Ben-DutkaSo, according to some new research , Sony says around 31 percent of current PlayStation 4 owners owned either an Xbox 360 or Wii last generation, but not a PlayStation 3.
If accurate, that is hugely significant.
However, there are a few points to consider: Firstly, just because someone owned one of the competitor's consoles the previous generation and opted for the PS4 this generation, doesn't mean that person "switched teams," so-to-speak. It could just be that they fully intend to own both the Xbox One and PS4, for instance; they just picked up the PS4 first because it was $100 cheaper. Secondly, we're a mere seven months into this new generation, and there's no telling if Sony can continue to lure in new fans.
What will be interesting is to see what that research is like in a year, after the PS4 and Xbox One have been the same price for twelve months. That being said, first impressions are critical and despite the positive upswing on Microsoft's side, I'd say Sony still has the momentum in the new generation. There has been a fair amount of hype concerning new exclusives, and the continual headlines about multiplatform titles performing better on PS4 has helped, too. One last thing- if 31 percent of PS4 owners didn't own a PS3 last generation, that means 69 percent did. When you look at it that way, it may not be quite so staggering.
I just wonder if Sony can keep this up. Globally, I think they can and will. Domestically…eh…
Yes.
No.
Yes.
Don't care.
You have a logical fallacy near the end. If 31% owned another console but not a PS3, another percentage may not have owned any console from the last generation. It could be less than 69% of PS4 owners who owned a PS3.
Oh yeah, Ben made a mistake there.
In his previous article dealing with this issue, it is pointed out that 17% never owned any of the last gen consoles.
You add that 17% to the 31% that owned a 360 & Wii, and this means that only 52% of the PS4's current user base is made up of PS3 users.
Considering the size of the PS3 user base (over 80 million), it means that only 5% of them made the jump to the PS4.
I think the focus at Sony should be placed on why the great majority of PS3 owners have yet to buy a PS4.
They should find out what is keeping them in the fence. The more they stay in the fence, the more time they give them to jump somewhere else – to another console (because there is the possibility of that happening) or to abandoning gaming for good.
Is the price to high for them? Then show them the value of the PS4.
Are they waiting for the PS4's library to grow a bit more? Then tell them about all the good games that are coming our way.
Is the fact that online multiplayer is behind a paywall what is making them stay on the fence? Then explain to them the benefits of PS+. Free games and cloud saving.
The thing is, they need to get on it. If we get at least half of the PS3's user base over to the PS4 now (when the Xbone and Wii U are still struggling), then it won't matter how many come from the Wii or 360.
Last edited by Bonampak on 6/14/2014 11:38:35 AM
In talking to my PS3 friends who have not made the switch, for them it has to do with title availability. They don't want to switch to get a re-mastered game, they want full on next gen games and a library to choose from. They are quite happy with their PS3, maybe a little too happy! That's good news I suppose, because as titles become more plentiful, people will eventually switch, so they definitely have a base that will keep sales going.
@Darwin
That's the case with me, too. Happy with PS3. No need to switch yet.
Didn't the PS3 (and even the XBox 360) have similar issues at their debuts? People kept their PS2 and XBox, and games came out for them for another year or two, and then people complained about how all the news was about the new console and no excitement or news for their old trusty favorite.
Sure, if you could get a huge attach rate of PS3 players, then PS4 could really take off. But $400 is a bit much for some of us on budgets, particularly when there are a *TON* of PS3 games I have (on disk, from PSN, or from Plus) that I haven't played or finished yet and want to go through. Until the PS3 well starts to dry up, it's hard to fork over the bucks for a new system. And it's not $400 – I'll want 1-to-3 more controllers, especially once LBP3 and Minecraft roll out, so we're really talking closer to $600, plus games. Ouch.
As the library grows – and my Plus library of PS4 games grow – it will start looking more and more compelling. But the success of the PS3 – and, oddly enough, of Plus for the PS3 – make it harder to justify the transition for me right now. Budget is HUGE, but there's just a lot of gameplay left in the system I already have.
@RobN
Yeah, I got a PS3 at launch, and played PS2 almost exclusively for a year and a half only breaking to play Uncharted.
The cost difference at the time I actually started using my PS3 exclusively was great enough that I decided to wait this time around. Still happy with PS3 for the time being.
It depends. If Microsoft makes a couple more enticing exclusives coupled with the new price and add to that the fact that they just raised the clock on the something or other on the internals of the machine, and if developers make use of that so that they can close the gap or at least PS3-it (you know the difference is only noticeable when you turn on the game,hehehe), then no. Sony is still capable of making some pretty crappy decisions.
The kind of momentum they have isn't the kind that peters out quickly, everyone knows if you want the best gaming experience with a console PS4 is the better tech cuz that's what everybody with a brain knows by now or has heard through the grapevine.
The main reason MS has the exclusive game and content deals it has is either because they bought them, rented them, or someone wrongly believed Xbox One would be the top system and signed a contract years ago.
Bungie suddenly looks like a bunch of geniuses for backing PS4 from the get go.
As games actually begin to come in next year I think that'll solidify things. The Order, Uncharted 4, LBP3, maybe Driveclub, F2P games for people who are broke after buying the console, and the best running version of multiplats. I think the trend will continue but my people (Americans) are pretty retarded so Xbox could steal the show here.
EA has got to be kicking themselves for signing that XO deal for TitanFall. By doing so the competitors products will pick up users and make them their's, maybe for a generation. A huge loss on EA's part.
