NPD: Only 29 per cent of core gamers plan on buying a next-gen console

The traditional games industry needs PS4 and Xbox 720 to be a big hit, so these new stats from NPD make for grim reading.

TechSpot reveals that a poll by the research firm suggests just 29 per cent of core gamers are currently planning on buying a next-generation machine as soon as they become available.

There are some caveats that need noting, however. Although over 6,000 people were polled only 887 of them fell into the category NPD would describe as core gamers – that being folk who play action/adventure/fighting/shooting/racing/RPG/sports games for five or more hours a week.

The industry is currently working on the presumption that the sales struggles faced by PlayStation Vita and Wii U will prove to be the exception rather than the rule.

By the end of the year – throughout which both Sony and Microsoft will have plenty of time to convince punters of their machine’s worth – we’ll likely have an idea of whether or not this is the case.