Unit 15

COMPUTER GAME PLATFORMSAND TECHNOLOGIES

L/600/6610

LO2 - Understand hardware technologies

for game platforms

Scenario Criteria Tasks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Learning Outcome (LO) The learner will:

Pass The assessment criteria are the pass requirements for this unit. The learner can:

Merit For merit the evidence must show that, in addition to the pass criteria, the learner is able to:

Distinction For distinction the evidence must show that, in addition to the pass and merit criteria, the learner is able to:

1 Understand game platform types

P1 Describe game platform types with some appropriate use of subject terminology

M1 - Describe how computer games platform types have developed over time

D1 - Explore potential future gaming platform types

2 Understand hardware technologies for game platforms

P2 Describe hardware technologies for game platforms with some appropriate use of subject terminology

M2 - Describe mobile technologies for game platforms

D2 - Evaluate the suitability of mobile technologies for game play

3 Understand software technologies for game platforms

P3 Describe software technologies for game platforms expressing ideas with some appropriate use of subject terminology

M3 - Discuss the different software technologies for multiple platform usage

D3 - Justify the choice of platform on which to run an identified software technology

4 Be able to connect and configure platforms and devices to enable gameplay

P4 Apply techniques to connect and configure platforms and devices with some assistance

M4 - Explain the different connection types for multiplayer gaming

D4 - Justify how the connection types are appropriate for the different multiplayer gaming experiences

LO2 - Assessment Criteria

Scenario Criteria Tasks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Assessment Criteria P2 P2 Learners will need to describe at least six of the hardware

technologies identified in the teaching content for learning outcome 2 describing their features. This could be for a range of platform types which may include mobile. This could be presented as a report or presentation.

Assessment Criteria M2, For merit criterion M2 learners will need to show they have explored the

mobile technologies for game platforms. This means they need to describe at least 3 different mobile technologies. This could be an extension of the evidence for P2, or a separate document. Annotated screenshots and photos will help evidence this.

Assessment Criteria D2 For distinction criterion D2 learners will need to evaluate the suitability

of mobile technologies. This should include the cross platform usage of software or repurposing. They should consider at least five mobile technologies which may include those within the learning outcome or include new technologies. They will need to evaluate the suitability of them for game play in different formats and giving clear descriptions of the technologies including connectivity and costs.

Assessment Criteria P2, M2 and D2

Scenario Criteria Tasks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Here the learners will need to understand the hardware technologies available for the game platforms and in particular to explore the expanding market in mobile technologies, looking at comparing the different technologies in terms of playability. Due to the vast range of options and the speed of technological developments within this sector, group working will ensure a depth and breadth of research and group feedback will inform the wider group with the variety and choice. This could be a mixture of lectures, investigations and practical exercises which could involve handling the technologies available.

Learners should then be able to evaluate the different mobile hardware technologies and their suitability for game play. Group discussion will identify areas for further discussion or consideration.

LO2 - Understand hardware technologies for game platforms

Scenario Criteria Tasks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Graphic Development – Pong was two colours, white and not white, Pacman was 8 with no shading, the hardware to run either of these games was limited to memory, Jamma Boards contained back them 4k of memory, this is the equivalent of 4096 characters of code. By the time of Street Fighter in 1988 the colour depth was now 16 colours with shading. Similarly consoles like Magnavox was two coloured and came with four games. Atari VCS started the same way but moved to 4 colour, then 8. NES and Master System was 8 colour, SNES 16 colour. Each generation after that multiplied as technology changed. Similarly with PC’s, we had monochrome, then CGA, 4 colours by 1985, EGA by 1988, VGA by 1992 and SVGA to this day. Analog got replaced recently by Digital, TV socket by HDMI and Blu-ray.

The first adventure games on PC’s did not even have graphics, text only, “hit Gandalf with wand”, now they have high definition colour and video quality cut sequences. Each of these developments has allowed games to get better in the Arcade, the Console and Computer. Look at the different generations of Mario as an example.

Nowadays it is all about the Nurbs, Pixels and Polygons. Faster cards, faster Nurbs, more polygons. Everything is measured in how many per second.

