What Are Console Owners Ages? Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 and Sony PS3

For this Christmas, I’m buying a Wii for my grandma who’s over 60 and has never played a video game (i.e., she tried my Xbox 360 once but gave up because the darn thing had too many buttons.) I’m buying a Wii for my aunt who’s overweight and is crazy about all sorts of weight loss programs – she’s not a gamer either.

Of course, there is no point for me to try to hook them up with Xbox 360 or PS3. They have already seen it and had no interest in it. But I know they will fall in love with the Wii (like my mom did) when they get it this Christmas.

That is why PS3 (and to some extent Xbox 360) is in trouble.

I wouldnt say that the PS3 or 360 is in trouble because of that reason exactly as there are a ton of people left in the world that are under 60. All 3 systems in fact right now are neglecting alot of people, even the Wii as it has a “my little pony” image. Id say the winner of this generation is gonna be the one that learns to balance their demographics the best. Its too soon to say who will win as many will also become multi console owners to get the both of 2 worlds. Nintendo will make the most money and profit though for sure as they dont take a loss on anything. NO risk at all.

I’m 37 and have a Wii and a 360. My mother-in-law (70) has a Wii. My wife (38) plays Wii Sports and my daughter (8) seems to prefer the 360.

Third party software on the Wii is struggling. Hardware and first party software is selling great to the casual Wii gamer. However non Nintendo publishers seem to be having problems making games that sell on the Wii.

The system could probably sell just as well with a yearly revision on Wii Sports was created and no other software. The Wii might sell 3 times as many units as the 360 and PS3 but the 360 and PS3 will always sell more software. If you pull Wii Play out of the software charts, the Wii software sales are in terrible shape. I think Nintendo can fix that with some classic first party titles, but what about third parties? If they can’t make a profit on the Wii will they stop making games for it?

I’ll pick up a Wii this Christmas, if i can find one. Will be interesting to see how long it takes me to find a good third party game that I would actually want to buy. I certainly don’t have that problem on my 360.

I’m also 30 and own all 3 consoles,really.I don’t use the wii much but like to have it for the few games that interest me.I use the PS3 more for online and the 360 more for offline, you’d probably think it be the other way.

As for comments about Wii being a threat to PS3 and 360,i don’t believe this to be true as the Wii doesn’t sell as many games the other two.The Wii is for casual gamers who won’t buy many game. How many Wii’s have been left to gather dust after the novelty has worn off?

I am 20 and i own a wii and i’ve also just recently picked up a 360. I have nearly 10 wii games the newest one being metroid prime 3. In my opinion the wii is the number one machine. I got the 360 because there are a few good games on it, but the majority are all the same shooter’s or racers. the ps3 is still too expensive for me.

I’m 29 and own a Wii and a 360. Wii60 Combo, baby! Perfect. I plan on getting a PS3 whenever it’s 299 and has a game or two that I want to play that isn’t on the 360.

BTW my fave is the Wii.

I’m 30 and have a Wii out of current consoles. Mine doesn’t gather dust. Only have 6 wii games atm (2 third party) due to being an aussie and our late pal release schedule Will probably buy another 4-5 by Christmas. Have a stack of VC games, easier then pulling the old hardware and carts out of storage and wireless control is great. Finding those gems for download that I missed out on getting the cartridge the first time round is great too
Xbox360 and PS3 don’t interest me (both on graphics and price) because I run two gaming desktop PCs. Also neither have enough of an exclusive games collection yet, Mostly timed exclusives, that end up looking better on PC, is cheaper on PC and often have a modding scene on PC that extends longevity.

I’m late 30′s and have the PS3, bought originally for the Blu-Ray and media functions but now also appreciate the gaming ability (shocking as havent played since I was a kid!).

Regarding “whoever’s” point above that the ps3/ Xbox in trouble, I dont see how – as you highlight your gran/ mom play the wii neither of whom wouldn’t have considered the ps3/xbox in any case. so we are not talking about lost sales.

