A video game console is a computer device that outputs a video signal or visual image to display a video game that one or more people can play.
The term "video game console" is primarily used to distinguish a console machine primarily designed for consumers to use for playing video games, in contrast to
arcade machines or
home computers. An arcade machine consists of a video game computer, display,
game controller (joystick, buttons, etc.) and
speakers housed in large or small chassis. A
home computer is a personal computer designed for home use for a variety of purposes, such as bookkeeping, accessing the Internet and playing video games. While arcades and computers are generally expensive or highly "technical" devices, video game consoles were designed with affordability and
accessibility to the
general public in mind.
Unlike similar consumer electronics such as music players and movie players, which use industry-wide standard formats, video game consoles use proprietary formats which compete with each other for market share.
There are various types of video game consoles, including home video game consoles, handheld game consoles, microconsoles and dedicated consoles. Although Ralph Baer had built working game consoles by 1966, it was nearly a decade before the Pong game made them commonplace in regular people's living rooms. Through evolution over the 1990s and 2000s, game consoles have expanded to offer additional functions such as CD players, DVD players, Blu-ray disc players, web browsers, set-top boxes and more.(WIKI)
5 Factors of Gaming Performance
1. Graphics - The graphic detail in games is progressive, improving are the realistic scenes, environments, and environmental scenarios.
2. A.I. - The intelligence of enemy and companion players is also progressive, improving are the possible interactions during combat or communication.
3. Characterization - The ability to create character you can play with is a factor of specific games, the other factors mentioned just add to its realism.
4. Environment Size - In game environment can be massive. Just take a look at a game called "No Man's Sky." This game as some 10 quit. planets to explore. More games like this will exist in the future with massive environments. New games are promised to be open world, having solar systems, or maps that replicate those of the Earth (as in Crew).
5, Massive Multiplayer - Some games are still only single player, but how much more fun is it to play a game with actual people on the other side, engaging and interacting with? Games like the casual "Second Life" and the more combative strategic game World of Warcraft are like this.
Virtual reality (
VR) is a
simulated experience that can be similar to or completely different from the real world.
Applications of virtual reality can include entertainment (i.e.
video games) and educational purposes (i.e. medical or military training). Other, distinct types of VR style technology include
augmented reality and
mixed reality. (wiki)
Augmented reality (
AR) is an interactive experience of a real-world environment where the objects that reside in the real world are enhanced by computer-generated perceptual information, sometimes across multiple sensory modalities, including
visual,
auditory,
haptic,
somatosensory and
olfactory. (wiki) For the next generation of AR gear see this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqFqtAJMtYE
The 3 Features of VR and AR
1. Size - 1) The size of the glasses one can now wear are moderately small but we could be looking towards a future where the size of this technology becomes as small as a contact lens. 2) The size of virtual environments is also important. We could imagine that there will be a digital world overlaping our own, a network with virtual potential experiences embedded into that environment, or layered/virtual dimension.
2. Graphics - Right now most of the graphics for AR are poor. We should see them become ever more realistic.
3. Smartness - Augmented Reality will be able to interact with smart cities. Walking down a city street you might see digital advertisements designed and presented to you based on your personal preferences and market interests.
Virtual headsets are next generation technology. They make the gaming experience far more immersive. Eventually, there will be a new technology, that allows for complete immersion into a virtual world.
We may ask ourselves, as some people who purport the idea do, "are we living in a simulation right now?" Are the realities that we creating just abstractions from some absolute interface where only some many technologies, similar as they are, can exist? For more on the "Simulation Hypothesis" see this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlTKTTt47WE