Tuesday, October 31, 2006

gamecube


At Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in 1999, Nintendo announced the initial specifications for its next-generation console, code-named Dolphin. The first thing that Nintendo made clear was that the new system would not use a cartridge but use a . The nintendo had done ok with the format, but the games were expensive, and the format alienated some 3rd Party developers. More specifics were released about the new console as months past.



Nintendo would have several companies involved in the project. IBM designed and manufactured the console processor called the “Gekko”. The graphics processor called “Flipper” was designed by a small startup company called ArtX who was later bought out by ATI. The graphics chip was manufactured by NEC. Macronix and Factor 5 contributed the sound with MoSys providing the system memory. Lastly the console would use a proprietary 8cm optical disc game format capable of holding 1.5GB of data (twice the capacity of CD-ROMs). This disk was developed and manufactured by Matsushita (best known by its Panasonic brand name). It became clear that Nintendo was indeed developing something impressive

nintendo ds (dual screen,handheld)

The Nintendo DS sometimes said or sold under the name of NDS or DS, also as iQue DS in China is a hand held game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo and was released in 2004. The console features a clamshell design, with two LCD screens inside - one of which is a touch sensitive screen. The Nintendo DS also features a built-in microphone and has a wireless connection built in, allowing players to interact with each other within short range (30–100 feet, depending on conditions) or online with the Nintendo online WI-FI connection service. The system's code-name was "Project Nitro".

The console's name officially refers to Dual Screen, the system's most obvious feature, and Developers' System, in reference to the new game design the system was meant to inspire.
The starting price for this console was around £150 with 1 game today it is around £100 with 4 games or more.

This console has evolved now and the next dual screen is the nintendo ds LITe which is a more compact better finished version of the ds thats why the name still incorporates "ds" meaning Dual screen.

commondor 64gs

In 1982 a low cost home computer was released and achieved amazing success. The computer was called the Commodore 64.By 1990, Commodore set their attentions on the videogame console market. They followed the same concept as other computer companies (Fujitsu with the fm towns marty, and before that the amstrad gx400, and the amiga cd32). Their new system was called the Commodore 64GS (GS = Game System). This unit was just a repackaged Commodore 64 computer without a keyboard, port access (Disk drive, etc), or standard ROM chip. Cartridges were loaded through the top port, and the machine came packaged with a joystick and a couple of games to get you started.Since the console was essentially a computer in new skin, it was compatible with all existing Commodore 64 carts. The Commodore 64GS also spurred development of newer cartridges released specifically for the console.


Processor8-bit
CSG 6510
CPU Speed1
MHz RAM64
Kb Video RAM
Resolution320x200 Colors16 Polygonsn/aSprites8 (24 X 21 pixels 4 colors max) Game MediaCartridges
Retail Price£99.99
Detail SpecsINFO

neo geo

SNK a small third party software developer for the "nintendo nes", decided to try their idea in the arcade market in 1989. It seemed like a bad business decision since gamers no longer flocked to arcades. But anyway SNK released the MVS (Multi-Video System). The MVS allowed the arcade operator to house many different video games in a single cabinet. The MVS's strengths lay in the design of its hardware. Its brain was composed of a 16-bit microprocessor (68000) and an 8-bit microprocessor (Z80). They were plentiful, cheap, and quite powerful for the time. Using them kept production costs down and made coding much easier. Both the 68000 and the Z80 were in common use at the time (Sega's genesis) had the same CPU combination,for example).




THE NEO GEO cd


Through the 1990’s SNK was ruling the arcades. Their cartridge based Neo Geo AES made their arcade hits playable at home, but the high price tag kept it out of the hands of many gamers. With other consoles switching game formats, SNK saw an opportunity to also use the large storage capacity of CD to make their hit games cheaper to manufacture. Of course this would make games more affordable to the general gaming public.

