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Features, not game titles driving console adoption
Consumers are buying the PS3 as a full-featured device, not for game titles. This could reshape how games and consoles are marketed in the future.
New research from Nielsen Games shows that the purchase of a specific game title actually ranks lowest in a list of purchase motivators and that consumers are driven by a myriad of factors that relate more toward a longer-term usage pattern than an impulse purchase for a specific title.
In the study of God of War III--a PlayStation 3 (PS3) exclusive--Nielsen found that the new game title had some influence in the sale of the console, but far less than would have been expected. In fact, buying a specific game was at the bottom of the list of purchase motivators.
(Credit:
The Nielsen Company)
The surveyed gamers are clearly interested in some of the newer functionality and marketing efforts that have been introduced in the PS3, including Blu-ray and online connected gaming. And the fact that 49 percent of the users were interested in new multimedia capabilities suggests that the PS3 is seen as more than just a game console.
While there are no hard numbers that show the volume of marketing dollars spent on new features versus new games, I would venture a guess that far more money is spent on branding the games themselves, suggesting a possible imbalance in how games and consoles are marketed both together and separately.
As Nielsen points out, Sony has done a good job of branding the PS3's versatility as more than a game console and it would appear that consumers are responding to the notion that one device can address many needs.
