I bought my PS3 when the old backwards-compatible PAL model was taken off the market. I got one of the last ones. That's my story. But why do other people buy PS3's? Research firm Nielsen decided to find out.
Polling 700 people aged between 7-54, all of whom were in the market for a PS3, the company asked what it was exactly that was driving these people to purchase Sony's home console. Their responses show that, at least by this stage in the console's lifespan, anyone thinking individual games like Metal Gear Solid 4, Uncharted or Killzone had a big influence on console sales is crazy.
As you can see, the console's Blu-Ray drive, overall library of games and recent price cut all played the biggest part in convincing these consumers that the PS3 was right for them. Also important were things like upgrading from a PS2 (and with 150 million of them out there, there's a lot of people left to upgrade)and playing games with friends who own a PS3.
Something that wasn't playing an important role was a desire to purchase a single game, only 12% of respondents saying that even contributed to their decision, let alone serve as the key motivator. Those that did, though, cited God of War III as a must-have, with no other game - including Final Fantasy XIII - managing much of a mention.
You can see the full range of responses below. They're interesting, but I can't help but feel that one for the Wii would be even more interesting.