Fair points Shifty, as always.
Which was a fair argument that had me thinking, but my latest post about numbers I think nicely confirms it in my mind. 1.5 million additional controllers. 5 million ish consoles. That means only 30% of the consoles need to sell to families where two members want to play at the same time to account for all those extra consoles, without needing anyone to buy it as a spare. Is it that hard to believe 50% of PS4s are selling to families? Is it really only selling to single core gamers and unsociable teens in their bedrooms playing COD and KZ online?
To answer your last question, if it is hard to believe 50% of PS4 are selling to families? Yes, I believe so - in at this point in time. I would bet that the majority of initial buyers (the crowd picking up the PS4 at it's launch price and desperately trying to find one available in stores or have been on pre-order lists for at least a few months prior to launch) are consumers with a solid income, above avergae gamers and loyal PS consumers, like myself. I don't doubt that there are also parents who got one for their kids (although I'm betting more teenage kids given there aren't THAT many family orientated games yet) but probably share a mutual interest in the console itself.
No doubt, as stock becomes increasingly available and the library grows, it will be on the buy list for many parents for their kids, which will eventually make up for a large marketshare.. but for now, I still think it's selling foremost to serious gamers, likely aged above 20.
Perhaps to put another angle on the controller sales; Would *I* have bought an extra controller if I hadn't had the slightest interest in local multiplayer at all? Probably yes, but less likely. I bought the controller foremost for convinience, but in knowledge that at some point, there will be more games that will support local multiplayer, so the added convinience and the potential to have a controller at hand when I have visitors is a win/win for me.
Also, just to add: On the PS3 - the 2nd controller was for convinience. The 3rd and 4th extra controller was because I started owning games that supported up to 4 or more players, so it was great to have them ready. Also, having more controllers reduces the wear-and-tear as you are likely to be using all of them at a regular basis. On the PS4, I'll be sticking to 2 controllers until there is some incentive to get more, depending on the games that support it. 7 player PixelJunk Racers or Bomberman is still some of the best fun I've had with a group of people on the PS3.
So, just incase we misunderstood each other; I'm sure there are lots of people buying second controllers for local multiplayer games (even if I don't happen to have any of them). I just wouldn't discount the motivation to get one on the grounds of convinience - especially given the DS4 doesn't last that long duration an extended session compared to the old DS3 (that lasted 3 times more?).