Arcade history

i have researched and found this great website with all information on it... click on the link and it will take u to a website which has all the info about most of the old arcade machines.



http://www.arcade-history.com/index.php?page=detail&id=3127

Pc gaming history



Computer gaming started on very small screens compared to the size of todays biggest measuring at around 48"

Friday, October 27, 2006

different types of connectivity

There are lots of different ways that electronic devices can connect to one another. For example:
Component cables
Electrical wires
Ethernet cables
WiFi
Infrared signals

BLUETOOTH:

When you use computers, entertainment systems or telephones, the various pieces and parts of the systems make up a community of electronic devices. These devices communicate with each other using a variety of wires, cables, radio signals and infrared light beams, and an even greater variety of connectors, plugs and protocols.
The art of connecting things is becoming more and more complex every day. In this article, we will look at a method of connecting devices, called Bluetooth, that can streamline the process. A Bluetooth connection is wireless and automatic, and it has a number of interesting features that can simplify our daily lives. It can be used to send information from one another free; such as

  • Mp3s
  • little messages
  • games
  • pictures videos etc.





extra info: why is it called bluetooth?

Harald Bluetooth was king of Denmark in the late 900s. He managed to unite Denmark and part of Norway into a single kingdom then introduced Christianity into Denmark. He left a large monument, the Jelling rune stone, in memory of his parents. He was killed in 986 during a battle with his son, Svend Forkbeard. Choosing this name for the standard indicates how important companies from the Nordic region (nations including Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland) are to the communications industry, even if it says little about the way the technology works.

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Wifi:

If you've been in an airport, coffee shop, library or hotel recently, chances are you've been right in the middle of a wireless network. Many people also use wireless networking, also called WiFi or networking, to connect their computers at home, as more and more cities use the technology to provide free or low-cost Internet access to residents its becoming a standard thing to have... In the near future, wireless networking may become so widespread that you can access the Internet just about anywhere at any time, without using wires!

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infared:

IrDA is utilized for high speed short range, line of sight, point-to-point cordless data transfer - suitable for HPCs, digital camera, handheld data collection devices even in the old gamboy colours which was stored on the top to connect with your friends to trade pokemon and to connect without a cable and many other devices etc...

Thursday, October 26, 2006

sUpeR N.E.S


Around 1988 Nintendo was still enjoying the success of it’s "Nes" console as it was such a great success system and didn’t see any need to go up to the 16-bit memory in the console. However the Nec PCengine and turbo graphics and in japan and the sega genesis in the Us had all taken over the market. So Nintendo put the 16-bit into the console and called it the "super nes"
The Super Famicom was released in November 1989, and immediately took over 80 percent of the Japanese market. They still had a lot of ground to cover to catch up with the other 16-bit systems. The console itself was quite impressive, and introduced scaling and rotation effects (the famous Mode 7) that could not be duplicated on the other systems.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

mobile gaming history


Mobile gaming is seen by many as the next big thing, as phones become more powerful and come with colour screens of even higher colour screen.

-"Mobile g@mes came of age in 2003, but road ahead remains rocky Stuart O'Brian."

The begining of real mobile gaming started in 2003 as this was when it was listed as a viable business proposition. Global trade association(in other words the Mobile Entertainment Forum) says "success has been precipitated by aggressive moves from operators into the content space and the arrival of Java-enabled handsets." But it is obvious that there will be alot of changes and challenges to all mobile gaming over time. “There can be no doubting that 2003 was the year the industry waved goodbye to SMS and WAP and began to welcome J2ME and BREW games with open arms,” says MEF chairman Rann Smorodinsky. Games are taking a very strong second place behind ring tone downloads in terms of operator-portal traffic in many territories.”

previous to this proper mobile gaming many of the first games where snake and other games like tetress, space invaders etc.

Xb0X and xb0X 360




The xbox 360 is the best c0ns0le out to date as the "nintendo wii" is coming out on november the 3rd and the "ps3" is on release in march. Microsoft made it’s first entry into the videogame market in 2001 with the xbox which was a great success although i didnt manage to get one as i had only just bought a ps2 and had got no money to buy one.I have found from playing Halo mainly round friends that xbox graphics and in many other ways. It was a struggle at first to release but made its ground against some of the top consoles such as the newly released ps2. Microsoft believed they would have gained a larger stake in the videogame market if they had released the Xbox sooner. They thought they would show this by bringing the future of gaming with the "xbox 360"

The xbox 360 to me today is going to be better overall for gameplay even over the late release of the ps3 which is still to be released in the middle of march. I also think for that microsoft have given a realistic price range for the console compared to what ps3 have given for theres regardless of the systems stats; i think this as


http://darkwatcher.psxfanatics.com/console/xbox360.htm more INFO

Monday, October 16, 2006

the N.E.S


This console was a great success ! Nintendo's jump into the console market was a gamble which turned a simple toy company into one of the biggest videogame console manufacturers in the biz. Nintendo began it's gaming history producing arcade hits like Donkey Kong and Mario Bros, and selling the licensing rights to those games for home console use (See Colecovision). Eventually Nintendo decided to take a crack at the home console industry.

