The new console has a tablet-like controller that gives players the option to use the controller as a second screen while watching video or to use what’s called “asymmetrical” play, where the player with a tablet is controlling some aspect of the game that’s different from others.

Times have been tough for the more traditional video game industry as players turn increasingly to mobile devices to get their fix of gameplay. While that may mean more types of people consider themselves gamers than before, that hasn’t translated to higher sales of Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo consoles. In fact, nearly a quarter of app gamers surveyed by NPD said that they only play games on mobile devices.

One way that console companies could try and boost sales, the firm suggested, would be to promote titles across platforms, getting apps to tie-in to console games and vice versa.

As NPD analyst Liam Callahan noted, around 30 percent of app gamers have paid for some aspect of a mobile game — either to purchase something within the app or for the app itself. Tying products more closely together may help the video game industry as a whole push those gamers to platforms where they spend more per user, such as portables, consoles and personal computers.