P2.1 – Hardware technologies for game platforms - Graphics

Scenario Criteria Tasks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Similarly, 3D games often rely on a powerful graphics processing unit (GPU), which accelerates the process of drawing complex scenes in real time. GPU’s may be an integrated part of the computer's motherboard, the most common solution in laptops, or come packaged with a discrete graphics card with a supply of dedicated Video RAM, connected to the motherboard through either an AGP or PCI-Express port. It is also possible to use multiple GPUs in a single computer, using technologies such as NVidia's Scalable Link Interface and ATI's CrossFire but all this takes money, time and effort and not all games will take advantage of these, depending on the way a game is programmed.

Game compatibility and development however does not immediately recognise this hardware and games may need downloads and bug fixes from the game sites to take advantage of these technologies. The standard graphics card used as a template has changed over the years and used to be NVidia GeForce. Without this the graphics were worse, lower quality, lower speed. Better cards brought the game up to a level and downloads made the game better. Doom when it was released used a GL download for Pentium machines with a Graphics card to improve the screen quality and for a number of years GL technology was the standard. Now every PC has a unique card which can be specified by the user.

P2.1 – Hardware technologies for game platforms - Graphics

Scenario Criteria Tasks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Graphics cards handle all of the visual data within a computer, interpret it and display it via a VDU.

Components on a Graphics card include:◦ GPU – Graphical Processing Unit is a dedicated microprocessor making calculations in

order to display both 2D and 3D graphics. ◦ Motherboard interface – This is the method of connection and transfer of information

between the motherboard. These include PCI, AGP and PCI express.◦ Video BIOS - basic program that governs the video card's operations and provides the

instructions that allow the computer and software to interface with the card.◦ Video memory – if the card is integrated onto the mother board it may use the

computers RAM, otherwise it will have a dedicated amount of memory for use for storing other data as well as the screen image such as object co-ordinates.

◦ Random Access Memory Digital-to-Analogue Converter – This coverts the digital signals produced by the computer processor into an analog signal which can be understood by the computer display

◦ Output connectors – this is how the graphics card connectors to the VDU. This can include DVI, HDMI and component.

◦ Cooling device – Video cards may use a lot of electricity, which is converted into heat. If the heat isn't dissipated, the video card could overheat and be damaged. Cooling devices are incorporated to transfer the heat elsewhere. Three common methods are heat sink, fan or water block.

P2.1 – Task 1 – Using appropriate terminology and examples, describe hardware technologies for game platforms in terms of Graphic capabilities in terms of history, purpose and benefits to gaming.

P2.1 – Hardware technologies for game platforms - Graphics

Scenario Criteria Tasks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Storage Limitations – Storage limitations along with graphics has been a big hindrance to the market moving forward. The Gameboy dominated the market for 10 years without moving forward because the technology was not there to replace it (ignoring the Lynx, Gamegear and Nomad). The first arcade machines had 4k of memory, expanded by the end of the golden era to 64mb with games like Colin McCrea rally. In terms of storage they only had enough memory to recall the last race to show the user and store the high score table.

Home Consoles Machines like Odyssey, Magnavox and Atari 2600 left the memory capacity up to the cartridge with 48k on board to store scores. Every generation of console since has doubles the memory capacity on release. ZX80 had 1k, ZX Spectrum 48k, Commodore 64 had 64k, Amiga had 512k, Megadrive and SNES had the same capacity and left it up to the cartridges. By the time of the first Xbox there was a hard drive of 20gb. This was a revolution in itself, unless you are a PC owner.

And the cartridge and game discs were an issue, the Nintendo 64 had 8mb of storage and the cartridge had up to 16mb for the later games. To store a whole game in there on this amount of memory meant compromising, not as much as earlier consoles. Graphics could not be realistic, cut sequences could not be photo realistic, games could not have hundreds of different levels with different graphics so there had to be repeats. And sprites had to be limited to bitmap or vector but rarely both in the same game. Look at Doom, characters were always face on, Mario Kart, the trees were not solid but x shaped, not 3d modelled.