The XO is a disastrous successor to the 360. It reminds me of Sega's Saturn.
I just can't believe MS was so naive to think they could pull off everything they had planned for XO. They were so out in left field with the concept behind the XO. There was a history of warning signs for MS to avoid but they didn't listen to any of them. That's okay. When it comes to hardware MS has been lucky only once. And that's the 360. Everything else they've done has been crap. I won't be surprised if the Xbox eventually joins the graveyard of Zune, the eventual Surface tablet, and the Kinect.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 6/14/2014 1:10:58 AM
and to elaborate. the biggest disaster about the XO is losing europe and then handing over a huge part of their base to Sony. Sure they never owned Europe to begin with but they were much more of a threat in that area with the 360. they were conditioning a culture of people over there to like MS and Xbox. to lose territories like that is to lose years, a 8 year generation, of gained ground. they basically have to restart over there. restart like they've been trying in Japan since the beginning.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 6/14/2014 1:21:59 AM
That's interesting about Europe. It does take mental conditioning to get people into MS products, then they get swallowed up by it.
The makers thought they could ride the wave of the 360 just like Ninty with Wii but as John F. Kennedy said:
"Those who ride the tiger end up in its mouth."
I pretty much attribute most of MS's Xbox successes on successfully spearheading console online gaming with XBL. they were way ahead of the competition on that front for many years. The public responded and loved it. What started with XBL has made it's way into basically every facet of console gaming since then.
that's the name of the game when it comes to winning big.
Apple won with iPod by securing all 5gb hard drives from samsung(?) for a year or more. giving people a product everyone wanted but no one else had. the iPod went viral and the rest was history for apple. MS did the same thing by licensing out MS DOS and then Windows. i sort of think MS thought the kinect could be that next BIG thing. they bet the farm on it and suffered big.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 6/14/2014 11:05:11 AM
It seems that the PS4 is still selling it self by just being the PS4.
The 360 and Wii have been dry for years so it of course many of them wants to try something else next.
I am getting a PS4 later this year, but I will not get the XBox One as the games on there I am interested in seem to also come out on PC. So i will rather buy a GTX 680 Ti for my computer instead.
I am also waiting on buying my PS4 because I still have games to play on the PS3. FFX HD, still not done with that.
I bought a 3Ds because i needed to play Bravely Default.
Which is a final fantasy game. SE can call it what ever they want but I know a FF game when i see it.
Like RobN points out further up, there is an error in the article. The amount who owned no previous console is, according to Sony, 17%.
So the actual numbers are:
Owned other consoles: 31%
Owned no consoles: 17%
Ergo, owned the PS3: 52%
That's the full picture (according to Sony of course), and if those numbers are true it fits the general picture of an earth shake taking place. The split between older Playstation owners and first time Playstation owners are pretty much 50/50.
Last edited by Beamboom on 6/14/2014 2:34:30 AM
Ben even had an article about it yesterday in which you can see that he obviously knew about those 17%…hmmm
psxextreme.com/ps4-news/1573.html
I just noticed, he even linked it in this article. lol
Last edited by Neo on 6/14/2014 7:30:09 AM
You can even see in the article from yesterday that he obviously knew about those 17%. 😕
Yeah surely this is just a case of being a bit too quick during typing. Nothing more than that.
But if we look past the typo the actual numbers are actually quite surprising. I'd never guess that as much as almost half of all PS4 purchasers never had a PS3.
Last edited by Beamboom on 6/14/2014 9:12:26 AM
Yes, my fault.
I do wonder how Sony got these numbers, though. I noticed they didn't divulge that information…
Yes that's an interesting question Ben. How can they know this?
PSN accounts can likely tell them something about how many PS3 owners now have activated their accounts on their PS4. But beyond that… How do they know if a new PS4 user have owned a X360 in the past?
Aliens.
I know companies have a way of estimating new clientele vs. old. It's very complicated, so I don't know much about it. But I've seen it on annual reports from companies I own shares in.
What I don't understand is the stat about the stolen competition. Not saying it isn't possible, I just don't know enough about it. I really want to now, though… If I'm still curious when I have some more spare time, I might dig…
Last edited by Underdog15 on 6/14/2014 5:07:56 PM
Still can't believe what a success MS had selling a mostly broken console with a controller that takes friggin batteries!
1 year head start.
Way more to it then that, Killa. Otherwise, WiiU would be killing it right now.
yeah i don't know they'll have to bring something to convince them o say with playstation or not buy another console. idk sony you better do a good job.
happy gaming =)
No exclusive so far has made me buy one console or the other. I'm very happy with my old PS3 so far. Titanfall is generating buzz with owners and is getting me look for what that buzz is all about. Uncharted 4 and LBP 3 trailers on the other hand got me interested. I hope to get a PS4 this year but that can change if the balance is tilted for the other side. So far that has not happened for either new gen console.
I have some friends from back home that were xbox all the way for quite a while, but judging from their Facebook posts it seems like they're all talking about their ps4 or wii u these days.
wonder how many will gravitate back as the generation rolls on… we saw a lot of that last gen
I'm in the category of people that owns a PS3 and haven't bought a PS4 because I want to see which console has the best games for me(probably the PS4 after watching E3)and I will only buy one console. That category of people isn't on these percentages yet! Just waiting for the one game that makes me buy the console!
Last edited by glets86 on 6/16/2014 10:36:51 AM
Last gen was the first where I only owned one console since the NES days… right Now got both the PS4 and Xbox One