Computer Game Platforms and Technologies

Introduction
In this article, the history of video game platforms and their key
developments and evolutions, and the features and limitations
of the following types of gaming platforms: Arcades, Consoles,
PCs, Mobile Devices & TVs, will be covered.
History of Arcade Gaming
Arcades are the ancestors of gaming platforms and were first
created by a man from Philadelphia called J.D. Estes who
invented the first successful arcade game known as Skeeball/
Box Ball. [1][2] This game was revolutionary in terms of
entertainment and Chicago realized that arcade gaming had a
huge potential as a profitable market in the entertainment
industry. Therefore, Gottlieb, D. & Co. (from Chicago) [3]
created what was dubbed the first coin-operated machine
named Baffle Ball in 1931. Unfortunately, the flaws of both
revolutionary games were that they were easily manipulated
e.g. tilting and electrical hardware had no part to prevent
manipulation in both of these games. In addition, eventually in
1933, these games were referred to as games of chance AKA
gambling, which acted as a repellent towards arcade gaming
for some of the public.

http://www.techdose.com/articles/the-history-of-skeeball-
machines/405/page1.html

However, despite this repelling many people, coin-operated

video-games were brought into existence when Nolan
Bushnell and Ted Dabney created Computer Space (1971)
which was the first coin-operated arcade video-game. [4] This
revolution sparked an idea that became the first biggest
franchise to be born from this platform revolution known as
Pong (1972), which sold more than 35,000 units. This revolution
continued with games like Space Invaders (1978) and Pac-Man
(1980), the latter being the most successful video game in
history. Then, the first platformer game was created, known as
Donkey Kong (1981), which in one year sold 60,000 units,
earning $180 million.

http://www.pong.com/ & http://www.mariowiki.com/Donkey_Kong_(game)

Finally, the attention of arcades faded away in 1991 when

consoles risen such as Segas Sega Genesis (1989) and
Nintendos Super NES (1991) - The Console Wars; arcades
havent returned to a phenomenon scale since.
Features & Limitations of Arcade Machines
One feature of arcade machines is that they have simple
controls (i.e. up, down, left, right, joystick and a button) that
are easy to understand for people of all ages, increasing its
potential of income.
 https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game &
https://www.homeleisuredirect.com/arcade_machines/multiplay-arcade-
machines/

Another feature of arcade machines is that the screens are big,

meaning that the game can easily be displayed to the player,
but the levels are maintained within the screens margins,
juxtaposing this feature, as well as the lack of pixels that could
be displayed, which meant that the games design couldnt be
too complicated.
Referring back to its feature, arcade machines took and kept
record of high-scores of players creating a rhythm of
competition for the games giving players, whove already
played that arcade game, another reason to play the game
once more (in order to beat the top high-score). However, 3
problems arise for this task for these specific players: 1) The
player would need to complete the game otherwise if you quit,
with the game uncompleted, the players progress would be
removed, along with the players score, without it being
recorded (even if it would be a high-score). 2) All games on
arcade machines are pay-to-play meaning that the player
would have to spend more money everytime the player e.g.
dies on the game. This is troublesome as most of the arcade
machine audience are children who wouldnt have access to a
large amount of money (not taking into account their skill level)
meaning that they would either be deterred from continuing to
play the game in order to keep whats left of their money or
theyll lose it all before they complete the game (which would
also deter them from playing in the future). 3) 2) links to
another point as most of the arcade machine audience are
children, meaning that they dont have control over necessities
such as how long theyre allowed to stay at an arcade for,
causing them to unfairly quit the game before its completed
which might deter them from visiting arcades altogether!

https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/144444/?page=1#post-1333418

https://www.libertygames.co.uk/store/video_arcade_machines/shooting_arcade_
machines/time-crisis-4-arcade-dx/

