Sony can be content in knowing that their PlayStation 3 is in good public standings regardless of its launch date. According to a recent NPD report, Sony’s upcoming console not only has the highest awareness level among its competitors, but also leads in familiarity of brand name and buyer’s intent to purchase.

The NPD report dubbed “Next Generation Console Study” highlights a plethora of factors behind the sale of current and next generation consoles, based on a poll of 15,000 respondents ages 13 to 44.

The report finds that brand loyalty is unsurprisingly the largest factor driving purchase intent of consumers. In other words, a consumer who owns a PlayStation 2 is likely to continue into the next generation with the PlayStation 3.

However, the study also reports that the majority of respondents who are either very or somewhat likely to buy a next generation console plan to continue using their current console. Over half will also continue to purchase games for their older system.

Almost half of those polled also voted they were willing to spend anywhere from $200 to $299 dollars on their next generation purchase. One third of the respondents said they would wait for their favored system to go down in price before making a purchase.

While this report strengthens Sony’s claim to the next generation, it also hurts them. With many of those polled reporting they will pay up to around 300 dollars, it certainly does not seem likely that the PlayStation 3 will live up to that range, courtesy of Ken Kutaragi. Of course, with the pricing of the PlayStation 3 unannounced, Sony has plenty of time to live up to some of its buyer's expectations.