originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 12 Dec 2007 22:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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