The gaming industry now vs then

The market for the gaming industry is at an all time high. I know it and see it every day. Console gaming has been a rapidly growing start for many new gamers around the world. Consoles were most likely the reason the gaming industry is doing so well today and why video games have gotten a very high rate of exposure. I found out about video games through consoles. In Today's market, video games are on many platforms, and even multi platforms. For me there is one platform that I think highly surpasses the rest. PC gaming. It is no surprise that a machine as versatile as the modern computer would make a heaven for any gamer looking to see games in a whole new light. PC gaming has allowed for a whole new world in gaming because of its modding ability and many companies accept that mods do increase sales of their game on PC, so many accept it with open arms. And then we have Steam. If you aren't familiar with it, Steam is an application for PC that allows you to buy and download games directly to your hard drive. Now many people would say that this is worse than having a hard copy of a game, but Steam does one thing that your local GameStop or Wal-Mart cannot do. Steam is able to sell games that are listed at $60 and halve them or even more. Steam has games on sale all the time. Now that money isn't a factor people don't care about having a hard copy, and many enjoy the ease of just hitting purchase and then wait an hour for the game to download and play right from home. I will tell you I personally will choose PC gaming over consoles any day. Consoles are good for sitting on the couch and casual gaming. But for a hardcore gamer like myself, PC is the way to go.  

When we look back at how gaming was a while ago, every game was hard copy. And many games were just put on one console. Back then there really wasn't that much competition in who was the top dog. Now we refer to this as the "console wars" where gamers will pick and choose their favorite system to play the new up and coming games. Brands like Sony and Microsoft are the two main competitors now, will poor Nintendo struggling to stay afloat against the tidal waves of the bigger companies. Something we see far too often in the gaming world is "console exclusives". Games like HALO are only available on Microsoft's console called the X Box. Other games to be only playable on Sony's Play Station. And of course what would Nintendo be without Mario, or Smash Brothers. And speaking of Nintendo another thing to point out about gaming now is that everything is going hand-held and portable. The market for gaming devices you can take on the road, or camping, or wherever you can go that isn't at home, has dramatically increased. But gaming at home is still running strong. I have no doubt in my mind that gaming will keep us spinning our heads and making us watch intently at what the world of video games has in store for us in the future. I think I know what my topic for next week is going to be now. I will be talking about virtual reality in gaming. That is going to be fun...