Video games are the most common forms of electronic games 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, main console and a visual display unit. The users use a certain input device also known as game controllers to generate a visual feedback on the video device and all this is controlled by the main console.
The platforms via which video games are played have been evolving since the beginning. From simple pin ball machines to arcade machines, they have been played with different units. There are several platforms available for playing electronic games these days. The popular ones are namely: 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 load up and run these games on their system. The hardware should include a powerful main memory and also a graphic processing memory known as GPU. Powerful GPUs are considered better for generating excellent output. Together with these and other common hardware of PC such as a display monitor, keyboard and mouse games can be easily played.
Personal Computers can also be configured with additional devices like joysticks to make the experience better. The experience can also be improved by connecting computers to big TV screens with the help of cables like HDMI or VGA cable that the TV supports. Together with all these, Personal Computers serve as a great gaming platform.
Video Game Consoles
Video game consoles are devices that are specially created just to play video games. They normally come with input devices such as a joystick and a main unit that does all the processing work. They usually are connected to TV screens in order to see the visual feedback of the consoles.
There are several types of consoles available in the market today. The popular ones are Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3 for example. These have become a handy name for electronic game consoles. There are also handheld consoles such as Nintendo DS and PSP Vita. These handheld consoles are light in size and feature their own display unit. So, the video game consoles are another popular platform which is widely available these days.
Mobile Gaming Platforms
The rise of mobile devices introduced mobile gaming to the scene. Mobile games are played on cell phone devices or handheld tablets. These two are the main platforms for playing mobile games. Mobile games are available in various forms. The mobile games are normally built for the operating system that the phones have. Today the popular ones are Android Mobile Operating System and iOS for iPhones. There are also other mobile operating systems such as Windows Mobile and Firefox OS.
Thousands and thousands of games are available on the mobile platform. This might be due to the fact that the mobile devices are getting really popular every other day. Games are available for free or for a fee, they can be simple or even be filled with complicated high graphics. Whatever the types of games there are, they are available on mobile devices. Hence, mobile devices seems to be a promising gaming platform.