How Video Game Systems Work Individuals have always enjoyed playing games after work or school and that has not changed today, but what has changed is the complexity of the item supplying the game. Before the Second World War, the most complicated popular games were almost certainly chess and Bridge and most kids played football. Nothing complicated in the games systems there. In the Fifties and Sixties, the pinball machine was almost certainly the most complicated device playable but it was too costly for most individuals to have in the house. However, although they were complicated (for the day), they were made up of transistors, diodes, springs, light bulbs and rubber bands. You could see the moving parts and the scorch marks where something had burned out. However, since the Seventies, the machines that supply our amusement have no moving pieces except perhaps a joystick and scarcely anyone has a clue what happens inside that appropriately-named Xbox and they have no chance of repairing it themselves. So what does go on inside that mystifying video games machine and how can it produce so much satisfaction for so many without a single rubber band or spring in sight? To begin with, there is a big difference between a games computer and a video game console. A typical office computer to be used for routine admin and the Internet does not have to be anything special, but a games computer has to have more RAM, the fastest CPU and the fastest graphics card to be any good. A games console tries to emulate a games computer, but strips out any component that is not absolutely necessary to play games. The distinction is becoming more and more blurred as gamers require more powerful interactive, multi-player games that they can use over the Net while chatting with their mates in chat rooms, which are often dedicated to the game in hand. Games consoles will have a cut-down operating system, because it does not have to be 'up for anything', so games load far more quickly. They are typically stronger than a computer as well, because manufacturers know that some gamers get carried away. They might even become more waterproof than your average laptop. They are often easier to connect to a screen or home movie theatre system too because many crowd who use them are not technically minded, but may would like to take the console to a friend's house. The insides of the games console have not changed much since the Ataris of the Eighties. That is to say the level of sophistication has, but the names for the components have not.. A games console still has a CPU, RAM, audio out, video out, a user control interface, a power supply and a way of loading the game. The only new things are the DVD and Net connections
There is no question that contemporary gaming consoles are much better than the old Ataris of 30 years ago, but the technology is just better, not different, which goes to show either how imaginative Atari were or contemporary console makers are not. Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently concerned with Mortal Kombat Trophies. If you have an interest in gaming, please visit our web site now at Mortal Kombat 4.