US shoppers prefer PS4 to Xbox One

Console war continues to rage back and forth but Sony might have the advantage in the US

Booth girls stand next to Microsoft's new game console Xbox One at the Tokyo Game Show in Chiba, east of Tokyo September 19, 2013. (REUTERS/Yuya Shino)

US gamers are more likely to buy a PS4 than an Xbox One according to a poll carried out by Ipsos and Reuters.

Of a limited survey of 1,297 people 26 per cent of respondents indicated that they would purchase Sony’s new console during the holiday season whilst only 15 per cent would choose Microsoft’s offering.

Both consoles will be released in November, but the Xbox One will arrive a week prior to the PS4 in the UK: on the 22nd and 29th respectively. The PS4 will retail for £349 whilst the Xbox One will sell for £429.

The poll indicates that the division between Sony and Microsoft fans becomes more pronounced with age. Of the respondents over 40 years old, 41 per cent preferred the PS4 compared to 27 per cent for the Xbox One.

These figures seem to be reflected by announcements from retailers. Speaking to GamesIndustry, GameStop CEO Paul Raines indicated that interest in the PS4 far outweighed that for the Xbox One with almost twice as many shoppers signed up to the “first to know” list for Sony’s console.

However, Raines also noted that pre-orders for both devices were “much stronger” than they were for the Xbox 360 and PS3 – welcome news for an industry that has suffered from dwindling sales as mobile devices rocket in popularity.

It also seems that there might be a geographical divide in the battle for console supremacy, with UK retailers Currys and PC World predicting back in July that the Xbox One will outsell the PS4 during the Christmas period.