Recent research undertaken by Roy Morgan has attempted to gauge the excitement surrounding next generation consoles and the numbers are crystal clear. People are very excited about the PlayStation 4. The Xbox One, not so much. But the Wii U? Well, the Wii U is firmly at the bottom of the pile.
According to the numbers 600,000 aged 14 and above intend to buy a PlayStation 4 over the next year, but only half of that number (325,000) intend to pick up an Xbox One. The Wii U numbers, however, are far more alarming. Only 75,000 plan on picking up a Wii U.
According to George Pesutto, General Manager Media & Communications at Roy Morgan Research, these numbers might be the result of marketing and, more precisely, who each company is marketing to.
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia), July 2013–August 2013, n=3,437. Base: Australian population 14+
“[I]t’s clear that the marketing focus of each brand and console differ dramatically,” he explained. “Sony continue to target heavy gamers with the PlayStation 4, promising higher graphics performance and a range of new titles. Microsoft appear to be promoting the Xbox One as a multi-dimensional home entertainment device.
“Besides the obvious benefit of being slightly cheaper than its competitor, PlayStation 4 has probably inspired more intent to purchase because it appeals to committed gamers, a group that tends to adopt and upgrade technology earlier than the more mainstream market that Microsoft are targeting with Xbox One.”
So, by targeting early adopters with its marketing, and adjusting the message to suit those early adopters, the PlayStation 4 is more likely to achieve short term success. Makes sense.
Another interesting snippet was this: most of those who intended to buy a PS4 were buying it for themselves. The people who reported interest in the Xbox One were far more likely to claim they were buying the console for someone else.
Game on: Aussies set sights on PlayStation 4 [Roy Morgan]
Comments
78 responses to “Australians Are Excited For The PlayStation 4. The Xbox One And The Wii U? Not So Much…”
I think we can all agree that excitement for the Wii U (or lack thereof) was an obvious one… given that the console has been out for some time already.
Looking at the stats for PS4 and Xbox One, it does indeed seem to reflect what you see on the internet and what friends are saying. I’m yet to decide which I’ll get. One one hand the PS4 is what I’d like to get the most, but on the other hand most of my friends are on the Xbox One.
Plus exclusives. Damn those exclusives.
Haha, I bet I’ll cave for a PS4 once Naughty Dog unveils their plans for it.
Well i disagree, if this was a WORLD WIDE study i would be more inclined to believes its results to reflect anything.
The playstation brand has ALWAYS been more popular in australia, shit even this gen has the ps3 ahead here despite its absurd launch price issues for years.
So this is exactly what I expected to be honest. Also 14 and above? the average age is like 35 in aussie and kids don’t buy consoles because kids don’t have money. They are likely to say they want everything (and believe they will get everything) so I also have to question the validity of the “survey”.
I am a 17y old student currently leaving high school and have a PS4 on order, as well as 8 friends of mine which do so to. The fact is money can be raised through selling current gen games and consoles aswel as work, of which I did both. There is also allot of younger kids in the school which are going about the same route of funding as I have.
The stats seem consistent to me with most websites I visit: about 2 out of 3 people prefer the PS4.
I question this stat. Firstly it’s 32 if we’re basing it on the survey run by Digital Australia a few years back. Secondly it was a relatively small sample size of 1,200 people. Thirdly it includes a very broad definition of the term ‘gaming’ which is also why it claimed that “women now make up 47% of gamers”.
That stat alone is inconsistent with the user base of Kotaku, what I saw at PAX or any other place where you have people who ‘game’. i.e. not people who play Farmville on Facebook but something a little more involved.
The vast majority of people play every other day according to those stats. However looking at Kotaku for instance, a site that attracts gamers (I won’t waste time arguing the definition of a ‘gamer’ because most people here get it), there is no way we spend only an hour every couple of days gaming.
So in short, I question those stats.
EDIT: Source – http://www.igea.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/DA12FinalLinkVideo.pdf
Maybe women make up 47% of gamers if you include mobile games. My partner has never picked up a console controller but plays puzzle games on her phone all the time.
This would be it. I don’t want to open a can of worms, but I question whether it’s valid to put people who are ‘gamers’ into the same bucket as those who ‘play some games, sometimes’.
I paint but I’m not an artist. I mash the keyboard sometimes but I’m not a musician and I jog but that also doesn’t make me an athlete. My ex girlfriend played Mario on the DS on rare occasions, but she was far from considering herself as being a gamer.
The word has become too generic now and there’s no clear delineation between someone who games a lot and someone who spends a bit of time on Candy Crush here and there.
