Following Nielsen Entertainment's first Video Game Benchmark Report, the first Benchmarking the Active Gamer study and the first Benchmarking Mobile Entertainment report highlight consumer-level data on Video Game and Mobile Entertainment behavior and purchasing. The two separate reports, each surveying over 2,000 consumers engaged actively in either video games or in their use of mobile services were surveyed online in September. Subjects such as the impact of expanding demographics, average and competitive entertainment spending amidst the total landscape of entertainment spending, awareness, attitudes and purchase interest in new consoles, platforms, and devices, service and genre preferences, influential sources of information and psychodemographic segmentation is revealed in each report. Highlights from the Mobile Benchmark Report include:

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* Turnover Equals Opportunity: 52% of mobile phone users will buy a new phone within the year with 37% claiming additional features will figure prominently in their decision making process

* Mobile Atop Media: On average, active mobile phone consumers report spending 17 hours on their phones per week, 13 talking and 4 on data services, surpassing music, video games, movie going and home entertainment

* Mobile Girls are over TVs: Young females are on their mobile phone 23.5 hours per week on average, more time than the 20.9 hours they report watching television

* Following the Money: Topping all entertainment expenditures for share of wallet, mobile phone users spend $57.50 each month on their phone and related services

* Mass Market, Mass Medium: 85% or 144 million 13-54 year-olds are mobile phone users

* Cutting the Cord: One in seven mobile phone users have no home landline and 35% consider their mobile phone to be their primary phone

* Nickels and Dimes: Of the mobile consumers polled, 60% said they pay for text messaging; 48% for custom ring tones; and 22% for games

* Music Madness: One in five (21%) teens downloaded at least 10 ringtones in the last three months, including one in eight (12%) who downloaded 15 or more

* Multiple Dominant Brands: Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and LG are cited as top hardware providers while Verizon, Cingular, Sprint Nextel and TMobile are cited as top service providers

* Gamers Agree: Women and men share the preference to play board, card and puzzle games on their mobile phones

Since Nielsen Entertainment's first report on video games earlier this year, the focus has shifted to the active gamer, qualified by owning a console and spending at least one hour a week playing on it. Still, what has emerged in this first look at the active gamer, are some surprises, about how the active gamer defines "games," identifying a games category with gender parity, the rising importance of MMOs (Massively Multiplayer Online), and attitudes on the connection of games to mobile devices. Among the key findings, evidence that:

* Wait and See: Many active gamers appear to be in a holding pattern, before making a purchase decision on next- generation consoles, with nearly 50% of active gamers stating they will likely wait until both the Xbox 360 and the PS3 are released before making a final decision

* Xbox 360 vs. PS3: While most are taking the wait and see approach, those that own and prefer Xbox are more likely to buy Xbox 360 than those that own and prefer PS2 are to buy the PS3

* Moving Online: 57% of active gamers have played online with free casual online games the most used and a notable 21% having played MMO games

* Women are Playing: While online-enabled console, MMO and gambling gamers are disproportionately male - 76% vs. 24% - casual gamers who play free online games such as puzzles are just as likely to be women as men, 49% vs. 51% respectively

* Good Scores on Mobile Gaming: 18% of active gamers have downloaded a game to their cell phone, with nearly two-thirds (63%) rating their experience from good to excellent

* Jock Games Rule: Traditional Sports is the most preferred game genre followed by Role Playing and First-Person Shooter

* Men of Opportunity Value: Males 25-34 and Hispanics represent the most valuable emerging market for video games with high entertainment budgets and higher potential than other segments for increased video game spending

* Dominating Leisure Time: Nearly 25% of a gamer's leisure time is spent playing video games, with males playing 12 hours per week on average.