Earlier Generation Home Console

In this next blog post I will be writing about earlier generation consoles such as PS2, Dreamcast, SNES and Atari. But for this post I will be writing about the Playstation 2, key features for this console would include platform design, control device, and power supply.

• Platform Design: Considering that this console is around years old the design was not as cutting edge as the consoles that are in the present day or the next generation, but in some ways are sort of similar. The Playstation2’s design is quite basic which is basically a box, but this design is similar to the Xbox which is also a box, the Playstation 2’s design was a box because it was designed to fit into someone’s room and blend into whatever else that person had in there, as it were part of the room.  

  

• Control Device: The Playstation 2’s controller is pretty much has the same design as all the other Playstation devices controller, but has progressively developed into the controller that we all know today as it started out quite basic without any analog sticks and then when the Playstation 2 came out it had dual-analog stick, which is similar to pretty much all the consoles in the present day, but some have them in different positions for example the Xbox controller’s analog stick are in different places to the Playstation controller. 

• Power Supply: Playstation had a similar power supply for the Xbox 360 as it had 2 parts, the first part was a cable that connected to the PS2 to a power brick and then the next part which connected to a plug socket. In my own opinion I prefer the Playstation’s power supply as it doesn’t take up as much space and is not as much hassle.  

Current Generation Handheld

In this blog post I will be writing about current generation handhelds such as the Nintendo DS or the PSP.  But in this post I will be explaining some of the features of the Nintendo DS some of those could be the power supply, platform design, price and usability.

• Platform Design: Well the main focus on this particular games device is that it has two screen which the bottom is of course a touch screen, it has two game ports so you can play Nintendo DS games as well has you could play Game Boy Advance games which you would insert in the bottom, it also has 8 buttons if you include the A, B, X, Y, start, select and the two left and right triggers and it also has a volume control slider located on the bottom left of the device and then an adapter to insert some headphones into.

• Usability: Handheld products  are very useful when it comes to portability, as you can pretty much take it anywhere you go for example if you were going on a log car journey with friends you might take that rather than lugging around a whole entire console which wouldn't work on the road anyway.

• Price: the original price for this product was around £150 but also has exclusive deals for it which included some sort of artwork imprinted onto it for example you could have a DS which has Pokemon artwork when you buy the new Pokemon game, but for people who want a DS now you could easily get one for around half of its original price.

• Power Supply: The Nintendo DS and all Nintendo handhelds before it all have the same sort of power supply which is basically a power lead which you can plug into a plug socket and the lead connects to the DS, but each Nintendo handheld has different sizes for the power supply for example the Game Boy Advance the end of the power lead is quite think whereas the Nintendo DS it quite thinner in comparison.   

Current Generation Home Console

In this blog post I will be writing about current generation consoles such as the PS3, Xbox 360 and the Wii. So for this post I will be writing about the Xbox 360 S Console. First off I will be explaining a variety of areas for example key features to the console.

First off I will start by explaining about some of the key features about the Xbox 360 S which are:

·         Height/Width/Depth and Weight:

This console is slightly different to its previous console which was the Xbox 360 Elite. The Elite’s stats were it was 310mm x 80mm x 260mm and weighed 3.5kg compared to the new console which is 270mm x 75mm x 264mm and weighed 2.9kg.

·         Storage.

Unlike the previous console where you had to load   your storage device on top of the console the new version allows you to insert your storage device directly into the console which can be locate on the right sided panel which you would open and then pull on the tag connected to the device.

·         Interface.

The interface design for the Xbox 360 S console is quite unique, it’s not like a normal menu system you would see on a games console, it has different tabs which contain different menus. These include the “Social” tab which allows you see how many friends you have online, connect to the Avatar store and lets you visit you own gaming profile. Another is the “Games” tab, if you’re on this menu then you can click onto a button called “My Games” this allows you see view all the games you have downloaded and choose which you’d like to play an example of this is Avatar Karting. Also it lets you view offers that the marketplace has for you such as half price map packs for games and cheaper games to download. Finally you have another tab called “Music” this lets you view what apps you have for music such as Last.fm or Vevo.  And also whatever music you have installed onto your Xbox.

·  Connectivity.

Xbox use a service which is called Xbox Live, this service is split between people with silver accounts; these are people who are not subscribers to Xbox Live. Then there are people who have gold accounts; these are the people who are subscribers to Xbox Live.  For people who are subscribers then they get the best online gaming experience in my opinion because they have access to features such as playing games online with people from around the globe, playing private matches or co-op games with friends and they even get to set up their own Xbox Live Party so you don’t have to listen to people online who constantly don’t stop talking, you would create an Xbox Live Party to avoid this.