If we take even half an hour of Candy Crush a week as ‘gaming’ then yes, you’ll find that the stats will be a reflection of society in general, i.e. about 50/50 split.
No i completely agree, mobile “gamers” aren’t gamers in the sense we are talking about and yes the real number of women “gamers” is much less than those included in the stupidly broad terms that play 2 minutes of angry birds 3 times a week.But they are the only stats we have so it was all i could make a comparison too.
My disagreement was more with the “inline with the internet” part, while there was horrible backlash against Microsoft initially those numbers picked up drastically after the drm change plus all those DRM sympathisers that crawled out of the woodwork afterwards makes me believe that world wide the numbers would be more even.
“Firstly it’s 32 if we’re basing it on the survey run by Digital Australia a few years back.”
Right, now do some simple addition…
That doesn’t work. Averages don’t work that way, otherwise 40 years from now the average age of gamers should be 75, which doesn’t make sense, does it?
However it is reasonable to think it has gone up, although it is unlikely to exceed the average age of the general population. At least not by more than a little bit.
Without knowing most of the details, I make a very roughly estimate of the average gamer age rising by one year every two years.
However that is based on the assumption that since that survey, nobody has picked up playing videogames and that nobody has put the controller down.
No it isn’t. It is based on the assumption that twice as many are picking up games compared to putting them down, and that those picking up games are likely to be below the average age while those putting them down are likely to be above the average.
Good points Mike. Enjoyed that analysis
Thanks. I didn’t mean to sound like a prick in any of my comments – just wanted to objectively see if the stats we keep regurgitating (I’m guilty of this too) are actually correct when you think about them.
I believe it all stems from the fact that the term ‘gamer’ doesn’t have a clear cut definition anymore that everyone agrees on.
Always good to fact check yourself, I try and do it too from time to time.
True what you say, gamer spans from the mum who plays the occasional word game on her phone to the semi-pro gamer who spends pretty much every waking hour on games..
Kingpotata, I have to disagree about kids not buying consoles, I bought my first console (Atari 2600) when I was 11 from paper delivery money, had every console growing up and bought them all myself from money I saved. My parents never bought them for me. I’m sure there are still kids out there that know how to work and save.
Yeah… But you’ve seen kids these days right?
That’s not the kids fault, monkey see monkey do. There are still kids out there that know the value of hard work.
Well these numbers are very reflective of the worldwide response to the next-gen consoles.
14 and above means 14 years of age AND ABOVE, which is including 35 year olds. Also 14 is the minimum age you could really expect any teenager to be capable of buying his own console.
Not surprising really. Article is pretty spot on about early adopters being the gamers. Also the Xbox One is way behind over here I believe because Microsoft has spent so much time hyping up features like TV, fantasy sports, NFL app, voice control that aren’t even available here in Australia at launch.
My thoughts exactly.. A lot of these media based features they are pushing aren’t available here
I believe the short term success is questionable. I mean, Sony will definitely win the console war in the short term, but I believe that it will give them enough momentum to continue this in the long term as well.
Microsoft are not the only ones that have multimedia capabilities, the difference is Sony is NOT marketing those media capabilities, unlike MS who are heavily pushing them. Sony does have on-demand TV services, a HUGE music library, a large and exclusive Sony Pictures video library and so on. Microsofts exclusive deals with NFL and other sports are their only winning point with media, and is only US exclusive. The Kinect is STILL just a gimmick, until the major franchises create unique experiences on the Xbox One using Kinect, it will always be a gimmick. I mean completely unique versions of games like COD.
I believe the Xbox One has missed the market on this one. They will end up falling back onto their games, and at this point, those games won’t be enough to bring them back.
“The Kinect is STILL just a gimmick, until the major franchises create unique experiences on the Xbox One using Kinect, it will always be a gimmick.”
That’s the problem though, people don’t want it unless developers do more interesting stuff with it, but developers wont do that until it’s got a bigger userbase…… So although some people still see it as pointless to force it into every home, I prefer to see it as the opportunity developers have been waiting for to do some serious stuff with it. Then if it still doesn’t take off, well at least they tried and they can start selling consoles without it.
No excuse. It is Microsoft’s job to sell Kinect, the same way it was Sony’s job to sell the PS3 “Cell Processor”. You do this through your first party games.
But the fact is there are exactly ZERO exciting Kinect2 games coming from Microsoft’s First Parties. This means it isn’t developer’s fault that there are no innovative games; it is MS’s job to prove it is actually achievable, and they haven’t done that.
Personally I’m looking forward to the Xbox One and I plan to buy a Wii U just after Christmas.
The Xbox exclusives and control just appeal to me more.
MOAR FABLEZ PLZ! (I am a glutton for punishment.)
