Welcome back to the second installment of Fing Insights! In this episode, we jump into the ever-evolving world of gaming. That’s right, we have analyzed trends in gaming devices according to our catalog. Think you know what’s in store already? Some of the results may come as a surprise!
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Gaming Devices: A Fing Overview
This iteration of Fing Insights will focus on gaming devices – mainly consoles and handhelds. In the past month, Fing recognized more than 215,000 gaming devices. There is no doubt that this is a very popular category in the Fing catalog!
Let’s have a look at the top 10 trending gaming consoles.
As you can see, there is a mix of new generation consoles, devices rising on contemporary trends (like virtual reality) and some good old ones, which still rock more than a decade after their release. Interesting, right? Keep reading to discover more insights.
Sony Gets Number One
Sony’s position in our catalog comes as no surprise when considering its status as one of the Big 3 console manufacturers. Sony has been an ever-present and dominant figure in the industry since the launch of the original PlayStation in the mid-90s. These days, however, its fortunes appear ever linked with Microsoft’s and vice versa.
When discussing the current generation, there’s validity to the claim that the PlayStation 5 has had a stop-start existence so far. In terms of performance, its quality as a next-gen console cannot be denied. However, with a release window falling within the first 9 months of the global pandemic, the new generation of consoles felt the full effect. Low supplies of semiconductors had a widespread impact on the tech industry, an issue still ongoing today.
Despite the clear difficulty in consumers acquiring one, Fing recognized nearly 57,000 PS5 in the past month, making it the highest on the monthly rankings. These numbers suggest that without being hampered by global supply issues, the PS5 would generate even more recognition and consolidate its leadership.
If you just got your PlayStation 5, you might have noticed that the console has light indicators with various colors. For example, red for overheating and orange for rest mode. To know all the meanings of the color indicators, check out the video below.
Despite the PS5 success, Sony’s last generation flagship – PlayStation 4 – is still very popular. Almost 29,000 units appeared online in the past month, making it the 3rd most popular gaming device in the ranking. To date, the PlayStation 4 is also the catalog’s number one overall gaming device, with 61 million recognitions to its name. Considering its age and popularity along with its direct rival, Microsoft’s Xbox One, these figures come as no surprise.
If you own one, don’t miss this video about common mistakes that can damage a PS4 controller.
On a side note, there is another Sony console that made it into our top 10. PlayStation 3 peaked at number 9, with almost 3,000 recognitions in the last month – not bad for a device originally released worldwide between the end of 2006 and the beginning of 2007!
Rise of the Steam Deck
First announced in July 2021, Valve’s Steam Deck was received with a mixture of speculation and curiosity. The Steam Deck was not Valve’s first piece of hardware – the Steam Link launched back in 2015 and still has a presence in Fing’s catalog – but this was its first venture into the gaming handheld space.
Pre-orders went live on July 16th 2021, a day post-announcement. To curb overflow due to demand, Valve introduced a reservation queue, servicing orders based on the date and time of purchase. After releasing in February 2022, reservation queue orders would go on to be serviced for another 8 months, officially ending on October 6th.
The response from critics varied between lukewarm and positive. The New York Times suggested it “lacks the polish and practicality of mainstream gaming devices, which makes it tough to recommend to casual gamers.” Tom’s Guide was much more forthcoming in their assessment, claiming, “this is arguably the best handheld console ever manufactured.” Based on our catalog’s data, the Fing community’s response to Steam Deck would lean closer to the latter.
Overall, 52,000 Steam Decks have been counted within a 30-day segment, making it the second most popular gaming device of the past month. Considering the uncertainty when it was first announced, it’s not too bold to say the Steam Deck has been a success.
New to gaming handhelds? Discover more in this Steam Deck guide below.
Is Virtual Reality the Next Big Thing?
An unexpected high riser on catalog placement was the Oculus Quest 2 VR system by Meta, the parent company of Facebook. During this past month, there were nearly 17,000 detections of the Quest 2, helping it finish in the top 5.
This leads us to the future of the system and Meta’s plans to improve the Quest. The next generation of Meta’s VR line, Meta Quest Pro, was announced at Meta Connect 2022. According to the developer, the device comes with 4 times higher resolution than Quest 2. We are fascinated to see how Fing users will adopt this next iteration which has since been released on October 25th.
If you’ve got your hands on the Oculus Quest 2, make sure to watch the following video to learn how to reduce eye strain!
Microsoft Chases After
Having cemented its position as a global leader in software through the previous decade, the 2001 release of the original Xbox finally offered Microsoft a route into the hardware market. Despite the risk, the Xbox brand has become renowned for not just console gaming but also some innovative technology. As highlighted in our PlayStation segment, these two giants have since become synonymous with one another in gaming, but how does the Xbox stack up against PlayStation from a Fing perspective?
In the past 30 days, two Xbox consoles have made it into our top 10 ranking. The highest of these is last generation’s Xbox One with 25,000 recognitions – enough to help it climb as high as 4th. As for the current generation, perhaps the biggest surprise we found was the Xbox Series X’s overall position on the list. Microsoft’s current flagship console accumulated a humble 8,500 recognitions and landed at 7th within our 30-day review.
Although our data might suggest the opposite, Xbox’s popularity remains abundant. Thanks in large part to Game Pass, the monthly subscription service which enables players to access otherwise full-priced games. As of January 2022, over 25 million users had active Game Pass subscriptions. The question is, how long will this offer remain an acceptable counter to PlayStation’s impressive library of first-party titles amongst the Xbox player base?
If you’re on Team Xbox, you can learn some tips and tricks to help improve your Xbox Series X or S usage in the video below.
Nintendo Between New and Old Consoles
Nintendo’s unique ability to influence the gaming industry has always spoken for itself. We were eager to learn how this narrative presented itself from a Fing perspective. Indeed, our data room revealed some intriguing details about this industry leader’s gallery of consoles.
Broadening the view to the top 20, Nintendo had the most unique devices recognized in the past month, with no fewer than seven overall. These seven also collectively account for over 28.6 million Nintendo device recognitions in the catalog. Among these are a mixture of the relatively new and the very old.
Representing the old is the original Nintendo DS (released between 2004 and 2005) which, according to Visual Capitalist, is still the second best-selling console of all time with nearly 155 million in total sales. Fing has recognized over 3,000 DS connections in the past month. This also applies to the Nintendo Wii – originally released in 2006 – which appeared almost 2,000 times in the same period. These figures speak not only to the longevity of these devices but also to the expert craft behind their engineering.
Unsurprisingly, the Switch is Nintendo’s highest entry on our list. Last month it clocked at over 12,000 recognitions, helping the Switch rank 6th highest among all consoles.
Are you a Nintendo lover? Learn these tips and tricks to help optimize your Switch in the following video.
Final Thoughts
Our analysis of gaming devices has brought up very interesting and unexpected data. We have covered the leaders in the sector, we delved into new trends like virtual reality and industry staples such as handheld devices, and we reminisced on some evergreen consoles.
Are you wondering what device type we’re covering next? Make sure to come back for our new instalment!