A solution to all 3 problems above only applies to some arcade

machines, but some can allow co-op support, meaning that
another person such as a friend can play alongside the player
giving the player a higher chance of completing the game
faster without spending more money or distributing as much
money as usual. Unfortunately, with this solution it makes the
issue of waiting for playing turns much more problematic as
thisll usually make waiting for playing turns much more time-
consuming than it was originally. Plus, it doesnt fix the problem
that players would still have to travel out to specific areas to
play the games as arcade machines are not portable and the
locations the arcade machines can be found in are quite limited
- its not ideal for the player to buy their own as its very
expensive to do so.
Mentioning The Console Wars again, these are 2 more
limitations (that also answer why consoles overcame arcade
machines as a dominating market from 1991 onwards): 1) Each
machine provides only one unique game unlike consoles which
can provide a variety of games. Plus, the one unique game
provided by the arcade machine doesnt get updated once it
has been released meaning that any bugs/glitches, that causes
the player to believe that the game is unplayable, will never be
fixed. Whereas, developers can fix these bugs/glitches and
enhance the game necessarily with a patch or a series of
patches through the console, giving them a chance to fix the
game, making it playable again if deemed unplayable. 2) The
other reason why consoles are superior to arcade machines is
because they have online functionality, allowing players to
compete with a large number of people in frequent sessions as
well as play and have fun with each other. Whereas, arcade
machines dont have this type of functionality so people would
be playing independently trying to beat past scores and they
may occasionally have someone to play with if theyre available
some arcade machines dont have co-op support.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/03/why-microsoft-is-finally-pushing-for-
cross-platform-online-gaming/

History of Mobile/Portable Gaming

The true start of the mobile/portable game platform happened
in 1989 when Nintendo decided to break away from their usual
sole console market and released the Game Boy in Japan,
beginning the mobile/portable revolution. [5] This was followed
up by the Hagenuk MT-2000 in 1994 where Tetris was released
on exactly the same year the Hagenuk MT-2000 was the first
mobile phone to have games within it and Tetris was the first
mobile [phone] game [6] Soon after, another mobile phone
known as the Nokia 6100 (1998) was holding another valued
retro game from the 90s called Snake which was developed by
Nokia as well in 1998.
Now came the year of 2004 when 2 major companies that still
run worldwide today (Sony and Nintendo) released their own
unique handheld portable devices (although Nintendo has done
this before successfully). One was the Nintendo DS, released by
Nintendo, which is unique due to it being the first dual-screened
portable console; generally, the top screen was used to display
the game whilst the bottom screen AKA touch screen occupied
utilities e.g. inventory that was able to be touched by the
players finger rather than using the controls. The other was the
PlayStation Portable (PSP), released by Sony, that was unique
(even against the Nintendo DS) as its hardware was more
advanced than the DS. Plus, Sony made the PSP compatible to
connect with its home console counterpart, the PS3 to allow
remote play. This meant that the player could use their PSP
anytime, anywhere (as long as the player has Wi-Fi connectivity
and avoids using it on airplanes) to connect to their PS3 and
use its features. For example, you could look through your
photos, videos etc. on the PS3 via the PSP. [7]
Next is the era of spectacular mobile phone technology that
started in 2007 when Apple released their first iPhone (internet
phone) which ran iOS (also made by Apple themselves) which
had a 61% processing speed increase over the PSP. In the
following years of 2008 & 2009, two other phones were created
that, statistically speaking, bested the iPhone: One was the HTC
Dream (2008) which was the first ever android phone it bests
the speed of the iPhone by 130%. The other was Samsung
Galaxy S2 smartphone (2009) which is 6x more powerful than
the iPhone.
Similar to the clash of consoles between Sony and Nintendo in
2004, the clash of consoles happens once more in 2011. This
time, Nintendos release was the Nintendo 3DS which allowed
games to be played in 3D at a higher resolution than people
were accustomed to when buying their [portable] consoles. On
the other hand, Sony released the PS Vita which had impactful
upgrades to their hardware and, likewise with the PS3 & PSP
compatibility, the PS Vita supported compatibility with the PS4
that came out in 2013. Interestingly, Nintendo 3DS proves to us
that a console consisting of an amazing array of games will sell
more units than a console such as the PS Vita that upgrade
their hardware substantially. Although Sonys portable consoles
beat Nintendos portable consoles in terms of quality hardware,
due to long-lasting major titles such as Mario, Zelda and (a
personal one of mine) Dragon Quest that were focused
specifically on the portable console, players were attracted to
Nintendos consoles so they could play these games. On the
other hand, most of the games that are considered major
werent designed for their portable counterparts making them
unbearable and there were/are very few games that were/are
designed for the PS Vita that are fantastic.

