Better Resolution Tops Reasons for Buying PS4, Brand Leads for Xbox One

According to a consumer survery by market reserach firm Nielsen, "Better Resolution" is the top factor under consideration when it comes to buying the PlayStation 4. "Brand" ranked top for Xbox One, while "Fun Factor" was the main reason people cited for purchasing a Wii U. 

If the numbers are to be believed, someone in Microsoft's marketing department is about to get a promotion. 

The second feature for PS4 was its ability to play Blu-ray movies, which the Xbox One can also do. However, Blu-ray movies are also compatible with PS3 and you need to download an app to play Blu-rays on Xbox One. This feature does not appear at all on the Xbox One list. 

"What Family Wants" and "Better for Kids" appear on the PS4 and Wii U lists respectively, while Microsoft gets nods for "Innovative Features". Consumers cited "Faster Processing Power" for both PS4 and Xbox One. 

Interestingly, the PS4's "Game Library" was cited as the third factor for buying the console, while the "Exclusive Games/Content" of the Xbox One and Wii U were both specifically mentioned. This possibly means players see the PS4 as having a stronger games line-up in general, while exclusives are a bigger factor for the other systems. 

Nielsen also tracked the number of players who owned a last-gen console, and found that 86 per cent of Wii U owners had a Wii, the highest percentage of brand loyalty across the three platforms.

76 per cent of Xbox One owners owned an Xbox 360, while just 66 per cent of PS4 owners had a PS3. Significantly, a larger number of Xbox 360 owners bought a PS4 (59 per cent), compared to those who owned a PS3 and bought an Xbox One (43 per cent).

As of January, 18.5 million PS4 had been sold worldwide, a sizeable margin over the Xbox One in second place and the Wii U behind. It seems a lot of people care about 1080p.