I am 20, male and own a Wii. I have 6 games including Wiisports and play, Twilight Princess, Excite Truck, SSXBlur and RE4:Wii edition.
The only reason i don’t own more games is lack of money, an excellent reason why i am not even considering PS3/360 at all (particularly because the games cost at least £10 more as well)
There is a problem with Third party games at the moment but there are some excellent ones none the less, i feel it still stems from the fact that analysts were all predicting the Wii to fail as hard as the GameCube (similarly most predicted DS would fail….they really have no clue. This meant there were very few third parties making games in the first few months…and most of those were animated film tie-ins from THQ.
Look at Ubi-Soft…they decided to be fully on board with the Wii almost a year before launch, yet they still claim they were forced to rush the games to try and capitalise on Wii from the start, thus Red Steel was flawed but still a good game (just not great) and Rayman RR was a great game that unfortunately along with Wii play, meant all other third parties made loads of poor sets of minigames and charged full price.
Some third parties will have only just started making games 6 months ago, that is why there aren’t many good ones and that is why they sell bad… make a good game, expect better sales. (Why do you think Nintendo gets almost 50% of software sales? they are arguably the best games maker of them all, and rarely make a substandard game…[the recent DK game aside])
bah!, i write too much.

I am 32 and I own both a PS3 and an Xbox 360. I’ve owned a Wii a couple times, but everytime I buy it I end up selling it because of two reasons: The majority of the games Suck and get boring in a short time. Also, the graphics look horrible on a 1080P TV. Also, with the Wii, I found myself thinking (or yelling) “Why can’t I just be doing this with a regular controller, it’d be so much easier”. I tend to play my PS3 more because I trust the hardware a little more, and it is sooo much more quiet. When I turn on my 360, my wife complains that it is too loud when she’s trying to sleep in the other room.

I’m 26, and I own a Wii.
I don’t have a PS3 because of a combination of Sony’s underhanded business tactics and the high price of the system. I don’t have a 360 partially because of the price (its still too high for a system, IMO), partially because there aren’t any killer games for the 360 that I want. And no, I don’t like first person shooters, so Halo holds no draw for me.

I do have a PS2 though.

I am 28 and own a wii. I have been a gamer all my life (going way back to the atari), but had been getting more and more bored with games over the past decade or so. But the wii has rekindled my love of gaming. Its just such a great machine. Like others have mentioned above, my gran (who cant even work the dvd player properly) really enjoys the wii when i take mine over to visit….she is so much better at bowling than i am.

I’m 46 and own all three systems. I definitely use the 360 more than the others. The Wii is awesome for company and party gaming. The 360 is great for its multimedia abilities, especially when combined with a mediacenter PC with a TV tuner. And of course, it has top notch games of every type. The PS3, not so much…Almost a year so far, still waiting for a game that I want to play…

I’m a man turning 33 in November and I have the Xbox 360, PS3 and the Wii.

im 20 and i have the nintendo wii since launched day. im was ready to take the risk with the wii since it does revolutionized gaming experience. all in all, im happy with my purchased. the 360 has a lot of potiental but im not really a big fan of shooting and racing games. plus, i don’t want to pay money for xbox live which is a great gaming experience since some of my friends have it. ps3, too much and basically all the good games for it are not shifting to the 360.

I’m 34 and I own a Wii. I pretty much gave up on gaming except on the pc because my wife could care less but with the Wii, she enjoys playing Wii sports and my kids (4 & 3) love Wii Sports as well as Wii Play. I have 6 games (MP3 and Mario Strikers Charged get played the most by me) and I plan on picking up Zack & Wiki, Battalion Wars 2, Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Brother Brawl.

” I have been a gamer all my life (going way back to the atari), but had been getting more and more bored with games over the past decade or so. But the wii has rekindled my love of gaming. Its just such a great machine. ”

Me 2!

my husband and i are both 29 and own a wii, xbox, and ps2.

wii- lot’s of fun for party games, for our non gamer friends. for us: tp, mp3, re4 (can’t wait for ssbb!)

xbox- halo + xbox live made us buy it, then we bought halo2…but halo’s effect has worn off on us. we’re not getting an xbox360 only for halo 3- we can play that at a friend’s house (we still have a live account, but our friends aren’t on anymore).

ps2- someone owed us money, so we ended up with their ps2 + madden and gta vice city. we’ve rented other gta’s and stuff to see if we liked anything. we’ve only bought ddr and gow…meh… it sits there. we’re definitely not getting a ps3, until the price is $100 (loooong time) -yes, i’ve played on the ps3 (need for speed), great graphics, excellent detail…meh…

long post, short story. had a party of 20- 18yr olds for my brother. after the fun was over outside, we crammed into our living room to play. i brought out the wii controllers. at first they were skeptical, making fun of it even. i put on mario party 8(eyes were rolling) mini game- can shake. these guys got into quick. after an hour of play, my brother thought they were just humoring me and tried to change the game. they wouldn’t let him. out of 20 guys, 2 didn’t play. they brought their own ps3, hooked it up in another room, and were playing fight night. they were saying that “real” gamers play ps3. i went in there, played fight night with them (first time ever), beat them twice so that they knew it wasn’t a fluke (ever been beaten by a girl?) and went back to play on the wii. the wii’s just fun. /story

