There was once a time when PC games were the ultimate in computer graphics technology. Games like Doom, Wolfenstein, and Myst offered gamers with a visual playing field the likes of which were never seen in a game. While PC gaming pioneered many of the game engines and online game play that we use today, there has been a noticeable decline in the popularity of PC games over the past few years.
With the emergence of modern console game systems like Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii, gamers are turning away from their keyboards and mice and heading to their living rooms to play console games. This trend can be attributed to many different factors.
For starters, most homes now-a-days have large plasma screen TV’s. Coupled with a powerful game console, HD gaming on a plasma screen can be hard to resist. While many homes have big screen TV’s, most casual PC gamers have only a 17 to 21 inch computer screen. A modern TV stand can also house several different game consoles and games in a single storage unit, making switching between consoles and games a breeze. This set up is also more conducive to multi-player games, where groups of people have the luxury of sitting in comfy chairs and couches, rather than huddle in front of a computer screen.
The fact that online gaming is no longer exclusive to PC gamers has also hurt the computers chances. Any of the big 3 game systems offer a plethora of online gaming options and most have internet browsers and online chat capabilities. Sitting on a couch and playing online with friends from around the globe on a big screen TV seems favorable to most over hunching over a keyboard on a PC.
Affordability is possibly the biggest factor in favor of the console gamer. Console systems are relatively inexpensive when compared to PCs, and prices seem to drop every few months or so. While many PC games require minimum software and hardware requirements, console games are almost always compatible with their system. This makes the need to upgrade your system virtually nonexistent. PC games like Crysis for example are visually mind blowing, but most casual gamers cannot afford to upgrade their PC’s so that their machine can handle the games demanding hardware requirements.
In the simplest terms it seems that advancements in gaming consoles have made the PC gaming nearly obsolete. Most consoles today can perform all the tasks that a home computer can offer in terms of gaming at a fraction of the cost.
