Reuters: US Consumers Prefer PS4

Covarr

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May 29, 2009
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Karloff said:
One other highlight of this poll was the number of people who weren't keen on buying any console, at least not right away. Maybe after the Christmas rush, or once a few titles are out, but for 64% of the 1,297 total, a new console generation meant nothing. It didn't matter what choices were on offer - even the Steam box - these consumers aren't about to shell out for a game system this Christmas.
This is certainly where I fall. I have every intention of getting a PS4 at some point before Metal Gear Solid 5 comes out (unless it gets a simultaneous PC release), but from what I've seen of the launch lineups for both new consoles, neither has anything compelling that won't also be on PC. The closest either console has come (at least for me) is with inFAMOUS: Second Son (launch window, not day one), but even that's not system seller material.

People tease the GameCube for its ridiculously sparse launch lineup, but honestly Luigi's Mansion was better than any exclusive launching with the PS4 or Xb1, and Super Smash Bros. Melee was better than any launch window game either system has. As far as I'm concerned, two must-have games is better than a dozen meh games.

P.S. Thanks
 

Lightknight

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That's not a bad response this early on in a console life (more than a month before launch). I mean, 42% of respondants likely to purchase near launch? Wow. 67% for the under 40 crowd?

I'm not sure why the author of this article went the other way. I'm also not sure why they arrived at 64% of the original respondants not caring. When 27% said ps3 and 15% said XBO, that kinda seems like 42% which would leave the rest of the respondants in the 58% category.

Even then, I am absolutely decided on the ps4 as this point but will wait a couple months to make sure there's no RROD equivalent. So I would fall into the 58%. So how anyone arrived at 64% not caring is wrong.

This is a really good result early on for these consoles.
 

Censorme

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Has the hate-train has generated enough page views since May? Any other small internet polls to confirm the site bias?

I'll bet Microsoft has gambled everything on the Xbone being a symbol of status more than anything else.
As if trying to copy Apple has worked out for them before. Also, Apple actually explains convenience/selling points first and foremost instead of function and design.

Man, consoles are DONE. No one is ever going to invest in consoles after they see Microsoft crash in November and burn for the coming months.
At the end of this generation, the cheapest P.C will be more powerful and beautiful than any console.

We are living in a REALLY weird time where people are trying to make communities out of belly-button lint and have to decide if they're an independent narcissist or a worthless consumer sheep (which are two sides of the same coin.)
 

WouldYouKindly

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When apathy strikes the console market, PCs will likely see a resurgence. I've already got a couple people thinking about switching and buying a gaming PC.
 

Sheo_Dagana

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I'll get one of the new consoles... eventually. I have a pretty decent gaming PC that I use mostly for MMOs and the odd Elder Scrolls/Fallout here or there, but I've always enjoyed consoles and probably always will.

I'm wondering if that poll had an 'I'll get both' answer because that's what I would have said. Which one I get first depends on who has a more attractive set of exclusives. I'd go all PC but every year there are console exclusives that end up being fantastic and I'd hate to miss out on them. But for now? I'll sit on the fence a while longer. Every single time I've adopted a system early I've always been bored to tears with it for the first year and a half so it's just not worth it.
 

Pyrian

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Jamash said:
Is an online poll of 1,297 out of 316,756,000 people really a big enough sample size to claim the results represent the entire nation?
The raw number is plenty - more than enough for our simple purposes. Sampling bias would be the bugaboo. (Past a certain point, the size of the total is mostly irrelevant.) An on-line survey is by nature heavily biased and self-selected, which means you'd expect a powerful bias in favor of people who are interested in consoles, and can afford them, in the first place. Likely the real number of people interested in buying a console is much lower than presented by this study.

The ratio might be accurate, though, at least amongst this rarefied group.
 

MrBaskerville

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I just bought a DS so can't really see why i would even consider buying a next-gen console the next 4 years, most consoles takes ages to build up a decent library of games anyway.
 

pspman45

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not buying anything until Atlus stops teasing us and says where Persona 5 is coming out
 

Infernal Lawyer

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RJ 17 said:
Just to grab your attention ;)
WARNING! OFF TOPIC!

