The Xbox 360 accounts for half of the people who play the latest video game consoles online, a survey by market research firm The NPD Group found.
The survey comprised 20,000 people on NPD's online consumer panel, ages 2 and older (surrogates answered questions for children under 13 years old). Of the group that uses consoles to play online, the Wii accounts for 29 percent of players, and the Playstation 3 came in third with 20 percent, Gamespot reports.
PC gaming still trumps the consoles by a large margin, but it's on the decline. This year, 87 percent of online players used the PC, down 3 percent from the year before, according to Ars Technica.
Overall, the percentage of people who play online increased by 25 percent from the year before. While the 18-34 and 35-54 demographics have curbed their play slightly, teens in the 13-17 age group played 17 percent more than last year.
Still, NPD's industry analyst Anita Frazier said online gaming appeals to a wide group of players. "The sheer variety of content and ease of access makes online gaming attractive to a much larger demographic than what we typically see in retail," she said.
It's a tough call as to whether the results are surprising or predictable. The Wii is the best-selling console in North America, where NPD tracks sales, so its popularity over the Playstation 3 makes sense. On the other hand, the service isn't particularly robust compared to the Playstation 3, so you'd think a lot of players would be turned off. One thing is for certain though: Microsoft can smugly say that charging for online play wasn't a bad idea.
