Above: One particularly interesting section of a recent Nielsen survey that probes console owners about the factors driving their buying habits.
There’s no data on just how many customers participated in this survey — could be 10 people for all we know — but the listed factors are fascinating. Wii U buyers are all about that nebulous “fun factor” so often attached to Nintendo games, while PS4 owners seem to care quite a bit about what was once dubbed ResolutionGate. Meanwhile, the folks at Microsoft have built some massive Brand Power™ with Xbox Live, a service that for a very long time was synonymous with online gaming.
The best part? Both PS4 and Xbox One owners cite “faster processing power” as their reasons for buying each respective console. Faster than what, exactly? Each other? Just wait until those survey-takers find out about this new machine called a “personal computer”.
Comments
39 responses to “Survey: PS4 Owners Want Better Resolution, XB1 Owners Just Prefer Xbox”
I smell some master race propaganda!
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constructive comment friend! It was a joke just so you know 😉
I know. Mine was a joke too. I really don’t care about this whole thing.
It’s strange that people here are so sensetive or just take things too seriously. I guess I was trying to make a joke about that.
I bought my wii u, ps4, xbox one, vita, pc, 3ds all for the same reason – I enjoy playing video games.
Same here, I just haven’t bought the Xbox One yet as there’s been no exclusives yet that I’ve really found worth it. Closest was the Halo collection but they didn’t include my favourites Reach or ODST (yes yes, I know… It was the Master Chief collection). Pretty sad though that the closest thing is a port from the previous gen.
I was the opposite and still am, aside from replaying the last of us and a bit of little big planet the ps4 hasn’t been used. I actually unplugged my ps4 to plug my 360 back in after owning the ps4 for about a month. This year should see the PS4 pick up games wise though but the order was a let down.
It’s funny, my PS4 has only been used to play Destiny and The Last Of US (which I played twice back to back)… And a handful of the free PS+ games.
NO your not allowed to “enjoy” video games. You pick a console and STICK WITH IT. Doesn’t matter if your having fun. You just need to stick with it. Gosh, do you even!
I thought Innovative features would have been number 1 for xbox. unless they mean brand for reasons like continuing your gamer score which you would obviously need to start again if you changed brands.
They would have to be close surely
I think the brand is more a case of the people who think the Xbox is so great, they will buy a new one regardless of how good or bad it might be, because it’s an Xbox.
People do the same for Playstation/Nintendo consoles but I think Brand might not have been as high on Wii U because of the image of the old Wii in gamer’s minds (many were dissapointed). And while the PS3 was considered quite good, the PS4, early on, looked to be a bit crap for old fans (paying for multiplayer, no backwards compatibility, crappier media-player functions, etc).
I think “regardless of how good or bad it might be” is a bit excessive, but I do agree that lots of people would have bought an Xbone because they loved their 360 and original Xbox.
I was one of those people, I looked at the launch games and the games promised for the imminent future and decided that MS couldn’t stuff it up THAT badly from what they did with the 360…. And that was enough for me.
It’s not baseless, but with the PS4 getting the better of the press coverage for the 1st year or so I’m not surprised that lots of the people who chose Xbox did it because they already loved Xbox. It’s not like the media was pushing people to jump onto the Xbone train for the first time.
Innovative features at #1? No… I don’t know if you’ve ever worked in retail but the overwhelming majority of people don’t watch E3, or know about these things. It’s like ‘resolution.’ Despite how much drama it causes on the internet, most customers don’t know what ‘1080p’ means, what the ‘p’ refers to, the difference between HD or ‘full HD,’ or that brand name HDMI cables are a scam.
They don’t know these things, just as they don’t know about the ‘innovative features’ of the Kinect, or that the Wii-U is a different console from the Wii. I’d take this survey with a huge grain of salt. There’s no stated sample size, catchment, demographic breakdown, etc.
Most of this seems rather redundant to me. Of course no one would say ‘I bought an Xbox One for better Resolution’ when 9/10 times it doesn’t have better resolution. Just like no one would say they bought a Wii U for 3rd party titles or (non-gaming) media support.
It’s not to say things like resolution aren’t important to Xbox users or Brand loyalty isn’t important to PS4/Wii U users, those just aren’t the major selling points of those specific consoles.
