Beth Galloway’s post to the PLA Blog has convinced me of the validity of gaming consoles in a public library. I don’t know why I was resistant to it. Perhaps because there are several competing consoles, so how do you choose which one to offer. Perhaps because we already offer games on computer and online gaming. Perhaps because I knew that it would be a near-impossible sell to my Foundation that funds all of our cool, tech items. But with Beth’s take on it, I think it is worth the fight. And I know that even in our little community I would have lots of teens coming in to play. They are already using the computers for Runescape and would probaby love something that they could play head-to-head on. Now just to find a possible space to put the console in…
Update: As I ponder this more and more, I begin to wonder why libraries are doing consoles rather than PC games. Is it straight cost? My worries with consoles are that they lack the flexibility of computers and that they will become dated more quickly. Anyone have a defense of console vs. computer?