History of Game Consoles Caleb Baze

1977 Atari 2600  Introduced Microprocessor-based Hardware  Utilized Game Cartridges  Allowed unlimited games to be written for the console rather than having to have the games hard coded into the console  Simple 2D Graphics  Worked by processing what pixels and sprites needed to be displayed before the next line of the television was scanned

Atari 2600 Specs HardwareSpec CPU1.19MHz RAM128 bytes ROM4 kB

1983 Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)  Also utilized game cartridges  Lacked any sort of authentication hardware to prevent unlicensed cartridges from working on the system.  This was due to the unreliable 10NES authentication chip used in the console. The circuit ended up being removed from the console with the introduction of the NES 2  Early games were designed by using LEDs on a grid with a digitizer, as no design tools existed

NES Specs HardwareSpec CPU1.79 MHz RAM16 Kbit Video RAM16 Kbit Max Cartridge Size192 Kbit

1994 Sony PlayStation  Sony’s first major contribution to the gaming console world  Made use of CD-ROM instead of the older game cartridge  Introduced external storage in the form of 1MB memory cards to save game data  True 3 dimensional games were popular now with the increased hardware capacity

PlayStation Specs HardwareSpec CPU MHz RAM2 MB Storage1 MB from each Memory Card

2000 Sony PlayStation 2  Built along the same lines as the PlayStation 1, but time allowed for a large increase in hardware capacity  Allowed for much higher quality graphics in games  Implemented backwards compatibility with PlayStation 1 games.  At this point is where we start seeing a major increase in hardware technology. Compared to the PS1, the PS2 included:  Around 30 x CPU speed  16 x RAM  Dedicated graphics chip

PlayStation 2 Specs HardwareSpec CPU MHz RAM32 MB Graphics MHz Storage8 MB Memory Cards 40 GB Hard Drive Add-On Connectivity100 Mbit Ethernet

2005 Microsoft Xbox 360  Start to see a very rapid increase in technology at this generation of consoles  The focus of the console merges with other forms of entertainment other than just gaming  Apps for streaming videos, music, news and much more  Meant the console needed more processing power and storage to efficiently handle games as well as entertainment applications  Introduction to high definition games  Developers start focusing on realism more and more

Xbox 360 Specs HardwareSpec CPU3.2 GHz RAM512 MB Graphics500 MHz Storage250 GB Hard Drive Connectivity100 Mbit Ethernet 2.4 GHz Wireless

2013 Microsoft Xbox One  The current generation of consoles  Acts much more as an all around home entertainment system  Multi-tasking with all kinds of apps and games  OS integrates fluidly with Windows 8  Much more similar to a personal computer than any console that has come before  Development of the Kinect Sensor for the Xbox One has been helpful in other fields of research using any kind of recognition software

Xbox One Specs HardwareSpec CPU1.75 GHz – 8 Cores RAM8 GB Graphics853 MHz Storage500 GB Hard Drive ConnectivityEthernet Wireless

Hardware Analysis – CPU Speed

Hardware Analysis – RAM

Hardware Analysis - Storage

Conclusion  Moore’s law apparent in hardware specifications of gaming consoles generation to generation  In many cases, customer want for gaming consoles actually pushed the research and development of better technology  Realism will continue to increase in consoles  Will we ever reach a point to where games can’t be distinguished from live video?