Xbox360, PS3 and Wii Power Use Statistics

Newly-issued data details games console power use statistics in terms of three prominent types of consoles. Two leading consoles are described as major power consumers, while another is significantly more energy efficient, but has an environmental question mark over the way it is manufactured.

Information released by environmental organisation Greenpeace states that the Microsoft Xbox 360 and the Sony Playstation 3 consume significant amounts of power whilst being used. While both consoles now feature automatic energy efficient power-down functions, these have to be activated by the user. According to a separate survey carried out by consumer electronics website Retrevo, close to 50 per cent of Xbox or Playstation 3 gamers are unaware whether their consoles have the power-down enabled or disabled.

The Greenpeace data also describes how another highly popular console, Nintendo’s Wii, is much more energy efficient than the Xbox or the Playstation, but queries the environmental aspects of its build.

Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii: Energy Consumption

Comparing the energy consumption levels of these games consoles with other household electronic products puts their power use into perspective. While the Wii uses an average of 19 watts, the slim version of the PS3 uses 96 watts. A typical LCD TV consumes 176 watts: 11 less than the Xbox 360 and 21 less than the regular PS3.

According to Retrevo, 84 per cent of gamers switch their console off when it’s not in use, but 16 per cent leave it on pretty much permanently. 29 per cent, meanwhile, can say with conviction that their console shuts itself down when not being used, but 25 per cent say it doesn’t, and the remainder – almost 50 per cent – are not sure either way.

Retrevo’s date in this instance was accumulated through a March 2010 online survey and involved some 400 participants based in locations across the United States.

They included men and women, both old and young, and both relatively wealthy and poor contributors.

Games Consoles: Power Down

As a result of these statistics, Retrevo calls on games console manufacturers to emphasise the power-down function more clearly, inform gamers of what can be achieved by implementing the power-down function and possibly provide consoles with the function already activated.

Gamers themselves are advised to turn the function on and ensure they switch their consoles off when they’re done using them.

Retrevo (http://www.retrevo.com) is one of the largest consumer electronics review and shopping sites in the world, helping people decide what to buy, when to buy, and where to buy.