A recent study by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) found that of the top 3 gaming systems on the market today, Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360, the Wii is the most energy efficient by far.

When tested for an hour, here's how the systems measured up on their power consumption: Wii - 13.7 watts, PS3 - 84.8 watts and Xbox 360 - 87.9 watts. So to break it down, you can play you Wii for a full 6 hours, and still not equal the power consumed in one hour of gameplay on the 360.

But hardcore gamers will want to take note; that lower energy consumption comes at a price, and that price is graphical performance. While the Wii shows generic looking characters with nondescript blobish faces, the 360 and PS3 are able to churn out characters who actually look like real people. And for sports games, the faces actually look like the players they represent.

The one great take away from this study is that all of the gaming units are significantly less power hungry than they were just a couple years ago. The PS3 has a lot to brag about as it consumes almost half the watts it did in 2006!

This is really a great study, but you ask me, there's nothing like the realistic splatter of Zombie brains, so I'll stick with my PS3.

Check out a more complete article about the study here.

What do you think? Is realism in gaming worth the extra watts? Sound off in the comments.