The ratings company Nielsen has been keeping tabs on what you say about TV while using Twitter for a while. Now, though, it plans to mine what you have to say on Facebook, too.

The research group Nielsen has released a poll under the headline "Video Gamers Eager for New Titles from Familiar Franchises this Year." They combined "eight key consumer metrics, including awareness and purchase interest" into one score for each game, ranked out of 100.

Over half of homes in the United States own current-generation gaming consoles, according to a survey put together by the Nielsen Group and released today.

In May, we learned that Netflix's console traffic—just movies streaming to consoles now—accounted for 20 percent of Internet bandwidth usage in the United States. We have more data backing up the phenomenon: Half of all the service's users watch movies on a games console, says Nielsen.

Nielsen, the folks who measure every single thing that is or could possibly be done with a television set, have released an analysis of gaming habits by ethnicity, finding that African-Americans game the most per day, on average, Asian-Americans the least.

Have video game consoles earned their spot in the family room, or are we still tucking them away out-of-sight? The measurement and information experts at Nielsen release the results of a study that shows what's being played where in U.S. households.

Did you spend less on games last year? More on mobile purchases? Ratings research firm Nielsen said gamers shifted their budgets into mobile app purchases and "other leisure activities," mirroring the widely-bemoaned sales decline seen last year.

Gaming accounts for 10 percent of time spent online in the United States - overtaking email - according to research by Nielsen, which doesn't sound like a lot but it is the second-leading reason, and one that's growing.

Sometimes, it's handy being reminded that "gamer" is a far bigger term than most of you realise. As evidenced by this Nielsen poll, which amazingly shows that most "gamers" haven't even heard of Project Natal.

There's a "prime time" for TV, and it's after dinner. There's a "prime time" for radio, and it's when people are driving to or from work. But what about gaming?

Across all U.S. households, video games account for 4.9 percent of monthly entertainment spending - to 2.8 percent for CDs and mp3s - according to recent Nielsen research. Among households that are active game buyers, the figure is 9.3 percent.

Anyone old enough to remember RF switchers knows that video games and network television have long competed for the same eyeballs on the same TV set.

Market research giants Nielsen have today released a report on the demographics of the video game industry, revealing things like total console ownership figures, gender division and statistics on the number of hours people play video games every day.

Since no one here will admit to buying video game movies - so few rise above the category's shovelware reputation - Nielsen done some research on the demographics most likely to buy titles like Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel.

Remember that study of video gamer habits Nielsen released earlier this week showing the Wii in third place and the Playstation 3 in seventh, last even after the GameCube and original Xbox? It was wrong.

Entertainment research firm Nielsen have released a fresh set of usage statistics, giving us an insight into not how many consoles are out there, but how long they're actually being used.

Nielsen, masters of the survey and the percentage point, have come up with a rough idea of how long you play each of the three consoles for. And by "you", they mean "everybody".

The video game industry racked up impressive sales in 2008, pulling in more than $21 billion in sales in the United States alone. That make for a similarly impressive marketing tab.

We get a fair idea of which games sell the most. But what about the games we play the most? Little harder to quantify. That hasn't stopped surveyors Nielsen from trying to find out!

A landmark study conducted by Nielsen BASES and Nielsen Games on behalf of in-game advertising giant IGA Worldwide has found that not only is in-game advertising super-effective, most people don't seem to mind it. The study, titled Consumers' Experience with In-Game Content & Brand Impact of In-Game Advertising…