I’m 64, have been gaming since the days of the Atari 2600, I’ve had most of them including the Commodore 64 & Amiga. I still like to relax in the evening & play a video game, at present I own a PS3 & think it’s great, my grandson who is 11 has a Wi & used to bring it over. I hate to say it but he would rather play with the PS3 now, the Wi just can’t compete with the likes of Motorstorm, Oblivion, Dragons Lair, etc. at least for him anyway. I’m not bashing the Wi, it has it’s place but I think it’s the one console that is overpriced for what you get, the PS3 is only $100. more that the Wi Now, & you get soooo much more

Many people seem to be missing the point with the whole wii vs xbox360/PS3 debate. Nintendo never had any intentions of taking on the 360 or PS3 and still don’t and have openly stated that thier main target was not age based at all but rather aimed at fun gaming vs hardcore gaming.

Hardcore gamers are people who have been playing for years and years and most likely started off playing on a NES and over time have grown with console gaming. Nintendos target, fun gamers, are people who arent interested in hardcore gaming but rather interested in just having a laugh. They couldn’t care less if they complete a game or about unlocking items, it’s all about the fun. The wii is a far less superior console to either the 360 or PS3 but has a fantastic appeal to people who like the idea of having a game of golf by actually swining the club or playing a game on tennis without having to get dressed up, drive to a tennis court and run around for ages.

The way to sum up how I feel about the Wii is that if it is going to be your only machine then make sure you don’t want a console you are going to play alot. Get a 360 or a PS3 and have a Wii as your party machine for when you have alot of friends around and you are having a drink or two.

For informations sake I am 26 and a video game store sales assistant

I am 28 and play on a 360 and PC.

I will under no circumstances ever lay hands on a Wii. I think the whole thing is pretty gimmicky and is in general bad for gaming.
People who say graphics arent everything may be right however they are still something and the Wii isnt helping anything.
I have no desire to buy a kids toy with legacy visuals and sloppy controls.

As for the PS3. Well give me something aside from JRPG’s and Platformers and I might show interest.

As is stands Sony can cut the price of their console 100 times. But until I start seeing decent content coming out for it I’ll stick to my 360.

PC>>360>>>PS3>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Wii

I’m 25 and own a PS3. 360 is all about FPS and I don’t care for them on consoles. I’d much rather use mouse and keyboard. Wii looks AWFUL on my 50 inch plasma, I don’t understand how anyone can play Wii on an HDTV. I can’t even play my older consoles anymore, couldn’t finish Twilight Princess on GC b/c I can’t stare at the graphics. I do like some Wii games and they can fun but as stated, the fun tends to be short lived and I’m done with it soon after.

As for the PC being the best gaming system out there – sure too bad a fully decked out system (quad core processor, 4 gig RAM, vid card, 22+ inch wide screen monitor, etc) I could buy 2 PS3, 2 360s, and 2 Wiis. And you still can’t play a lot of games on the PC that would be released for the consoles.

I’m 19 and own the ps3 and the 360. I play both as much with the ps3 having warhawk and the 360 having halo 3, you will never get bored.

I am 23 and own an Xbox 360.

I’m 38 and own 360, PS3 and Wii. We have an interesting demographic because my wife (34), sons (19, 18, 13) and daughter (6) all play all three systems, but as a whole:

The Wii has been gathering dust since Zelda although Metroid is good. Mainly we only play it when we have a lot of family over.

The PS3 was gathering dust once Motorstorm fun wore off, UNTIL Ratchet and Clank came out and everyone LOVES that game! Not sure if it can hold everyone’s interest until something else comes out – everyones very excited about Little Big Planet but it’s still a ways off.

The 360 is almost never turned off. We use it for movies, music, as a Media Center to look at thousands of digital camera pictures streamed from my wife’s computer, we listen to music from our Napster subscription streamed from my computer, and the fantastic games just keep on coming! There is NO doubt at least right now the 360 is hands down the winner of these three consoles in my family. We’ve observed the same thing with the Wii that others have talked about – Grandma comes over and likes it then buys it so she can bowl in her house, so yes, Wii is growing the gaming market, but for gamers, the 360 is clearly the best choice.

