The next-gen fanboy debate may well be raging on all fronts as the corporate suits continue to back-bite one another for our collective attentions, but it would appear that, when it comes to actual gaming, the PlayStation 2 still rules the roost.

According to new "GamePlay Metrics" stats published today by habit-trackers Nielsen Co. Sony’s long-standing PlayStation 2 accounted for a massive 42 percent of all console usage tracked during the month of June. Microsoft’s original Xbox came in second with 17 percent, which is perhaps odd considering its recent lack of software support. The Xbox 360, GameCube, and Wii slotted into third, fourth and fifth.

Nielsen offers that 68.1 million people picked up a console controller last month, with average game time amounting to around 7.5 days. In terms of specifics, it fell to the PlayStation 3 user to log the most per-session game time at an average of 1 hour and 23 minutes. However, PlayStation 3 users only contributed a measly 1.5 percent of the overall amassed game time for the month.

"We believe [GamePlay Metrics] will change the discussions surrounding which games gets developed for what consoles," outlined Jeff Herrmann, Nielsen’s vice president of wireless and games, in a related Hollywood Reporter article, "and how publishers represent their actual audience to advertisers."

From a PC software perspective, GamePlay Metrics revealed that Blizzard’s hugely popular World of Warcraft saw four times more game time than any other PC title, pulling in around 18 percent of June’s total. Halo: Combat Evolved, The Sims, and Halo 2 took the next three spots.

GamePlay Metrics works by tracking console usage via Nielsen’s people meter TV survey working alongside the company’s own technology. Nielsen tracks more than 12,000 households and approximately 33,000 people. It all sounds a little vague, if you ask GamerSquad.

Still, if accurate, it shows that there’s still life in the old Sony dog yet.