Sales of the following month (checked on 11/9/16):

http://www.vgchartz.com/analysis/platform_totals/ - The value furthest
to the right is the consoles global sales (in millions)

As evidence for Sonys format not working, Nintendo tried

Sonys format of a home + portable combo by releasing the Wii
U (2012) which as you can see was a commercial failure as, not
only was most of the major titles of Nintendos were withheld
for a lengthy amount of time, but the hardware of the Wii U in
contrast to the Wii was slight, giving many people no reason
to own this console its just below the PS Vita. Despite this,
due to Nintendo releasing a series of consoles constantly in
comparison to Sony, Nintendo now has a net worth higher than
everything Sony owns combined!

Same link as the previous screenshots.

 Features & Limitations of Mobiles/Portables
The main feature of mobile/portable devices is that its portable
so players are able to play games wherever, whenever they
want these devices are portable as theyre light and/or theyre
small enough to fit in the palm of the players hand[s].
However, for mobile devices particularly, the games that are
able to be played on a mobile device are basic because mobile
devices have limited controls (mostly involving touching &
dragging on the touch screen). On the other hand, due to the
mobile games simplicity, players get addicted to some of these
games very easily e.g. Flappy Bird, which in 2 months was at
80 million + downloads. [8]

http://nokiarevolution.com/third-party-version-of-flappy-bird-game-now-available-
in-windows-phone-store/

Mobile & portable devices useful hardware is being improved

constantly, meaning that mobile/portable devices are very
expensive despite them being incredibly smaller than e.g. a
console. Although, this tends to not be a main concern by
people, in terms of getting a mobile device for its multiple
purposes (e.g. searching the internet, taking photos etc.) as
well as gaming, otherwise buying e.g. an iPhone 5 (~360),
which is roughly identical to the price of e.g. a PS4, isnt cost-
effective as a pure gaming device. On the other hand, portable
devices such as a Nintendo DS is a pure gaming device, but it
prevents people who arent sole gamers from wanting to buy
their product[s] as this device doesnt provide any other
purpose other than gaming. Despite the hardware of
mobile/portable devices being constantly improved, the
hardware is still very limited compared to other platforms due
to its small size. This is evident because mobile devices
hardware cant handle games with 3D graphics and Nintendo
couldnt provide top-quality 3D graphics until 2011.
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/review/iphones/iphone-5s-vs-iphone-6-comparison-
review-screen-size-battery-specs-features-3533491/ &
http://www.cubed3.com/news/4584/1/ds-media-nintendo-ds-versus-ds-lite.html

History of PC Gaming
The first game to ever be created on a computer was named
OXO, which was created in 1952 by Cambridge University on
the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC)
System. This game was practically Tic Tac Toe, but available to
play on a computer instead, which is why they named it OXO (O
= nought, X = crosses Noughts & Crosses). [9]