This storage is important in the development of games. When the Playstation and Saturn came out, the gaming world had moved to CD, 660mb of data. They could have cut scenes, more levels, vector and bitmap, they could have realistic voices and sounds, CD quality. When games like FF7 came out it had 20 hours of filmatic sequences added, realistic faces, CGI graphics, character modelled figures. They could have what PC’s had, that was the difference. Then DVD, BluRay, capacity for more, bigger, better, more sequences, more film, more realism with barely a restriction.

P2.2 – Hardware technologies for game platforms - Storage

Scenario Criteria Tasks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Storage Limitations – Storage limitations along with graphics has been a big hindrance to the market moving forward. The Gameboy dominated the market for 10 years without moving forward because the technology was not there to replace it (ignoring the Lynx, Gamegear and Nomad). The first arcade machines had 4k of memory, expanded by the end of the golden era to 64mb with games like Colin McCrea rally. In terms of storage they only had enough memory to recall the last race to show the user and store the high score table.

Home Consoles Machines like Odyssey, Magnavox and Atari 2600 left the memory capacity up to the cartridge with 48k on board to store scores. Every generation of console since has doubles the memory capacity on release. ZX80 had 1k, ZX Spectrum 48k, Commodore 64 had 64k, Amiga had 512k, Megadrive and SNES had the same capacity and left it up to the cartridges. By the time of the first Xbox there was a hard drive of 20gb. This was a revolution in itself, unless you are a PC owner.

And the cartridge and game discs were an issue, the Nintendo 64 had 8mb of storage and the cartridge had up to 16mb for the later games. To store a whole game in there on this amount of memory meant compromising, not as much as earlier consoles. Graphics could not be realistic, cut sequences could not be photo realistic, games could not have hundreds of different levels with different graphics so there had to be repeats. And sprites had to be limited to bitmap or vector but rarely both in the same game. Look at Doom, characters were always face on, Mario Kart, the trees were not solid but x shaped, not 3d modelled.

This storage is important in the development of games. When the Playstation and Saturn came out, the gaming world had moved to CD, 660mb of data. They could have cut scenes, more levels, vector and bitmap, they could have realistic voices and sounds, CD quality. When games like FF7 came out it had 20 hours of filmatic sequences added, realistic faces, CGI graphics, character modelled figures. They could have what PC’s had, that was the difference. Then DVD, BluRay, capacity for more, bigger, better, more sequences, more film, more realism with barely a restriction.

P2.2 – Task 2 – Using appropriate terminology and examples, describe hardware technologies for game platforms in terms of Storage needs in terms of history, purpose and benefits to gaming.

P2.2 – Hardware technologies for game platforms - Storage

Scenario Criteria Tasks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Sound cards are also available to provide improved audio in computer games. These cards provide improved 3D audio and provide audio enhancement that is generally not available with integrated alternatives, at the cost of marginally lower overall performance.

The Creative Labs SoundBlaster line was for many years the de facto standard for sound cards, although its popularity dwindled as PC audio became a commodity on modern motherboards. Newer developments in PC technology meant 8bit to 16 bit sound cards an, d now 32bit and sixty four bit technology is available.

Sound cards used to be separate from the motherboard but are now part of the on board system taking away some of the compatibility issues but the quality will not be as good as a separate card.

Then along came the modern consoles and the push for better sound as a USP. Stereo became 5.1, 7.1, HD output. Now we can barely tell the difference between sound within a game and sound within a film. Now it is all about how you can make your speakers dance to the music as sound quality has reached its realistic peak.

P2.3 – Task 3 – Using appropriate terminology and examples, describe hardware technologies for game platforms in terms of Sound and Audio needs in terms of history, purpose and benefits to gaming.

P2.3 – Hardware technologies for game platforms - Sound

Scenario Criteria Tasks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Memory demands on a Gaming have grown exponentially over the years and doubles every time a new version of windows or a console is released. Currently 2gb of memory is enough to run Windows 8 smoothly but not enough to play good games well. 3gb is good, 4gb is better.

15 years ago with Windows 98, 256mb was the standard for a good game on a PC, 512mb for hardcore gamers.

But memory is necessary, the more there is, the faster a game will be.

There are three standards for memory and all of them are speed based. DDR, DDR2 and DDR3. They have a clock speed, the faster the clock speed, the faster the processing time. And this improves games, the more processing power that is taken from the CPU, the faster the CPU can deal with the instruction code of the game.

