Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
chasing down some crazy bug that only happens on some archaic version of Win-
dows or on some rare video card. What a hassle!
Take a look at Table 1.3 and compare it to Table 1.2. You
ll see pretty quickly that
what was sitting under your TV will be in your pocket in just a few years. Not only
that, but the input/output of these devices has all kinds of fun things to play with
'
—
GPS, front-and-back facing cameras, accelerometers, multi-touch screens, Bluetooth
local networking, and fast Internet connections. just to name a few. Some of the
best innovation in game design comes from having new ways to interact with the
virtual universe, simulated by the device and other humans playing the game. One
of the most innovative things I
ve seen recently is experiments in augmented reality,
where you can use a pad or a phone as virtual goggles into the real world, with game
characters seemingly moving about on your desktop, living room floor, or on top of
someone
'
s head in the subway. This kind of creativity and genuine fun in game
development is one of those things that makes me want to get up every day and go
to work. I never know how the day will turn out or what new things I
'
ll see.
On desktops and even handhelds, like phones and pads, you might find it useful to
find ways to support older legacy hardware while you make your game look good on
the bleeding-edge gear. The CPU delta on PCs can be nearly 10:1, and the graphics
delta is worse. People who play casual games hold on to their computers a long time,
'
Table 1.3 Capabilities of Latest Handheld Devices
Platform
iPad2
Droid Bionic
Sony Vita
CPU
1GHz Apple A5
1GHz ARM9 (dual
core)
1GHz ARM9 (quad
core)
Graphics Processor
200MHz PowerVR
SGX535
GeForce Tregra 2
PowerVR SGX543
Maximum Resolution 1024 × 768 HDTV
960 × 540
960 × 544
Memory
16
-
64GB RAM
16GB RAMSD adds
32GB RAM
512MB RAM
128MB VRAM
HDMI
Yes
No
No
I/O
Touch screen, front
and back cameras,
GPS
Touch screen, front
and back cameras,
GPS
Touch screen,
playstation
controls, front and
back cameras
Internet
3.1Mbps 3G WiFi
802.11 a/b/g/n
3.1Mbps 3G WiFi
802.11 b/g/n
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