Although I'm not particularly interested in the console race unless the SteamBox looks interesting, I've still been keeping an eye on the Kinect 2.0, and I'm pretty surprised that they've barely bothered to show the thing off other than a few tech demos here and there, and instead just rant about how 'awesome' it is.

Just like the last one I've been willing to give it the benefit of the doubt, but it's a little annoying that Microsoft and it's fanboys want to endlessly talk the thing up, yet can't prove that it's any good. I've even asked UnnDunn himself to provide footage of it being used in-game, and he's yet to get back to me (just goes to show the best way to shut an Xbone fanboy up is to say "prove it" XD).

Oh, wait...

I've just found an actual hands-on for the damn thing:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Kinect+Xbox+one&oq=Kinect+Xbox+one&gs_l=youtube.3..0l6j0i5.5124.6571.0.6958.9.9.0.0.0.0.230.893.7j0j2.9.0...0.0...1ac.1.11.youtube.UfO7lW9OGqg

Don't know how to just pop the video into the post, sorry :/

I guess my entire point was originally that I think we should wait for something to work with before we judge the Kinect 2.0... but of course don't forget that we've been waiting while MS talked the thing up endlessly using PR nonsense and insulted people for being iffy about it.

AAAAAAAND OT.

I'm not sure how a poll of barely two thousand could possibly be a good statistic of the entire populous, but hey, whatever. Still, if even MS' backup country fails it, they'll be up Shit Creek without a boat.
 

RJ 17

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Infernal Lawyer said:
Just like the last one I've been willing to give it the benefit of the doubt, but it's a little annoying that Microsoft and it's fanboys want to endlessly talk the thing up, yet can't prove that it's any good. I've even asked UnnDunn himself to provide footage of it being used in-game, and he's yet to get back to me (just goes to show the best way to shut an Xbone fanboy up is to say "prove it" XD).
The thing about UnnDunn is that he doesn't really have "arguments", all he has are anecdotes and similes to try and water down other people's arguments. The best he can do is the best MS can do: try to spin the topic so that the XBone appears better than it really is. All the "benefits" of the XBone (as it was originally announced) have been thoroughly debunked since day one of the announcement. UnnDunn will never be able to prove to gamers that the mandatory online connection was a good thing, that the "Family Sharing Program" as anything but a glorified demo service, that the Kinect 2.0 was anything other than a gimmick. An upgraded gimmick since the original Kinect, but a gimmick none the less.

Every time he's faced with the hard facts of the matter, his case falls to pieces and he abandons the topic.

The fact of the matter is that there's no need to give the new Kinect the benefit of the doubt and give it a try, because the market has already shown that people don't want to be dancing around in their livingroom like a loon just to play their games. It was a failed product when MS released the original one, and it was a bad idea to force the thing onto people by coupling it with the XBone.

Then there's the tid-bit that it listens to your conversations for key-words so that it knows what kind of ads to put on your dashboard and everyone realized what the true purpose of it was always intended to be: a spy cam.
 

Lightknight

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SilentRuss said:
Man, consoles are DONE. No one is ever going to invest in consoles after they see Microsoft crash in November and burn for the coming months.
At the end of this generation, the cheapest P.C will be more powerful and beautiful than any console.
Man, consoles are DONE. No one is ever going to invest in consoles after they see Sega Saturn/Dreamcast/etc. crash in...

Maybe Microsoft consoles specifically. But consoles have a wide range of advantages that my very powerful pc simply doesn't cover (extensive multiplayer/party games/convenient media device/plug and play gaming for the entire life of the console/cheap computing cost). As consoles become increasingly more like PCs while maintaining the advantages of consoles the need for a steam box will be less and less. Even then, a steambox is likely to be a console itself anyways, just with a pc gaming library instead of Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo IPs.
 

