Game Platform Types (P1, M1, D1)

Introduction
   This post is dedicated to educating the reader in the existence, development history and adaptions of past and present game platforms.
   So why don't we start off with what kicked the games industry into popularity?

   As far as the first videogames were concerned, they were only playable to the people that could code and afford them. Videogames were made on cathode ray tube devices, super computers that weighed over a ton and cost hundreds of thousands of pounds, and even on oscilloscopes. Only the scientists that knew how they worked could use them, so obviously the videogame  industry wasn't very popular.

Arcade machines

Fig. 1
A generic arcade cabinet,
featuring the splash
screen for Street Fighter II

     Arcade games are machines inside a wooden containment facility that are usually coin fed to unlock accessibility to the game contained within. Players would then play the game and once they completed/failed the game would have the game locked out from them unless they fed the machine another coin. Arcade games often attracted players by being in "Attraction Mode", which is when the machine loops gameplay footage (or in later arcade machines, an in-game cutscene) to entice players.

   The concept for arcade games were around since the 1920s, before the first videogame was made (the Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device), in the form of shooting galleries and ball tossing games at amusement parks, where players gave a coin to participate. These parks even included the coin fed fortune teller machines. Then in the 1930s, the first coin fed pinball machines were introduced.

Fig. 2
Computer Space, the
first mass produced
arcade game

   The first coin fed arcade machine was created in September, 1971, and was known as Galaxy Game, but the arcade industry still wouldn't kick off until a month later when Computer Space (Fig. 2), the first mass-produced arcade game (as well as videogame), was released. Even then, the game industry wouldn't get the kick it needed until Atari Inc. released Pong, the world's first commercially successful videogame.

   Arcade games soon started painting their cabinets to be more identifiable (an example can be seen in Fig. 1), as well as making the bezel (the screen/area around the screen) a lot prettier since this is what the player is going to spend most of their time looking at. This happened because around the time Atari Inc. was formed, other videogame developers were also being formed for the first time, and they needed to decide what was the best business strategy to attract more customers, to which they decided to make the arcade machines look more inviting.

   With the release of Space Invaders in 1978, the game industry entered the Golden Age of Arcade Video Games, which was finally what gave the gaming industry the attention it needed to soon become as popular as it is today. The Golden Age also brought out the release of Pac-Man and Donkey Kong.
   People slowly started to lose interest in the arcade industry by the 90s, with the development of home consoles becoming superior to arcade games. The mid 80s and early 90s saw the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, respectively, although these consoles weren't as popular in Europe as they were in America.


Fig. 3
House of the Dead arcade
machine, one of the most
popular arcade games of
today. An example of a
light gun shooter

   The arcade industry did see an increase in interest again in the 90s, as this decade is often considered the 'Fighting era' of arcade games, since this genre was the most popular on arcades at the time. 1991 brought Street Fighter II, which soon brought Mortal Kombat, which had the most realistic graphics in the video game industry and caused huge controversy because of its violent nature.
   Today, the arcade industry still exists. It is not as popular in the west as it was before the 21st century, however in Japan, the arcade industry is just as strong as it has ever been, with arcades being Japan's biggest profit in the videogame industry, making $6 billion a year. Popular arcade games in America and Europe consist of light-gun shooters such as Time Crisis and House of the Dead (Fig. 3), so much so that these series have spawned several sequel;, but rhythm/dancing games such as Dance Dance Revolution seem to be the most popular genre. It appears as though that arcades are still around only because arcade machines exist as extensions to other forms of entertainment, such as a bowling alley or amusement park.

Future
   In Europe, it appears as though that arcades are going to stay as popular as they are today. Since arcade machines are simply extensions of other public entertainment ventures, as previously stated, they are unlikely to ever die out, but at the same time are unlikely to rise back up.
   However, with the release of the Oculus Rift, the arcade industry could get the kick up the backside it needs. Attaching the Oculus Rift to arcade machines for light-gun shooters, racing games and many others could allow interest to return to the arcade market.

