It's been a night that many out there have been looking forward to since June or so. A night that some have been actively planning to avoid, and a night that for some will come at an undetermined day sometime in the next six months to a year. It's the launch of the PlayStation 4, and with it, the time when the next generation of the console wars kicks off in earnest.
A recent report suggests the breakdown of the next generation so far, as Intergi Entertainment took a closer look at the numbers by polling fully 5,000 gamers and looking at the breakdown in response. Indeed, the responses turn out about how you'd expect, really. The two newcomers in the market are fairly close together, with about 58 percent looking to get in a PlayStation 4, and 39 percent looking at an Xbox One. The remaining one percent, meanwhile, are planning to get a Wii U.
Those numbers together paint a stark picture of the upcoming console war. While it was a safe bet that Microsoft was going to lose ground after the disaster of E3, it recovered to the point of near parity with its rival, Sony. Nintendo, meanwhile, has significant problems afoot in that extraordinarily slim number that plans to pick up one of its systems, which is likely still suffering under the sheer lack of games available for it despite the fact that it's been available for the better part of a year now.
Of course, the methodology is worth quibbling about at this point. While 5,000 gamers is an excellent sample size, there are still some issues regarding the survey itself. Issues of age, income and the like aren't noted in this survey, and that would have been helpful to know. If this is a survey of lower-income gamers, or older gamers, the numerical breakdown would make more sense. The Wii U typically trends younger, for example, and the PlayStation 4 is likely appealing to lower-income gamers eager to save that extra $100 on the next console.
Meanwhile, there's also a pretty substantial number of people out there planning to take more of a wait and see posture to the next generation. After all, Microsoft's Red Ring of Death and similar issues from Soy are likely still ringing in the ears of potentially interested gamers out there, and letting the consoles shake out the problems that may be in the system—not to mention get some games into the fold and maybe even drop the prices a bit—could be seen as a sound response to the overall environment. There are even some reports that indicate some PlayStation 4 units had mechanical failures already.
Still, with the midnight launch afoot, and the numbers looking good for Sony at least in the short term, it's worth wondering if those numbers will last for long. Indeed, the holiday shopping season is likely to put up a few numbers itself, but those numbers may not hold out too long. It's going to be an interesting picture either way, and that's the one that's going to be worth watching, even past the midnight launch.