P2.4 – Hardware technologies for game platforms - Memory

Scenario Criteria Tasks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Similarly for consoles, the memory capacity, separate from storage, is now 8gb on board for PS4 and Xbox One, an indication of the on screen capacity of the games. With consoles like SNES and Megadrive it was 2mb (16mbit) hence the reason why most games were vector based (mathematically calculated rather than graphical based, less storage but more processing power)

And for handhelds, 8gb of storage is not memory, the iPhone only has 1gb of memory compared to 4gb and 8gb offered on Android tablets. All this translated into what a game can do.

Unified ram is ram that is shared by the graphics processor allowing on-board ram to be set aside for graphics when it needs it. This is new and though it is not pure graphics ram, will allow memory usage by the core processor so that graphics cards can do their good stuff without the burden of boring routines.

P2.4 – Task 4 – Using appropriate terminology and examples, describe hardware technologies for game platforms in terms of Memory storage needs in terms of history, purpose and benefits to gaming.

P2.4 – Hardware technologies for game platforms - Memory

Scenario Criteria Tasks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Whatever Platform type is used for game playing, there are internal hardware considerations which will have an affect on the speed and quality of the game, nothing more important than the CPU, the brain of a machine. Every Console if different and each generation that comes along uses a different CPU. On a PC we are used to Intel, AMD and Celeron, each with a variety of names that go with them, Xeon, Athalon, Pentium etc. For Consoles they have always had variants, the current standards are AMD and IBM core, previous generations were Xenon and 68000.

◦ Processor – this is the brain of the computer, the more powerful the CPU the faster a a game will be generate and move and the result processed to the screen. This means it will apply CUDA processing faster, rendering images more effectively (especially 3D images), batch processing and scrolling around an environment when the resolution is very high or zoomed in quite close. Apples and PC’s have different CPU’s but the function and result is still the same.

◦ The Processor is not something that can be changed easily on either machine. On a PC this could mean removing the motherboard and paying a lot of money. On an Apple do not bother.

◦ The number of cores is now more important, Xbox One and PS4 both have 8, a good PC has 4, a handheld generally 1 but Android Tablets often have 2.

P2.5 – Task 5 – Using appropriate terminology and examples, describe hardware technologies for game platforms in terms of CPU needs in terms of history, purpose and benefits to gaming.

P2.5 – Hardware technologies for game platforms - CPU

Scenario Criteria Tasks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

The one thing that has not changed in gaming in a generation is the use of menus. They have gotten more intricate, more memory intensive, more interactive with more selections but they are still there. But with the rise of the joystick and specifically with more intensive PC gaming, the use of menus and the customising of keyboards for speed of access has grown.

Good Starcraft II players measure their key presses per minute rather than their skill level. They customise the menus and the groups by keystroke, just from action to action across the board like a chef might stir the soup while cooking pasta. Whole actions are set to a key-press, function keys are set as guides, customised buttons like macros control whole battalions. On a PC this has always been the case since the first FPS game but now menus allow Joypads on Consoles to be customised for the user.

This added level of user interaction gives the player more control, more responsibility, user centred. And players who get more into the game through interaction are more likely to come back.

P2.6 – Task 6 – Using appropriate terminology and examples, describe hardware technologies for game platforms in terms of Human Interface needs in terms of history, purpose and benefits to gaming.

P2.6 – Hardware technologies for game platforms - Interfaces

Scenario Criteria Tasks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Monitor – Vga – 16 colours 14” screenGraphics Card – NoneProcessor - 286Memory – 1mb , minimumSound – Internal speaker.Controller – Keyboard or mouse controlled only.

Monitor – Vga – 16 bit colours 14” screenGraphics Card – None but Open GL or 16mb for optimum effects. Processor – Pentium 1Memory – 8mb , minimum, 64mb optimalSound – None or 16mb optimal.Controller – Keyboard, mouse or joypad controlled.

