Anyone who obsesses over NPD numbers, Media Create data and other signifying-nothing sales info needs to get over themselves. There's a new numbers obsession to be had: the Nintendo Channel.
As of last Monday the Wii's Nintendo Channel in the U.S. started spitting out usage stats for most Wii games. Anyone who opted in and let Nintendo snoop into their play history has been contributing to a public trove of great game usage data. And we can now use these numbers for speculation at cocktail parties and on our favorite forums. Nintendo may have just unleashed the best new tool for message board argument since the animated GIF.
To wit: did you think people only bought Wii Play for the remote? If so, you're wrong. The Nintendo Channel reports that its data-sharing users have played this game for more then four million hours, averaging nine hours per person. They're actually playing this game! The channel also indicates that people who own or rented Wii Play have played it an average of 9.75 times. So much for the remote theory.