Gaming is a billion dollar industry and a global one at that. In general, gaming consoles are available in all countries though there may be some barriers to accessing them and pricing may be very different. Recently the difficulties getting a Playstation 5 even in the US is indicative of its popularity. Nintendo Switches are also notoriously tough to find. Adding to those challenges is the pricing structure from country to country. Japan and USA tend to be most cost-effective while countries like India and Australia can be among the highest. These are often the biggest reason why people look to purchase consoles in the USA and a service like US Unlocked is helpful for making those purchases.
Gaming Consoles
Let’s have a look at the most popular consoles at the moment:
PlayStation 5 – released in 2020 during a pandemic proved challenging for Sony as they were not able to keep up with demand. This frustrated a lot of gamers, some sticking with their current console while others made the jump to the xBox. Those who were able to get their hands on a PS5 were suitably impressed by its power and visual capabilities.
xBox X – gamers were especially pleased to see the focus return to what this console is actually used for…gaming. Microsoft seemed to hone in on all other features with the 360 like their “snappable” UI which could display other information while you watched videos and their accessories. Series X brought the focus back on gaming with improved performance and graphics.
Nintendo Switch – Nintendo has had a storied selection of consoles through the years including the powerhouse 64 and Wii but went in a slightly different direction with the Switch which is part handheld, part console and that flexibility is appealing to many gamers who like to be able to take their Mario Kart or Zelda on the go and then continue at the console when you get back home.
SNES Classic – old school gamers who enjoy getting nostalgic about playing some old school games with ordinary graphics are loving this classic console.
So availability and pricing aside, gamers tend to choose their device based on their favorite games or their own history. Many who got the original PlayStation back in 1995 often continued with the same device, upgrading to 2, 3 and 4 or skipping a version or 2 along the way. So too, there are many popular games that are exclusive to 1 console which most certainly impacts gamers console purchase decision. Nintendo tends to have the most with PlayStation not far behind. Microsoft has started to pay some attention after being criticized for this particular oversight.
Popular Games
So let’s have a look at some of the more popular games:
Minecraft – released in 2011, Minecraft is multi-platform and has become the best selling video game of all time with some 200 million purchases.
Call of Duty – since 2003, Call of Duty has captivated gamers as a first-person shooter game set in World War II but has since evolved to embrace additional settings. Call of Duty is cross-console.
Grand Theft Auto – GTA was first launched in 1997 as a PC game but moved pretty quickly over to PlayStation. Typically the games involve role-playing and free-roaming activities where the characters need to achieve a certain goal to keep going through the game. Still one of the most popular games, GTA is available on PlayStation and XBox.
World of Warcraft – multiplayer online role playing game WoW was released in 2004 and was designed to run natively on Mac and Windows and continues today.
Roblox – is a game creation system released in 2006 and has seen a surge of use in recent years. It’s available on PC, iOS, Android and XBox One and has over 160 million active users.
Fortnite – released in 2017 as a multi platform and gained some 120 million players in its first year alone. The game itself is free to play but as players battle to be the last person standing, certain features can be unlocked by making payments to help give them an advantage.
