Statistics released by US market research firm Nielsen illustrate the increasing size and importance of the female console game playing audience.

52 per cent of US PSP owners are female, as are 49 per cent of Wii owners, according to Nielsen. 45 per cent of active gamers (defined as users who play at least one hour per week) are also female.

A September 2009 survey by fellow market research company the NPD Group found that 44 per cent of US-based current generation console users were female.

Nielsen also said that 73 per cent of US households own a device they specifically use for gaming. 54 per cent own either a home game console or handheld system.

Additionally the company ranked the top game consoles by share of total usage minutes:

Xbox 360 – 23.1%
PS2 – 20.4%
Wii – 19.0%

The results show a shift in usage from Nielsen data released in April of last year when the PS2 still reigned supreme thanks to its massive installed base.

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