Infernal Lawyer

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RJ 17 said:
Infernal Lawyer said:
Just like the last one I've been willing to give it the benefit of the doubt, but it's a little annoying that Microsoft and it's fanboys want to endlessly talk the thing up, yet can't prove that it's any good. I've even asked UnnDunn himself to provide footage of it being used in-game, and he's yet to get back to me (just goes to show the best way to shut an Xbone fanboy up is to say "prove it" XD).
The thing about UnnDunn is that he doesn't really have "arguments", all he has are anecdotes and similes to try and water down other people's arguments. The best he can do is the best MS can do: try to spin the topic so that the XBone appears better than it really is. All the "benefits" of the XBone (as it was originally announced) have been thoroughly debunked since day one of the announcement. UnnDunn will never be able to prove to gamers that the mandatory online connection was a good thing, that the "Family Sharing Program" as anything but a glorified demo service, that the Kinect 2.0 was anything other than a gimmick. An upgraded gimmick since the original Kinect, but a gimmick none the less.

Every time he's faced with the hard facts of the matter, his case falls to pieces and he abandons the topic.

The fact of the matter is that there's no need to give the new Kinect the benefit of the doubt and give it a try, because the market has already shown that people don't want to be dancing around in their livingroom like a loon just to play their games. It was a failed product when MS released the original one, and it was a bad idea to force the thing onto people by coupling it with the XBone.

Then there's the tid-bit that it listens to your conversations for key-words so that it knows what kind of ads to put on your dashboard and everyone realized what the true purpose of it was always intended to be: a spy cam.
I dunno, ask the right people and they'll tell you they're happy to have their ads tailored for them to, ah, 'cut down on hassle' or something.

In any case, did you watch the video? I thought it looked okay, and the latency is definitely better than the last one, although I still think they'd have to leave it for functions that didn't require split second timing for the less casual games. And yes, I've kept up to speed, I know about the spy-cam and how it was originally made to jump on the motion control bandwagon. (Actually, was it you who posted some amusing picture of an entire family spazzing out in front of a Kinect ages ago? Maybe you only commented on it, but anyway.)

Still, the fact is I like to keep my judgments educated rather than just write it off because the last one was shit (multiple console generations aside, the 3DS was actually Nintendo's second attempt at implementing 3D into a handheld, and the Virtual Boy didn't catch on at all while the 3DS is, well...). That, and I feel somewhat sympathetic for the MS fans who are finding it so hard to defend the Xbone while MS is depraving them the ability to actually refute the naysayers (come on, if you found out that the Kinect 2.0 was actually functional and kickass to boot I'd bet you'd at least have second thoughts about it). Like I said, I don't really care about getting a console, though I know people who are still making up their minds, and they usually go to me for advice, and I'm not sure if they'd accept "because the last Kinect was shit" as a reason not to get one (especially since they have... Kids, and we know how impressed they are by gimmicks XD)

Edit: Oh, and insert some nasty comment about UnnDunn, I suppose. Still waiting, buddy...
 

RJ 17

The Sound of Silence
Nov 27, 2011
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Infernal Lawyer said:
I dunno, ask the right people and they'll tell you they're happy to have their ads tailored for them to, ah, 'cut down on hassle' or something.
Sorry my friend, but I would personally find it very difficult to trust the word of anyone who says they're happy to have ads - be they tailored to them or not - forced upon them via a service they're already paying subscription fees for.

In any case, did you watch the video? I thought it looked okay, and the latency is definitely better than the last one, although I still think they'd have to leave it for functions that didn't require split second timing for the less casual games. And yes, I've kept up to speed, I know about the spy-cam and how it was originally made to jump on the motion control bandwagon. (Actually, was it you who posted some amusing picture of an entire family spazzing out in front of a Kinect ages ago? Maybe you only commented on it, but anyway.)
Nope, didn't watch the video because I already know I don't want a Kinect in my house. At all. The fact remains that it's a spy cam, the slogan they were running with at the beginning was "It's Always Watching"...because yeah, that's not creepy at all >.>. Sure, they've rolled back and said the entire thing is completely optional now, but still, if you plug it in then you're going to be plugging in a spy cam. And why the hell does it need to know your biometrics? What part of a videogame accessory - outside of one of those exercise games - needs to know what my heartrate, facial expression, and tone-of-voice are? I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but that's some crazy stuff they've got this thing wired up to do. But beyond all that, the fact simply remains that I don't want voice/motion controls for my games. I didn't want it when the first Kinect came out, and I don't want it now.

