In recent years, many industries in Canada and the rest of the world have been going green. They’ve been making a conscious effort to help the environment and preserve the natural world for generations to come. Nowadays, it’s common for companies big and small to boast of their green credentials and make a point of how sustainable they are.
The gaming industry is no different. Like others, it’s been making great strides to cut down on waste and pollution and positively impact the world. Below is a look at some of the many solutions helping the gaming industry turn green. Some of them are things that developers are doing, while others are more about the players.
Renewable Energy
The gaming industry relies on the generation of electricity. Without electricity, there wouldn’t be any computers or game consoles for people to play games on. The amount of electricity that gamers consume on a daily basis is staggering. This should come as no surprise, considering over 3 billion gamers worldwide. It isn’t just gamers who use electricity; the developers of games do, too, when they create games and design consoles.
The obvious solution here is for both video game companies and gamers to use renewable energy wherever possible. Many already are, though there’s still a significant reliance on non-renewables such as natural gas, coal and oil.
Companies and gamers alike can help the gaming industry go green by using electricity generated from renewable sources. If possible, they should have the electricity supplied by an eco-conscious provider that derives its energy from a renewable source.
Downloads vs Cartridges and Disks
Many companies have been looking at ways to cut down on waste. They’ve been reducing packaging, for example, and even doing away with certain physical objects and items in favour of digital ones. The gaming industry has been doing this too. A few decades ago, a typical game would be released physically. It would be a CD or cartridge and would come in a case with a booklet.
These days, however, most video games can be downloaded, eliminating the need to produce physical products. In fact, there are quite a few games that you can only play by downloading them; they don’t have any physical components. If you buy a physical copy of a game, there’s probably very little product: cartridges are smaller, and booklets are mostly a thing of the past. Many eco-conscious players will download digital copies of games instead of purchasing physical ones.
Cloud-Based Gaming
Something that has reinvented the way people play video games is cloud-based gaming. When you play a video game, everything’s carried out on a remote server and streamed to your device. All you need is a suitable Internet gaming device with a robust and steady connection.
Cloud-based gaming essentially means streaming a TV show or film through something like Netflix. You get to experience the game without having the game stored on your device. Thanks to cloud technology, you don’t even have to download games to play them.
This type of gaming is thought to be greener than traditional gaming. One of its benefits is that it can reduce the emissions produced by hardware manufacturing. However, there are concerns that if cloud-based gaming were to become commonplace, the extra burden put on centralized servers could cause them to use a lot more energy.
Encouraging Players to Manage Their Hardware Effectively
People who play video games for a long time tend to build up a lot of waste. They could have a console or two that they no longer use, for example, along with a collection of game cartridges and/or disks they don’t play anymore. Once someone buys a product, it’s up to them to decide how to dispose of it.
Many of us are accustomed to recycling and thinking more carefully about where our waste goes. Lots of gamers have already responsibly gotten rid of their old products.
- They recycle whatever they can, and they make sure what they can’t recycle is disposed of in an eco-friendly way.
- Other things players can do include only upgrading to a more advanced console when necessary.
- Also, players may want to think about accessories and various add-ons they might be tempted to purchase for the sake of it and don’t need.
Encouraging Players to Manage Their Energy Usage Effectively
Players can also help gaming become greener by considering how they use energy. Consoles, of course, can use a lot of energy, even when you’re not actually playing any games on them. If you own one or more consoles or gaming devices, think about how you can reduce their electricity usage.
Many modern consoles come with a power-saving mode. When activated, it reduces the amount of energy your device uses. You should turn on power-saving mode whenever you’re playing games. When not using your console, switching it off completely is best. It might be tempting to leave it in sleep mode, but this uses more energy than switching your console off completely and turning it back on again.
Like regular video games, online casino games are hugely popular, and they’re particularly green because they use much less energy. This is because they’re much shorter games. Even so, players can still manage their time at top online casinos in Canada. To stay green while gambling, stick with one or two top casinos and limit the amount of time you spend playing games.
Games That Promote Sustainability
This solution is all about the games themselves and the content they include. Over the years, lots of games have included some sort of theme or storyline that promotes green issues such as living sustainably and protecting the planet. Some games tackle the theme of saving the environment head-on - here are some examples.
- Fate of the World: The aptly named Fate of the World is about addressing various global crises. Your aim is simple: to protect the climate and the Earth’s natural resources and prevent ecological disaster.
- Alba: A Wildlife Adventure: This pleasant video game is about a young girl who saves a beached dolphin while on holiday. She then decides to do more to help the local environment.
- Eco: A high-concept multiplayer game where you’re tasked with protecting a planet from an upcoming meteor impact by managing its natural resources. Every decision you make can have a range of consequences on the planet’s lifeforms and environment.
There’s a high chance that more video games will incorporate green ideas and themes in the future.
Summary
The gaming industry as a whole seems to be very committed to going green. As a huge worldwide industry, it has the potential to bring about positive results and real change concerning conservation, sustainability and environmental friendliness. While developers are coming up with ways to be greener, players are too.