bandia playdia


The Playdia Quick Interactive System was one of Bandai�s next attempt at entering the videogame console industry. It was released in 1994 in Japan only, and marketed as a family oriented system. The system was to be aimed at the younger age, as the games where games such as "dragonball Z" this game has came out lately on the
playstation 2 with really good animated manga drawing the console was light blue and made it look like a toy; it is like a gadget with its infared controllers instead of leads infared is a type of connectivity like a remote control on a tv apart from this was added to take information for gaming.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

pl@st@ion 2



In 1997, rumors began to surface about the successor to Sony's Playstation console. Those rumors became reality in 1999 when Sony began talks of a new console called the Playstation 2 (PS2).
This next console was going to be incorporating a dvd drive it would use power of a chip called the “Emotion Engine” (created with partner Toshiba). be able to play DVD Movies and music CD’s right out of the box, and be backwards compatible with the original Playstation software. http://darkwatcher.psxfanatics.com/console/ps2.htm (for extra info)

ne0 ge0


the begining of the 24bit ne0 ge0 in the 1990s was many years ahead of many other consoles in the competition to be the best. With its really detailed 2-d graphics and a MASSIVE PRICE of $600 for the c0ns0le to start with $200 a game it was unable to reach its full potential as the best c0ns0le from the expense.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

playstation







Japanese electronics company sony's involvment involvement in the videogame industry began as a manufacturer of a custom sound chip used in Nintendo’s SuperNES console. From here on in everybody was upgrading to cd base games such, nintendo didnt like the idea being left behind so they partnered up with sony to development. They immediately partnered up with Sony to develop their CD based system. Sony went on to develop two units. One was a 16-bit add-on for the Super Famicom / SuperNES that sat underneath the system and allowed CD based gaming (SNES CD ), and another stand alone unit.
Over all the agreement allowed sony to license games for the system, but nintendo were not willing to give control over software licensing, so they dropped sony from the project and tryed to incorparate philips into the project..... http://darkwatcher.psxfanatics.com/console/psx.htm

atari 5200


the atari 5200 was established in 1982 to compete with intellivison and to become better than the atari 2600.The Atari 5200 was a modified version of the Atari 400/800 which was the most powerful 8-bit home computer system of its time. The graphics were a step above the older competition, and went head to head with the colecovision another leading console......
The 5200 enjoyed moderate success, but never reached the overall success of it's lower model
the Atari 2600.

EXTRA INFO: The Atari 5200 cartridges were nearly twice the size of those for the 2600,and were basically designed in this fashion to make the consumer think they were getting a “bigger and better” game.



Celestar soon came back into the market with the celeco jemini The introduction of cartridge systems forced the company to dump over a million obsolete Telstar machines at a loss of 22.3 million dollars.It's no wonder they gambled on copying the Atari 2600 which was the most successful console of it's time. So the Coleco Gemini was created in 1982. It was an exact clone of the 2600 system, which Atari could do nothing about (Since the court ruled that the Atari technology contained no patented material, was made up of all "off-the-shelf" hardware, and no copyrighted software). So Coleco marketed the Gemini slightly cheaper then the Atari 2600, and made more success than Atari's success.
Example of a game at the top.

bandia super vision 8000


Bandia has continued there consoles after jack tv with this " the super vision 8000" The final evolution of the TV Jack series came about in 1979 with the release of TV Jack 8000. This version was named Supervision 8000 or Bandai TV Jack Micro Computer System. This release not only marked the series first programmable cartridge capable console (Actually one of the first Japan cartridge based-systems), but also marked Bandai's attempt to also delve into the computer markets. It was developed with the help of Logic Systems International (L.S.I) for short .The Supervision 8000 was an impressive console for it's time. It was driven by an 8-bit NEC D780C (Z80 clone) processor capable of max.

The VISICOM Video Computer System Model COM-100 is a remodeled clone of the RCA Studio II, but with small enhancements. Supposidly the original console was supposed to be colour but was not because it was shipped out with black and white output so thats why they cloned it again by allowing Studio II games to be played in NTSC color. The studio has also change the way the controllers are as to start off with they where mounted joypads so they changed them to joysticks