because while in the 90's in the US they were playing Super Mario we were playing Sonic...
the only real change happened with the PS1 when people switched from SEGA to Playstation due to gran turismo, tekken, final fantasy, metal gear solid, etc
since SEGA called quits, Playstation became synonymous with gaming even for people who don't play videogames at all. if you ask a random person on the street what the wii u was, chances are they wouldn't know. If you tell them it plays games, they'll ask (it's a playstation?)







