The Platforms for Gaming: Part 1

By: Patrick Wendo By: 2020-06-09

With all the free time you may have found yourself with this period, you may have thought of going into gaming. You however found yourself stuck on what platform to start with. Here we will discuss the various platforms with their pros and cons and hopefully, you will get some clarity on the matter. A platform is a specific device on which to play a video game. If you want to get technical, it is a combination of hardware and software that is used to play video games. Examples of platforms include the PlayStation, XBOX, PC, Nintendo, mobile (android & iOS)

We start off with mobile gaming. It may not be popular in the west as a gaming platform but it is largely popular within the Asian markets. So popular in fact, that there are a couple of gaming tournaments for mobile games like Clash Royale, Fortnite, and Call of Duty mobile. These tournaments like Call of Duty Mobile have a cash pool prize of up to $1 million in total. The mobile gaming field has a relatively low barrier to entry as most of its games are free to play and mobile is the most ubiquitous device on the planet at the moment.  

 

Mobile gaming: Call of Duty Mobile

The PlayStation is a console by Sony. It has a couple of versions from the PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4, PSP (PlayStation Portable), and the PS Vita. The PSP and the PS Vita are portable handheld devices while all the rest are standalone consoles. The PS2 is the bestselling game console of all time with over 155million units sold worldwide. The play station brand boasts a multitude of games available for play with some exclusively available for the console like The Last of Us, Uncharted, The God of War series, and newer entries like Horizon Zero Dawn. A single console usually ships with a single controller but you can buy another one for about Ksh 2000 with the console itself retailing for about Ksh 30,000. In 2019, Sony announced the next-generation console, PS5, to be released in 2020. Price has not yet been revealed but it has higher quality hardware than the current generation PS4.

 

Evolution of the PlayStation

The XBOX console is Microsoft’s entry into the console world. It’s versions include the XBOX, XBOX 360, and XBOX One. The XBOX 360 and the XBOX One have different versions released as well like the  XBOX 360, 360 S, 360 E, the XBOX One, The One S, and the One X. The XBOX console has been known because of its flagship title Halo, which was all the rage in the 2000s. It also supports other exclusive titles like Gears of War. Besides that, it still hosts other multi-platform games like FIFA, Call of Duty, Mortal Kombat, and others. At 2019’s E3(Electronic Entertainment Expo), Phil Spencer, executive vice president of Gaming at Microsoft announced the next generation console of the XBOX dubbed the XBOX Series X. With support from chip manufacturer AMD, the Series X console is set to be the most powerful next-generation console yet.

 

Xbox: Which one do you have?

This is only part 1 of the platforms that gamers game on. There are others that you may want to jump on to start or to gift yourself, your children, nieces, or nephews. One thing is for sure a gaming platform you are comfortable with, takes your gaming to the next level. For now, we will leave you with this question; which gaming platform are you likely to consider?