Advantages and limitations
   Arcade games allow for quick distractions and good fun, though they have an addictive nature to them (reminder of the coin shortage of Japan in 1978), and can cause the user to go broke; the concept of arcade's addictive features are a similar concept to that of gambling. Because of the popularity drop of arcades, they have reached what is likely to be the peak of their development, and their graphics and sound are unlikely to improve, which in the more bigger budget cases (House of the Dead and Time Crisis) are compared to the 32-bit polygon graphics of the PlayStation 1.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_video_game
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcade_game
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_arcade_video_game_history
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_age_of_video_arcade_games

Home videogame consoles
     Videogame consoles are devices that allow the user to play videogames designed and programmed to work with that console. Today, consoles work by reading discs inserted into the system in similar nature to a DVD or Blu-Ray player. Just like these examples, consoles can only read discs made specifically for it (so a disc for a PlayStation would not work in an Xbox). Older consoles worked by reading the read-only memory (can only be read and not tampered with) data off of chips located inside cartridges that were inserted into the consoles. Because videogames are electronic games that require human interaction, consoles come with controllers for the user to be able to manipulate what is displayed on the video device that the console is plugged into, such as a TV or monitor.


Fig. 4
The Magnavox Odyssey

   A term used in the videogame industry to describe the timeline of home consoles (as well as handhelds) is the 'generation of consoles'. The generations show the consoles that were on the market at the time, which would then be succeeded by a new line of home consoles which were more advanced in technology. Currently, we are only in the eight generation of home consoles, with the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 finally being released.

Fig. 5
A Magnavox Odyssey cartridge,

marked with the number seven

   Home consoles started off with the Magnavox Odyssey, which marked the beginning of the first generation of videogame home consoles. It had twenty-seven games on twelve different "cartridges". See, the Odyssey is such old technology, even cartridges were unheard of in videogame consoles by this point. The Odyssey worked by switching different circuit boards which the console read directly from, whereas cartridges had the chips inside them connected to exposed pins at the front, which then inserted into the conveniently named 'pin connector' in the console. A close-up of an Odyssey cartridge can be seen in Fig. 5, and in Fig. 4 a Magnavox Odyssey can be seen with a cartridge inserted.


   Fig. 6 shows the inside of a generic game cartridge. It is interesting to point out that it appears that Odyssey cartridges are simply the circuit boards found inside these cartridges with protective plastic over the board and chips, leaving the pins exposed.

Fig. 6
An image of the interior of a Nintendo Entertainment
System cartridge to compare with the cartridges of
the Magnavox Odyssey

   The Odyssey was released in 1972 in America, and then Europe in 1973. Tennis on the Odyssey inspired Atari Inc. to make the arcade game Pong, the world's first commercially successful game.

two years later. It only sold 330,000 units, but regardless, this was the springboard that home consoles jumped off of to become popular. The concept of a home console at the time was too good to be true, people could not wrap it around their heads that they could play games in their own home on their own television.
 

   The second generation began with the release of the Fairchild Channel F, the world's first console to use a microprocessor and cartridges. However this console sold fewer units than the Odyssey did, and the home console market began to slow down and lose excitement. Regardless, a year after the Fairchild was release, Atari Inc. released their first home console, the Atari 2600 (Fig. 7), which would go on to become the most popular console of the second generation, with thirty million units sold.

Fig. 7
The Atari 2600

   Other consoles, which were superior to the Atari 2600 in terms of specifications, were released over the course of the second generation, such as the Magnavox Odyssey², and the Atari 5200(US only release), however, the 2600 was the dominating console of the 80s.

   But then the videogame industry suffered a videogame crash. The infamous videogame crash of 1983 caused a huge drop of sales in the market, from $3.2 billion to $100 million (a drop of 97 percent). Many factors caused the crash, with one of the biggest causes being the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial incident, where Atari thought that their new game would be so popular that they created more cartridges than consoles existed; however, the game was heavily criticised and is considered to this day to be one of the worst games ever made.
   Other causes included a flood market. At the time, over ten consoles were on the market, all of which had a library of games which were decreasing in quality, with E.T. and Pac-Man being notably bad titles - Pac-Man was a great hit on the arcades, and Atatri made a port to the 2600, but the game ended up being a terrible flop, but became the console's most sold game, with seven million copies. The biggest companies, such as Atari and Magnavox, had even announced next generation consoles.
   There was then competition for home computers, with pre-assembled home computers up for sale around 1980 which offered more memory as well as better graphics and sound capabilities than consoles.
   And the cherry on top of the cake of disaster was the loss of publishing control, as anyone could publish a game on any of these consoles and there were just too many games to keep track of on the market, most of which ended up being bad titles.
   However, Europe wasn't affected by the crash. Videogames by this point were not as popular in Europe as they were in America. Even when the Nintendo Entertainment System family of consoles was released in 1985, videogames weren't as popular. The NES wasn't as popular in Europe as America, with the dominant console in that region being Sega's line of consoles.

