Future Game Player

    The game market probably needs to be re-evaluated because new technology and better graphics isn’t the only thing we want… honestly for myself I’d much rather have a great game than great graphics.

    The argument about downloaded content carries some weight, game retailers might fear this one… but why stop selling consoles? People would need them to download the content and the retailers make money on selling the consoles, it’s the manufacturer that often subsidies them.

There has recent predictions that the Sony’s future handheld game console, PSP2 will have a scrolling OLED screen. The following design by Tai Chiem is ridiculously catchy and hard to miss. It sould supposedly have wireless connectivity, bluetooth 2.0 and dual speakers. And exactly how would Sony keep the screen straight? This seems to be done using an electrical charge. Overall PSP2 looks to be an awesome product.

At Emotiv, we believe that future communication between man and machine will not only be limited to the conscious commun- ication that exists today, but non-conscious communication will play a significant part. The mission is to create the ultimate interface for the next-generation of man-machine interaction, by evolving the interaction between human beings and electronic devices beyond the limits of conscious interface. Emotiv is creating technologies that allow machines to take both conscious and non-conscious inputs directly from your mind.

Playing games on-line through a service is currently almost only being done on PCs (mostly MMOs). This is however an advantage that might become a turning point for consoles if used correctly. As I remember one of the great advantages of the old Nintendo cartridges was that the cartridges where upgraded as time went by but the console stayed the same, by allowing games to “upgrade” the console the Nintendo probably lasted much longer than it would have with a non-evolving media. Having the whole Internet as media must mean that, if used correctly, you only need to have a machine capable of displaying the graphics and handling input and leave the rest up to the “super computer” at the other end!

OnLive, which was launched in the middle of the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco to much excitement, buzz – and scepticism – aims to provide high quality gaming on low-end machines.

OnLive says games will no longer need to be run from PCs or Macs, but can be accessed directly from its servers up to 1500 miles away.

Subscribers will get access to a catalogue of games and, rather than have to wait to download the game, can launch it instantaneously. The quality of what appears on the TV screen or computer monitor will only be hampered by the user’s internet bandwidth.

The days of consoles might still be numbered, maybe some hybrid “home entertainment machine” of some sort will take its place. Call it a PC if you’d like (because it will much likely have better resemblance to a PC than a console), however I do not believe any of the given arguments are enough to persuade me of this change in the future.

Present Video Game Console

Abstract

Video games are a fast growing form of entertainment and have captured a similar market size as the movie box office and music sales. In 2008, the North American video game market reached $21.33 billion and people continued to spend a greater portion of their free time playing them. As of August 2007, Nintendo has become the best selling console in the world (9 million units sold worldwide), with Microsoft’s Xbox 360 (8.9 million) and Sony’s PlayStation 3 (3.7 million) trailing.  The Wii’s performance is impressive considering that Microsoft launched 12 months ahead of both the Wii and PS3.

Video game console wars heated up to new levels in November 2006 with the launch of Sony’s advanced PlayStation 3 (PS3) and Nintendo’s Wii. Both Sony’s and Microsoft’s console offerings upped the ante by producing advanced and expensive hardware which took advantage of the trend towards high-definition media (e.g. HDTV). It is widely believed that both high-end consoles are subsidized by their respective manufacturers in order to gain market share and appeal to consumers who would not pay their high prices otherwise; the base PS3′s retail price is currently $499 and the base Xbox 360 costs $399 (as of July 2007). The Wii, on the other hand, delivered a lower cost platform ($249 base) with a highly interactive controller technology. It is believed that Nintendo makes a sizable gross margin (about $100) from the sale of each console hardware unit.

Statement

Fig.1 XBOX360

For home consoles, the seventh generation began on November 22, 2005 with the release of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 (Fig.1) and continued with the release of Sony’s PlayStation 3 (Fig.3) on November 11, 2006 and Nintendo’s Wii (Fig.2) on November 19, 2006.

 

Fig.2 Wii

Each new console introduced a new type of breakthrough technology. For example, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 offered high-definition graphics, while the Wii focused on integrating controllers with movement sensors instead of using joysticks (the PlayStation 3 also employs motion sensitivity, but to a lesser degree). All three consoles have wireless controllers, while the Xbox 360 also has wired controllers as an alternative. The PlayStation 3 controller can be charged through the use of a USB-A/mini-b cable. The wireless Xbox 360 controller uses either a rechargeable battery pack or 2 AA batteries, the same can be said about the Wii.

 

Fig.3 Play Station 3

For handheld consoles, the seventh generation began on November 21, 2004 with the North American introduction of the Nintendo DS (Fig. 4) as a “third pillar”, alongside Nintendo’s existing Game Boy Advance and GameCube consoles. The Nintendo DS features a touch screen and built-in microphone, and supports wireless IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) standards.

