Gaming Platforms & Technology

Here are some of the platforms that Video games are played on:

XBOX 360 (Microsoft) (7th Gen)

Release dates- US: November 2005 Europe: December 2005 Japan: December 2005

- 3.2 GHz PPC Tri-Core Xenon CPU

- 500 MHx ATI Xenos GPU

- Plays Games, DVDs, CDs and HD DVDs with an Add-on

- 20 or 120GB hard-drive storage, memory cards also available

- Supports 4 wireless controllers or 2 wired controllers & 2 wireless

- Xbox Live (online capabilities)

- Sold 18 Million units world wide as of April 2008

- Backwards compatability with about 500 XBOX games

Notable games- Halo 3 (8.1 million copies sold as of January 2008)

Target audience- More serious Gamers, 15 years of age+ (lots of shooting games and serious play online)

Playstation 3 (Sony) (7th Gen)

Release dates- November 2006

- 3.2 GHz Cell Broadband Engine CPU

- NVIDIA-SCEI GPU

- Plays games, DVDs, CDs and Blue-ray DVDs

- 20, 40, 60, or 80 GB hard drive storage system

- Supports up to 7 dual-action controllers

- Playstation Network (online capabilities)

- Sold 10.49 million units as of February 2008

- Backwards compatability with all Playstation games and most Playstation 2 games

Notable games- Motorstorm (3 million copies sold as of February 2008)

Target Audience- All round gamers, young & old, people with brand loyalty to Sony

Wii (Nintendo) (7th Gen)

Release Dates- November 2006

- IBM PowerPCC CPU

- ATI "Hollywood" GPU

- Plays 12cm Wii optical discs and 8cm Nintendo Gamecube discs

- 512MB internal flash memroy, Secure digital cards of Nintendo Gamecube Memory cards storage systems

- Supports up to 4 revolutionary Wii remotes, Wii Balance Boards and Nintendo Gamecubve Controllers

- Wi-fi, Bluetooth or USB LAN adapter connections to Nintendo Wi-Fi connection (online capabilities)

- 20.13 million units sold as of April 2008

- Backwards compatability with Nintendo Gamecube games

Notable Games- Wii Sports (17.85 million copies sold as of April 2008)

Target Audience- Games generally tend to be be less violent and more fun, so some think it is aimed a lower age group but because of the revolutionary control system it is fun for all the family.