And no, I've never posted the gif with the spaz-family, but I know exactly which one you're talking about and I always get a good laugh out of it every time I see it...especially when one of the kids just slows down and stops towards the end of the loop and looks around like "Wait...wtF are we doing?!" :p

Still, the fact is I like to keep my judgments educated rather than just write it off because the last one was shit (multiple console generations aside, the 3DS was actually Nintendo's second attempt at implementing 3D into a handheld, and the Virtual Boy didn't catch on at all while the 3DS is, well...).
That's a bad comparison my friend. The VirtualBoy sold like crap because it was horribly designed. Basically just watch The Angry Video Game Nerd's review of the thing to know what I'm talking about. There was no good way to "wear" it unless duct-taped it to your head. The 3DS, on the other hand, was a nice, neat hand-held device no different than their already popular Nintendo DS. A more proper comparison would be to say that Nintendo came out with a new Virtual Boy 2.0 "NOW WITH A HEAD-STRAP!!!" I highly doubt that would make a difference, just as I doubt making the Kinect 2.0 more responsive - as that is apparently the only good thing people can say about it - will change people's hearts and minds if they didn't want a Kinect to begin with.

That, and I feel somewhat sympathetic for the MS fans who are finding it so hard to defend the Xbone while MS is depraving them the ability to actually refute the naysayers (come on, if you found out that the Kinect 2.0 was actually functional and kickass to boot I'd bet you'd at least have second thoughts about it).
Annnnnd that's the other thing, MS has done absolutely nothing for the Kinect 2.0 other than say "It's better than the original!" "How so?" "It's more responsive!" "Ok...what else?" *insert cricket chirps*. You're missing the point: if people didn't want a Kinect when it first came out, they're not going to suddenly want one now. They didn't want one because they didn't want motion/voice controls. If people wanted voice/motion controls, the original Kinect would have sold like gangbusters, but it turned out to be a flop. There was absolutely no interest in it. So rather than give up and say "failed product is failed" MS is now forcing it onto people and charging an extra $100 for it...and look where that's got them: tying back into the topic at hand, their pre-order sales are in the tank. Nobody wants their product.

Like I said, I don't really care about getting a console, though I know people who are still making up their minds, and they usually go to me for advice, and I'm not sure if they'd accept "because the last Kinect was shit" as a reason not to get one (especially since they have... Kids, and we know how impressed they are by gimmicks XD)

Edit: Oh, and insert some nasty comment about UnnDunn, I suppose. Still waiting, buddy...
And that's perfectly fine, please don't think I was writing this as an angry response or in a frustrated tone. I do apologize if it came of as being a bit "ranty". All I was wanting to do was explain why people who have made up their mind already are perfectly justified for making up there minds already...why they don't need to wait for the product to come out to make their decision. In the end the moral of the story is "Failed Gimmick is Failed", but MS just can't swallow that pill, so now we've got an XBone that costs $100 more than it's competitor because of a (now completely optional) accessory that MS insists on putting into the same box as the console. I will say this, though: I can respect MS's decision to stick to their guns on this issue and refuse to sell a (no Kinect) version of the XBone. I highly disagree with the decision and think it's completely stupid and will hurt them in the end, but I can respect it. This does indeed ensure that every XBone owner will have a Kinect, which will at the very least increase the chances that people will try it out.

Or they'll just throw it in the garbage the moment they open their box because they don't want an MS spy cam in their house.