In the past there was a fairly big divide between gamers who played their favorite games on consoles and those who preferred to play on a PC. In fact, many PC gamers would sneer at console players on their PS1 or XBox consoles as they played on high end machines, often worth thousands. Serious PC gaming often meant a huge investment in a computer that could handle the processing and graphics demands of the top game titles and give the best gaming experience. However, as the online and multimedia capabilities of consoles has vastly advanced over the past two generations, PC gamers have begun to eye the console world more seriously. Additionally, the average PC is now significantly more powerful than it was in the past, meaning even the typical, fairly mediocre laptop can offer some quite significant gaming power.
This could well mean that over the next few years the concept of the PC gaming rig will become rarer and could even phase out altogether, except among those enthusiasts who really enjoy building and enhancing their machines.
As well as the machines we play games on changing, the way we think about gaming and the gaming population has also changed a lot over the past ten years. Where gaming was previously fairly niche, these days it is really mainstream, with people who may never have considered buying games, and who may not have given any thought to the gaming capacity of a new computer when shopping for one, now playing things like social games, casual mobile games, and the top game apps at Europalace.com and other online casino sites. Whether they are gaming to pass the time on mobile devices while commuting, gaming on platforms like Facebook to interact with friends, or playing games like poker for money (real or in game), people who never thought of gaming as a big part of their lives are now spending a significant part of their free time on games.
The gaming industry is constantly evolving, and as the technology gap between those who can play the top end titles and those who don’t have the processing power closes and casual games that draw in people from all different walks of life become more and more original and appealing, gaming is only going to become bigger and more accessible in the short term future.