Also the Wii U is already out, so I guess some of the allure is gone. If it had much?
100%. Who is getting excited for something already on the shelves. If all the consoles were launching around the same period I am sure the data would be slightly different. Also, if the Wii U was called the Wii 2 I am sure the data would be different. I am pretty sure a lot of people assume its a reboxed version of the Wii with a dif controller.
This isn’t a measure of excitement, its a measure of buying intention. Being on the shelf already isn’t particularly relevant to whether people plan on buying something in the next 12 months. Already owning one is, but we already know the wii u isn’t selling all that well.
What I find interesting is that this period covers the release on Mario 3D world and Mario Kart, but the sales figures aren’t that high. Might be because Australians don’t know they are coming.
They need to get demo stations going with the new Mario Kart. They sell really well for a long time.
Nintendo needs to buy some advertising time on the TV to promote them. I see plenty of TV spots for Animal Crossing and Pokemon but nothing for the WiiU
If the Wii U was called what it actually is, the DS XXXXXL, those numbers would be a lot different. Instead even people who know the Wii U is a different console still think it’s the Wii 2. Buying one has taught me that it’s not just people who don’t know games who don’t get the difference between a Wii and Wii U.
Unsurprising. The Xbox One doesn’t really have a lot of gamer’s attentions now. It certainly will become a console to own – but the higher price point, the lack of quality games and the focus on the media aspects have certainly kept gamers more interested in Sony’s offering.
Which quality titles will be available on the PS4 on launch day?
I don’t think lack of quality games is necessarily true; Project Spark, Killer Instinct, Forza, Halo, Titanfall, Ryse, Dead Rising, Quantum Break.
Project Spark, Titanfall, Forza & Halo are a few of the big reasons as to why I’ve swayed towards an X1.
Project Spark is not a launch game isn’t it? Neither is Quantum Break.
Also Titanfall is not exclusive, it is on PC, and will be coming to PS4 eventually.
You’re right that my list doesn’t comprise solely of launch titles, but my point was more centered around games that will be on the console in the first year of it’s release.
If you’re buying a console on release and you’re only concern is what you can play straight away I feel as though that’s a bit short-sighted. That would be like not taking Watch Dogs into account for the PS4 when comparing games.
Titanfall so far as we know it is a Microsoft exlusive, I don’t think there’s been any confirmation of a PS4 release yet but rather speculation. Isn’t it a bit dishonest to state that it absolutely is coming to the PS4 eventually?
The X1 launch titles are pretty good. I’ve been able to play Dead Rising 3, Forza, Killer instict, and Ryse (surprisingly awesome). If launch is all you’re thinking of, it’s quite good. Obviously it’s subjective, but personally I’m more interested in the X1 launch titles, over the PS4. But to be fair, I’ not huge on indie games, and there seems to be a huge focus on them for PS4 launch.
Also, I got to play Titanfall, and it was one of the best multiplayer gaming experiences I’ve ever had.
It’s EA – they’re not in the exclusives business. They haven’t explicitly said it’s coming to PS4,but when asked they certainly haven’t said it’s NOT coming to PS4,either. Plus they’ve said they want Titanfall to take Medal Of Honor’s place in their FPS schedule. That doesn’t really work for them if it’s not on Playstation as well.
The days of the third party exclusive are pretty much dead except in cases of technology (eg if something can really only work with Kinect or the Wii U controller) or regional considerations like some Japanese – centric stuff which they wouldn’t make for XBox because it has no significant presence in Japan. Other than that, the only 3rd party exclusivity you’re likely to see are these kinds of timed exclusives or exclusive DLC. Or, most ridiculous of all, timed exclusive DLC.
That’s fair, but you can’t guarantee that Microsoft don’t do something as drastic as buying Respawn or negotiating a deal.
@mattm
There seems to be a huge lack of quality games. Ryse: Son of Rome is a QTE fest which looks very derivative (although pretty), Dead Rising 3 just looks like a more open Dead Rising 2 (fun, but mostly the same), Quantum Break is a complete unknown (and far from delivery, I remember being interested in Alan Wake all the way back in 2005, years before it’s release), Forza is more of the same (and how different can it be, so soon after the last one?), Killer Instinct looks crap, Halo will most likely be good but it’s far from release, and Titanfall is also coming onto PC, where it will most likely be better. The same could be said for Project Spark, but that also looks like a mash of LittleBigPlanet and minecraft. There is a lack of quality games, but there is also a lack of innovation – resting on continued sequels is boring, and using games that are QTE mashfests, have higher res models, or are ages from release isn’t helping me pick one up on release day.
