Xbox One, PS4 and Wii U: Why Are We Buying?

[Kvally]

New data offers a few head-scratching reasons why consumers buy
http://time.com/3723953/console-buyers/

Consider the following chart, which breaks the decision-making variables impacting each system into “factors” ranked by survey respondents:

Infometrics guru Nielsen just published the results of an inquiry into why people are buying the latest game systems from Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. The results are surprising in part.

The chart’s results are weirder than they appear at first. Take resolution, the number of horizontal by vertical lines output as video signal, and constitutive of the number of pixels onscreen. Several first-wave, multi-platform games ran at higher resolution on the PlayStation 4 than the Xbox One, owing, everyone in the media’s assumed based on anecdotal developer chitchat, to disparity between the two systems’ processing power.

The presumption is that slight visual differences shouldn’t matter, that you’re just being slavish to detail if you’re obsessed with subtle pixel differentiation. Yet there it is, the topmost reason for buyers of Sony’s console.

And what’s “Blu-ray Player” doing as PS4 factor number two? The Xbox One’s just as capable a Blu-ray system. Is this telling us something about a Microsoft messaging failure? Or wait—isn’t packaged media all but dead? Whether people are really watching scads of Blu-rays on their PS4s or this is just the psychological “want the option” factor is unclear.

“Game Library” is another head-scratcher. The Xbox One’s library is just as big and just as critically acclaimed as the PlayStation 4’s, while neither system offers native backward compatibility. Is this indication of a preference for the kinds of exclusives Sony’s system offers? And looking across the way at Nintendo, what’s the difference between “Game Library” (PS4) and “Exclusive Games/Content” (Wii U)?

I’m also a little confused about “Brand,” which tops the Xbox One’s factor column. Sony’s PlayStation-as-brand is, judging by platform sales across all systems, far better known than Microsoft’s Xbox—unless it’s more a Microsoft versus Sony (than PlayStation versus Xbox) thing.

And what does “Innovative Features” refer to? Xbox One Kinect, a peripheral the company yanked from the system before its first anniversary? SmartGlass integration? The bifurcated operating system (and Metro-styled interface)? Or the list of features the company wound up retracting in the wake of controversy over player privacy and digital rights management?

What this more likely confirms is that perception remains nine-tenths ownership.

 

[Kerosene31]

I've said this all along. The average person is really not doing much research into these systems before they buy. How hilarious is it that people still think the X1 doesn't have Blu Ray?

Brand perception matters. It matters a lot.

 

[DriedMangoes]

So the #1 reason why people get the PS4 is because they know it has better resolution? Wow.

and #1 reason people get the X1 is because of brand loyalty? Wow.

 

[yankeessuck]

So the #1 reason why people get the PS4 is because they know it has better resolution? Wow.

and #1 reason people get the X1 is because of brand loyalty? Wow.

And look at those crazy Wii U owners buying a system for fun. Shame on them.

 

[DriedMangoes]

And look at those crazy Wii U owners buying a system for fun. Shame on them.

Fun with friends and for the kids/family. I'd get one for them if I had any.

 

[Kerosene31]

And look at those crazy Wii U owners buying a system for fun. Shame on them.

That's where these polls are flawed. Shouldn't "fun" be #1 for each system? Whatever reason you bought one over another, fun should be the ultimate reason.

 

[TOPDAWG]

I myself got my PS4 for free. It was that or One from my wife's work as a gift for being there 10 years. We picked PS4 as the systems are the same in power or PS4 is more powerful whatever and cause of MS's cluster f*** of a launch. I also knew I'd get the same 3rd party games on each system and Sony 1st and 2nd party's game MS does not have anything I care about in their 1st party games.

 

[Viktor]

Was going to go with games library but decided on exclusives, which is why I have all three consoles. Expensive as hell but I don't play many MP games so my time isn't spent on that and a lot of my multiplatform games are on PC after super Steam sales. At least that's how I tell myself I can afford it.

 

[Tmecha]

No. 1 games of course

then innovative features and friends.

 

[Andy]

Seems to refute the claim that common folk don't know or care about the resolution issue. Apparently they do, quite a bit.

The way they organize these data is confusing. To me, "processing power" and "resolution" are pretty much the same factor. So are "game library" and "exclusives." Brand is ambiguous -- there is a reason why people stick with a brand, and that isn't uncovered here. "What family wants" (why?) is also ambiguous. So is "fun factor."

