A study recently conducted by consumer research group Nielsen found that younger gamers spend most of their time playing the Xbox 360, and older gamers while away the hours with the PlayStation 3. In both age groups, the Wii came in a distant second in total amount of play time received.

Conducted April 2007 to February 2008, gamers ages 10 to 26 spent almost 63 percent of their gaming time playing the Xbox 360. The same age group spent a quarter of their time playing the Wii and only 12 percent playing the PlayStation 3. The average number of play sessions per day were about equal for each console: 2.20 for the 360, 2.12 for the PS3, and 2.07 for the Wii. On the 360 and PS3, each play session lasted about 73 minutes. The reason for the discrepancy in total play times for these systems is because gamers played their 360 almost 28 days a month while the PS3 was only turned on 21 days a month. The Wii was played 19.66 days a month and each play session lasted about 53 minutes.Looking at gamers over 26 years old, the 360 and PS3 switch places and leave the Wii in the middle ground. The PS3 took up almost 52 percent of gamers' time; the Wii 28 percent; the 360 almost 20 percent. Older Wii gamers played fewer sessions in a day: 1.80. Even though this age range spent much less time playing the 360 than the PS3, they played more 360 sessions each day -- 2.57, as compared to 2.20 on the PS3. The length of an average play session was shorter for each console in this age group: 55 minutes on PS3, 52 on 360, and 47 on Wii. These gamers also only turned their Wiis on 12 days a month, as compared to almost 22 days for the 360 and 19 for the PS3.