According to Sony’s US marketing boss John Koller, former fans of other consoles are the people who’re now rushing to buy the PlayStation 4. Citing some or other internal marketing data that may in fact be wholly fabricated, Koller said that 31% of new PlayStation owners PlayStation 4 had an Xbox 360 or Wii in the last generation, but skipped the PS3.
According to that very same research, 17 per cent didn’t even own a console in the last generation, suggesting that it’s bringing in new consumers – or even bringing PC gamers over in to the console side of life.
For the most part though, the 8 or s million people that have bought PS4’s to date are the sort you’d call “The core gamer.”
“The person that we’ve picked up since launch primarily is someone we call the connoisseur, someone that loves, unequivocally, loves games,” Koller told Kotaku. “They are the people who, when you walk in [to their home], there’s no books on their book shelves. They’re all game packages. They’re the people who stood in line at midnight [for the console’s launch]. They really are a fantastic consumer for us. They’re a great part of the PlayStation nation.”
That said, it’s not just the usual early adopters rushing to buy the consoles.
“One thing that’s interesting, though, is that we’re starting to see a lot more of what we thought were going to be adopters later down the cycle coming in really early.”
Are you an Xbox 360 or Wii owner who’s gone with the PlayStation 4 this generation? Here in South Africa, I imagine very many former Xbox fans have switched this generation. They’ve had little choice; the Xbox One is yet to be released locally, though it’s coming in September.
Last Updated: June 13, 2014
Admiral Chief Cyber Commando
June 13, 2014 at 09:16
http://d24w6bsrhbeh9d.cloudfront.net/photo/a8Wge1O_460sa.gif
Admiral Chief Cyber Commando
June 13, 2014 at 09:20
Had to post this, sorry, but I can’t stop watching and laughing!!!
Rince&exhale
June 13, 2014 at 09:33
Uh uh, dat first one from that page killed me!
Admiral Chief Cyber Commando
June 13, 2014 at 09:35
Those hairless ones?
Rince&exhale
June 13, 2014 at 09:47
The one where he lands on his face 🙂 From yesterday. Not sure if Geoff sent to you
HvR - THE Average GAmer
June 13, 2014 at 09:48
Hehehe Eina bliksem hy het ‘n knater geknak.
VampyreSquirrel
June 13, 2014 at 09:20
Ken… didn’t make it after crashing in Barbie’s car… but no one cared as it was neither a tragedy or a great loss…
Ottokie
June 13, 2014 at 09:35
Nothing like a good GIF on a Friday morning, Thx Chief
Admiral Chief Cyber Commando
June 13, 2014 at 09:36
😉
Rince&exhale
June 13, 2014 at 09:57
Raise you http://static2.lxdcdn.net/images/32215f386b4281781755e48e2049a964.gif
Rince&exhale
June 13, 2014 at 09:57
Raise you http://static2.lxdcdn.net/images/32215f386b4281781755e48e2049a964.gif
Admiral Chief Cyber Commando
June 13, 2014 at 09:59
Sjoe!
Rince&exhale
June 13, 2014 at 09:59
Lol. He was okay though 🙂
Admiral Chief Cyber Commando
June 13, 2014 at 10:02
Face surgery required most likely
zeemonkeyman
June 13, 2014 at 14:23
See I don’t find that funny, why would you find someone seriously injuring themselves funny?
Rince&exhale
June 13, 2014 at 14:32
no, you are quite correct. That was poor form.
Hesperus Phosphorus
June 13, 2014 at 15:45
It’s called ‘Schadenfreude’… and people who hurt themselves doing particularly stupid things (usually in an attempt to be ‘awesome’) deserve to be laughed at.
zeemonkeyman
June 13, 2014 at 16:01
You tell that to mothers who have lost there kids in horrific car accidents all because they were teenagers trying to impress people or get an adrenalin rush. When people are young their brains don’t quite work properly (google it, it’s a fact ) which causes them to take stupid risks, does that mean they deserve to be maimed or killed? No, no it doesn’t.