 

[de3d1]

the whole thing seems off, if anything I would have guessed that ps4 owners would have bought out of brand loyalty more than anything else and its not even in the top 5

 

[Bgamer90]

Games that are on the Xbox One that aren't on the competition (Forza, Titanfall, Sunset Overdrive, Killer Instinct, etc.) plus the system being a huge step above last gen consoles in power are the main reasons why I got the Xbox One instead of the PS4; More games I'm interested in on the Xbox One that aren't on the PS4 in comparison to the vice versa.

I'm thinking "brand" is more so about features like Xbox Live, gamerscore/achievements, future exclusive games... just being tied into the overall ecosystem instead of simply "blind loyalty".

I got the Wii U for new (HD) Nintendo games. Surprised exclusives isn't higher on its list.

"Blu-ray player" being high on the PS4 list is surprising with the great increase of movie streaming services (and the fact that blu-ray is a pretty standard feature now that's also on Xbox One). Wonder how much of a role the PS3's huge blu-ray push is playing in terms of that.

 

[amigaengine]

It's always about the game for me.

 

[Kassen]

I need multiple options. My choices would be price, performance, and blu-ray player.

 

[Razzel]

I chose by brand. I very strongly prefer the Xbox controller and exclusive games.

 

[Kvally]

Seems to refute the claim that common folk don't know or care about the resolution issue. Apparently they do, quite a bit.

I am thinking this survey really hit a core crowd, not as much casual.

 

[Triathlete]

My deciding factors: Controller, UI, online service.

 

[Andy]

I am thinking this survey really hit a core crowd, not as much casual.

Maybe, but I don't think so. Nielsen is a pretty well-known polling organization. I've got to assume they sampled more or less randomly from the general population. Sampling only from a small subgroup would've been a rookie mistake. They also would've used a big sample, which would've smoothed out any accidental sample skews in parts of the sample. There are other findings that don't coincide with that theory, too -- for example, Blue Ray being #2 (core/hardcore gamers wouldn't pick that as a reason and would know X1 had it, too). You can also look at the difference between our poll results (presumably a sample of core or hardcore players) and theirs -- ours is 95% "games," whereas theirs has games coming in 3rd, 4th, and 5th.

I think the more likely explanation is that the resolution stuff has filtered out to the general gamer audience at a pretty significant level.

Granted, another survey might find something entirely different. I don't know anything about the methodology here, either, so who knows.

 

[Visual Rhino]

I went with brand, which to me means the controller, online service/experience, exclusive games, system updates/UI equal a much better overall package.

 

[Hazard71]

My deciding factor was the PS4 came out first and I don't like to wait.

 

[Z A C K]

Wish I could vote for two options, but since I can't I went for exclusive games/content. However, I believe Brand is extremely important too. I knew as long as the Xbox One wasn't a complete pile of trash I was getting that instead of a PS4.

 

[pravus]

I guess by saying "Brand", it makes sense. When I pick an Xbox, I know I'm going to get certain games that seem to cater to my tastes, the controller, the OS, feature rich amd forward thinking software functionality, XBL etc etc... all of those things, I expect and I haven't been disappointed. The new feature that sold me on being an early adopter (as opposed to waiting for a cheaper price and loaded library) was the Kinect functionality, which I wouldn't want to live without it now.

Besides that "Faster Processing Power" the rest of that is just a list of things that you absolutely expect from the Xbox brand IMO.

 

[oo Yungstar oo]

i usually get each iteration of a console as they arrive (and so there is no choice in the above poll for me) as each will have exclusives i want except for Wii U this time, although Animal Crossing would change that.

 

[eVo7]

Where the option for "my real life friends are console gamers only" and yea, exclusive games.

 

[Qbert]

I've said this all along. The average person is really not doing much research into these systems before they buy. How hilarious is it that people still think the X1 doesn't have Blu Ray?

Brand perception matters. It matters a lot.

Of course they know....you're looking at these results incorrectly. It's showing the top 5 reasons "why" people buy the console. They know that the XB1 has a bluray, but that's not the main reasons why they buy an XB1.
On the flip side, people do buy PS4s because of brand....but again, it's not one of the top 5 reasons for getting a PS4.