Monitor – Vga – 16 bit colours 14” screenGraphics Card – Processor: AMD 64 3200+/Intel Pentium 4 3.0GHz or better Memory: 8 GB free hard-drive space, 512MB RAM (XP)/1GB RAM (Vista) Graphics: Shader 3.0 or better, 256MB Nvidia GeForce 6600GT/ATI Radeon 1600XT or betterMonitor – 17” minimum

P2.7 – Hardware technologies for game platforms - Display

Scenario Criteria Tasks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

PC Monitors started off as 2 colour, green and not green, 1-bit colour. Then came CGA in 1980, 2-bit colour, four colours and with it the first colour game that could take advantage of this amazing technology, Zork. In 1984 came the first VGA monitors, sixteen colours, 4-bit, and with it the first versions of Wolfenstein. VGA moved up to 8-bit and with a graphics card, finally to 16 bit, 16.7 million colours.

Consoles however had the benefit of using the television as the display screen. The technology was always there to the point that arcade machines were simply a Jamma board connected to a televisions screen in a box. The resolution was the same, only the quality of output differed.

Then life adapted, UHF signal output became SCART, then HDMI, resolution deepened, Televisions went to 1080p and will go higher. Games took advantage because they could. As PC’s struggle to keep up with 1900dpi output and £250 graphic cards, consoles push it through the connector to a SMART television happy to accept 1080dpi.

Handhelds on the other hand had a slower progression, bit depth is only a recent thing, the PS Vita has the same resolution as a SNES, an iPhone has the same resolution as a Gameboy Colour. Small screen technology has not changed that much, it just feels like it did.

P2.7 – Task 7 – Using appropriate terminology and examples, describe hardware technologies for game platforms in terms of Visual Display needs in terms of history, purpose and benefits to gaming.

P2.7 – Hardware technologies for game platforms - Display

Scenario Criteria Tasks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

First there was the paddle, it could go in two directions, up and down. Pong, space invaders, all the classics from childhood used them. They were the last thing you thought about and the first thing you held.

Then came the wheel, driving games where you literally moved the car with a wheel, left, right and if you survived, left again. They got more sensitive, Sega Rally for instance felt like real driving but still the car moved left then right.

Then the Joystick, suddenly there were four directions and the world became perspective. To this day the technology has not changed, it just got more buttons. A generation wanted VR, human Interaction, physical controls, one console after another with the keyboard and buttons there still in the background.

Then came Kinect, sort of, a novel idea that is still trying to catch on. We now have 3D movement, gestures, multiple sensors. Soon we will have Occulus Rift and the world of VR will once again loom.

Voice interaction is all that is left to master, Kinect can hear but cannot understand, Siri can understand but not comprehend, Google Glasses can comprehend but not see. At the end of the day the gaming generation will adapt to new technologies in the hope that it benefits play.

P2.8 – Task 8 – Using appropriate terminology and examples, describe hardware technologies for game platforms in terms of Controller and Input needs in terms of history, purpose and benefits to gaming.

P2.8 – Hardware technologies for game platforms - Controllers

Scenario Criteria Tasks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Mobile game play is not a new thing but the push towards Phones as a game playing device has been consistent since screens first went to colour. Snake was popular but since then the generation of game players uses Smartphones as a substitute. Now every gaming household has some device that is portable, PSP, DS, iPad etc.

They are small, they have a limited battery life, they have less capacity of gaming, they have less memory, screen size, sound capability, they have everything going wrong for them but we love them. What they have is an addictive quality, gaming on the move. Games for them know thins so the games are aimed at the short term memory audience, the short attention span.

Candy Crush, flappy Birds, Temple Run, short term games, into the game within seconds, take on from where you left off, little capacity for memory or past achievements and no memory to go back to where you came from and see the devastation. And the USP is their cost, small games and a small cost.

Along with the wide range of Apps, all these devices have a capacity to outgrow, another day another App, a new game, a new craze, the old one as forgotten as easily as the current one.

P2.9 – Task 9 – Using appropriate terminology and examples, describe hardware technologies for game platforms in terms of Mobiles Devices in terms of history, purpose and benefits to gaming.

P2.9 – Hardware technologies for game platforms - Mobiles

Scenario Criteria Tasks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Back in the days gaming was stand alone. You could have 4 players, each player a corner of the screen. Goldeneye, Mario Kart. Today games are still stand alone but that is no longer why we buy them. We play COD until it is done, 6 hours or so, and then we go online and spend weeks or months at it. We play Skyrim all the way through and then go online and get more. The solitary play and nature of games has always been there. Two player games have been around since Pong, 4 player games came in later with Sega Rally in the arcades and 4 way splitters on the SNES.