http://classicgames.about.com/od/computergames/p/OXOProfile.htm
For years, the uses of computers and where they were placed
were very strict, but in 1977, the first ever personal computer
was released for the public to purchase, and its name was the
Commodore PET. The Commodore PET gave birth to some
commonly used computer aspects that were unheard back in
those days such as a keyboard that includes its own separate
numeric pad it had its upper and lowercase text as well. Its
motherboard had a MOS 6502 processor that carried 1
Megahertz of power, adding on that it had a n external source
power supply and 4 kilobytes of memory. It had multiple
expansion sockets and ports, the sockets allowing for added
random access memory (RAM), but a processor board could be
used instead of the sockets. As well as the RAM, it also had an
operating system that was burned onto ROM and loaded on
boot. All this meant that this computer could handle and
display great graphics. [10] After their success with the
Commodore PET, they made the Commodore 64 in 1982; the
64 in the name Commodore 64 was there to represent that it
was a 64 KB computer, 16x the amount of memory of the
Commodore PET, exceedingly advancing in technology in just 5
years. Plus, the computer was incredibly cheaper than its
competitors (e.g. the Apple II) as it was powerful, making it a
must-buy for many individuals, which is probably why it
became the best-selling computer in history! [11]
Also in 1982, the ZX Spectrum was created and was
distinctively known its tiny size, its keyboard that was made of
rubber and its decorative design rainbow colour. The
computer could either be bought with 16 kilobytes of RAM for
125, or with 48 kilobytes of RAM for 175 (at that time). That
didnt mean those who bought the 16 KB version couldnt
upgrade to 48 KB later on as they could buy an internal 32 KB
RAM upgrade; the amount of ROM was equal for both versions,
which was 16 KB. [12]
However, the year of 1984 was the year where gaming at home
on a PC would be popularized as the Amstrad CPC 464 was
produced, which had CGA graphics and 4 Megahertz of power.
Not to forget to mention that the price of the computer wasnt
as extraordinary as expected as it was only 359 despite its
spectacular functionality at the time for a [gaming] computer. It
had magnetic tape storage, its CPU was 4MHz and its RAM was
between 64 KB to 128 KB (the lowest amount of RAM for the
computer is still 16 KB larger than the ZX Spectrums highest
amount of RAM). In addition, due to floppy disks that were
released in that year, more complex games were able to be
created on computers as those disks sped up the gaming
process. [13]
When the 90s began, processors such as the 66MHz 286
processor were created by Intel and AMD, rapidly increasing the
CPU capabilities of that time; the memory capabilities of
computers increased as well since RAM could now go up to
megabytes rather than the usual kilobytes that everyone at the
time was used to. Graphic cards made the switch from CGA to
VGA and the average size of the storage of computers was 1
GB. These skyrocketing capabilities were the reason why the
FPS spectacle known as DOOM was able to run smoothly when
the characters & game was moving really fast.
Then, Pentium released its Pentium II processor series (1997),
which enabled computers to run at speeds of 450MHz at best.
When it came to this series, the average size of its storage was
10x the amount a 66MHz 286 processor could provide and its
RAM was 64 MB. Plus, the graphics card of this series was a 16
MB SVAG graphic card rather than a VGA. GPUs became more
apparent for computers to play games, so games were able to
finally be created in 3D. The famous game known as Half-Life
(1998) benefited from this upgrade of computer hardware.
When PCs broke through to the next millennium, the PC
Gaming industry was breaking ground and started to become
an opinionated superior gaming platform at this stage. This was
due to the powerful technology that was in market for
computers, encouraging people to self-build their PC (which is
common now in this day and age). By 2004, not only were
processors running in gigabytes, but processors were able to
run over 1 GHz. RAM was running hundreds of megabytes more
than it could previously do (it couldnt reach 100 in 1997), the
size of a graphics card was going up to 128 MB, and GPUs were
getting faster and more technologically advanced as people
(90s) were dedicated into making the PC gaming experience as
good as it can be. - The Pentium 4 has an average storage size
of 50 GB, which is 5x the 10 GB storage size that the Pentium 2
had. Online play also became more apparent, so lots of online
multiplayer games were being produced e.g. Counter Strike:
Source, which a lot of games obviously played due to online
access being popular.
3 years later, with a new console generation being ushered in,
dual core processors and several GPUs were being used at this
point for gamers computers. These technological
advancements allowed developers to make games such as
Crysis which look and feel realistic. It was also helpful that the
average storage size of computers was 200 GB, there was
DDR2 RAM with sizes of 2 GB and there were ATI x 1600
graphics cards that were 512 MB in size.
Finally, in 2011, PC Gaming took over as consoles struggled to
make games that pushed the boundaries of visual quality whilst
maintaining within the confines of the consoles current power.
Whereas, PCs werent bound to the restrictions the consoles
were restricted to, especially since more people could purchase
dual and quad core processors that would enhance their
computers performance substantially. Storage sizes of
computers were averaging at 750 GB, there was DDR3 RAM
with double the size of the DDR2 and graphic cards reaching up
to gigabytes such as the GDDR5/GTX 650 graphic cards sizing
up to 1 GB.
Finally, in 2014, its unsurprising that the type of computers
people can get are amazing since cutting-edge technology is
easily accessible for the public. In the present day, computers
storage size can now average at terabytes, 1 TB specifically.
Quad CPUs are commonly used, reaching a whopping size over
3GHz, there is DDR3 RAM that sizes up to 8 GB, doubling the
size of the previous DDR3 in 2011, and affordable graphics
cards such as the GDDR5/GTX 650 are double the size too (2
GB).
 Features & Limitations of PCs
One feature of PCs is that the hardware can be constantly be
upgraded/changed to be compatible with the game[s] the
player is trying to play on the computer.