Probably only things here that are a little surprising is how low down ‘Exclusive games’ are for all 3 consoles while stuff like ‘What the family want’ is on the PS4 list. I’m guessing from those that the survey was more aimed at younger people and parents (not as many 20-30 year olds).
I also feel like a lot of people just say the reasons they’ve been told their console is the best. If the PS4 had worse resolution than the XBOX One would that have actually changed people’s minds? The XBOX and Wii U fans are backed into a corner where they don’t have as many technical advantages to cite.
The fact that the PS4 has 50% faster GPU is what made it my console for this generation. I was a 360 man last gen.
I mean they are both gonna have almost entirely the same games so you may as well get the one thats faster right?
I see this as very solid, and IMHO objective, reasoning for people who are only going to have one console for the entire generation. (Not saying it’s the only choice, just that I understand why some may think like that)
Even though it is faster (though not nearly as high as 50%), its been repeated so often that like you said, it has become a reason for some people to buy it. So it’s not surprising it’s on the list at all.
XB1 user myself but I’m surprised that the Streaming to a Vita or phone didn’t pop up on the PS side. I know I’m jealous and waiting for the XB1 equivalent.
*Edit: sorry for all the info. I didn’t intend for it to get this out of hand and it wasn’t even a big part of your original comment! I’m sorry!*
Well, sure it’s not 50% more powerful as a whole (Or a ‘perceivable’ 50% difference in games), but the ‘on paper’ difference in GPU’s is about 40-50% (not even taking into account memory speed differences), which is probably where the 50% more powerful comes from. The actual on screen difference is of course subjective.
*Edited out irrelevant stuff and, for those interested:
Both the X1 and PS4 are mid way between amd cards so there is no direct comparison. But, we do know (based on shades, cores, etc) that the X1 is a little faster than a 7770, but closer to a 7770 than a 7790. The PS4 is not quite as fast as a 7870, but is closer to the 7870 than the 7850. The 7870 is, on paper, about 50% more powerful on average than the 7770. (And, after having both cards at some point, if the 7870 runs a game at 1080p the 7750 will run it the same at about 720-900p. Which is about what we have been seeing.)
Here are cool graphs and a table:
http://www.hwcompare.com/12188/radeon-hd-7770-vs-radeon-hd-7870/
As I say, it’s not super accurate, things like fining a 7770 without gddr5 to compare is very hard, but it’s a close ‘on paper’ comparison. But I wouldn’t say that a 50% difference on paper is wrong, or right. But it’s probably pretty close to it.
I specifically said the GPU was 50% faster, not the entire system. Also I figured that most games would be GPU limited rather than CPU limited as that was the case last gen.
But you didn’t follow the graphical power last generation? That would imply that the graphical power is only icing on the cake. I’m not saying you’re somehow deluding yourself into believing you like your PS4, it would be ridiculous to stand here and try and convince you you don’t like your PS4, but I’m guessing if you really go deeper into why you chose/like your PS4 graphical power doesn’t rank that highly on the list. It makes it the better console on a technical level but there’s so much more to picking a console than just getting the one with the better specs.
That said this generation was a bit of a weird one. Microsoft screwed up royally pre-launch. Both consoles suffered early on from the lack of standout titles. They released way too close to each other. They both lacked a ton of things the PS3/XBOX 360 had. The little things that separate them are probably more important this generation than ever before, I just think that it also came with a pick which ever one looks better then justify your gut reaction later attitude.
The thing is, for the most part, last gen was debatable in terms of ‘graphical power’, this gen is more of a clear ‘sure thing’. Regardless, as a PS3/ pc gamer last gen, I know that the majority of releases last gen were better on 360 than PS3. I know many, many people bought the 360 over the PS3 for the better multi-platform experience. The reverse can be said this gen, except the gap is, imo, less debatable/ circumstantial than last gen.
I got the 360 because it had 512mb of ram vs 256 on the PS3 which led to games running better on it.
I bought the wii u for its innovative features. I can’t think of why that’s ranked second for the xbone. Is it because of the TV stuff which doesn’t really work here?
Fun-Factor? Da hell?
I just liked the early PS4 games a little better. Now I’m getting an itch for Sunset Overdrive, Halo and Forza. I just like games.
IDK how much these lists really say. These are statements made by the ‘average’ consumer. They are hardly what I would like to look too for stats about gaming.
