YukonTrooper
01-03-2009, 08:18 PM
A new study finds that gamers consume 16 billion kilowatt hours annually.
LINK (http://gear.ign.com/articles/941/941223p1.html)
December 30, 2008 - With the Environmental Protection Agency in the process of establishing its Energy Star standards for game consoles, energy efficiency has become a hot topic in the hardware realm. Many environmental groups are turning their gaze toward gaming to see how the industry can green up their act. The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) recently published a study on American energy usage with specific regard to game consoles. According to their report, game consoles consume roughly 16 billion kilowatt hours annually. While this number speaks volumes of itself, the survey emphasized the magnitude of console energy consumption by likening the figure to the amount of energy required to power the entire city of San Diego for a year.
The arguments made in the report are based on the assumption that half of all console owners leave their system on after use, while the other half turn the console off immediately. While the NRDC has split the entire gaming community into two opposite sides of the spectrum for the sake of argument, it is more likely that there is a significant portion of the population that falls somewhere in between. Nevertheless, the report does give the average user a better idea of how much their gaming habits cost them. The report includes a graph, which illustrates how much gamers who leave their consoles on pay in power bills annually and those who do not. Furthermore, the graph organizes the data by console, which will undoubtedly spur fanboy debate across the board. Not surprisingly, the Nintendo Wii is the cheapest console to own energy-wise with costs for on/off usage at roughly $3 and left-on use at $15 annually.
http://gearmedia.ign.com/gear/image/article/941/941223/graph_1230686999.jpg
When the graph reaches information about the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 the differences become largely dependent on which iteration of the console you own. Both consoles underwent notable hardware revisions after launch and as a result energy consumption was reduced. The PS3's revision reduced extended power usage from $160 a year to $134, while the cost to those who power down the console after use dropped modestly from $15 a year to $12. Both the original and revised Xbox 360 models are significantly cheaper to power when it comes to extended use, roughly $143 and $103 respectively. Conservative use of the Xbox 360 models results in projected costs of $11 and $14 annually.
The recommendations to manufacturers and consumers made by the NRDC are comparable to that outlined by the EPA's Energy Star 5.0 draft. For both the EPA and the NRDC, however, many of their suggestions are already available, such as auto-shutdown features and improving hardware configurations. While Sony and Microsoft are already well onboard for bolstering energy efficiency in their consoles, the NRDC is also reaching out to software developers to incorporate more liberal auto-saving features to reduce the necessity for prolonged powering.
The NRDC's campaign to raise awareness about energy usage is definitely a noble one, however, we have difficulty identifying the audience the organization hopes to influence. Most mature gamers are either aware of the energy saving features and utilizes them, or they are aware of the energy usage and leave their devices on regardless. Perhaps parents would monitor game console use more closely, but concerned parents are probably already doing so already.
LINK (http://gear.ign.com/articles/941/941223p1.html)
December 30, 2008 - With the Environmental Protection Agency in the process of establishing its Energy Star standards for game consoles, energy efficiency has become a hot topic in the hardware realm. Many environmental groups are turning their gaze toward gaming to see how the industry can green up their act. The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) recently published a study on American energy usage with specific regard to game consoles. According to their report, game consoles consume roughly 16 billion kilowatt hours annually. While this number speaks volumes of itself, the survey emphasized the magnitude of console energy consumption by likening the figure to the amount of energy required to power the entire city of San Diego for a year.
The arguments made in the report are based on the assumption that half of all console owners leave their system on after use, while the other half turn the console off immediately. While the NRDC has split the entire gaming community into two opposite sides of the spectrum for the sake of argument, it is more likely that there is a significant portion of the population that falls somewhere in between. Nevertheless, the report does give the average user a better idea of how much their gaming habits cost them. The report includes a graph, which illustrates how much gamers who leave their consoles on pay in power bills annually and those who do not. Furthermore, the graph organizes the data by console, which will undoubtedly spur fanboy debate across the board. Not surprisingly, the Nintendo Wii is the cheapest console to own energy-wise with costs for on/off usage at roughly $3 and left-on use at $15 annually.
http://gearmedia.ign.com/gear/image/article/941/941223/graph_1230686999.jpg
When the graph reaches information about the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 the differences become largely dependent on which iteration of the console you own. Both consoles underwent notable hardware revisions after launch and as a result energy consumption was reduced. The PS3's revision reduced extended power usage from $160 a year to $134, while the cost to those who power down the console after use dropped modestly from $15 a year to $12. Both the original and revised Xbox 360 models are significantly cheaper to power when it comes to extended use, roughly $143 and $103 respectively. Conservative use of the Xbox 360 models results in projected costs of $11 and $14 annually.
The recommendations to manufacturers and consumers made by the NRDC are comparable to that outlined by the EPA's Energy Star 5.0 draft. For both the EPA and the NRDC, however, many of their suggestions are already available, such as auto-shutdown features and improving hardware configurations. While Sony and Microsoft are already well onboard for bolstering energy efficiency in their consoles, the NRDC is also reaching out to software developers to incorporate more liberal auto-saving features to reduce the necessity for prolonged powering.
The NRDC's campaign to raise awareness about energy usage is definitely a noble one, however, we have difficulty identifying the audience the organization hopes to influence. Most mature gamers are either aware of the energy saving features and utilizes them, or they are aware of the energy usage and leave their devices on regardless. Perhaps parents would monitor game console use more closely, but concerned parents are probably already doing so already.