http://ngaie.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/new-intel-core-i5-750-computer-system.html

Also, the services in which you can buy games on the computer
is boundless, meaning that games that the player would like to
play can be searched and then bought/downloaded quickly (as
long as its available). Furthermore, theres a large indie scene
that follows PC gaming, meaning that individuals can innovate
and create games to upload onto the internet or a gaming
service to be played by players around the world. This can
benefit both the player and the creator[s] as the creator[s]
game can get noticed publicly allowing them to be recognized
for their work worldwide. Whereas, the player [hopefully] gets
an innovative, fun experience playing the game.

http://www.valvetime.net/threads/the-steam-discovery-update-released.245479/
Lastly, when it comes to its features, PC games are played with
using a mouse and keyboard which benefits the player when
playing genres such as first person shooters (FPS) because the
player can pinpoint enemies quicker than the joystick of a
controller and the keyboard makes gaming simpler as the keys
(depending on how theyre mapped) are right next to one other
allowing the player to perform an action effortlessly such as
movement. [14]
On the other hand, PC gaming has its limitations such as PCs
not being portable, meaning that wherever the PC is set, you
must play there unless you decide to move it, but its time-
consuming to do that and its pointless to do if its a short-term
location for the computer rather than a long-term location.
Even though a lot of people use PCs nowadays, doesnt mean
that those people have a working knowledge of PCs, especially
when manipulating PC games and fixing up PCs to enhance
their experience. Therefore, the person would need to
apprehend PC knowledge, especially gaming PC knowledge, in
order to fulfil these tasks.
Finally, there arent many PC games that are presented
physically e.g. discs and PC games tend to be digitally
distributed. Although physical distribution is slandered, there
are issues with digital distribution as well: Thee games wouldnt
have a re-sale value so, for poorer people of our growing
population, they would have to hope that their desired game (if
its expensive) has a sale ASAP because pre-owned games
arent digitally distributed. Secondly, the future of digital
distribution, that is popularly encouraged in PC gaming,
hinders everyone (except the creators and services)
economically as retailers would lose their jobs, leading
to a higher percentage of unemployment, due to their
services no longer being required as games are being
distributed digitally. Plus, people would have no control
over the price of games due the quality of them e.g.
pre-owned, slightly damaged etc. as theyre no longer
physical, so the people would either have to settle for
the set price or not bother to buy the game that they so
desperately desire! [15]
 History of TV Gaming
TV Gaming was launched in order to interest casuals, who dont
care or prefer to not get video games, into playing video games
as well as watching television as they intend. Casual video
games such as Plants vs Zombies, which would be on games-
on-demand services such as TransGamings GameTree TV
(2011), would be installed onto interactive SMART TVs where
people would have the choice to play such games using the TV
remote controls. [16]

Same link as reference [16]

Another form of TV gaming was the multimedia home platform

OnLive (2010) was multimedia home platform streaming
service which allowed people using their service to rent or
demo video games to test so the players have a general idea of
what its like so they can decide whether or not to buy the
game (on their chosen platform e.g. PC) OnLive was bought
out by Sony in 2015. [17] [18]

https://onlive.en.uptodown.com/android
http://gamesandparty.com/friends---scene-it---the-dvd-board-game---by-mattel---
2005---100-complete---tv-games-2725-p.asp

