common hardware used in game systems

Well, let me tell you about them game thingies, the stuff they use to make them games run. You know, like that box the young’uns stare at all day.

First off, you gotta have that main thing, the, uh, whatchamacallit, the computer box itself. Some folks call it a “console” if it’s just for games, but it’s all the same to me. It’s got all the guts inside, you see. Like a chicken, it’s got all the important parts inside the body.

Then there’s this real important piece, the “graphics card” or somethin’. My grandson, he says it’s the “GPU”. Sounds fancy, but all it does is make the pictures pretty. Without it, the game looks like a bunch of blurry blobs. This thing is super important, like the heart of the whole thing. He tells me that when you buy a gaming thing for the computer, a “laptop”, they put two of these picture thingies inside. One is for when you ain’t doing much, just looking at words or whatever, and the other is for when you are playing them games. Makes sense, I guess, save on the ‘lectricity.

• CPU: Then there’s the brain, the “CPU”. It does all the thinkin’, tells everything else what to do. Faster the brain, the faster the game goes. It’s like having a smart kid or a slow kid.
• Memory: And don’t forget the “RAM”, or the memory. It’s like the brain’s helper. It remembers stuff the game needs real quick. More memory means the game don’t forget things and runs smoother. Just like my memory ain’t what it used to be!
• Hard Drive or SSD: You gotta have somewhere to keep all them games, too. That’s the “hard drive” or the “SSD”. The SSD ones are faster, like a rabbit compared to a turtle for the hard drive. They hold all the game stuff, like the pictures and sounds. Bigger the drive, more games you can keep.

Now, you can’t play a game without something to control it, right? That’s where them “controllers” come in. Some look like little boxes with buttons, others look like a stick shift from a car. My grandson, he’s got this fancy one with all sorts of lights and wiggly things. Costs a fortune, I tell ya, but he says it makes him play better. And for the computer games, they use them “keyboards” and “mice”. Like the ones they use for work, but fancier, with more buttons and lights, of course. They even make special ones just for games. Kids these days, always gotta have the best, even if it just does the same thing.

Then there’s the “monitor” or the “screen”. That’s what you look at. It’s like a fancy window into the game world. The bigger it is, the easier it is to see what’s going on. And the fancy ones, they got all these fancy colors and make everything look real purdy. They also have those “headsets” so you can hear the game sounds, or talk to other folks playing the same game. My grandson yells at his headset all the time, must be talkin’ to them online friends of his.

And don’t forget, there are all sorts of other little things they use, too. Like, uh, “webcams” so they can see each other, and “microphones” so they can talk. And these “VR headsets”, the things that cover your whole face. My grandson tried to get me to wear one once, said I could fly like a bird. I told him I’d rather stick to watching the birds outside, thank you very much. It’s like putting a bucket over your head!

So, there you have it. That’s all the stuff they use for them games. A whole lot of fancy gadgets, if you ask me. But as long as it keeps the young’uns happy and out of trouble, I guess it’s alright. Though I still think they’d be better off playing outside in the fresh air, like we used to do.

Tags: gaming hardware, PC components, game console, GPU, CPU, RAM, SSD, controllers, keyboard, mouse, monitor, headset, VR headset, gaming accessories