 

Fig.4 Play Station Portable

The PlayStation Portable, released later the same year on December 12, 2004, followed a different pattern. It became the first handheld video game console to use an optical disc format, Universal Media Disc (UMD), as its primary storage media. Sony also gave the PlayStation Portable robust multi-media capability, connectivity with the PlayStation 3 and other PSPs, and Internet connectivity. The Nintendo DS likewise has connectivity to the internet through the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and Nintendo DS Browser, as well as wireless connectivity to other DS systems and Wii consoles. Despite high sales numbers for both consoles, PlayStation Portable sales have consistently lagged behind those of the Nintendo DS.

 

Fig.5 NDS

Conclusion

Much is at stake in the battle of video game consoles. The adoption of consoles depends heavily on the content available for them, as video games–like movies–have become increasingly hit-driven. All three companies publish a catalog of their own video game software as well as receive royalties from video game companies such as Electronic Arts and Activision (ATVI), the market leaders. In addition, both Sony and Microsoft have placed a significant bet on gaining entrance into the home entertainment market as both the Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles play music and movies as well as connect to the Internet. Sony in particular is leveraging the PS3 to propagate its Blue-Ray technology, a media format for high-definition video; if the PS3 succeeds, then Sony will reap benefits not only from video games but also from licensing Blue-Ray technology for movies and other digital media using its proprietary format. In sum, video game console competition is playing out quite nicely, even though I still find it hard to understand how all 3 systems.

Bibliograph

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_video_game_consoles_(seventh_generation)http://www.gamingdump.com/consoleevolution.htmlhttp://techliberation.com/2008/05/19/video-game-platform-competition/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_video_game_crash_of_1983

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uToBarLr_U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FevEajjTFxs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mwgx8H1vIE0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

video game console

Abstract

Video games were introduced as a commercial entertainment medium in 1971, becoming the basis for an important entertainment industry in the late 1970s/early 1980s in the United States, Japan, and Europe. After a disastrous industry collapse in 1983 and a subsequent rebirth two years later, the video game industry has experienced sustained growth for over two decades to become a $10 billion industry, which rivals the motion picture industry as the most profitable entertainment industry in the world.

Since its inception in the 50’s, video gaming continues to find a place in the hearts, minds, and hands of eager players. Crossing boundaries of age, gender, race, and society, gaming brings a diversity of people together through a common experience. Whether it’s at the ancestral arcade, on our personal computers, or with a game console, video gaming is now considered a worldwide obsession.

The video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or electronic device that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device (a television, monitor, etc.) to display a video game. The term “video game console” is used to distinguish a machine designed for consumers to buy and use solely for playing video games from a personal computer, which has many other functions, or arcade machines, which are designed for businesses that buy and then charge others to play.

 

Statement

The “video” in “video game console” traditionally refers to a raster display device. However, with the popular use of the term “video game” the term now implies all display types and formats. The term “console” is used in the user manuals of several early video game systems. However, is not synonymous with “video game system” or the same as its modern usage. It refers to a specific part of the video game system.

The first company to use the term “console” to officially refer to its video game system was Fairchild with the Video Entertainment System (VES) in 1976. Since then, definition has widened to include entire systems, as well as to describe alternate platforms such as handheld game consoles, TV games, and multimedia devices. In common usage a “console” is a specialized electronic device that connects to a standard television set or composite video monitor. A “handheld” gaming device is a self-contained electronic device that is portable and can be held in a user’s hands. Let’s see some popular consoles in the past:

Fig.1 Pong

 PONG was developed by Atari was the first commercially successful gaming console. The system was commercially available through the retail chain Sears in 1975. The game consisted of players controlling paddles that were used to bounce a ball from one side to another. The trajectory of the rebound ball is determined by the initial hit angle and the speed of the ball increases with time, the longer the ball remained in play the faster it went.

Fig.2 NES

Released by Nintendo in 1983 the Nintendo Entertainment System was the most successful gaming console of its time with over 60 million NES units sold worldwide.

Fig.3 Nintendo 64

The Nintendo 64, commonly called the N64, is Nintendo’s third home video game console. The N64 was released on June 23, 1996 in Japan, September 29, 1996 in North America, 1 March 1997 in Europe/Australia and September 1, 1997 in France. It was released with only two launch games in Japan and North America (Super Mario 64 and PilotWings 64) while Europe had a third launch title in the form of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (which was released earlier in the other markets). The Nintendo 64 cost $199 at launch in the United States.

During the developmental stages the N64 was referred to by its code name, Project Reality. The name Project Reality came from the speculation within Nintendo that this console could produce CGI on par with then-current super computers. Once unveiled to the public the name changed to Nintendo Ultra 64, referring to its 64-bit processor, and Nintendo dropped “Ultra” from the name on February 1, 1996, just five months before its Japanese debut.

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