Gaming Consoles

Gaming consoles

A leading form of entertainment, a lot of people are into gaming. One could use a computer but many people prefer gaming consoles as they are somewhat easier to set up and at times would cost a lot less compared to a powerful gaming laptop or gaming PC. Gaming on consoles is also easier as they have controllers which are designed specifically for their purpose so a lot prefer that to a keyboard and mouse.

Home consoles or consoles that are not portable are connected to one's TV and the top options are either from the Sony PlayStation line or the Microsoft Xbox line. The other brand that has good options for home consoles is Nintendo with its Wii line. The PlayStation 4 is one of the most successful gaming consoles ever and the PlayStation 5 has also done very well. The Xbox One was a competitor to the PlayStation 4; the latest iterations are the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.

Although it is an older model but the PlayStation 2 still holds the record for most units ever sold.

Handheld gaming consoles

For portable gaming, the Nintendo Switch console is the leader. There is no other handheld device that even comes close to the success of the Switch in this segment. It is also the first truly hybrid console that can easily be connected to your TV via a docking station. The controllers on each side can be detached and used to play even when it is connected to the TV. There is also the Nintendo Switch Lite which has controllers permanently attached to it, this version cannot be docked and connected to the TV.

The handheld gaming segment is still ruled by Nintendo, since its GameBoy days in the late 1980s. Today a lot of portable gaming is done on smartphones as they have become powerful enough to take on serious games and brands such as Asus produce smartphones specifically for gaming in the ROG Phone series. One can also find accessories to attach to these smartphones to aid in gameplay.

Micro consoles

These are a newer kind of console, most are based on the Android platform. Brands such as Nvidia and Amazon have produced devices that one can game on as well. The Amazon device is primarily a streaming gizmo but lets you also download games from the internet which you can then play on your TV. Even the other Android TV boxes from Xiaomi and such brands have this option. To make it easier to play there are controllers that one can purchase which make it easier to play, given that their own remotes are not designed for gaming.

Comments

To give an idea of the scale that gaming is enjoyed at, Red Dead Redemption 2 had an opening weekend bigger than any movie in history. There are so many gamers and everyone has their prefered console, whether it is a home console or a handheld one. People are loyal to brands especially when it comes to the Xbox and PlayStation.

Games for all these consoles have to be bought separately. Most consoles come with one controller, but a second one or more need to be purchased for multiplayer modes. The newer gaming consoles all can connect online for multiplayer options through that as well.

The price of most gaming consoles is high unless it is the micro consoles; those are somewhat less expensive.