Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Playstation vs. Xbox 360
...Games have always played an integral part of mans childhood. It started with sticks and stones and with time evolved into powerful mind stimulating games that could be played indoors. Not all children are physically capable of playing all kinds of outdoor games which they fantasize of. With imagination comes invention and with that the birth of video games, where one can sit at home and experience everything outside it.
In 1949, Ralph Beer got an idea to build a kind of game set into a television. It was eighteen years later that many actually worked on the idea to turn it into a reality. Willy Higinbotham designed a kind of tennis game which could be played on an oscilloscope. From then on many people started developing similar kind of video games. But what mattered more than just the people inventing it were the companies manufacturing these video games. The original companies who started mass scale production of these video games are Atari (an American company and one of the first), Sega (which became very successful in the field), Magnavox (a Phillips company) and Nintendo (one of the leading video games manufacturer). Soon a new era of video game technology started off with the invention of the Video game consoles. A video game console is a dedicated electronic device designed to play video games where the output is basically through a monitor of some kind like a television or computer screen. The main input device is a controller (like joysticks, paddles, light guns, steering wheels etc.). Video game consoles started of around 1972 onwards like that of Magnavox Odyssey, Coleco Telstar etc. soon getting upgraded to cartridge based 8-bit console systems like Atari 2600, Intellivision, Vectrex etc. which later developed into 16-bit systems like the Sega Nomad, Supervision, Phillips CD-I etc.
Then came the 32/64- bit consoles like the Wonderswan Color, Nintendo 64DD, Apple Pippin etc leading to the modern era of hand-held PDA technology based video game consoles developed by companies like Microsoft (the Microsoft Xbox -2001), Sega (Sega Dreamcast) and Sony (The Play station). Then is the present technology of modern portable video game consoles with in-built hard drives of which the most popular are the Microsoft Xbox-360 and the Sony Play stations.
The Sony Play station 2 (a predecessor to the Play station 3 set to be released in spring 2006) was first released on March 4th, 2000 in Japan. Soon it had become one of the most popular products becoming the most selling video game console of the present generation selling over 900,000 units in the first week itself. It successfully competed against the then Dreamcast technology though its ability to play ...more
Nintendo Wii game System - Make Sure You're Choosing The Right One For Your Needs
...ally have to invest a little more to get the most out of this console.
At the very least you will want to get a second controller for two-player games. This will set cost you around $40. You will also probably want to invest in a couple of Nunchuk controllers which are needed to get the most out of many games. A battery recharger is also a good idea.
Depending on your tastes and how often you use your Wii, you will probably want to invest in at least an extra game or two. On t...more
Choosing a Video Game System: Which One Is Best for Kids?
...Wars (rated E) is available for the GameCube, PS2 and Xbox; Activision's Madagascar (rated E10+) is available on the same platforms, while Global Star Software's Dora the Explorer (rated EC) is available on the PS2 and Xbox, but not on the GameCube.
What about parental control options? Among the four systems, the Xbox and the Xbox 360 have the most efficient parental lock functions. Parents are able to set limits on the games and films to be played on the systems. If you set the system to play only E-rated games, kids won't be able to play DVD's or games that have Teen, Mature, or Adults Only ratings. The GameCube also has a parental lock feature, albeit a less effective one. Users note that all it does is tone down certain effects that might be troubling for children (for example, the amount of blood seen in games) but do not block the playing of games at all. It doesn't even screen or bleep offensive language. The parental control function of the PlayStation 2 is even worse -- it doesn't allow parents or anyone to restrict access to video games at all. The most parents can do is to set the PS2 to prevent their kids from watching DVD movies with inappropriate content.
When it comes to price,...more
Wii Nintendo - For The Gen X
...oller. The Nunchuk unit in the retail pack features an accelerometer and the standard analog stick with trigger buttons. To prevent unintentional dropping of the Wii remote, an attachable wrist band is provided.
This handheld device detects acceleration in 3-dimensions, and is capable of receiving updates and messages from the internet in the standby mode. The gaming unit is one of the smallest and the lightest by the manufacturer until now. The operating sys...more
