...at least according to new research by Phoenix Marketing International. In a recently released study entitled Consumer Buying Intentions, the company reports that a sizeable majority of videogame fans are still regular users of the PlayStion, N64 and SNES consoles. Read more here.
This could mean one of three things:
Great games are truly timeless. For all their graphical grunt, PS2 and Xbox have come up with few adventures more compelling than Secret of Mana, few stealth shoot-'em-ups as demanding and perfectly realised as GoldenEye. Brilliant design transcends dated visuals.
Gamers are hopeless nostalgics. Like the records we listened to as teenagers, perhaps our first experiences with games remain with us, taking us back to those troubled but vibrant years. Maybe for some gamers, Street Fighter 2 Turbo is their Anarachy in the UK, their Smells Like Teen Spirit.
A third of gamers just never upgraded. Perhaps they didn't get round to it, perhaps they see the original PlayStation as the gaming equivalent of a Hoover - why buy a new model while the old one still works? Also, it's entirely possible that there are people out there who only ever play Dance:UK. Scary, but possible.
