Green gaming means environment friendly gaming. Not only this, but it is pocket friendly too. Being new, the term is not very common in the gaming world. This blogs attempts to explore the topic with brief explanation.

The gaming industry is doing a roaring business these days. Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, Sega and Atari are among the top notch game manufacturers. The gamers are so very indulged into the quality issues of gaming that they are oblivious of the price they and other people around are paying. The cost may be economical, social, or personal but, the deadlier is the environmental impact. According to the Greenpeace (environmental organization),

The estimated amount of e-waste generated every year if put into containers on a train would be enough to circle the globe!

The frequency of generation of e-waste is much higher as compared to other pollutants due to the short life span of electronic products like computers, gaming consoles and cell phones. Gaming alone is a great contributor to environmental pollution. According to the BigFIshGames,

  • The total weight of gaming consoles that have been sold is about 6 billion pounds.
  • It would weigh more than 5,555 statues of liberty if all games and consoles produced by Nintendo (one of the biggest names in gaming) end up in a landfill.
  • Only 1.72 million pounds out of 2.5 billion pounds of Nintendo products can be recycled. The rest would end up in e-waste. This recycling would require an estimated time of 1453 years.
  • 0.4 gallons of crude oil is needed to produce 1 pound of plastic.
  • Currently the number of video games is more than the world’s population.
  • 2.4 billion gallons of crude oil would have been saved easily if the games were downloaded instead of being manufactured.
  • As plastic products do not decompose the expired gaming consoles are a permanent addition to pollution.
  • Total pollution caused by manufactured gaming consoles = Pollution caused by 20,131 cars.

The National Resources Defense Council USA (2008) claims that the annual electricity consumption of gaming consoles is at par with the yearly consumption of San Diego City.The top game manufacturers are trying to reduce the environmental impact of video games by addressing the issues like electricity consumption, extent of recycling, carbon footprint and gamers’ health etc. However, the gamers are found to be more responsible for higher electricity consumptions. Gaming consoles consume same amount of electricity during playtime, standby time or at menu. 80% of the total consumption is found to be during standby or at menu. Unfortunately the gaming consoles do not come with any state checking mechanism which may be helpful in discriminating the playing mode from other modes of the game.  It is due to this fact that the cost (in terms of energy consumption and money) of playing the game remains the same for all modes. There are several ways through which the gamers may exercise Green Gaming without being dependent on the game manufacturers. Following are some tips regarding green gaming.

  • Always turn your gaming console OFF when not in use.
  • The auto-save option in new games enables the users to continue the game from same state where it was left before shut down. Exploit the feature whenever appropriate.
  • Most users don’t know about the Power Save option. It needs to be enabled explicitly. Don’t forget to do so.
  • Do not use your gaming console as a DVD or Blu-Ray player. An ordinary DVD/ Blu-Ray player consumes 5 times lesser electricity as compared to the gaming console.
  • Always remember that the gaming consoles are recyclable to certain extent. Trading-in old gaming console is better than just throwing it away. This may enhance its life as a refurbished machine.

So … dear gamers, have a nice game and go Green :)