US research firm Nielsen has released numbers for video game console usage in the US. The data, taken from January to October 2008, tracks the percentage of all measured console minutes in what is known as ‘usage minute percentage.’

The PS2 was the most played video game console of 2008, still leading the pack with 31.7% of the time spent console gaming. The Xbox 360 is next with 17.2%, ahead of the Wii with 13.4%. Surprisingly the original Xbox beat the PS3, scoring 9.7% and 7.3% respectively.

If we add these figures up it means that only 37.9% of gaming took place on current-gen systems.

The Nintendo GameCube also made an appearance on the list with 4.6% while the remaining consoles were grouped into the ‘Other’ category (consisting of any other console systems found in the home) and accounted for 16.2%.

Source: The Nielsen Company