GFK Research claims that the accessory market is set to grow stronger in the future along with anything associated with gaming. Their research shows that the PC gaming market continues to perform well in 2008, with million spent on dedicated PC gaming input devices such as mice, keyboards, joysticks and game pads. The range of gaming peripherals available to consumers also continues to expand.
GFK say that aside from the traditional gaming staples of high-end mice, keyboards and graphics cards, PC gamers can exploit the versatility of their systems and choose to buy products ranging from controllers through to high-end gaming chairs sporting built-in force feedback, microphones and surround sound to enhance their experience. Conversely, whilst PC gaming is more open to improving the speed and performance of the PC, consoles remain somewhat restricted and more difficult to expand from their base configurations.
This is not to say that the console gamer can't engage in a little 'pimping'. When looking at the total gaming devices market, over 95 percent of total devices sold are destined for use with a console. However, the majority of these devices are simply additional controllers required to experience existing multiplayer features inherent to living room gaming.
Nevertheless, there are still add-ons which are used to help enhance gaming enjoyment, such as gaming chairs. In contrast to consoles, one of the key benefits of PC gaming for most consumers is the ability to expand and improve their gaming system with component upgrades such as RAM, graphics cards and other related products.
