Students who play video games on an Xbox made up about 60 percent of all consoles on campus in Fall Semester 2016.
Out of almost 2,500 registered consoles, Xbox proved to be the most popular, followed by PlayStation. Nintendo was the least popular console, with significantly lower numbers.
Unfortunately, there is no way to distinguish between what generation consoles students own, Sean O'Malley, Office of Information Technology communications director, said in an email.
The information is based on registration forms students living on campus filled out for OIT when they connected their console to university internet. Part of the registration form asked students to describe what type of console they owned.
Kevin Hohenberger, a freshman studying integrated media, said it didn't surprise him to find out Xbox was the most popular console.
"Xbox is a better console," Hohenberger said. "I've just always grown up using an Xbox."
Hohenberger estimates he plays on his Xbox One at least an hour each day.
Max Wagner, a sophomore studying screenwriting producing, said he was not surprised Nintendo was the lowest, but did not expect the large gap between Xbox and PlayStation.
"(The numbers about) Nintendo sounds about right. They ... put out things that are kind of niche and nostalgic,” Wagner, who owns a PlayStation 4 and a Wii U, said. "(However), everyone I know who plays games usually has a PlayStation.”
Wagner added that the reason the numbers were so low for Nintendo devices could be a problem with the way Nintendo's security works.
"It's a fault in Nintendo's end,” he said. “It's not compatible with a system that requires a username and password like the university does."
Fall Semester was also the last time the data will be available, as OIT no longer requires devices to be registered as of Jan. 7, 2017.
Hohenberger said although he felt the process was easy, it's still nice knowing he doesn't have to register anymore.
Wagner, however, felt problems could arise with the elimination of registration forms.
"I'm a little concerned because ... (OIT has my) MAC address logged in there," he said. "If I have a problem with it, I can communicate with (OIT) pretty easily.”
Wagner added that despite the differences in registration numbers, the two most popular consoles remain similar in function.
“I bought a PS4 because at the time (because) it was a better deal, but if I could turn back time (and buy an Xbox), I wouldn’t think there was much of a difference,” he said. “Honestly, I don’t think there’s much reason to like one over the other.”
