unit 20 game platforms platforms assigment 1

Human computer interaction:

The study, planning, design and uses of the interfaces between users and computers.

What are the different ways a player can interact with a game?

Key board + mouse

Uses keys pressed to control movement of characters, item management and typing text in unison with the mouse which controls camera view and menu navigation.

This is the method I use most and am most comfortable with, there are loads of customizable buttons so you can make a set of controls that suit you, the games you play and your game styles. The mouse is faster and more responsive than most controllers so you get a higher degree of accuracy in your movement.

Controller

Uses two analogy sticks, one for movement and over for camera view along with 12 buttons, 4 arrow keys, 2 bumpers, 2 triggers and 4 action buttons. These control actions of the character e.g. combat and movement like jumping.

In my opinion this is a much more relaxed method of HCI, very smooth and simplistic controls. To me using a controller is associated with chilling out on the sofa playing a generic shooter with some friends.

Touch screen

Control the game and character using keys on the screen that you touch or with invisible controls.

I find a lot of the controls that use touch screen on android/ios really fiddly. I don’t think they are too accurate but make for a much more compact platform and some interesting and innovative game mechanics.

Text based

Using typed sentences to progress through the game.

I’ve not played many text based games as they are before my time, usually they are used with games that have little or no graphics so I find this method really dull and boring. Also with this type of HCI the gameplay is a lot chunkier, something happens and then you think and type a solution instead of reacting in real time.

Voice control

Using spoken words and commands to order units in a game to play around an objective.

In my experience, it tends not to work and struggles to pick up or understand what it is you are saying, you have to speak extremely clear and loud for it to work. Commands can also take a while to call out so your reactions are not that quick and neither is the game play.

 Virtual reality

A headset with a built in visor that displays the game visuals based on you characters view. You control the camera view by turning your head.

This type of HCI is extremely immersive and will work amazingly with games that are first person especially simulators.

This is the latest innovation of HCI and is apparently going to take the games market by storm, some are even suggesting that this will revolutionise all HCI and even the platforms that run the games.

Movement Sensor

Sensor monitor your body movements witch relate to a control in game.

Again, in my opinion not that great. It can struggle to pick up your movements or translate them correctly in game. I think if this technology Is improved it could work well with the VR in immersive first person games. However, a lot of gamers don’t play games because they want to actually run around.

Instrument

Playing electrical instruments is simulated virtually simultaneously.

This, in my opinion, is a good method of HCI for music driven games, using a real instrument means amazing accuracy and can even be used to teach people to play them.

 

Console:

PlayStation

HCI:

Based on the button system of the Super NES controller, but added a second pair of shoulder buttons for easier navigation of a 3d environment. Uses a 12 button layout, arrow keys, shoulder buttons and     buttons along with a start and select function buttons. Later models (dual shock) introduced two analogue sticks to control movement and camera view.

Graphics:

32-bit Sony GPU, 1MB

256×448 to 640×480 pixel resolution

Maximum colour depth of 16,777,216 colours

Size & portability:

1.77 x 10.24 x 7.28”

3.97 lbs

Processor:

32-Bit RISC CPU with 5KB L1 cache, running at 33.8688 MHz

Memory:

2 MB main DRAM

4 kB instruction Cache

1 kB non-associative SRAM data cache

Storage:

1MB per memory card

Games available:

7918 game titles on this platform. Some famous exclusives being, crash bandicoot, spyro, metal gear solid and gran turismo.

Limitations:

Originally didn’t have analogue sticks to have more than 4 directional movement.

No longer has release gamed for this platforms.
No connectivity to other consoles or the internet, only coop play.
Outdated hardware.

Console:

Play station 2

HCI:

Duel shock 2 PlayStation controller

Graphics:

 "Graphics Synthesizer"(GS) clocked at 147.456 MHz, 4 MB

Resolution from 256 x 224 to 1920 x 1080

Size & portability:

11.9, 3.1, 7.2”

4.9 lbs

Processor:

MIPS-based "R5900" clocked at 294.912 MHz, 64-bit

Memory:

32 MB

Storage:

8mb memory card

Games available:

1,850

Limitations:

No longer has games released for this platform.
Can only display at 480p.
Outdated hardware.
Not able to download digital copies of games.

Console:

PS3

HCI:

Duel shock 3 PlayStation controller

Graphics:

The RSX, based on the NVIDIA G70

Size & portability:

32.5, 9.8, 27.4cm

Processor:

The PS3 uses the Cell microprocessor, which is made up of one 3.2 GHz PowerPC-based "Power Processing Element" and six accessible Synergistic Processing Elements. A seventh runs in a special mode and is dedicated to aspects of the OS and security.

Memory:

256MB

Storage:

60MB – 500mb

Games available:

812 games (multi-platform: 644; exclusive: 150; console exclusive: 11)

Limitations:

Had issues with overheating.

