The good folks at Nielsen Media Research, who seem to count everything, are saying that over 45 million US households now have a video game system of some kind. That represents an 18 percent increase from the year before. “The video game console has become a major player in the battle for the living room,” says Jeff Herrmann, vice president of Nielsen wireless and interactive services. NMR’s The State of the Console says that more than 148 million people had access to at least one console system in their home, including two-thirds of all males between the ages of 18 and 34.