There is nothing like a game of FIFA with friends, controller ports have allowed more players, the Sega Saturn was the first console to take this as a standard followed by PS2 and Dreamcast. Now a games machine without multiplayer is unheard of. The ports and connections changed with each generation until USB became the standard but the 4 way option makes gaming a group thing.

Even on handhelds it became accepted on the Gameboy Advance that two players connected with a wire was better than one and games companies took advantage. The player became an AI on the other screen, more processing power to the CPU, less storage and thinking in terms of movements.

P2.10 – Hardware technologies for game platforms - Connectivity

Scenario Criteria Tasks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Network play came into place with games like Doom, Quake, ROTT, Heretic, FPS shooters where midnight gaming in clubs became fashionable. Today the network play is global with the Internet but before that the rise of multiplayer games and multiplayer contests grew to the point of Blizzcon proportions.

Game playing on the Internet as a group is the current wave of team playing proportions. WOW with 6m user, Starcraft with 3.3, DOTA, COD, EVE, Battlefield. Every FPS game that comes out has Internet play as its hope, the more players the more loyalty. The communication lines that are available allow for mass play within games, new games expect 30,000 players battling against each other in a single conflict. The crashing of GTA online is an indication of the amount of players who believe that online play is the only play.

Wireless and Bluetooth are more subtle ways of compensation for the Internet and Network play. To link to someone close with wireless or Bluetooth like DSi and Vita allows for private play, games like DrawIt took advantage of the instant, private communication, the speed is acceptable for all but the higher level of graphic games.

P2.10 – Task 10 – Using appropriate terminology and examples, describe hardware technologies for game platforms in terms of Game Connectivity in terms of history, purpose and benefits to gaming.

P2.10 – Hardware technologies for game platforms - Connectivity

Scenario Criteria Tasks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

What limited down most of the above and what limits mobiles, handhelds and phones is the use of power. Handhelds rely on their internal power supplies, same with mobiles, and the advances in battery technology has improved game playing and portability but this is still a limitation. The Kindle with its 80hrs battery life infers black and white, low level viewing. Put a movie on the Kindle Fire and this gets reduced down to 2hrs. A phone charge can last 3 days without charging but play a game, watch a film, surf the internet and the charge runs down quickly.

The restriction of the external supply limits down the distance and portability that makes mobiles and handhelds so appealing. With the WiiU there is the best of both worlds, a portable device that is also a full console. PC’s have always been restricted by their 230 power supply, shrink a machine down and it is still there, smaller but limiting. Consoles with their internal supplies made them as reliant on power as PC’s.

P2.11 – Task 11 – Using appropriate terminology and examples, describe hardware technologies for game platforms in terms of Power Supplies needs in terms of history, purpose and benefits to gaming.

P2.11 – Understand hardware technologies for game platforms

Scenario Criteria Tasks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Mobile game play is not a new thing but the push towards Phones as a game playing device has been consistent since screens first went to colour. Snake was popular but since then the generation of game players uses Smartphones as a substitute. Now every gaming household has some device that is portable, PSP, DS, iPad etc.

Phones themselves are pretty much the same, limited screen resolution, small amount of memory, limited storage capacity, reduced access speeds and compatibility issues. Other than this we love them. Similarly with tablets though they are getting steadily more like a PC in your hands with dual core and increased memory. Screens are better, memory capacity s improving and all but the graphics capability is getting more compliant with a computer.

For the Merit Criteria you need to access 3 mobile devices for their suitability in game playing. You will need to describe and compare the specifications, their Operating Systems, their Suitability for gaming, their technical limitations and with examples describe their achievements in terms of gaming ability.

For this task you should select one mobile, either an iPhone, a blackberry, an android phone or Microsoft OS phone or a hybrid. You should also select one tablet, an iPad, Surface, Galaxy or Android tablet. And thirdly you should select a handheld with its own OS such as a DS, Vita or other of your choice.

M2.1 – Task 12 - Describe and compare with examples three mobile devices in terms of specifications, OS’s, Suitability for gaming and their technical limitations.