Console:

PlayStation 4
HCI:
Dual shock 4 controller

Processor:

Consists of two x86-64 quad-core modules for a total of eight cores, which are based on the Jaguar CPU architecture from AMD. Each core has 32 kB L1 instruction and data caches, with one shared 2 MB L2 cache per four core module. The CPU's base clock speed is said to be 1.6 GHz, with an unknown uptick in speed for CPU-intensive usage.

 Graphics:

It is a customized version of AMD's 7870 GPU, with 2 CUs disabled.

Memory:

 8 GB of GDDR5 2.75 GHz a maximum bandwidth of 176 GB/s.

Storage:

500 GB hard drive, which can be upgraded by the user.

Size and Portability:

2.09, 10.83, 12.01”. 6.17 lb. The PlayStation 4 requires a mains power connection to run as it does not have an internal battery so the portability is limited.

Games available:

 There are currently 448 games. This consists of 178 that are available to play.

The highest selling game for the console to date is Kill zone: Shadow Fall at 2.1 million and was sold with the game console.

Limitations:

 This is a so called “next generation” of consoles, so the hardware should to be top of the line. However, it is not nearly as powerful as current PC hardware for a similar price so it is disappointing. The console is locked to 30 FPS at 1080p which is low compared to the PC (60 fps and heights of 4k resolution with 8k textures. The ps4 is overpriced for what the hardware consists of. The thing keeping the PS4 in the market is the gimmick of excusive games (Uncharted 4, The Last of Us remastered, and Infamous: Second Son, etc.)

Console:

PlayStation Vita

HCI:

All the original features of the normal Dualshock controller that appear with other consoles developed by Sony. These include a D-Pad, the Square, Triangle, and Circle and X buttons and two joystick analogue sticks. The additional features the device supports are a touchpad positioned on the back of the device, adding a unique gameplay mechanic and camera on the front and rear of the console.

Graphics:

 Quad-core GPU SGX543MP4+.

Size and portability:

7.1, 0.73, 3.29 

Processor:

2 GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processor (3 of the 4 cores are usable for applications).

Memory:

512 MB RAM, 128 MB VRAM.

Storage:

The PS Vita is incompatible with standard memory cards, such as SD cards, and instead uses PS Vita memory cards, which are available in sizes of 4 GB, 8 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB.

Games available:

As of March 9^th 2015, there have been 961 games released for the PSVita

Limitations:

 To the PlayStation Vita is that the platform needs to be charged in order to play. This is a rather big hassle when compared to the home console and PC systems that are powered from a mains power supply and can run for as long as you wish.

There is also the graphical difference between the consoles. the graphics are needed to be lowered on this console in order for the device to run smoothly and work.

The screen size is small and is built in so you can’t upgrade it.
it uses a unique memory system so Sony can charge more for the hardware.

Console:

XboxOne

processor:

 8 Core AMD custom CPU 1.75 GHz

Graphics:

 Clock Speed: 853 MHz(originally 800 MHz) Shader Cores: 768 Peak Throughput: 1.31 TFLOPS

Memory:

 8GB DDR3 2133MHz

Storage:

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

Size and Portability:

Limitations:

Console:

Nintendo WiiU

Processor:

AMD, IBM and Renesas in co-operation with Nintendo IRD and Nintendo Technology Development. Tri-core processor with 3 MB of cache memory at 1.24 GHz.

Graphics:

 The Latte graphics chip contains an amd GX2 GPU (based on the radion Radion r7000), which runs Wii U applications and a "GX" GPU, which enables backwards-compatibility with Wii games.

Memory: 2 GB of DDR3

Storage:

 The console includes either an 8 GB (Basic) or 32 GB (Premium) expandable with SD memory cards up to 32 GB and USB external hard disk drives up to 2 TB.

Size and Portability:

 6, 1.75, 8.5” 2.65 lb, console does not have a portable battery so would require mains connection to be used. Therefore its portability is limited.

HCI:

The WiiU features an interactive controller, like the Nintendo DS drawing pad. It is used to interact with many of the games on the WiiU and adds a unique game play mechanic to games such as New Super Mario Bros where the player using the gamepad can create platforms for the other players to jump on.

Games available:

 currently 457 games planned or released for the Nintendo WiiU. Nintendo has a lot of console exclusive games such as New Super Mario Bros, Mario Kart, Legend of Zelda, etc. The highest selling game on the console is: New Super Mario Bros, 4.16 million sold.

Limitations:

The Nintendo WiiU console has a less powerful CPU and GPU than its compatition. This means that the WiiU cannot play games that are very demanding such as Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor.

Console:

Nintendo Wii

HCI:

 What’s unique about this console is that it introduced the motion sensor controller that allowed the player to manipulate the gameplay with the hand movements. It was an innovative HCI mechanic and influenced the market as PlayStation and XBOX mimicked their controller with the release of the PlayStation move and the XBOX Kinect.