Last of all, TV Gaming was able if you had a DVD player

(some/most TVs come with a DVD player installed) as there
were/are interactive DVD games where the player would be
able to interact accordingly to the games setting and interact
with the game by using the controls on the TV/DVD remote.
Features & Limitations of TVs (for Gaming)
A limitation is that the amount of games thatll be on offer to
the player to play is limited so the player would not have
access to a variety of games. The player could buy a
multimedia home platform that streams a wider branch of
games, but theyre quite expensive and they will only allow the
player to rent or demo a game of their choice they cant buy
games with this device.
History of Console Gaming
Console gaming was brought into light by a man called Ralph H.
Baer who invented the first ever console (although this was a
prototype) named the Brown Box (1967): it came with 2
controllers, it was able to be plugged with TVs and it had 6
games such as ping-pong, volleyball etc.; this invention gave
him the moniker of The Father of Video Games! This lead to
Magnavox releasing what was considered as the first actual
home video game console, known as the Magnavox Odyssey
(1972). [19]
Between the years of 1975-1977, this lead to a console market
competition where Atari & Magnavox created new consoles. For
example, Atari (who created Pong in 1973) decided to add
their arcade phenomenon to the console scene, creating the
Atari Sears Tele-Games Pong System (1975) to compete with
Magnavox who made 2 more versions of their console which
were the Magnavox Odyssey 100 & 200 (which themselves
were slight improvements of the original) on the same year.
Later, Atari would defeat Odyssey due to their Atari 2600 using
game cartridges, it had unique games and their games
graphical output was better. As well as these two companies,
newer companies emerged such as Fairchild, RCA & Coleco,
where the latter was the only company out of these three to
have built a successful console known as the Coleco Telstar.
This was due to being able to display its games in colour rather
than in monochrome and their games had various options of
difficulty.
From 1977 to 1979, Nintendo made their first console [series]
known as the Nintendo Color TV Game Series (which was
exclusive to Japan). It wasnt good, but it wasnt bad as they did
have mild success with their creation. Bally Astrocade (1978)
graphical capabilities made all the other consoles of its time
look inferior, but the console was short-lived. Once again,
another console had superior capabilities in 1979, which
threatened the accomplishments of the Atari 2600, known as
Mattels Intellivison.
When the 80s AKA the golden age came around, genres such
as adventure & RPG games were born; classic revolutionary
games such as Mario Bros (1983) & The Legend of Zelda (1986)
were born as well. Importantly, in terms of distribution,
consoles followed the footsteps of the Atari 2600 by
switching from consoles with built-in games to consoles
that distributed game cartridges. This would later be
changed again in the 90s from game cartridges to
compact discs (CDs).
This era was also when the battles of Sega and Nintendo began
where Sega created their first console called the Sega SG-1000
in 1983. Although it wasnt well-known due to its distribution
not being stretched across the world, they later created the
Sega Master System in 1985 which was much more successful.
Despite this though, Nintendo won The Console Wars by when
they produced the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in
1983. It was the best-selling console of that generation and it
got Nintendo recognised as a company relatable to gaming.
Sega and Nintendo were the dominant force of that era leading
to what was dubbed the Video Game Industry Crash of 1974
which lead companies such as Coleco to go out of business!
The real war would occur though when Sega created the Sega
Mega Drive/Genesis in 1988, which was their best-selling
console. Whereas, Nintendo created the Super Nintendo
Entertainment System (SNES) in 1990 Sega released the Sega
Master System II due to their achievements with the Sega Mega
Drive/Genesis 2 years ago, which then Sega made the Sega
Mega Drive/Genesis 2 (1994) & 3 (1997) to honour to the
success of its original.
Once the 90s then came around the corner, the distribution of
games would change again from game cartridges to compact
discs (CDs) which meant that the possibilities of video gaming
became more possible to accomplish such as 3D graphics. In
1991, the Phillips CD-I was released, making it the first ever
console to use CDs, but it was infamously remembered rather
than famously remembered because of e.g. the standardisation
of the games it ran on it.
In 1993, it was the end of Atari as they couldnt compete with
Sega and Nintendo anymore because of their Sega Mega
Drive/Genesis and SNES, so Atari released the Atari Jaguar as a
final stand before going out of business [in the console market].
Not to mention that Sony released the PlayStation and Sega
released the Sega Saturn, which were CD-based consoles that
didnt help Atari from avoiding departure from the gaming
industry. Unlike these mentioned consoles, Nintendo created
the Nintendo 64 (1996) which its games remained in cartridge
form. Beforehand, Nintendo created the Virtual Boy in 1995
which can only be described as a VR headset, only it shown 3D
instead of VR; it was a failure and a risk to health and safety as
it gave people migraines and made them sick when wearing
the device for a reasonable amount of time. Much like Sega and
Nintendo, Sega and Sony started putting companies out of
business in the gaming industry as well like NEC.
 http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/evolution-of-home-video-game-consoles-1967-
2011/

Furthest value to the right = global sales.