My PS4’s been on pre-order for several months now, but more and more I’m considering a Wii U when I have the money for it as well as the time in between PS4 games, although my Steam library has a fair few games I haven’t even touched yet (whose hasn’t?), as well as games on the Wii that I haven’t gotten round to
Everybody loves Mario.
I bought a Wii U a few months ago when I pre-ordered my PS4. Best purchase I’ve made in a while, I’ve been smashing out the Mario and [now] The Wind Waker. The only mistake was to buy my girlfriend Just Dance 4, I was forced into dancing and singing a duet to the Dirty Dancing classic “Time of My Life”.
“forced”. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight…
I’ve never really seen the allure of Mario games myself, but I’ve yet to play Wind Waker, or any Zelda, at all. Guess it’d be cool to play Wind Waker, but I think I’d just buy it second hand and play on my Wii.
No they don’t. I don’t love Mario. I feel like he is the most over used game character. I think Mario should be retired, he’s been featured in games for the last 30+ years.
I never got what was so amazing about the Mario franchise games. Even as a kid I found them boring. Likewise Zelda, never understood the hype there.
Not ever Super Mario 3?? Dude…..
Nope. I just never got what was so amazing about him. I had a few fun moments with Mario Party 2 once upon a time, in a childhood long ago..
haha fair enough, you’re probably younger than me when you had a lot better and more games to choose from, I was a kid when the original mario’s came out for the NES and spent many an hour saving the princess. Must admit still preferred Alex Kidd and Sonic.
I’m only 23, but I was more into Gran Turismo and other racing games at that age in the 90’s. I always found them fun, because I loved motorsport of any sort.
Also granted I didn’t own a games console until the very late 90’s or knew any friends with one, cause they were expensive D= haha.
Man, I remember when Gran Turismo 1 looked photo realistic! 😀
There we go, there it is. You were into GT when you were a kid. You are too young to appreciate how good Mario games were. I remember Super Mario 3 dropping and it felt like the pinnacle of human achievement had been reached. Its all anyone talked about at my school for a year.
To really know the enjoyment of a Mario game during the 90’s you needed to be rocking it out on the NES before having your mind blown on the SNES.
@ax I beg to differ. Anyone can jump into a well established franchise of a game and appreciate it no matter when they started playing. I played Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, Mario Party, 2 & 3. I never found them amazing, like my friends who were hooked on them. I was the same with Final Fantasy & The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, etc.. However I did quite like Banjo Kazooie on the 64.
@miketarno yeah, looking back, it’s amazing how shit photos were back then, isn’t it? 😛
Me too, I was always more into Alex Kidd and Sonic then Mario… MegaDrive > SNES, PS1 > N64 … never been a big Nintendo guy. I think the overuse of Mario had something to do with that… every Nintendo console has the same mascot and the same games, I think it grew stale.
I had all 4 of those consoles and never really thought of one as better than the others, there were mainly exclusives back in those days and sega and sony had the biggest range, that being said Nintendo would occasionally bring out something that got my full attention for months on end. For example, Golden Eye with the analogue controller, after that dropped I don’t think I touched my PS1 for 6 months.
Add me as another who never particularly enjoyed the Mario games and to some degree sees him as a turnoff. SMB3 was released during my first year at Uni; at the time I was gaming on an old Atari 2600 and to some degree writing my own on a Dick Smith VZ300. I didn’t get a new actual console until the Playstation. During the peak 8/16 bit Nintendo years I was mostly gaming on computers.
To some degree I avoid his games because I’m not generally fond of platformers, and to some degree I find him too self-consciously cute as a character. The only Mario game I particularly like is Donkey Kong.
Admittedly I haven’t played all the Mario games, but I have played most of his mainline games (with various degrees of brevity).
You could possibly argue I was too old to appreciate the Mario games, but I definitely wasn’t too young; my first experience with a video game console was around 1978-79, and I was gaming fairly extensively from at least 1984.
Yeah agreed, there is something so fun about mario games. Cant wait to get Mario Kart 8.
While not many consumers would consider it the grand scheme of things, one of the major issues with Xbox here in Australia is that features they have in the US never ever translate to Oz. We get the super pathetic hand-me-down versions from our monopolised media outlets. Playstation suffers from the same thing but they never dangle it in our faces at every chance. How many times have we been watching a Xbox press conference and pretty much keep saying “Well, we won’t be getting that…’, ‘…that won’t be at launch…’, ‘…nope thats not possible in Australia.”
If the PS controller was better, and I see they actually tried harder with the PS4, I think the Xbox One would have even less people buying it.
The headline for this should be: XBone vs PS4 study provides rational explanation of non-equivalent differences, lack of sensationalism!
