Xbox 360 is the most-used game console

According to the market researcher, Microsoft's Xbox 360 is the most-used console when measured by its share of total usage minutes, capturing 23.1 percent of gaming time. It is followed by the PlayStation 2 with 20.4 percent of usage time and the Nintendo Wii with 19 percent. Surprisingly, the PlayStation 3 didn't make the list top-three list.

But Nielsen didn't stop there. The company said that 54 percent of American homes own a game console or handheld system. And so far, 41 percent of homes have at least one current-gen console.