The Sega Saturn wasnt plausible, so Sega developed and

brought people the Sega Dreamcast in 1998 which pioneered
internet provision for online play by installing a built-in modem
within the console. By 2000, Sony created the PlayStation 2,
which is the highest-selling video game console of all-time, and
Nintendo finally made the switch from game cartridges when
introducing the Nintendo GameCube in 2001, which used DVD-
ROMs instead. Also, in 2001 entered Microsoft who brought the
Xbox to this industry which was positively viewed by the public
because of Xbox Live which was an online gaming service
focused on its system.
2005 onwards, its established that Microsoft, Sony & Nintendo
are the three major companies left today; Microsoft released
the Xbox 360 in 2005 whilst Sony and Nintendo released the
PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii in 2006. The Xbox 360s 1080p
graphics, its add-on apps such as Netflix in 2008, along with the
expansion of its service Xbox Live made this console popular
during the 8th generation of gaming - the independent scene of
gaming transformed because of Microsofts Xbox Live Arcade
on the Xbox 360. [20] [21] The Xbox 360 wasnt perfect though
as evident from its errors to maintain the graphics and
performance to a justified level, which caused a red ring to
display itself on the consoles power button, giving it the
nickname The Red Ring of Death In addition to the Xbox 360s
issues, it lacked a disc-withholding mechanism, causing discs to
get scratches on them. Similar to Microsofts Xbox 360, Sonys
PlayStation 3 was popular during this generation due to its
1080p graphics, its add-on apps such as YouTube and its online
gaming service known as the PlayStation Network (PSN). After 7
long years, Sony finally brought everyone the PlayStation 4
which, much like the Xbox 360, supported the independent
scene by enabling and releasing a broad selection of indie titles
on the consoles PlayStation Store such as Journey, much to
the satisfaction of new and long-term PlayStation possessors.
Whereas, Nintendos Wii was a console that encouraged
exercise (and just general movement) which was supported by
its interactive games and controllers with nunchuks. This meant
that the Nintendo Wii was the first ever console to [majorly]
involve physical activity; this concept appealed to a wide
demographic range that stretches from young people to older
adults (possibly even the elderly)! Most likely due to this
scenario, Sony and Microsoft tried to bring elements of physical
activity to their consoles as well by introducing the PlayStation
Move and Xbox Kinect (2010).
In 2013, to compete with Sonys PlayStation 4, Microsoft
released the Xbox One which many fans, particularly at first
release, were disappointed with Microsoft and their console
because it seemed that Microsoft focused more on improving
its dashboard, online services etc. more than the gaming
aspect of the console (e.g. Batman: Arkham Knight running at
900p rather than 1080p like the PS4) since they were liked by
the fans, which is quite ironic. Due to this, [hardcore] gamers
bought PS4s instead even though its user interface and media
capabilities arent as good, because its gaming performance is
much better, meaning that the PS4 (so far from 2013-Today)
pulled ahead in sales.
Features & Limitations of Consoles
Unlike gaming platforms such as PCs, consoles dont need
additional hardware than its basis, so when you buy the
console, the required hardware for the player to play games is
already inside. Although, a consoles hardware cant be
upgraded [legally] to play future games (that are most likely
adapted for the more technological counterpart).
 http://1035kissfmboise.com/win-a-ps4-today-with-lucky-tha-dj/

To add to this point, even though the console itself doesnt

need additional hardware, the player does need additional
hardware alongside the console such as an external monitor
which causes the player to spend more money; console games
can be very expensive as well, especially when theyre not pre-
owned and/or cumulated overtime. [22]

http://www.dualshockers.com/2015/03/05/you-dont-realize-just-how-small-a-ps4-
is-until-you-take-it-on-a-12-hour-long-intercontinental-flight/

Moving back to the positives, setting up consoles is straight-

forward as (e.g. for a PS4) the player only needs to plug the
power cable into a source of mains electricity and plug the
HDMI cable into an external monitor such as a TV (as long as
its HDMI compatible).
Another feature (this time, in comparison to arcade machines)
is that consoles can host online play, meaning that players can
play against other players around the globe in set lobbies on
their [favourite] games not all console games are multiplayer-
orientated though (even if they do have a multiplayer).
When games from a console are displayed and played by the
player, the frame rate of those games are stable, allowing for a
smooth gaming experience. However, when it comes to the
multiplayer of games, the frame rate of the games could then
drop for a 2 particular reasons: the servers of the game cant
handle the magnitude of players that are currently on it at
once, and/or the players modem isnt that fantastic might be
because multiple internet devices (if used on the same modem)
is stressing the modems capabilities.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-wolfenstein-new-order-
performance-analysis

