Nielsen just published their latest annual report on the state of gaming, and as usual it featured now-standard information on what percentage of Americans play video games, their gender and age breakdown, and what platforms they’re playing on. You can grab some of those stats, right here.
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One of the interesting new bits of information in this year’s report relates to the PlayStation 4 Pro and Project Scorpio. Both Sony and Microsoft have bet big on these powerful, “half-step” console upgrades, and a certain niche are certainly excited about them, but what about the wider gaming audience? What about the general public? According to the stats, their hype levels remain perilously low.
Looking at the general population, only 11 percent have even heard of Project Scorpio, while 21 percent have heard of the PS4 Pro. The numbers get a bit better when looking at gamers over the age of 13, but the boost isn’t huge – 14 percent of them have heard of Project Scorpio and 27 percent know about the PS4 Pro. When it comes to intent to purchase, 9 percent of the public and 13 percent of gamers want Project Scorpio, and 11 percent and 15 percent want a PS4 Pro.
Of course, Nielsen’s definition of “gamer” is a bit loose, with anybody who pokes at the occasional mobile or social media game included, but still, those numbers don’t indicate any sort of burning desire for Sony and Microsoft’s beefy new machines. So, why do they exist in the first place? It’s hard to say. The release of the PS4 Pro did provide a temporary boost to Sony’s bottom line, but it doesn’t seem to have had a major long-lasting effect. Perhaps Sony and Microsoft just got locked in an arms race with no end-goal in sight. That’s certainly happened plenty of times throughout human history.
In other “Do we really care about this?” news, 51 percent of the general public and 63 percent of gamers are aware of virtual reality devices, but very few plan to buy one, with only 10 percent of gamers considering a PlayStation VR headset (the most popular VR option).
The general impression you get from this year’s Nielsen report is of an industry that’s left many of its own customers behind in the rush for innovation. Hopefully they eventually think to circle back and check on those of us stranded at the side of the road.
[via Nielsen Games]
