Parents of console gamers, did you already know this? The Xbox 360 devotees at your house may be switching loyalties for the first time in a long time – to the new PlayStation 4. I knew Sony’s system was popular in other parts of the world, but Xbox ruled among a lot of young gamers in the US. Now, though, after several paragraphs of hemming and hawing, a gaming reporter at the Financial Post writes that PS4 has “won the initial volley of the eighth generation, at least when it comes to earning the interest and trust of hardcore gamers – the people who tend to drive initial console sales” (Nintendo Wii was declared the winner of the 7th generation early on, but it wasn’t a sustained victory). Sony sold more than 1 million consoles in North America the day the PS4 launched, the Post reports. The Xbox One sold about as many but in more than a dozen markets. And good luck finding a PS4 in your holiday shopping, because GameStop has a waiting list of 2.3 million people wanting to buy one. The fact that Sony priced its console about $100 cheaper certainly helps. To be fair, though, remember the reference to hardcore gamers up there. Xbox One is not just for gaming. In fact, some reviewers disagree that the PS4 even won. Another reporter at the Post wrote that it “reeks of potential, but “Xbox One is a much better offering right now” – because of the high number and high quality of games available for it. It’s also very much a home entertainment system, which might be justification for the higher price. Hardcore gamers who play Halo still love their Xbox 360, though (they just may get a little more agnostic about consoles, if not games, over time).
Related links
- About the “entertainment-industrial complex” having replaced the military-industrial one
- I think this still bears parents’ consideration: “Don’t just take away the Xbox: Psychiatrist’s view” posted in 2008)
- A little gaming history: Wow, back in summer of ’11, game reporters were saying that consoles were “losing their grip” on the gaming market (the Xbox 360 debuted in 2005).
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