Winter is right around the corner, and the holiday season is in full swing! So what are topping people’s wish lists this year? For gamers, it depends on the device.
“Destiny” recently took the gaming world by storm when it was released last month, and now it tops the list of the most coveted games on the PS4. Meanwhile, perennial crowd-pleaser “Call of Duty” holds the top spot for Xbox One with “Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare,” and “The Sims 4,” the new entry to one of the biggest franchises of PC gaming in recent years, tops the list for computer gamers. The two new versions of Nintendo’s popular fighting franchise “Super Smash Bros.” top the lists for Wii U and 3DS. Finally, the building block empire of “Minecraft” tops the list of titles for Vita.
The No. 1 coveted games illustrate a trend we see among the top 10 anticipated games across devices: People like what they know. Apart from “Destiny,” the only other new properties in the top 10 for any of the six platforms examined were “Watch Dogs,” the fifth most anticipated title on Wii U (the title released earlier this year for PCs and PS and Xbox platforms, but is releasing in November for Wii U), and “Freedom Wars,” the sixth most coveted title on Vita. Even “Akiba’s Trip: Undead & Undressed” (the third most wanted Vita game) is technically a sequel, though the original title released only in Japan.
With the lists dominated by recognizable brands for the gaming industry, new entries from annual franchises are highly coveted. These include “Madden NFL 15,” “Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare,” “NBA 2K15,” “Assassin’s Creed: Unity,” “NHL 15,” “Just Dance 2015” and “Pokemon Alpha Sapphire/Omega Ruby.” In the case of “Grand Theft Auto V”—one of the most popular games of 2013—a new iteration isn’t even necessary to drive desire: Rockstar is releasing updated versions for PS4 and Xbox One, making the game the fourth most coveted game for both platforms in 2014.
Less frequent but equally as enticing series also made the list with new iterations, including “The Sims 4,” “Civilization: Beyond Earth,” “Far Cry 4,” “Super Smash Bros.,” “Dragon Age: Inquisition,” “LEGO Batman 3” and “World of Warcraft: Lords of Draenor.” Clocking in the greatest length of time between iterations, however, is the long-awaited sequel “Wasteland 2,” which continues where the original title left off more than 15 years ago.
Learn more about Nielsen and visit www.nielsen.com/africanamericans.