Hesperus Phosphorus
June 13, 2014 at 16:15
Yes.
Death by stupidity. Natural eugenics.
zeemonkeyman
June 13, 2014 at 16:35
Teenagers brains aren’t right (it’s a fact look it up) and it makes them take stupid dangerous risks, does that mean they deserve to be maimed or killed? No, no it doesn’t.
Sway
June 13, 2014 at 12:27
Cool Lambo pedal cart….
VampyreSquirrel
June 13, 2014 at 09:19
I’ll be going PS4 this gen… when I can afford it.
Ottokie
June 13, 2014 at 09:36
Also jumping on the PS4 train but only when that smexy white PS4 launches.
Sk3tz0
June 13, 2014 at 13:52
With the Snow Camo Controller.. So much WIN
Rince&exhale
June 13, 2014 at 09:54
See you there brudda!
FoxOneZA
June 13, 2014 at 10:20
Precisely that. The Xbox 360 appealed to a demographic that couldn’t afford the PS3. Remember how ludicrously priced that was at launch? Now MS wants to compete at the same price point but with inferior hardware.
VampyreSquirrel
June 13, 2014 at 11:02
Took me 3 years (give or take) to join the previous gen of consoles, just because of price (my jobs at the time didn’t help much either)… may be the same story this gen. We’ll see.
MichaelMatusowsky
June 13, 2014 at 11:31
job[s]. You’re a strong human. I wanna kill myself just studying.
Badass Eyepatch Man
June 13, 2014 at 09:23
I’ve gone from 360 to Wii U…Booyah, row row fight the POWAH
FoxOneZA
June 13, 2014 at 10:11
I’ve done the same and also use the PC for multiplat titles.
Badass Eyepatch Man
June 13, 2014 at 09:23
I’ve gone from 360 to Wii U…Booyah, row row fight the POWAH
Hammersteyn
June 13, 2014 at 09:23
ion? Time to go home!
Hammersteyn
June 13, 2014 at 09:23
ion? Time to go home!
Alien Emperor Trevor
June 13, 2014 at 09:28
Well that explains why I don’t have a PS4. I have too many books.
Alien Emperor Trevor
June 13, 2014 at 09:28
Well that explains why I don’t have a PS4. I have too many books.
Hammersteyn
June 13, 2014 at 09:33
The XBOX ONE in the header is to scale, but the PS4 isn’t that big
oVgeeeeee Comet Drop
June 13, 2014 at 11:04
and it has no external brick yet its smaller than the Bone.
My mind cant compute.
Pieter Kruger
June 13, 2014 at 09:34
So now you have to complete an online survey before you can start playing the PS4??????
Rince&exhale
June 13, 2014 at 09:36
Solly, vat?
Admiral Chief Cyber Commando
June 13, 2014 at 09:40
HAI
Hammersteyn
June 13, 2014 at 09:40
HAI
HvR - THE Average GAmer
June 13, 2014 at 09:49
HAAI (Afrikaans vandag dammit)
Hammersteyn
June 13, 2014 at 09:56
Uiteindelik, en dis net Geoff op kantoor vandag so hy kan nie na Gavin toe hardloop nie.
Admiral Chief Cyber Commando
June 13, 2014 at 09:58
Hiehiehie
Admiral Chief Cyber Commando
June 13, 2014 at 09:58
Janee, ek dink in die volgende artikel gaan ons volstoom!
DrKiller
June 13, 2014 at 10:10
En hier dog ek dis net ek wat glo in Afrikaans Vrydag!
Pieter Kruger
June 13, 2014 at 09:42
Sony had one……
1. Games
Hammersteyn
June 13, 2014 at 09:44
We got games, indie games.
Spathi
June 13, 2014 at 10:00
Exactly, the console is perfect, now the third parties need to perform!
Marigold
June 13, 2014 at 10:32
IMHO PS4is the best console so far.
Sk3tz0
June 13, 2014 at 13:50
HAD.. The Key word in that Shitty Comeback of urs.