   The NES was the console to bring interest back into the videogame market, and pulled America out of the crash. The loss of publication control was fixed by the game cartridge requiring a special chip (known as the 10NES chip) which synched up with another chip inside the NES cartridge (Fig. 6). If the cartridge did not have this chip, it could not be played, which meant games made for the system had to go through Nintendo first before being given the green light. This caused great titles such as Mega-Man, Legend of Zelda and Mario to be released, and receive advertising by Nintendo themselves.
   Then over time, newer lines of consoles were made. The fourth generation saw the release of the first console to use discs, the Sega Genesis, however this was through an accessory called the Sega CD; the original PlayStation, the console to start the fifth generation, was the first console to primarily use CDs.

Fig. 8
The Atari Jaguar

   The fifth generation also saw the release of the Atari Jaguar (Fig. 8), the first games console to be a 64-bit system, however most developers only made games for it in 32-bit because it was difficult to code for. This proved the Jaguar to be a commercial failure which forced Atari to finally drop out of the market. 64-bit technology wouldn't be mastered until two years after the beginning of the fifth generation, with the release of the Nintendo 64.
   The fifth generation also had the first console to sell more than 100 million units, the PlayStation. Then the sixth generation was the proud owner of the most sold console of all time, with the PlayStation 2, over 150 million units shipped.

Future
   The future of games console is a bit difficult to predict. Analysts have speculated that the eight generation of consoles will be the last because of the competition of smartphones, tablets and smart TVs. However this is a pretty big thing to assume that the videogame market is going to have another crash, like 1983. The publishing is controlled, there are only three consoles on the market (excluding the smaller consoles such as the Steam Machine and OUYA amongst others), and the game console market managed to stay level with profits even with PCs and home computers always being a step ahead.
   However, it is agreeable that smartphones and tablets will prove worthy competitors for the market, just like home computers were for consoles just before the crash. I'm going to pluck some figures out off the Internet to make an analysis. I'm going to compare sales figures to consoles of the seventh generation (the generation before the current, which consisted of the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii, since at the time of writing the current generation hasn't had enough time to pick up) and compare them to the second generation (the generation just before the crash).

   The total units sold of all consoles in the second generation combined add up to 36.25 million. This number isn't accurate because most of those numbers come from the Atari 2600, and the site these figures were acquired from listed the 2600 having sold 30 million units as of 2004, twenty four years after the second generation ended.
   Whereas the Xbox 360 alone has sold more than 80 million, over twice as many as the entire second generation.
   These figures prove that the videogame market is stronger than ever, so it's going to take a lot to bring it down again.

Advantages and limitations
   Consoles allow for maximum optimization of the games that run on them, thought his is partly due to games on consoles being set to medium graphics quality. Having said that, consoles are cheap compared to other possible investments such as a computer, and can run games better. There are some genres, such as racers and hack 'n' slashers, that work better with console controls than a keyboard and mouse, however other genres, such as shooters, are better and more precise with a mouse than a joystick.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_console
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_video_game_consoles_(first_generation)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_video_game_consoles_(second_generation)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_crash_of_1983