The consoles portability is obviously strict as it can be moved

without issue as opposed to an arcade machine, but the
console can only be played in locations that provide a source of
mains electricity as opposed to a mobile/portable device.
Lastly, relating back to the topic of console games, just
because theyre created, doesnt mean they are provided to all
consoles (including the provision of games across consoles of
the same generation e.g. PS4 & Xbox One) as there are existent
console-exclusive games such as Bloodborne on the PS4.
Similar to console-specific games, there also console that are
specific to a certain nation so not everyone around the world
can play those national-specific games (unless they import the
game via online shopping).
 http://www.dualshockers.com/2014/12/06/bloodbornes-box-art-revealed/

Conclusion Future Platforms & Technologies

Digital distribution is considered to be the future of distributing
games as they will be provided to the player a lot faster than
by physical distribution and will be delivered to the players
platform in the comfort of the players home. However, it must
be mentioned that it could destroy the economic cycle that
occurs today as the player would pay money for the game
directly to e.g. the service thats non-refundable, meaning that
retailers will no longer be needed if physical distribution is no
longer required, resulting in the loss of jobs which leads to
unemployment. In addition, digital distribution can avoid the
punishment thats common through physical distribution
game cartridges, CDs etc. can be damaged to a point (beyond
disc-cleaning) where theyre no longer playable or refundable
to the store due to a lack of responsibility or situations beyond
the persons control e.g. faulty gaming platforms. On the other
hand, theres a lack of damage control through digital
distribution as well since if the player doesnt make a back-up
of their game file and game data and the game gets
lost/deleted, the game is gone forever lack of responsibility.
Another example would be games acquired in this fashion could
get corrupted, causing the player to delete everything
associated with that game, causing the player (in most cases)
to re-purchase the game even though its not the players fault
situations beyond the players control. To conclude the topic
of distribution, its natural that the distribution of games
evolves as years pass like the Atari 2600 that switched from
consoles using built-in games to using game cartridges, which
would then change again for most consoles of the 90s when
they switch from game cartridges to compact discs (CDs).

https://www.gottabemobile.com/2016/06/23/ps4-backwards-compatibility-
explained/

Now, about backwards compatibility, its known that the PS4

console created by Sony is capable of emulating PS2 games on
its console once rented from its rental service PlayStation Now
or bought off PlayStation Store. Advancements of backwards
compatibility would be brilliant and cost-effective as it would
allow fans/owners of previous [generation] consoles to re-visit
their favourite games, particularly from their childhood, through
emulation e.g. Xbox One allowing original Xbox games to be
played. It would also be remarkable if companies such as
Nintendo honoured the games from out of business products
such as Atari. Most importantly, backwards compatibility would
definitely be cost-effective (for those who previously didnt own
a certain console or game) as the player would get access to
games and consoles (even if rental) for a relatively cheap price
in contrast to online shopping for these products which will
rarely sell cheaply and will most likely sell for a high price due
to sentimentality, its age and inflation of the worlds economic
system over the years.
 http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidewalt/2016/03/28/oculus-rift-review-the-
beginning-of-the-age-of-vr/#692e05fa1793

In conclusion, the last subject will be about the prominence of

Virtual Reality (VR) and what it entails for our future. Virtual
Reality is a ground-breaking piece of technology that allows the
player to immerse themselves in the game (thats VR
compatible) on a whole new level as the player, because of the
VR headsets e.g. Oculus Rift, neurologically force the player to
be subjected to the feelings of actually being a character
[themselves] in the game that theyre playing which is
outstanding. However, due to VR being relatively new
technology, most of the games are quite basic, even just
replicating real-life. Although, Rez Infinite differs as its so
complex and unique that the creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi made a
prototype Synaesthesia Suit for this particular game, but its
extravagant in comparison to the earlier mentioned Oculus Rift!
[23] Nevertheless, it will be a grand day when the VR is
perfected and developers push their games boundaries to the
edges of the VR headsets proficiency as it will give players a
sense of empowerment of being able to be the character (from
the players own perspective), in a hopeful VR game that
matches world-class status like the Uncharted series, rather
than controlling the character!
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