More than half of American households own a current gen console

A new survey of the U.S. gaming market finds that roughly 56 percent of American households own a current generation video game console, and 39 percent own some type of iOS device. The survey results, which Nielsen distributed via Twitter on Tuesday, pointed to some notable growth trends for the video game industry over the last 12 months, as audiences are playing games more often and on more platforms. For instance, overall gaming time has increased 7 percent since last year. Nielsen attributed this increase to the rising popularity of smartphones and tablets. In addition, this increased gaming time has actually supplemented players' existing gaming habits; rather than switching over to new platforms, players are simply enjoying games across a wider variety of devices. Some platforms, however, have seen a bit of a decline. Play time for the Nintendo Wii, for instance, has decreased by 22 percent over the last year. In the mobile space, Nielsen found some peculiar demographic differences between Android and iOS users. Those who play games on Android typically fell within the 25-34 year age range, while iOS players were more even across all age groups. Looking forward into next year, Nielsen projected that the industry will rely increasingly on digital growth and monetization, cross-platform play, and online-enabled living room media consumption. For more information from Nielsen's recent report, check out the company's gaming-focused Twitter account.