PCs


Fig. 9
Advertisement for the
Honeywell 316 Kitchen
Computer

   Personal Computers are arguably videogame consoles, as they have the power necessary to run videogames (in fact, most computers would be more powerful than videogame consoles that are created around about the same time). Having said that, once home computers started entering the market in 1977, - computers that were designed for home use and they were much cheaper than the scientific multi-billion dollar machines that could only be run by scientists, thus were named 'microcomputers' - computers such as the Commodore 64 (the most well sold home computer with 12.5 million units sold) and the ZX Spectrum (a United Kingdom exclusive home computer with 5 million units sold) were specifically designed or well optimized to run videogames. Today, Windows, Macintosh and Linux computers support videogames, though compatibility varies depending on the operating system.
   Computers work by sending currents through pieces of hardware that work together to work in binary. The computer has pre-installed software that turns the binary into a command-line display, which used to be the only way computers were operated (this was known as DOS, or disk operating system). Nowadays, with the operating system installed on the system, which goes hand in hand with the graphics processing unit, a graphics user interface is used to turn the command line into what we are used to, with files and windows with graphics.

   The first home computer released was the Honeywell 316 Kitchen Computer in 1969, which was advertised as a computer to store recipes for housewives to use in the kitchen. It was marketed, but never sold, and had a price of $10,000, which today would be valued at $63,730.

   Home computers wouldn't be touched again until Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.), single-handedly designed and built the Apple I in 1976, then started the Apple II series by building the Apple II in 1977, the first mass-produced microcomputer. As a result of the Apple II's success, it was heavily cloned from '79 onwards.
   Sinclair Research, a British consumer electronics company, made the ZX80 in 1980, which was notable for being the first pre-built computer available in the UK for less than £100; it was sold at £99.95, which at 2014 prices is estimated to be £363. Sinclair Research then made the successor, the ZX81 in 1981, which was sold at £49.95 in kit form or £69.95 assembled (£162 and £227 in 2014); it was designed to be an introductory computer, and sold 1.5 million units until discontinued in 1984, which compared to the ZX80's sales of only 100,000 are rather impressive.

Fig. 10
The Commodore 64

   Then in 1982 came the Commodore 64 (Fig. 10), the most well sold home computer of all time (12.5 - 17 million), however this can be argued since it has three different models that were are not dissimilar from each other. The Commodore 64 was named after the 64 kilobytes of RAM available to it, which was amazing at the time compared to the limited memory of the Apple II (which had a range of 4KB to 64KB) while being valued at an affordable price (Apple demanded a price in the thousands of dollars, however Commodore priced the computer at $595, which by today's values would be £869).
   Bill Gates made Windows NT 1.0, a 16-bit graphical interface released in 1985. This was Microsoft's first attempt at making a graphical user interface. Windows 1 was the second most popular program for DOS computers, after the videogame Doom.

   Today, home computers are known as personal computers and can be built out of any hardware that have the compatibility to connect and have an operating system installed on them, so nowadays, computers are more of a case of what OS it has on it, rather than its name (if it even has one). The operating systems of today are Windows, Macintosh and Linux as the Big Three, however there are other kinds, which are usually simply modified versions of Linux (such as Android or ChromeOS) since Linux is open-source (available for anyone to modify and tweak).

Future
   The future of computers, as far as I can predict, will simply be companies will find ways of making better hardware for cheaper. Computers seem to have reached the peak of their development, however many people have said that before and have been proven wrong. However, the current generation of home consoles (the 8th), have been made and designed to work like a computer, so that's something interesting regarding the computer's development.

Advantages and limitations
   Computers have the advantage of always being one step ahead of the current consoles on the market, companies are always making bigger and better hardware for them. And consoles cannot hope to compete because computers are upgradable, consoles are not.
   Computers are open source, however the availability of customisation varies on the operating system. Linux for example is completely open, any idiot could enter it and change it and release their modifications online to download; Linux is also free, and is also very well optimised. Windows is slightly less open, customisation and tweaking is available, however there are some restrictions due to security reasons since it is the most popular OS. Mac is mostly closed, however some tweaking can be done, but if the user wants to put the software up for download, they have to run it through Apple first, which costs a lot of money and a lot of time; this means that there is quality control, however the developer may not necessarily be happy. Consoles on the other hand are closed, locked, bolted and sealed with the key thrown away; special, licensed and expensive software is required to develop for them, they can only be developed for on computers and a lot of licensing needs to be done.

