Consoles gain ground in U.S. homes
18% of homes have a console. This is likely to grow....a lot.

Video game consoles are hot and getting hotter all the time in the U.S., according to a new Nielsen report on video gaming, called "The State of the Console." The Nielsen study found that by the end of 2006, about 148.4 million people had access to at least one video game console in their home, although the jury still seems to be out regarding which video game console will reign supreme.

According to Nielsen Wireless and Interactive Services, the number of video game consoles in U.S. households has expanded by 18.5 percent since the fourth quarter of 2004.

In the fourth quarter of 2006, there were 45.7 million homes with video game consoles, representing 41.1 percent of all households that have TVs, compared to 39.1 percent, or 43 million, in 2005, and 35.2 percent, or 38.6 million, the previous year.

The increase in both the number and the percentage of households with video game consoles is significant, Nielsen said, given that the number of total television households has risen just 1.6 percent during the same period.

"The video game console has become a major player in the battle for the living room," said Jeff Herrmann, vice president of Nielsen Wireless and Interactive Services. "In households across the country, consoles are successfully competing for consumers' time and attention; not simply as gaming platforms, but as multimedia hubs that also can deliver high quality digital movies and IPTV."

Read all about it here, courtesy of newsfactor.com

Eric