Gaming is the habitual playing of computerized specialized applications, namely computer games or video games by means of a computer system such as an x-Box or a PlayStation or by personal computers (in which the activity is called web gaming). Gaming has become an enormous business. The majority of computers in the world have some version of Microsoft’s Windows installed. This allows the installation of a large number of computer games. Gaming is a very popular leisure activity and its influence on the world economy is growing.
The gaming industry provides employment to millions of people, especially people with vocational qualifications. Game designers, technicians, marketers, and sales personnel are in high demand for their skills in creating and developing computer games. It also provides a number of opportunities for college students who wish to major in graphic design or multimedia production. Many of these people learn their skills on the job. Internet marketing firms and software publishers also employ young people who are good at creating and developing electronic games.
Both Sony and Microsoft are producing home versions of their popular console video games. These companies require relatively high technical skills and plenty of patience because they have to test their games for bugs and glitches before they are sold in stores. It takes a long time to become successful at gaming and experts in the industry spend years training gamers.
The competition among game developers is increasing because of the high quality graphics that video games are capable of providing and the growth in popularity of PSPs (portable PSPs) and Nintendo DSs (DSi) and Xboxs (xBoxes). Video game consoles come with many different hardware components, including hard disk, video memory, hard drive, video processor, audio chip, battery and more. The prices range widely. For example, the best selling console, the Sony PlayStation, comes with six different hardware components. The price of this machine is approximately two thousand dollars.
Gamers will be happy to know that gaming computers come in various sizes and speeds. Basic machines that can only play a few basic video game titles are affordable and are suitable for most casual gamers. However, higher-end machines have upgraded graphics and sound cards as well as faster processors and multi-core processors. This enables the gamer to enjoy a wider variety of massively multiplayer online games.
If you are planning on playing online, make sure to turn off your personal computer and turn off the power. This ensures that no one can connect to your machine when you are online and that security settings are in place to protect your privacy. In addition, it is always wise to follow online gaming safety guidelines to minimize risk. Some tips include not providing financial or personal information to strangers, maintaining a maximum of five accounts in different banks, creating a unique user name to use when logging into different platforms and never giving out your personal number or e-mail address.