Fig. 11
Statistics showing the market share of desktop and laptop
operating systems in December, 2013.

   Because of the minimum filtering that needs to be done on Windows (I shall mostly be comparing advantages and limitations to Windows because it is the most popular operating system, as shown in Fig. 11), this means it is a Wild West for indie developers where they can upload any games they want. Steam and Desura are great places for indie developers to start making games for, as hardly any licensing (if any) needs to be done.

However, computers are perfect. Windows does have issues with being the most popular OS, ie, lots of viruses and crashes, since Microsoft have to try to please everyone, but since everyone has a slightly different hardware setup, they can't perfect the OS to work with every computer. Mac's are designed for people who wish to design and develop in the media department, however not many games are on it and aren't as well optimised. And Linux has a very steep difficulty curve, and there are even fewer games for it than Mac.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_computer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_home_computers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX80
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_ZX81
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_64
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_systems

Mobile and handheld devices
   Mobile devices come in the form of smartphones and tablets in this day and age, however they used to be simple generic phones with physical buttons. These mobiles only contained a few games and apps that were pre-installed, and to my knowledge, no other games could be acquired. The most common games on the older phones were Snake and a port of the game Rad Racer from the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Fig. 12
A mobile phone from 1998
on the left, and the modern
iPhone 5, 15 years later

   Handheld devices are portable videogame consoles typically designed to easily fit in the average sized human hand for gaming on-the-go and out-and-about. They are usually designed to fit into your pocket and run on batteries, modern handheld devices run on rechargeable ones.


Fig. 13
The Microvision

   Modern mobiles allow for anyone who doesn't game, to game. A lot of free games can be found on the Apple iOS store, and Android devices are a Wild West for videogame developers, since there are no rules or regulations as to what can be put up for download since Android is open-source. The most popular mobile games (Angry Birds, Cut the Rope and Fruit Ninja) prove to be some of the most simplistic games created, perfect for people just being introduced to gaming.

The first generation of handheld consoles began in 1979, during the 2nd generation of home consoles with the Milton Bradley Microvision. It had only 13 games made for it, ran in a 16x16 resolution and had 16 bytes of RAM. It was extremely unsuccessful due to its small screen, very few cartridges and lack of support from established home video game companies. It was extremely badly made because it was susceptible to 'screen rot', which is something that is caused from poor sealing and impurities. The liquid crystal spontaneously leaks and permanently darkens, so the game can still be played but an image cannot be shown.

Fig. 14
The Nintendo GameBoy

   Then in 1980, Nintendo released the Nintendo Game & Watch, a device  that looks extremely similar to the Nintendo DS. It sold 43.4 million units, and was succeeded by the GameBoy in 1989, as part of the fourth generation of home consoles. The GameBoy was the first great handheld, and had many redesigns and sequels, with the GameBoy Color in 1998 and the GameBoy Advance in 2001. The Advance itself had two redesigns, with the last one being the GameBoy Advance Micro in 2005, which strangely enough was released a year after the Nintendo DS.
   Currently, the handheld market consists of the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita, along with their redesigns and models.

   Mobile phones started as devices that were portable but still needed to be plugged into a power source. It wasn't until about 1973 phones were handheld. Towards the end of the 20th century, as phones were beginning to modernise, games were becoming pre-coded pieces of software, with Snake being one of the earliest examples.

   Today, mobile games are the most popular form of videogaming . They are a great introduction for newcomers because they are simplistic, easy to learn, free in most cases, and most people are likely to have a phone, even if they aren't a gamer. Mobile devices also include tablets, which also have the features of games since in common cases, tablets have been made by manufacturer's of the mobile phone companies.
   However, mobile games have a common problem of being filled with micro-transactions due to their free nature. Because the games are free, the developers still have to make money somehow. The way they do this is either by adding adverts into the game, or they provide with Facebook style gameplay mechanics of actions taking a certain amount of time to perform that count down. These actions can be instant if the user pays real money. These micro-transactions are considered greedy, awful and scandalous ways of developers making money, and more and more free games are appearing on mobile devices for free because of this system that is unfortunately working.
   The micro-transactions are probably working because of the newcomers to gaming thinking that this is how games work, so they succumb to it. Because of this, micro-transactions are considered disgusting since they give a bad first impression on the videogame industry.

