Question of the Day: Do You Leave Your Game Console Running?

[wraggster]

A recent report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has revealed that video game console usage across America stands at approximately 16 billion kilowatt-hours per year—which is roughly the amount consumed by the entire city of San Diego. This is only a rough estimation, but there is no doubt that many of us waste a significant amount of energy when we leave our consoles running for hours on end. Even Energy Star has recognized the problem and begun setting standards on energy consumption for these devices. Obviously, the short-term solution to the problem would be to save your game and shut off the system when you are done—but it's a bad habit that is hard to break. So, my question is: do you leave your game console running when you are not playing?

http://gizmodo.com/5094411/question-of-the-day-do-you-leave-your-game-console-running

[Veskgar]

I used to leave my PS3 running all the time. Almost 24/7 contributing to the Folding@Home protein folding simulations for the betterment of science. Then, my PS3 died due to a power failure on the unit.

I had the PS3 replaced fast and free by SONY but I no longer trust leaving it on all the time. I don't know if the Folding@Home was part of the cause but I know it uses a lot of CELL power and the cooling fan runs faster when its running. I was hoping that would not cause wear & tear.

I will try again with the protein folding because a lot of exciting stuff can come out of that sort of research. But if another PS3 dies I will be mega pi$$ed.

[Zack]

I do it a lot with my 360. Usually for no longer than 1>4 hours.

Once the noise pisses me off enough I turn it off, or continue playing :p

[andrewgabriel77]

ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies

[Capn Makeveli]

I don't but my wife does all the time with the Wii and the Playstation 2. When she gets to a point that she can't figure out but there's no save point or checkpoint it stays on. Sometimes all day.

[goshogun1]

I shut my systems off after each use. I can't imagine why you wouldn't. Not so much because of power usage. I just don't want my system to overheat and die.

[Spanishpeacock]

I usually don't leave them on while not playing them. I even unplug or turn off the surge protector when I'm not planning on using them for a while. I have a hard enough time sleeping with the little red/green/blue lights I can't turn off or unplug without resetting clocks.

One more reason to play PSP, it resumes the game when I turn it on (usually, unless I'm on some homebrew games).

[rageteam1000]

I usually leave my PS3 on for three or four days with Folding@Home running with the monitor off. But at some point afterward I usually decide that the thing needs some rest and cut it off for a few days straight and do something else.
Honestly though, I don't see why anyone would just keep their system on all day otherwise with no purpose or reason. (I mean electricity isn't exactly free!)

[osgeld]

never

lets face it, consoles are cheap pieces of crap, designed to fit the current styling in a small compact package

your old game systems would burn out, the news ones do the same both because of poor ventilation, sub par electronics designs, and a very short life expectancy (ie: compared to a pc who may have to run 24/7 for over a decade un maintained physically)

if you want to protect your investment treat it like it is, a toy, put it away when your done playing with it

[kjetil1991]

when im done playing my 360 I turn it off but sometimes my laptop stays on the whole day

[paul3100]

Pc stays on 24/7 as someone above said and my dslite also can stay on for a day or 2 at a time if im playing some game in really into but plugged into the charger.

paul

[malgora]

my pc wakes up when i wake up and sleeps when i sleep (other then days where i work it gets turned on when i get home). my psp is always put into sleep mode insted of off.. and the ps3 .. well sometimes i get a little frightend so i turn it off at the back cause its such a power hungry beast .. lol

MALGORA!

[beetroot bertie]

I turn off my 360 when not in use and turn it of at the mains too to reduce power consumption. I also shut down my computer when not in use for periods over 30 mins or so. Otherwise I put it to sleep.

I'd like to think it helps in some way, no matter how small.

[gutbub]

When I'm done playing a console, I turn it off. Even if I'm ready to turn it off, but I've been for at least four hours, I turn it off and take a break.

My PC is on all day, but I turn it off before I go to bed. I only leave it on all day, because I too contribute to Folding@Home.

[ojdon]

I never leave consoles on, they're too warm and noisy, beside I don't have any point with leaving them on. My Computer on the other hand is left on all the time I'm awake usually 11:30am 'till 12:30am Unless I'm at college.

[Cerepol]

My Laptop and Desktop are usually always on, and my Wii usually stays on depending on what I was doing. Maybe I should save on my energy bill.

[vitorgatti]

I leave my PS3 and my PC running 24/7, contributing to Folding@Home.

My PC runs Linux, so I also have some system remote manager programs installed, so I can access my PC from work or from anywhere (using SSH, for example) to do some stuff that I want (convert videos, organize files, etc).