Now… 3-6 months from now, when Home and Little Big Planet have come out the PS3 might get more love from us, but so far it’s been a disappointment except for Ratchet & Clank.

I’m 30 and own a 360. The games are awesome. Streaming videos and music from my computer is awesome, chatting and playing music while gaming is awesome, online play is awesome, background downloading is awesome. It’s a great system. The noise is only noticeable when you pause a game, not in the middle of action. The graphics are sweet. The games and graphics get better with time as developers learn the system. My cousin has a Wii and it’s cool…definitely a party system..great for college parties I haven’t played anything on the PS3 so I can’t comment on it. One thing I will say to those my age, remember when we started gaming, Atari had a joystick and 1 button. Nintendo had 2 buttons, sega genesis 3 buttons. The complexity of the controls matured with us. I can understand the Wii taking off and introducing kids to gaming again. My little nephew looks at my 360 controller and it intimidates him. He wonders how he’s going to use all the buttons. I never thought about that until I saw him getting frustrated playing. The Wii is definitely needed to introduce kids and novices to gaming, kinda like the iPod for portable music.

I’m 32 and own a PS3. I also have a pretty good gaming PC. I will never buy a 360 while you have to pay to play online. Probably the only online game on the 360 that’s better than Warhawk is Halo 3 so how can Microsoft justify charging for online play on everything else when you can play Warhawk for free? I just find the idea of buying a game and then having to pay to use it quite insulting. The Wii is fun to play with for about 30mins but I wouldn’t buy one myself.

you make it sound like MS is price gouging for Live on the 360.

Live (If you cant find it onsale somewhere is 50$/year)

So thats $4.17 / Month

$1.04 / Week

$0.15 / Day

So for slightly less than the cost of 1 cup of coffee / week you can have Live Gold.

What a bank breaker. :\

Im 20 and own a Xbox360 and a PS3. I like the Wii novelty but it’s not mind-blowing, the 3rd party games seem too difficult to play.
I play my 360 almost every day and my PS3 maybe once a week. I like many genres, been playing Fifa Halo and PGR4. Id play the ps3 more if there was a game that appealed to me but I only F1.
I have around 20 360 games, most are on the PS3 too but they came out way before on the 360 plus LIVE is amazing and the achievements are addictive

21 i own a 360 halo 3 baby

35, owns both Wii and 360. My wife (34), likes the Wii more, but I love the 360. I would probably get a PS3 someday when the price drops ($299 also is my sweet spot) mostly because it’s a bargain-priced Blu-Ray player, partly because I’m thinking of the “potential” for realistic graphics in games (whether they come or not is a different issue).

I am 13 years old and I own an Xbox 360. All my friends also own Xbox 360′s. I and my friends think Wii’s are for younger kids and I didn’t get it because there was maybe 2 or 3 OK games. I know a couple of kids in High school who have PS3′s. The only reason I would have got a PS3 would be for the blu-ray.

But if I had a choice, I would definately get all 3.

Also, if anyone asks, I do play rated M games and I always have. They are not that bad and I don’t know how to live without Halo, Gears, Crackdown…

Hi everybody, I’m 36 years old and have an XBOX 360 console. I feel very comfortable with it. My kids (4 and 7) and my daugther (11) love to play Halo 3 on it. My daughter wants to live in Cyrodiil!! Also, I’m planning to buy a Wii console.

I’m 26 and a 360 fanboy. Since 2005 I’ve been in HD gaming glory and still hungry for whats coming up. Hell Ace Combat 6, COD4, AC, and Mass Effect within a 25 day period that is variety and quality. Everyone bashes the 360 for its FPS’s yet name a console that does them better? Not too many people are using high priced gaming PC’s so get over your mouse and keyboard crutch. Also PS3 fans can quit touting the PS3″s superiority so far it is failing. PES08, Madden 08, Fear, RS Vegas, COD3, AC, The Darkness, VF5, and alot of the rest of the multiplate games are better on the 360 PERIOD! Don’t even get me started on exclusives either Bioshock, Gears Of War, Halo 3, Mass Effect, and I really don’t need to say much else.