Future
   The future of mobile devices is strong, so strong that some people have speculated that the eighth generation of consoles will be the last because they will not be able to keep up with the competition. However, if mobile games continue with the micro-transactions problems, this could prove to bring about a massive crash, maybe even more catastrophic than the crash of 1983.

   Handhelds on the other hand seem to be just as strong, and are going In mostly the right direction. They prove to have a problem of being too expensive, with the PlayStation Portable selling better than the PlayStation Vita. And while Nintendo have tried to make the 3DS cheaper with the 2DS, a second-hand 3DS is still cheaper than a first-hand 2DS.

Advantages and limitations
   Mobile games are great for on-the-go gaming because the games are so simplistic, they can be loaded and turned off very quickly. They provide for quick gameplay bursts of a few minutes and, as mentioned before, have introduced people to the videogame industry.
   However, the previously mentioned micro-transactions are a problem, and do cripple fun in a lot of cases, which is why it should be no concern that the top three most downloaded mobile games do not have them.

   Handheld devices are an upgrade to on-the-go gaming, but in most cases are not designed for quick minute bursts, because of the games that are on them. Having said that, they do provide for what they are primarily designed for.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_game
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_console

Television
   Television games were thought to be something that would catch one, however they have not. Today, there is the existence of SmartTVs, televisions that can connect to other devices such as laptops and computers, as well as access an Internet browser of its own and have apps, as well as act as a normal television. The most common form method of watching television today is interactive television, which is where programmes can be watched on demand.
   SmartTVs can be traced back to 1994, where a patent was signed to make an "intelligent" television system. Today, SmartTVs use liquid crystal display technology and are relatively flat and light, compared to the massive, heavy, statically charged cathode ray tube monitors of the olden days. The LCD tech works by shinning light at the back of the monitor through different layers 'liquid crystals' onto a film that acts as the display. CRT works by firing electron particles at the back of the screen that spreads throughout it, which is why the screen has to be curved.
   The main use for a TV as far as gaming is concerned, is to provide for a n output display peripheral for games consoles. Some manufacturers understand this and thus have provided some 3D SmartTVs with an app for split screen games. It works by using the 3D technology to fullscreen each half of the screen on two different display planes (which is how 3D works in a very small nutshell), and the players have to wear glasses that are designed to see one specific plane, so one player will only see his split screen and the other will see his.

Future
   SmartTVs may advance further in the future. Currently they provide for limited app use and the optimisation isn't amazing because of slow load times and crashes. The 'dual play' app is a good step forward, but the technology still isn't quite there.

Advantages and limitations
   As a game platform, televisions are very bad. Their input peripherals, the TV remote control, is not good; they're usually they're made out of cheap materials, are not ergonomically designed for prolonged use and do not have great feedback response. The games are clearly not designed to work on such a low-powered machine, and are cheaply made.
   However, TVs have the fantastic advantage of being great display devices for games consoles, which overall makes them worthwhile, even if you are not buying them for their primary purpose.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_TV
My experience with SmartTVs

Comparison
   Arcade machines proved to be the springboard for the games industry, and they provide for great momentary games, however they can no longer hold a candle to mobile games, which have more functions, are portable and have free, better and more technologically advanced games.
   Consoles are great for the hardcore party gamer crowd, since their primary purpose is to play videogames, and thus are designed around that concept, so they have the best optimisation in the gaming market and their controllers are very well ergonomically designed for prolonged use of several hours. Their main competitor however, the PC, which is more for the nerdier, more intelligent individual, can do more things that just play games and provide better graphics, better technology and a lot more games; however PCs are expensive, can be a great headache and aren't as well optimised.
   Handheld devices are basically an upgraded mobile device, the relationship between handhelds and mobiles is the same as the console and PC, one is designed for games and thus plays them very well, the other has more to do on it but may not necessarily provide the best gameplay experience, but is still just as worthwhile for what it provides instead.