I mean to the average (uninformed) gamer, all they see are two machines that play the same games for the most part. Both have Assassins Creed, CoD, Fifa and racing games. Heck, most casual gamers I know think that every game other than Uncharted and Halo is on everything.
So of course they are going to choose between graphics and feature sets for the most part. It’s just sad that those guys are the ones that the industry is going to cater for. Not the guys who have multiple consoles and play games because they love the experiences, but the people who play the fads.
I bought a PS4 for its focus on gaming, but I have friends who understandably prefer the Xbox for its media and streaming capabilities. I especially enjoyed the fact that it constantly records gameplay, so I can easily save my favourite moments, or even just screenshots. There are also a number of Playstation exclusives I’m looking forward to, though there exist a few Xbox ones I wouldn’t mind either (Dead Rising 3 and Sunset Overdrive, for example).
I’ll probably get an Xbox at some point; it’s about the games and whatever game-oriented functionality you can rope into a console that usually sells it for me. Everyone’s looking for something unique, so it’s good to have a variety of platforms with different strengths.
Top 5 Reasons I bought a WiiU:
1. XCX
2. Zelda
3. Donkey Kong
4. Mario
5. Starfox
Makes sense to me.
If I wanted better resolution I’d add a second video card to the rig. Which I will be doing anyway.
Reasons I bought a PS4: Sony Exclusives.
Reasons I bought an X1: In Australia XBL craps all over PSN (from my personal experience anyway) and more than 90% of my friends game on X1. As it turns out they both suck big ones this gen. And Xbox exclusives.
Reasons I bought a WiiU: Nintendo. Quickly sold it as I hated second screening and didn’t enjoy having 800 peripherals to play older games and also realized I don’t really enjoy Ninty games anymore. All I actually wanted it for was a console Pokemon game. After realizing they will never do that my interest in Ninty has died totally. I wish them the best though.
Reasons we built a pc: Dems grafiks and pc exclusives. Obvs.
To be fair about backwards compatibility, you also need peripherals to play ps3 and 360 games. Well, that and another console.
Yeah I’m keen to see how Sony actually pull off PS Now in terms of backwards compatibility here with our top notch Aussie net, hopefully fiber can mitigate some of that lag, but I fear unless Sony actually commit to local servers the latency will be too game breaking.
Thing is I still have my 360, because I bought so many games digitally during “ultimate game sales”, I don’t think I can ever get rid of it. I only bought a PS3 to play TLOU and should have played Ni No Kuni, but didn’t, now I have to wait for PS Now to get it, which may never happen. That’s the thing. I’m sorry, lost my train of thought. Oh well.
The ‘brand’ thing is pretty interesting, since:
A/ It’s entirely unclear what they mean by that; and
B/ If I had to guess I would have said ‘brand’ was traditionally Sony’s domain.
Particularly back in the PS1/ PS2 days. Owning a Playstation meant you were “hip”, “with it” and “down with the young folk”.
If there was ever a console that I thought people associated with a social status I always thought it would be the Playstation.
That’s unless people mean ‘brand’ as in, “I bought a Xbone this generation because I like enjoyed Xbox’s the last two generations and I expect to enjoy this one again too”…. Which I think is probably more likely the case.
That’s certainly why I bought my Xbone first (although it was a close thing), I liked the 360 more than the PS3 because I thought it edged Sony as far as the OS, online functions, controller and maybe by a bee’s dick on games too. I haven’t seen too much of a change this gen so far, the Xbone clearly has the better exclusives to this point (Dead Rising, 2 good Forza games, Sunset Overdrive) and the controller is probably still better even though the PS4 controller is a vast improvement and the Xbone controller is probably slightly worse than the 360’s.
I believe brand refers to “brand loyalty”, which is the essentially the the second meaning you wrote about.
That last paragraph, spot on! It’s like reading my own thoughts.
I’m surprised things like xbox live and the xbox controller are not on the list. They are the best things about the xbox
I want to know just how many people participated in this survey because despite how much airtime the resolution stuff got on the internet, I’d guess that maybe 1 in 5 people who bought a PS4 actually know what that is, or care about it enough to rank it as their #1 reason for purchase.
I’d agree with that as well.
I don’t see much difference in an XB1 and a PS4 right now… Now if one of them had backwards compatibility, that would get me interested. Perhaps the better question would have been “What would you *like* to see in a console”….