What Will You Play?

By Aaron Taylor

Gamers everywhere are faced with a challenging question: what game console should they buy? With so many options it can be difficult to know which is the best option. Choosing the right console can save a gamer hundreds of dollars between hardware and software purchases in order to find the right choice. Doing a quick analysis of the total lifetime sales of Sony’s, Nintendo’s, and Microsoft’s consoles and their games indicates that Sony’s PlayStation 4 must be the best option.

Hardware

When a console sells well, it’s because many gamers enjoy the system and the games on it. Knowing which consoles have sold best allow us to know which consoles are likely be the right choice right now. As seen in Figure 1, Sony’s PlayStation 2 sold by far the most consoles of any console in video game history. ¹ It’s followed by its predecessor, the original PlayStation, with its successor, the PlayStation 3, in fourth place. Thus, Sony’s current console, the PlayStation 4 (which also takes seventh place overall) appears to be the best option.

Software

Another important thing to think about when considering which console to buy is the popularity of the games. As observed by John Healy and Wendy W. Moe in their article, “The effects of installed base innovativeness and recency on content sales in a platform-mediated market,” gaming consumer buying behavior is explained by a two-step process: first gamers buy a console, and then they buy games to play on their console.² The trend in total game sales is similar to that of the consoles themselves, as seen in Figure 2.³  Therefore the same conclusion can be drawn: due to the popularity of Sony’s previous consoles and games, the PlayStation 4 is the option for gamers today.

Read the full article here: What will you buy

¹“Platform Totals: Hardware.” VGChartz. Accessed April 08, 2017. http://www.vgchartz.com/analysis/platform_totals/Hardware/Global/

²Healy, John., and Moe, Wendy W.. “The effects of installed base innovativeness and recency on content sales in a platform-mediated market.” International Journal of Research in Marketing 33, no. 2 (July 17, 2015): 246-60. Accessed April 7, 2017. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167811615000853.

³“Platform Totals: Software” VGChartz. Accessed April 08, 2017. http://www.vgchartz.com/analysis/platform_totals/software/Global/.

Image credit: http://www.pcrichard.com/images/promos/video-game-consoles.jpg