According to www.environmentalleader.com, “Video games in the U.S. consume 16 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity a year. This is roughly equal to the annual electricity use of all the homes in the city of San Diego, and translates to over $1 billion worth of energy a year.”
This only makes sense, seeing how video game hardware and software manufacturers are seeking to optimize for as much power as they can to achieve a stellar “user experience”. I doubt video game designers even worry about power consumption, because their consoles have to be plugged in the whole time. Their only power limit comes at the cost of size. The console’s largest components are the microprocessor heat sink and fan. If they were to add more performance they would need to consume more power leading to them having to put a freezer on their processor to keep it cool.
Also, there is no marketing motivation for these guys to limit power. Let’s face it, their major consumers (kids) aren’t paying the energy bills and probably don’t see the relationship between video games and the environment.
So you may ask, how can this problem be solved? I believe there exist many solutions. One is to take advantage of idle time. These systems are burning as much power in idle mode as it is during full operation. Software updates can be added to the system via internet (similar to the iphone) to limit power during idle mode. Another solution is to show the user how much power is being consumed and recommend them to stop playing for a little while as opposed to playing 24 hours non-stop (which I frequently do). Lastly the energy star requirements should be placed on video game consoles just like TV’s. True, this will be expensive, but I believe it would have the same marketing effect as the Prius.
