Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Console
A console game is played on an electronic device called a console. This
device usually connects to a television set or other monitor for its video
output. The console was the i rst major gaming platform that emerged
separately from the arcade. You may also hear the term
next-gen
console
, which refers to newer video game platforms, that may or may
not actually be consoles, but are called as such because the term itself
evokes such a powerful connotation with dedicated gamers.
PC
A PC game is any game played on a personal computer. This platform has
seen a lot of shifts over the years, the PC game market is still dominated
by Windows, although the changeover to Intel processors by Apple
has now made it possible to port games much more easily to Mac. In
addition, Linux has emerged in recent years as a viable game platform.
The Linux OS is similar in many ways to Apple's Mac OS X, and the online
game vendor Valve (makers of
Team Fortress 2
and
Portal
, amongst
others) has announced full support for it in its Steam online game
distribution service. Will this lead to a three way tie between Windows,
Mac and Linux? Probably not, but you never know . . .
Credit:
Digitpedia.
Credit:
David Brown.
Handheld
A handheld game is played on a self-contained, portable electronic
device that is designed specii cally to be held in a player's hands.
Although there were other small, simple dedicated gaming handhelds
created by toy makers like Mattel, it was the Nintendo GameBoy that
was the i rst well-known device to establish a viable market for handheld
devices. Since then, there have been many others, like the Play Station
Portable and Nintendo DS, to name just a few.
Credit:
Mirko Tobias Schaefer.
Mobile
A mobile game is played on any device that is portable and self
contained, like a handheld, but unlike handhelds the device is not
created primarily for gaming purposes. This platform had its beginnings
in simple cell phone games like
Snake
, but has greatly expanded with the
advent of smartphones and especially tablets using iOS, Android, and
Windows Mobile. The mobile platform is expanding at a huge rate at the
moment. Games for these devices may be categorized as PC games, but
this is really a misnomer, since the operating systems for PC and mobile
devices are dif erent.
Credit:
Josué Goge.