Guest
June 14, 2014 at 08:37
They have games, thanks.
Rince&exhale
June 13, 2014 at 09:37
Better than completing a mandatory day one half gig patch 😛
Hammersteyn
June 13, 2014 at 09:40
LOL then comes a questioner that’s got the same questions as applying for Japanese citizenship
Alien Emperor Trevor
June 13, 2014 at 09:34
It’s a obvious choice. The Xbone doesn’t even have a controller.
Rince&exhale
June 13, 2014 at 09:34
You don’t need One… BOOM…
Hammersteyn
June 13, 2014 at 09:35
It’s got Kinect, you are the controller
Alien Emperor Trevor
June 13, 2014 at 09:36
There’s no Kinect in the header either hehe.
Hammersteyn
June 13, 2014 at 09:45
Um it’s behind the behemoth console?
Alien Emperor Trevor
June 13, 2014 at 09:49
Good point. You can barely see the mountain behind it even.
Rince&exhale
June 13, 2014 at 09:53
Can’t see the kinect for the mountain? tehehe
Tortoise
June 13, 2014 at 09:35
Went from 360 to the PS4. Even if the xbone had been released would’ve gone PS4 route – PR cockups, force feeding Kinect, price difference – no thanks.
Rince&exhale
June 13, 2014 at 09:37
What you said.
oVgeeeeee Comet Drop
June 13, 2014 at 09:41
You can say the same about the PS2 owners jumping onto the XBOX 360.
Like me, who has now jumped onto the PS4.
Like the PS3, the Bone had no clear mandate.
An expensive investment requires a clear cut message.
Rince&exhale
June 13, 2014 at 09:42
And like the doomed Titanic, I too shall follow your path brother!
Marigold
June 13, 2014 at 10:33
I also started gaming on the PS2 (my dad’s) and then got a xbox 360. Now a happy PS4 gamer.
Hammersteyn
June 13, 2014 at 09:42
XBOX ONE was a PR nightmare, then taking into account all the 180s they did it’s actually a miracle people bought them in the first place. The Titanfall hype probably played the biggest hand in this .
Martin du preez (D4RKL1NGza)
June 13, 2014 at 09:52
By gamers FOR gamers then you couple that with Live, Learn and Love philosophy you get:
http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_medium/104/1042265/2432399-ehulwqf.gif
FoxOneZA
June 13, 2014 at 10:18
That’s why so there were so many broken PS4’s at launch 😛
Mabenito
June 13, 2014 at 11:07
LMAO..! You Win. Flawless Victory.. Fatality
Ryanza
June 13, 2014 at 09:58
No books on the bookshelves, standing in long midnight launches. “American gamers”?
Sony fucked up with the launch of the PS3. I still don’t want one. And believe it of not but the Xbox 360 started off as a really good gaming console with some nice games. But then the NXE dashboard took all the focus off gamers and games and focused on Xbox Live and Kinect, no more focus on the gamer, nor creating new games. I mean they had Rare and what was Rare doing, Kinect Sports.
Sony learnt a lot since the launch of the PS3. The focus on creating new games and more new games, has brought PS3 back where today I think it has more consoles sold than the Xbox 360.
Microsoft fucked up with the Xbox One because it needs the internet to activate and that is not an option for a lot of people and when I say a lot, I mean a lot. So all those offline Xbox 360 users are going to get the PS4.
I have never owned a Playstation console. I went with the Xbox and Xbox 360. I’m not a early adopter, I don’t do midnight launches, I have books on my book shelf and when the next GTA game hits consoles, I will be getting the PS4.
Don’t support DRM. Internet activation to get a gaming console to work. Fuck that.
DrKiller
June 13, 2014 at 10:09
Dude your comment is longer than the article! We believe in TLDR; over here!
Ryanza
June 13, 2014 at 10:15
Ya I know. I don’t like writing these long comments but it’s Friday so who cares. Not like it’s a Monday.
