There are plenty of neverending debates in the gaming world, but the fiercest arguments often come down to which game console is the best or whether PC gaming is superior to all of them. PCMag asked gamers across the country which gaming method they prefer between the top three console-makers—Nintendo, PlayStation, and Xbox—or PC games.

This map marks the second of an ongoing series breaking down a number of tech trends across the country. PCMag surveyed 2,033 US consumers in February on a variety of topics, gathering additional demographic data including the respondents' home states. Of the majority of respondents who identified as gamers, 31 percent chose Xbox, 28 percent prefer PlayStation, 21 percent are Nintendo fans, and 20 percent are primarily PC gamers.

Breaking down those numbers state-by-state, a whopping 27 states had more respodents who chose Microsoft's Xbox One and Xbox One X as their preferred console. Sony's PlayStation 4 and Nintendo consoles headlined by the portable Nintendo Switch each took the top spot in 10 states. PC gaming was the most popular in only three states: Montana, Rhode Island, and West Virginia.

Many of those states were close calls. PlayStation topped Nintendo by one percentage point in Arizona, and Xbox beat PlayStation by 2 percent in California. In Virginia, Nintendo beat out Xbox by 1 percent. Some states had even tighter results than that, with Nintendo beating PlayStation by less than 1 percent in Utah, besting Xbox by less than 1 percent in Indiana, and PC gaming by less than 1 percent in Iowa.

Across key demographics, women preferred Xbox and Nintendo (they were also more likely not to have a favorite console and not to identify as gamers) whereas men preferred PlayStation and PC gaming. Breaking down by age range, the highest percentages of those who preferred Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo were all in the 25-to-34 age range.

Though PC gaming was narrowly defeated in a number of states, it wasn't far behind Nintendo in overall respondents. We gathered some deeper stats on PC gaming in particular, finding that 75 percent of those who prefer PC gaming have computers running Windows. That's not surprising, as virtually all the top gaming desktops and laptops run on Windows OSes. Thirty-two percent of PC gamers said a desktop is their primary computing device.

More than half of PC gamers (52 percent) also have an Android phone, which is 9 percent higher than any other group of gamers surveyed. PC gamers are also the most connected: they're the most likely of all gamers to own up to 10 different connected devices, including other consoles.

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