HCI is the controller or device in which the user interacts with in the game. Examples of HCI include Joysticks, controllers, keyboard, mouse, touch screen, driving wheel and light guns. Each of these HCI's are ergonomically designed to serve a gaming purpose for example the controller is great for quickly making different actions with in the game an example of a good controller is the Xbox 360 as it has easy reach buttons, an ergonomic design that fits comfortably in most hand sizes and does not include excessive amount of buttons to press. The buttons on the 360 controller are designed so that the player can simultaneously move and do actions in the games using their thumbs and finger together. A ergonomic design prvents the user from feeling tired or unconformable so they can use it for long periods of time. The controller also features wireless connectivity to it's console a lot like the Wii or PS3 controller so the player can place themselves anywhere in the room.
Central Processing Unit
The CPU is a piece of hardware that processes data on a computer a lot like a brain. There are different kinds of processors such as Intel, AMD and NVidia all of which are designed for a specific purpose. NVidia processors are designed for a gaming purpose as it is designed to process large amounts of data for programs and games, such as the script that is being produced from the game. It will also give send data to the graphics card for it to be rendered.There are also processors that include two or more processors which are called cores the more cores the processor includes the faster the processor can process data, or the more data it can process at the same time. the speeds on a processor are measured in mega hertz and giga hertz mega being lower than gigabytes in speed.
CPU cache: is a piece of hardware which is part of the CPU which is in charge of storing the most frequently used data's locations which speeds up the rate of the processor speed.
Data bus: The data bus transfers data between the CPU and the rest of the PC's hardware.
Address bus: The address buses job is to quickly send data to the data bus which contains teh data of where the locations is for the data buses data travels to.
Graphical Processing Unit
The GPU/graphics card is in charge of rendering on screen images known as frames. Frames are images shown very quickly which simulates movement. The graphics card render the graphics data and projects it as frames for the user to see the high quality graphics means the more data the graphics card has to process which requires a powerful graphics card to do so, most consoles use very powerful graphics cards in order to run current games and future games.
2D graphics: two dimensional graphics was the first graphics used in games usually used for side scrolling plat-former or any game up to 1982. 2D games are set in a side camera view of the character or a over head prospective to track the playable character or object.
3D graphics: Third dimensional graphics started in 1982 with Monster Maze which crated a 3D environment for the player to explore. 3D graphics creates a realistic environment with many textures for each object i requires a lot more powerful graphics card in order to render the amount of textures data compared to a two dimensional game.
Pixels: Are tiny squares of color that build up an image the higher the resolution for the pixels means the more detail and size of the image. Pixels in gaming are used in two dimensional games while polygons are used in third dimensional games.
Polygons: are two dimensional shapes with many sides that connect these shapes include triangles, squares pentagons, and hexagons. When these 2D shapes when connected can create all manners of 3D shapes such as people, chairs, and giant robots.
Graphics memory: Is the amount of information the graphics card can store this includes the number of frames the games graphics and the effect produced in the game, the more memory the graphics card has to store the more information it can process.
RAM: Random access memory is a piece of hardware that is in charge of storing volatile data such as open programs, games, utility programs, and the operating system when it's running.
DRAM: You can get many types of RAM for example dynamic random access memory which is common in the PC gaming platform. DRAM stores information for short periods of time and suited for graphical processing.
SRAM: There is also Static random access memory which is faster and more reliable than DRAM as it doesn't need to be refreshed unlike DRAM and can store data longer periods of time.
Built-in display: Built-in displays are commonly used in hand held consoles such as the PS VITA or the Nintendo DS. Built-in displays use a liquid crystal display that is build't into the console and then acts as a display for the handheld gaming platform. The reasons they are used in handhelds is because it's more convenient and you don't have to carry a monitor around with you to play.
Liquid Crystal Display: LCD is a type of display that uses sheets of polarizing material and a liquid crystal solution, which prevents light from passing through the sheets of material and then acts as a shutter for light and color to display on the screen.
Monochrome: Monochrome is where 2 colours are used to project visuals. It was used because it found to be easier for the early processors as they were not as powerful as today's processors which can now process colour data which has much larger data.
Sound Card: The sound card is in charge of processing sound data from the gaming platform or PC and then projecting it into a sound output device such as headphones or speakers.
Monophonic: Monophonic sound is a early sound system where one sound is projected through a single channel of audio for the sound output to project.
Stereophonic: Unlike monophonic sound stereophonic projects it's audio through multiple channels of sound this gives the sound output device the ability to give direction to the sound from the left and right making sound more 3D when playing games or watching movies.
Surround Sound: Surround sound is a type of sound where audio is projected from the sound output devices at a full 360 degree using multiple channels. This gives full direction to sound giving the user the feeling of being in a full 3D environment.
Audio Sampling Rate: Is the rate the sound card converts analogue signals into digital sound. This is mainly used through VOIP software where the microphones signal gets sent as analogue signals and then gets converted into digital sound. The higher sampling rate the better the audio quality.
Audio memory: Audio memory is a lot like graphical memory as it works the same way as a graphical memory except the sound data is processed by the sound card and then data is outputted out of the speakers.
Game Storage Proprietary: Is where a company keeps it's data within particular pieces of hardware s data a secret by encoding the data to be encrypted using a specific piece of software this reduces the chances of new technology being stolen from companies and prevents others from editing it.
Companies also change the type of game storage and disks so that it is only readable on consoles or handhelds so that it cannot be edited on a PC an example of this is the game cube optical disk, the universal media disk and the Xbox 360 hard drive which can only be read or connected to the console itself.
Using these counter measures prevents piracy, as the information and files on the hard drive or disk cannot be copied and put on the internet for anyone to download and then use. Piracy causes gaming companies to lose income from their games as they are taken and played for free, this is why storage proprietary is important so the gaming companies gain income and continue to create more products. However anti piracy can reduce the freedom of the fans who can mod the games to make them more fun or fix bugs that the developers have failed to fix.
Interface Devices: Are the devices which you use to interact with the platform. an example of this is a mouse and keyboard for the PC.
Mouse: The mouse works by using a LED which bounces light making it easy for the camera to see which direction it's being moved in and a tiny camera which takes about 1,500 pictures every second to know if it is being moved in a specific location it then uses the picture data to interpret the movement of the mouse on screen.
Keyboard: Under a key on a keyboard there is a small circular plate that is then attached to another circular plate, then the plates move closer together creating a current in the matrix of the keyboard that then gets detected by the processor the data then gets interpreted by the processor and then follows out the specific key bind function.
Joystick and Analog sticks: A joystick works by having the joysticks handle connected by a slot to a tilting pivot which is connected to several springs which take the movement data from the X and Y axis which then determines the location in which the joystick has been moved.
WAN: Wide Area Network is a type of computer network that spans over a large area and consists of many local area networks. A WAN is connected to using a local area network which then connects to a WAN. WAN is mainly used for large business or console gaming networks.
LAN: Local Area Network is also a type of computer network that spans over a smaller area like a home or a business that spans over one building. A LAN line connects to a telephone line which then connects to a WAN. Most computers of consoles are connected to a LAN line so that it can connect to a WAN network so that the internet can be used or a console gaming network like Xbox Live or the PS3 Network.
Blue Tooth: is a wireless radio technology that allows internet devices to transfer data between each over. an example of this is mobile and computer connection.
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