I remember talking to a friend who couldn’t stop complaining about how his wife would nag him about turning his PlayStation 3 off when he was not using it. Sometimes, when he had to take a break in the middle of the game (or when his wife asked him to do errands), he would leave the system on because he had not been able to reach a save point. This would result in an argument about saving electricity.
I thought of this conversation when I read an article today about just how much electricity video game consoles use. According to a study done by the Natural Resources Defense Council, “consoles in use today consume an estimated 16 billion-kilowatt hours per year, which, the report goes on to translate, is roughly equal to the annual electricity use of the city of San Diego.”
That amount is so incomprehensible that I was left speechless after reading the figure involved! To be honest, I am very keen on conserving whatever natural resources we have and am quite particular about turning electrical equipment off when not in use. Our gaming consoles at home are always turned off when not in use – we make it a point to save the game and then shut the TV and consoles off.
My point is this: let us be responsible gamers. We already receive enough flak as it is. Let us not make ourselves another target for people who do not think highly of us and video games in general. Conserve energy!