Sk3tz0
June 13, 2014 at 13:56
U remind me of the blind preacher from Little Nicky
Ryanza
June 13, 2014 at 16:33
But, after much thought and careful consideration, I’ve decided that the ruler for the next 5 years is going to have to be…PS4
Brian Murphy
June 13, 2014 at 14:09
“And believe it of not but the Xbox 360 started off as a really good gaming console with some nice games”
I actually choose to disagree on this point. It had some nice games…but the 360 for the first 2-3 years of it’s life was one of the worst pieces of crap to ever have been released into the market. The white washing people do, to forget the FACT that Microsoft knew it was releasing a machine with defective architecture is quite amazing.
Ryanza
June 13, 2014 at 16:19
So you agree that there was some nice games but RROD made it a bad console.
My comment was specifically on how the console played the games. I do understand that the console couldn’t play the games with RROD but when the console worked the games played nicely on it.
Brian Murphy
June 13, 2014 at 16:39
Well, that’s part of my issue here. I cannot just gloss over the hardware issue like so many have (not saying you are). Microsoft should’ve paid a hell of a lot more of a price in the industry, than simply their billion dollar band-aid program which didn’t fix anything, it just ensured that fans would get another defective unit as quickly as possible.
From a consumer standards position, it’s a terrible thing that gamer’s allowed to occur. It’s terrible thing for the industry to say yeah, we know you made this horrifying piece of crap, but the mere handful of games you can’t get anywhere else but here, makes me turn the other cheek.
Gamer’s really, really need to start policing the industry better. If they think Microsoft or Sony or Nintendo really have their best interests at heart, man, they’re in for a rude awakening.
Krypty
June 13, 2014 at 10:03
I would have made the banner with a picture of Sherlock Homes stating the following quote: “No shit, Sherlock”
How MS approached the situation and especially in the case of ZA and in many other countries I cannot blame fans and customers.
This generation could be decided not on Hardware and titles but how PR and marketing handled the situation in the beginning.
FoxOneZA
June 13, 2014 at 10:10
And Sony know’s this how? O_O
Ir0nseraph
June 13, 2014 at 10:17
I went from 360 to PS4 , kinda right about the books thou there definitely not on the self any more, E-books so much easier.
Mike Doutchevitch
June 13, 2014 at 10:17
It’s true in my case. The 2 companies reversed between the 2 generations. Last gen the xbox360 came out first. It was cheaper and for a long time had more games. I couldn’t understand why anybody bought the PS3 when it came out, just as I can’t understand why anybody would buy an xboxOne now.
BacchusZA
June 13, 2014 at 10:21
I’m most assuredly a PC gamer, but I’ll eventually get a PS4, because there’ll be some pretty wicked exclusives over its lifespans.
I’ll also get the XBone at some point too, for the exact same reason, same as I did both last gen consoles.
Even if all they do is sit on my coffee table & collect dust 99% of the time because I can’t play my SWTOR or flight sims on them :p
Marigold
June 13, 2014 at 10:30
I’m a former xbox 360 owner who made the jump to PS4. I bought it the minute it launched here. I can’t be happier.
Veeash Lala
June 13, 2014 at 10:41
I have a ps3 and x360 but before the now ‘next gen’ consoles were around I was by far an xbox fan. Everything seemed a ball ache from Sony whereas with MS it was easy. Somehow both parties did an about turn. I must say I’m ecstatic about the ps4. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt such pride with a console; counting the hrs before I go home and boot it up. Well played Sony, well played.
Lydon McG
June 13, 2014 at 10:54
Made the jump from the 360 to PS4 myself. Couldn’t be happier!
CAE9872
June 13, 2014 at 11:25
Not necessarily that far fetched. Whether the numbers work are perhaps debatable but just sheer numbers vs each other means there must have been some movement.
MichaelMatusowsky
June 13, 2014 at 11:29
HURR DURR
Tidycpc
June 17, 2014 at 13:33
Waiting till september
Tauriq Moosa
June 17, 2014 at 13:36
I’m selling my PS4 and getting a Gamecube. It’s clearly a superior console to both.