Graphics:

 ATI Hollywood GPU at 243 MHz

Size and portability:

1.73, 6.18, 8.48”  2.7 lbs

Processor:

The system has a processing unit of PowerPC-based Broadway processor, made with a 90 nm SOI CMOS process, reportedly† clocked at 729 MHz

Memory:

 88 MB main memory (24 MB internal 1T-SRAM integrated into graphics)

Storage:

 512 MB built-in NAND flash memory, Expanded storage via SD and SDHC card memory (up to 32 GB), Nintendo GameCube memory card (required for GameCube game saves)

Games available:

1359 games released as of nov 25 2014

Limitation:

The games limit the platform as the games aren’t that varied in genera and title, aside from its exclusives their really isn’t any good titles. Furthermore, the developers aren’t backed by the console meaning they are likely to flop. This platform fits the innovative thinking of Nintendo, but it will never really benefit from its ideas as it doesn’t have the game play to back it.

Console:

Nintendo 3DS

Processor:

ARM11 MPCore-based dual-core processor One processor core is dedicated to games and applications, while the other core is exclusive to the operating system, enabling multitasking and background tasks. The system also contains a single-core ARM9 processor, enabling backwards compatibility with Nintendo DS games.

Graphics:

 The graphics processor (GPU) is developed by Digital Media Professionals, and consists of a semi-custom PICA200 processor.

Memory:

128 MB. However, 32 MB are reserved for the operating system and unavailable to games. Additionally, the system contains 6 MB of VRAM.

Storage:

1 GB of internal flash memory but it is mostly used by the operating system and its pre-installed applications. The system's memory can be expanded via an SD memory card slot, which supports up to 128 GB SDXC memory cards.

HCI:

 The Nintendo DS series uses two screens. One of these screens is a touchpad and is incorporated with many popular games such as Art Academy, Cooking Ma’ma, Nintendogs etc. The top screen is able to produce a three-dimensional effect without the need of 3D-enabling glasses using a parallax barrier.

Games available:

There are currently 612 games planned or released for the Nintendo 3DS. The 3DS is backwards compatible so there are actually many more games available for the console. The Nintendo 3DS shares similar exclusivity with the Nintendo WiiU with games such as Pokemon and Mario Kart. The highest selling game for the console is Pokémon X/Y-10.9 million.

Limitations:

 Being a handheld console, the Nintendo 3DS has less powerful hardware than less portable consoles. This limits things such as graphical quality, objects rendered, etc. For example, if you ported a game over from Xbox One to Nintendo 3DS it would have to be scaled down drastically to be run properly.

Console:

PC

HIC:

Traditionally mouse and key board, but using port extensions and third party drivers literally any controller or devise.

Graphics:

Dependant on the motherboard, any graphics card is compatible.

Size & portability:

Laptops are extremely portable as they are designed to be small and slim to fit into bags and cases. This is often at the expense of power of price.

Standard pc towers are usually large, so they have to be stationary at a desk. However you can get specially designed cases that are compact and small to make them portable but these are extremely fiddly and awkward to make and often sacrifice power.

Processor:

Dependant on the motherboard, any processor is compatible.

Memory:

Dependant on your motherboards ram slots, you can have any amount or type of ram. The fastest type of ram currently is DDR5.

Storage:

Dependant on your motherboards sata ports you can get any hard drive/ Solid state depending on how many you have and how outdated they are. SSDs are a lot faster than HDDs but are a lot more expensive.

Games available:

Including games on emulators, ports and releases, there is an infinite amount of games for the pc. Games will never become outdated or go beyond its capabilities as you can upgrade your hardware as the requirements increase whilst still being able to play the old classics on the same machine. Because of the freedom of the pc people can release Indi titles and games openly to the public. Furthermore, using emulators and ports no game is exclusive to any other platform.

Limitations:

Keeping up with the most recent hardware can be pricey.
Requires more care to be taken as it is easier to be hacked or get a virus on a platform so free and open.
Not easily portable.
Certain exclusives won’t be available by port or emulators for quite some time after release.
As you upgrade hardware you will often need more power (a bigger psu) to run them.

Console:

Android (HTC ONE M8)

Graphics:

Adreno 330 gpu, 5.0 inch screen, Full HD 1080p

Size and portability:

5.76, 2.78, 0.37” 160g

Processor:

Qualcomm Snapdragon 801, quad-core CPUs

Memory:

 2GB

Storage:

16GB, available capacity varies, Expansion card slot supports micro SD memory card for up to 128GB additional storage

Games available:

Google Play app store is full of games and this phone is compatible with all one of them. As of February 20151.4million apps were available on the market.

Limitations:

The battery needs to be charged regularly meaning there will be times when you will not be able to use the device. The power of the device is also tiny compared to most of the home consoles released today and cannot run many games of a triple a standard.