M2.2 – Task 13 – Using a comparison table, compare the technical features of each of the 3 selected devices to their direct rivals.

M2 – Understand hardware technologies for game platforms - Mobiles

Specification OS’s Suitability for gaming

Technical Limitations.

Scenario Criteria Tasks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Other than gaming, mobile technologies span further than button pressing, achievement gaining, scoreboard comparison, time consuming, puzzle solving entertainment. Subtle technology is all around us, replacing old skills and old forms of usage with new.

The person who comes to your door has a PDA for you to sign, RFID tracking in the van means they cannot stop off at home for a cuppa on the way to a delivery, the jogger who just ran past you as you signed with a digital pen has a tracking monitor that is measuring their heart rate against their running speed. The car that pulled suddenly to a stop did not see him on the GPS but the anti locking brakes and engine scanning measured how good it is as it lowered its output and emissions. The children in the back of the car barely broke a sweat as their DVD of Toy Story 3 played on. The driver swears to themselves and wishes the work was as easy to control as his Occulus Rift so they check with their Google glasses if there is any emails waiting because he really wants to get on and finish Black Ops.

D2.1 – Task 14 - Evaluate the suitability of other mobile technologies including the cross platform usage of software or repurposing of the technology. For Distinction you will need to consider at least 5 mobile technologies, 3 of

which you may have used in the Merit Criterion, and at least 2 new technologies.D2.2 – Task 15 - Evaluate the suitability of them for game play in different formats and give clear descriptions of the technologies involved, connectivity and costs.

D2 – Understand hardware technologies for game platforms - Mobiles

Suitability for adapting to Game

play

Technical Description of the Technology

Connectivity ability

Costs

Scenario Criteria Tasks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

P2.1 – Task 1 – Using appropriate terminology and examples, describe hardware technologies for game platforms in terms of Graphic capabilities in terms of history, purpose and benefits to gaming.

P2.2 – Task 2 – Using appropriate terminology and examples, describe hardware technologies for game platforms in terms of Storage needs in terms of history, purpose and benefits to gaming.

P2.3 – Task 3 – Using appropriate terminology and examples, describe hardware technologies for game platforms in terms of Sound and Audio needs in terms of history, purpose and benefits to gaming.

P2.4 – Task 4 – Using appropriate terminology and examples, describe hardware technologies for game platforms in terms of Memory storage needs in terms of history, purpose and benefits to gaming.

P2.5 – Task 5 – Using appropriate terminology and examples, describe hardware technologies for game platforms in terms of CPU needs in terms of history, purpose and benefits to gaming.

P2.6 – Task 6 – Using appropriate terminology and examples, describe hardware technologies for game platforms in terms of Human Interface needs in terms of history, purpose and benefits to gaming.

P2.7 – Task 7 – Using appropriate terminology and examples, describe hardware technologies for game platforms in terms of Visual Display needs in terms of history, purpose and benefits to gaming.

P2.8 – Task 8 – Using appropriate terminology and examples, describe hardware technologies for game platforms in terms of Controller and Input needs in terms of history, purpose and benefits to gaming.

P2.9 – Task 9 – Using appropriate terminology and examples, describe hardware technologies for game platforms in terms of Mobiles Devices in terms of history, purpose and benefits to gaming.

P2.10 – Task 10 – Using appropriate terminology and examples, describe hardware technologies for game platforms in terms of Game Connectivity in terms of history, purpose and benefits to gaming.

P2.11 – Task 11 – Using appropriate terminology and examples, describe hardware technologies for game platforms in terms of Power Supplies needs in terms of history, purpose and benefits to gaming.

M2.1 – Task 12 - Describe and compare with examples three mobile devices in terms of specifications, OS’s, Suitability for gaming and their technical limitations.

M2.2 – Task 13 – Using a comparison table, compare the technical features of each of the 3 selected devices to their direct rivals.

D2.1 – Task 14 - Evaluate the suitability of other mobile technologies including the cross platform usage of software or repurposing of the technology.

D2.2 – Task 15 - Evaluate the suitability of them for game play in different formats and give clear descriptions of the technologies involved, connectivity and costs.

Assessment Task List