Nielsen: gaming takes back seat on PS3

PlayStation 3 owners in 2012 spent more time with non-gaming media services than they did actually playing games, according to a new Nielsen study based on responses from more than 2,500 consumers in the United States.

The research group found that video-on-demand and streaming viewing through PS3 jumped from 15 percent to 24 percent for the year. Add to that time spent watching DVDs/Blu-rays (15 percent), watching downloaded movies/TV shows (4 percent), and all other uses (8 percent), and PS3 owners in 2012 actually spent most of their time not playing games through the console.

The study found PS3 gamers spent 28 percent of their time playing offline video games and 18 percent playing online games. Overall, PS3 owners spent 46 percent of their time in 2012 playing games and 54 percent with non-gaming media services.

Video streaming was most popular on Wii, accounting for 32 percent of time spent on the platform. Microsoft came in last for video streaming, with users spending 13 percent of their time watching on-demand content through the system. The PS3 was the only platform to see gains in video-on-demand viewing.

Overall, video-on-demand and streaming viewership across Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii stood at 22 percent, up from 19 percent a year earlier.