Assignment 1 : Unit 20

Game Platform Types

There are a handful of Game Platform types, which many are apart of a series of platforms. For example the Playstation so far is is in its fourth generation of console, where as many other consoles are newer to the market, bringing a range of games that differ from the others. 

Console HCI- Playstation

The Playstation console is one of the most popular consoles on the market, previously head to head with the XBOX both consoles were equal to one and another, however that has changed as the latest console from Sony has more than doubled the sales of the XBOX One, making the console even more popular to an outside audience that don't necessarily play console games. The first installment of the series was the Playstation (One). 

Graphics Capabilities:

• The Playstation's highest bit setting was 24-bit, other modes supported 4-bit, 8-bit and 15-bit.
• Sprites size is another aspect to consider, the Playstation supports a maximum sprite size of 256 pixels high x 256 pixels wide. The console also had a Geometry engine that allowed additional hardware rendering of polygons to include shading, texture mapping and lighting effects. 
• Memory: 1 MB RAM

Size:

• The size of the Playstation was small and light. Allowing for this console to be moved around without any trouble, the controller also doesn't weigh much. 
• 1.77 inches (h)
  10.24 inches (w)
  7.28 inches (d)

Processor Power:

• 32-bit R3000A
• Processor clock speed: 33,8688
• MIPS (Million Instructions Per Second) 30
• Cache Data: 4KB

2 MB RAM Memory Size

Storage:

• The Playstation had a Memory Card which was inserted into the front slots of the console above the Controller slot, this had to be inserted and needed enough space on it to save any game files. 
• The Card withheld 128KB of memory- (8 MBs)

List of popular games:

• Gran Turismo- 10.85 million shipped
• Final Fantasy VII- 9.72 million
• Gran Turismo 2- 9.37 million shipped
• Resident Evil- 9 million
• Tekken 3- 8.5 million
• Final Fantasy VIII- 8.15 million
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone- 8 million
• Tomb Raider II- 8 Million
• Crash Bandicoot: Warped- 7.13
• Metal Gear Solid- 7 million

Many well known games and franchises have been released for example Grand Theft Auto, Spyro, Rayman, Tony Hawk and many more. The Console was affordable and at the time was one of the first consoles to have 3D graphics. Therefore it became largely popular quickly. In my opinion this console was great and was one of the first consoles I played and it was a console that introduced many new game franchises that is strong now.

Playstation 2

Playstation 2 is, to date, the most bought console ever with 155 million units sold. The console was released in the year 2000, in my opinion this console opened up the market for consoles  and really stepped up the game for all the other consoles around. With better Graphics and playability than other consoles out, it is no surprise at the time it was the most sought after console. 

Graphics Capabilities:  'Graphics Synthesizer'

• 150MHz
• Embedded cache
• 4MB VRAM
• 24-bit 
• Polygon rendering: 75 million polygons per second
• Resolution 640x480 or 320x240 interlaced
• Geometry engine:alpha channel, anti-aliasing, Bezier surfacing, Gouraud shading, Mip mapping, perspective correction, Z-buffer

Size:

• 1.1 x 9.06 x 152 in
• The PS2 was a medium sized console, a small DVD player size. A slimmer version of the console was later released and this was lighter than the previous model allowing an you to carry and move the console around with ease.

Processor Power:

• 128-bit "Emotion Engine
• Processor clock speed: 300 MHz
• Original Play Station CPU core as I/O 
• Floating point unit (FPU) co-processor operating at 6.2 gigaflops

Memory Size:

•  
• 32 MB RDRAM Operating system: Proprietary Sony Game medium: Proprietary 4.7-GB DVD
• Supports original PlayStation CDs
• Video DVD support
• Audio CD support
• Having the addition of playing ground breaking games the playstation allowed you to watch DVDs and play CDs, this was completely a new feature for many electronic entertainment systems, this is also what made the PS2 popular.

Storage:

• Similar to the PS1 the second Playstation Console supported a memory card rather than memory storage within the console. The Memory Card supported 8MB of game data and save data.

Many games were made for the PS2 and thousands of games and many game franchises were made during the PS2 era. Games were still being developed for the console years after it was discontinued due to the huge popularity of it.

List of Popular games:

• Final Fantasy X
• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
• Kingdom Hearts II
• Final Fantasy XII
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
• Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
• God Of War (1 and 2)
• Shadow Of the Colossus
• Jak and Daxter
• Gran Turismo 4
• Many more.

The Playstation 2 is one of my favourite consoles around because of the amazing game franchises that have been built around it that are Playstation exclusives (Naughty Dog's Jak and Daxter- Uncharted and finally The Last Of US), the PS2 was probably the best console for the largest amount of games and the types of games it offered. 

Playstation 3

My favourite console without a doubt is the Playstation 3. First of this console, along with the just as popular XBOX 360 played host to the all new graphics, exploration, shooters and the best games released for consoles. Everything from the Playstation 2 was improved from graphics to wireless controllers.  A new menu, vibrating controller, bigger and better new games that allowed endless exploration (Skyrim) and many other new features that made the console give a completely new experience.  