Man, I would have clicked the shit out of that.
Given the likely sample size of n=3,437 and the July-August date this is irrelevant data. One would need to know the location(s) of this sample data and it should be from SEP/OCT due to the release of information/180’s and games being seen. Call me when you have a real cross section of data. Also if the average age of gamers in Australia is 32-34 years old why are we listening to 14+ year olds exactly? They have far less buying capacity than say 18-40 year olds…
Food for though anyhow. Also Australian has 2.5million xbox live subscribers, how many PSN or PS+ subscribers? This would give a better indication of who’s going to buy what next gen.
14 year olds have grandparents, aunties and uncles, and now for the first time in history are likely to have parents who game in some form. To say they are not a major factor is highly ignorant.
I get it, you’re trying to sound adult by dismissing kids and their importance. I used to do it too. As for the Xbox Live vs PS+ statistic you mentioned, you forget that a vast majority of PS3 owners in this country do not use PS+ because it’s not a requirement for online gaming this generation.
I’ll agree, but at the same time I’ve casually spent like two grand on Nintendo products in the past two months all because I felt like getting back into Pokemon (I hesitate to actually do the math for a specific figure =P). Obviously there’s some exceptional circumstances there, I needed a Wii U and a 3DS which are once in 5-10 year purchases, and my business had two back to back brilliant months. I’m not over 30 yet but I’m near it. I always found a way to buy my own consoles and games back when I was a kid/teenager, but I had nowhere near the capacity to buy that I’ve had as an adult.
Even when I’ve been flat broke earning practically nothing, even with all my financial responsibilities, it’s been easier to squeeze money out of my budget to buy a game than to get money when I was a kid. As an adult if I want three extra controllers and the fancy special edition console I have a much easier time making it happen.
So yeah, I wouldn’t disregard children in these things but I’d say an adult in the worst position can do the same or better than most kids.
I’m always more likely to get the ps3/ps4 being a pc gamer.
There tend to be more crossover between xbox and pc releases, (dead rising etc, albeit belated)
So i keep my bases covered.
No real surprise, the PS4 will retake top position after losing to the Wii this generation, the WiiU is looking at becoming the next GameCube sales wise and I think the Xbox one will be closer to the original Xbox marketshare than the the 360’s without the head start and price advantage the 360 had.
100% agree.
Why do some people not like indie games? Is it the same as saying you only like things that are mainstream or big budget?
Interestingly I’ve noticed with the people I’ve come across in my area of work, that anyone who is still in school plays on the PS3. Uni/tafe etc is a even split. Xbox 360 is the more popular in the after education group….
I would be on the fence between XboxOne and PS4 except that XboxOne has nothing equivalent to PlayTV (as far as I know).
That rules out the Xbox for me.
What about Steambox / PC gaming rig.
Ask people what they prefer if they had the money…
I’d like to see the trending when the killer devastating title Titanfall hits the market.
Blend in dedicated servers, it won’t be long to the words out Next Gen is finally here.
Let’s face it, it’s the title that will keep gamers online day after day, week after week. It won’t be long till friends of friends will be at each others places licking their lips at how good this thing is.
It’s one thing waiting for first party titles that get delayed forever then played for a month or two when they eventually come out, but really….do I want the console that’s more powerful but keeps me waiting, especially when the company themselves had said that indies will fill the void between major titles.
I want the game that keeps us coming back again to wanting to get into a party chat and hangout having the best fun we’ve had in a long time.
I personally can’t wait for the title, but I can assure you, come the release of that game……. Boy oh boy…….. Next Gen Baby…….Yeah.
As gamer centric as the PS4 looks it is really looking forward to the future that much. Yes its great now but I feel as though MS are trying to revolutionise how people use game consoles in their home. Xbox One may not be the favourite right now, but in a few years it may be with its cloud supported stuff and the way it is to interact with friends and online services.
as an offline gamer i understand the results of the survey , pretty much anyone who does not support always online will be getting the ps4,
The XBox One is no longer “Always Online” so that shouldn’t be particularly relevant now.
Note: If I get a console, it will probably be a PS4. But it’s not really fair to MS to punish them for an abandoned policy.
i just posted below , sorry i didnt press reply
i know that the x1 is now able to be offline and i have already paid for both an x1 and ps4, its just with MS pushing cloud technology that i am concerned
I put a pre-order in today for a ps4 through JB HIFI. I am number 180 for ps4 while that shop had about 70 Xbox one per orders.
The man who served me also said that nationally JB had their ps4 allocation doubled for pre-christmas. Launch day was sold out butt still a heap for per Christmas.