I bought a Wii from costco, used it a few times and then returned it. I liked it at first but the graphics just made me mad because I have a 62 inch hdtv. So I bought a 360, and for the first time am using xboxlive. I love it, my friends and I are into halo3. I bought the wii for my wifes sake but she even tired of it… Its a great system, but the gaes arent what I like

All of you peope always complaining about how expensive the Playstation 3 is. It’s not, everthing that goes in it makes it far better value then the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii put together. Blu-Ray player($1000) Cell broadband Engine (???) reality synthesiser (RSX chip). The only reason people wont buy it is because they dont think about what goes in it but what it can do know. I reckon the Playstation 3 would of sold far more if it’s name was SMC (Sony Media Center) Why, because at the time being the only people buying the Playstation 3 are gamers or peope who know whats in it. Belive me my family thought “WTF” why would you pay so much for a gaming machine. But if I said I was paying $999AU for a media center that does everything your other electronics do, they would refraise and say that’s good value I payed way more for all these items. By the way I am 13 pre-ordered the PS3, have Call Of Duty 3, Oblivion, Enchanted Arms and just pre-ordered Haze recently! Worked at my dad’s business for 25 hours a week tell I could afford a Playstation 3 !

I’m 28 and own a Wii and will not waste my money on a 360 or a PS3. I too have been a gamer all my life, and for a decade I had become disillusioned with what I felt was a general decay of gaming, but the Wii has made me remember the absolute joy of gaming. No offense to anyone out there, but I have real responsibilities now, and don’t have time to waste on video games. Although I must say that I tend to put the Wii in a category that transcends video games. Can’t wait for Wii fitness…

Im 22 and I own a 60 gig ps3. I would honestly have to say it was the best gaming purchase I have ever made, it kicks butt, period. heavenly sword, warhawk, resistance, ratchet, the list goes on. Might buy my gf a wii eventually but I personally think it sux. Ive played halo 3 and damn it is fun But i will not buy a 360 because of many reasons the biggest is that i dont think it is next generation cuz it only uses 9 gig dvds on games, and its failure rate and its noise so when i want to play the 360 I just go to a friends…play b3yond!

I am 20 and I just sold my PS3 what a crock of shit, a games console that doesn’t even sell decent 1st party games.
the 360 is a gams console and has many established GAMES. The wii has very fun GAMES.
The PS3 has no good A+ title for christmas worth buying.
It has a dodgey tilt remote (and whats with the L2 ad R2 triggers there so flimsey), a small market in comparison to LIVE markeplace and I can’t even hear my own music whilst I play a game.
Sony should hae thought more abut what the object there selling is (a games console) instead of pushing technology and media we don’t need i.e. blu ray, go home sony

Obviously this guy has never owned a ps3, I have been a gamer for a long time and have played pretty much all of what is out there, and IMO, the playstation 3 is the top console for SERIOUS gaming, period. Like I said, the 360 is amusing, but its limitations prevent it from being next generation, and the ps3 has the Best game lineup out there, both released and up and coming…

I just bought the Wii for my 5 year old for Christmas. I’ve never played it, nor has he, but I am hoping he will be able to enjoy it. Does anyone else have kids that young that play the Wii?? If so, what games are best? thanks rick

@Rick, Checking out GameSpot and negating mature games, Super Smash Bros. Brawl looks promising. Super Mario Galaxy is coming out in a couple of weeks so he’ll enjoy that too. Wii Sports already included with the system, should keep him busy for a while. That’s all I’ve ever played on the Wii and it’s fun.

Re: Rick
I recommend some gamer parent specific sites such as
http://www.gamerdad.com/ or
http://gamerkids.com.au/
These sites review games for parents and children rather then for your ‘hardcore’ gamer.

Hey Rick, the Wii is an awesome choice for a holiday gift. you and the family WILL enjoy it, especially if you have younger kids. Absolutely fun when the family gets together. The Wii tends to have its strengths for family, and party get together crowds, which is not a bad thing…
If you have older kids, or you yourself are interested in gaming, I definitely will equally recommend the 360. it has an awesome range of family oriented games and TV/Movie content, and can ALSO satisfy the needs of any gamer who wants to play some gritty adult or old school arcade games. The range is excellent, unlike the original XBox that tended to cater to the hardcore/shooter gamers. Either way your choice is great, but if you have younger kids, and you want your wife to enjoy some family fun – Get the Wii first, but realize that you may outgrow it if you have an HDTV or want some games that you want to play yourself. check out the MediaCenter abilities the 360 has, and you might discover a whole new side to todays consoles you weren’t even expecting.
Either way, to you and your family, Happy holidays, and with either choice, you’ll enjoy!!

Rick, get your kids some wii games and then grab the ps3!! Best all around system out there!

Thanks for the replies folks. Keep’em coming.

Great info….