Gaming
consoles have proved themselves to be the best in digital entertainment. Gaming
consoles were designed for the sole purpose of playing electronic games and nothing
else. A gaming console is a highly specialised piece of hardware that has rapidly
evolved since its inception incorporating all the latest advancements in processor
technology, memory, graphics, and sound among others to give the gamer the ultimate
gaming experience. Why are games so popular?
The answer to this question is to be found in real life. Essentially, most people
spend much of their time playing games of some kind or another like making it
through traffic lights before they turn red, attempting to catch the train or
bus before it leaves, completing the crossword, or answering the questions correctly
on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire before the contestants. Office politics forms
a continuous, real-life strategy game which many people play, whether they want
to or not, with player-definable goals such as 'increase salary to next level',
'become the boss', 'score points off a rival colleague and beat them to that promotion'
or 'get a better job elsewhere'.
Gaming philosophers who frequent some of the
many game-related online forums periodically compare aspects of gaming to real
life-with the key difference being that when "Game Over" is reached
in real life, there is no restart option. The global computer and video game industry,
generating revenue of over 20 billion U.S. dollars a year, forms a major part
of the entertainment industry. The sales of major games are counted in millions
(and these are for software units that often cost 30 to 50 UK pounds each), meaning
that total revenues often match or exceed cinema movie revenues. Game playing
is widespread; surveys collated by organisations such as the Interactive Digital
Software Association indicate that up to 60 per cent of people in developed countries
routinely play computer or video games, with an average player age in the mid
to late twenties, and only a narrow majority being male. Add on those who play
the occasional game of Solitaire or Minesweeper on the PC at work, and one observes
a phenomenon more common than buying a newspaper, owning a pet, or going on holiday
abroad.