My Platforms

1. How much of a gamer are you? Do you play a lot of games? Or do you play a small selection of games a lot? Or do you not play much at all?
   I like to think of myself as a gamer, rather than a casual one. Steam keeps a record of the games I play and I play about 25-30 hours a week playing games. I have a large library of games, some of which I play a lot (with Terraria and Killing Floor having 95 and 72 hours to them, respectively), while others I don't play as much.

2. Why do you play games? What is it about them that is so enjoyable? If you don't play many games, is there a reason? What do you think might encourage you to play more regularly?
   I play games because I enjoy them, no ifs ands or buts. They provide a heap of entertainment for me and help me with skills. From turn based strategy micromanagement games such as XCOM: Enemy Unknown and Prison Architect, I have learnt the values of saving resources, as I'm constantly running out of money; and I've have developed problem solving skills, as I have to adapt to situations that I never thought would happen, such as an ambush in XCOM, or in Prison Architect my prisoners not cooperating and starting a riot so I have to call all of my guards off patrol to sort out the mess.
   I don't believe I need any encouragement to play more games, as I believe the 25-30 hours is a good standard amount of time to play weekly.

3. What gaming platforms have you owned in your lifetime?
   My earliest platform was arguably a computer. My father sat me down on his lap and taught me how the mouse works, which led into teaching me how to interact with my first ever game, Mr. Potato Head. Then we started playing Doom, Quake and a real time strategy game known as Commandos, all of this from a very young age. Now he calls me to fix the computer when it breaks.
   My first console was a PlayStation, a neighbour had a spare one and gifted it to me, so that was the general reason I support PlayStation more than the XBox. My first game for that console was Spider-Man, which I finished all by myself.
   In my time, I've also owned an XBox original, which had my favourite RPG of all time, Fable. I've also owned a PlayStation 2, which I believe is the console I've owned the longest for. I got s PlayStation 3 so I could play God of War III, and I've also owned handhelds such as a GameBoy Advanced, Nintendo DS and Sony PlayStation Portable. In recent years, I've converted back to primarily being a PC gamer.

4. What is your earliest gaming memory?
   I unfortunately do not remember playing Mr Potato Head at a very young age (I do remember the game itself, as my siblings have also played it), but i do remember flashes of playing Quake, Commandos and Nicktoons Racing (I believe was the product's name).

5. What is your favourite platform for playing games? Console? PC? Phone? Facebook? Something else? Why is this? Is there is a platform you particularly dislike, why is this also?
   I definantely have to say PC, since PC gaming is far superior to any other. The community is stronger, there's better mod support, there are millions of more games for it (particularly indie games), and PCs are far more powerful.
   However, arguable, the PC is not a platform. So for a games console specifically designed for videogames, that would probably be the PlayStation 2. My fondest childhood memories are on the PlayStation 2.
   I personally do not dislike any particular licensed platform. I could be generic and ramble on how I believe the WiiU and XBox One are terrible concepts for game consoles, but by the time those console were announced, I was a PC gamer, so I didn't particularly care for those consoles, and I've yet to see them in the flesh, let alone touch one, so I do not believe I can give a strong opinion on their quality.

6. What is your favourite genre, series, or individual game? Again, why is this?
   I cannot say I have a particularly favourite genre, though I am a fan of roguelikes because of their replayability. I am also a fan of stealth games, because they are arguable puzzle games combined with action and adventure.
   My favourite individual game I guess I would award to Dishonored, a first-person stealth game set in a plague ridden steampunk London. I love Dishonored because it has a great stealth engine, and the world is unique and the sword combat is the best I've seen in a videogame. Dishonored also knows what it means to be an assassin, - which kind of brings out the sociopath in me - which other games can't seem to get right, such as the Assassin's Creed series eventually turning into an old world business simulator, followed by a pirate game.

7. What is the rationale of your game you are currently making.
   I am making my game (Evolution, a side scrolling shooter) the way I am because I like memorable boss fights, so I believe that a boss fight where the boss evolves and becomes harder and harder is a nice idea.
   As well as Evolution, I am also making another game which I will work on in my spare time as I learn new skills which I am entitling Psionic Striker Force. This is a side scrolling platforming shooter which I am combining magic and shooting into one game, which I hope will be great fun.