Graphics Capabilities:

• PowerPC-base Core @3.2GHz
• 1 VMX vector unit per core
• 512KB L2 cache
• 7 x SPE @3.2GHz
• 7 x 128b 128 SIMD GPRs
• 7 x 256KB SRAM for SPE
• 256MB XDR Main RAM @3.2GHz
• 256MB GDDR3 VRAM @700MHz

GPU:

• 1.8 TFLOPS floating point performance
• Full HD (up to 1080p) x 2 channels
• Multi-way programmable parallel floating point shader pipelines

Dimensions:

•  325mm (w) x 98mm (h) x 274mm (d) 
• 32.5 cm (w) x 9.8 cm (h) 27.4 cm (d)
• When the PS3 was initially brought out it was large and quite bulky, however it was still reasonably transportable.

Memory:

• 120GB Memory Storage

Storage:

• HDD
• Detachable 2.5” HDD slot x 1

Unlike the PS2 the PS3 supported Blu-Ray discs and had USB slots, bluetooth, Dolby Digital Surround Sound and of course Wi-FI connection which was new to the console gaming world, many game titles was produced which supported this. 

List of Popular Games:

• The Last Of Us
• Grand Theft Auto V
• Uncharted (Series)
• Dark Souls II
• The Walking Dead
• Mass Effect 3
• Call Of Duty (Series)
• God Of War
• Red Dead Redemption
• Portal 2
• Shadow Of The Colossus 
• Skyrim

Next Generation

Playstation 4 and XBOX One are the most current consoles to date and of course is by far the most impressive and powerful systems around. These consoles are the next step in creating amazing consoles in the future, the games that are available for this current console are very impressive, the systems supports high graphics capabilities and many more. They also bring a new way of interacting with games which is becoming a new 'niche' in recent time. 

PS4:

Graphics Capabilities: 

• AMD next-generation Radeon based graphics engine
• Peak Shader Throughput: 69.420 TFLOPS 
•  
• GPU Cores: 1152 [5]
• GPU Clock: 800 MHz

Size:

• 2.09 x 10.83 x 12.01 in
• The PS4 is reasonably light and like the other is still suitable to move around, it has a slim 'look' design.
• Approx 2.8 kg (6.2 lb)

Processor Power: 

• CPU cores 8
• System RAM 8GB
• Frequency: speculated to be running a base clock speed of 1.6 Ghz on a 2.75 Ghz capable chip
• Shared L2 Cache: 2 x 2 MB [2]
• Manufacturing Process: 28 nm

Memory Size:

• 500GB hard disk drive

The DualShock 4 sports an integrated touch pad, headset jack, share button, and LED player identifier. The unit weighs 69 ounces. The DualShock features the same two stick, eight button, one D-Pad configuration as previous DualShock models. 

List Of Popular Games (So Far)

• Grand Theft Auto V
• Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare
• The Last Of Us: Remastered
• Far Cry 4
• Middle Earth: Shadow Of Mordor
• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
• Destiny 
• Dragon Age: Inquisition
• Evolve 
• Dying Light
• The Walking Dead (Series)

XBOX One:

Graphics Capabilities:

• 8GB DDR3
• Clock: 2133MHz Bandwidth: 68.26 GB/s
• + 32MB eSRAM
• Bandwidth: 204 GB/s(102 In/102 Out
• Clock Speed: 853 MHz(originally 800 MHz)
• Shader Cores: 768
• Peak Throughput: 1.31 TFLOPS

Size:

• 3.1 x 10.8 x 13.1 in
• The XBOX One is similar to the in size, however it has a 'blocker' look to it and is heavier however it is still portable enough.

Processor Power:

• 8 Core AMD custom CPU
• Frequency: 1.75 GHz

Memory Size:

• 500 GB Hard Drive non-replaceable, External Hard Drive support available

'New Impulse Triggers deliver precise fingertip feedback for more realistic experiences. Kinect will auto-pair your controller instantly, even when you hand it to a friend during a game. We have streamlined the thumbsticks, D-pad, and contours for improved precision and comfort.'

List Of Popular Games (So Far):

• Grand Theft Auto V
• Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare
• Halo: The Master Chief Collection
• Titanfall
• Destiny
• Forza Horizon 2
• Farcry 4
• Dragon Age: Inquisition
• Middle Earth: Shadow Of Mordor
• Evolve
• Fifa 15

HCI- PC

The Interface for a PC, a gaming PC, just involves a Keyboard and Mouse. With the PC gaming industry being the biggest there are many games that are played with Keyboard and Mouse, some PC gamers use a Controller to play games such as shooters. Gaming PCs range, there are thousands of them which means there are many different specifications.

Mid-Range Gaming PC:

CYBERPOWER Empire Pro Gaming PC-

Graphics Capabilities:

• AMD Radeon R9 270X (2 GB GDDR5

Processor Power:

• AMD FX 8320 processor (3.5 GHz, 4.0 with TurboCore, 8 MB cache)
• RAM 8 GB DDR3

Size:

• 480 x 190 x 450 mm (H x W x D)
• 9.20 kg
• Gaming PCs are obviously not the most portable neither are they light, however its not too difficult to move around place to place, however PC gamers rarely move their PC if they can help it. 

Memory Size:

• 2 TB HDD, 7200 rpm

Keyboard and Mouse:

•  Complete range from standard to gaming capabilities.