US video gamers use as much energy per year as San Diego

U.S. homes have about 63 million video game consoles, and together they use about as much energy as San Diego does in a year, according to a 2008 study by the Natural Resources Defense Council.


Some video game consoles use much more energy than others. For example, Nintendo's Wii system uses a sixth of the power of Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's Playstation 3, according to research from the Electric Power Research Institute.


Many video gamers show great motivation and perseverance (See discussion on games and motivation here). The open question is what the effects of extensive video gaming are, and if/how video games could be used for educational purposes.


Read full article in Scientific American.