Video games are the most common forms of electronic gaming today. These provide human interaction with the help of user interface, input and output devices. Video games are played with the help of different devices namely the input controller, the main console and a display unit. Users use a certain input device also known as game controllers to generate a visual feedback on the video device and this is all controlled by the main console.
The platforms through which video games are played have been evolving since the beginning. From simple pin ball machines to arcade machines, different units have been played with. There are various platforms available to play electronic games these days. The most popular are: personal computers, video game consoles and mobile devices.
Personal computers
Personal computers are one of the most convenient types of video game platforms available today. They can be desktop PCs or laptops with special hardware configuration that helps users to load and run these games on their system. The hardware must include a powerful main memory and also a graphics processing memory known as GPU. Powerful GPUs are considered better for generating excellent output. Along with these and other common PC hardware such as a display monitor, keyboard and mouse games can be easily played.
Personal computers can also be configured with additional devices such as joysticks to enhance the experience. The experience can also be enhanced by connecting computers to large TV screens with the help of cables like HDMI or VGA that the TV supports. Along with all this, personal computers serve as a great gaming platform.
console games
Video game consoles are devices created especially for playing video games. They usually come with input devices like a joystick and a main unit that does all the processing work. They are usually connected to TV screens to be able to see the visual feedback of the consoles.
There are various types of consoles available in the market today. The most popular are Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3, for example. These have become a useful name for electronic game consoles. There are also portable consoles like Nintendo DS and PSP Vita. These portable consoles are lightweight in size and come with their own display unit. So, video game consoles are another popular platform that is widely available these days.
mobile gaming platforms
The rise of mobile devices brought mobile gaming onto the scene. Mobile games are played on portable cell phone or tablet devices. These two are the main platforms for playing mobile games. Mobile games are available in various forms. Mobile games are usually designed for the operating system that phones have. Today, the most popular are the mobile operating system Android and iOS for iPhone. There are also other mobile operating systems like Windows Mobile and Firefox OS.
Thousands and thousands of games are available on the mobile platform. This could be due to the fact that mobile devices are becoming very popular every other day. Games are available for free or for a fee, they can be simple or even full of complicated high graphics. Whatever types of games there are, they are available on mobile devices. Therefore, mobile devices seem to be a promising gaming platform.