So maybe you’ve seen this Nielsen report on video game usage in the States. Of course, as with most things related to console gaming, the first thing everyone’s latched onto is the never-ending console fanboy war: did your console of choice win the day, or did the foul and evil other-guy’s-console beat your one-true-console in what must’ve been some devious statistical foul-up?

Well, first, the chart is wrong, as the Joystiq post indicates. The Xbox 360 leads in all categories for total console minutes, the Wii comes in second in all categories, and the PS3 comes in last. The original chart showed the PS3 dominating in the over-27 category; this turned out to be, yes, a statistical foul-up. But there’s a second issue that’s more subtle but potentially more interesting.

There are four columns in the chart: one for % of total console minutes, and ones measuring average number of sessions, length of sessions, and number of days per month the console is in use. Strangely, the average number of sessions, session length and days in use figures seem very similar across consoles—the 360 gets used about a week more often than the PS3 in the under-27 group and Wii sessions tend to be shorter, but otherwise the numbers don’t seem to work out. The most glaring example is the over-27 category, where the 360 and PS3 have very similar figures in all three columns, but then show a 30% gap in total console minutes. What gives?

Without seeing the raw numbers or an explanation of what exactly each column means, it’s hard to say, but I think the % of total console minutes represents a percentage out of the total amount of minutes spent playing on any console in the country. If the number of sessions, time per session, and days per month figures were exactly the same for all consoles, the % of total console minutes figure would correspond exactly to… the percentage of people owning that particular console compared to total console ownership. In other words, each console’s market share is built into that percentage of total console minutes figure.

What that means is the percentage of total console minutes is less an indicator of overall satisfaction or use of each console, and more a reflection of how well each one has done in the marketplace. The average sessions figures better reflect usage patterns: young 360 gamers are the most hardcore, while old Wii gamers are the least so. Somehow I don’t think that’s going to be news to anyone.