Brandywine Computer Services

People have always enjoyed playing games after work or school and that has not changed today, but what has altered is the complexity of the device supplying the game. Before the Second World War, the most complicated popular games were probably chess and Bridge and most kids played football. Nothing complicated in the games systems there.

In the Fifties and Sixties, the pinball machine was probably the most complicated device available but it was too expensive for most people to have in their homes.

However, although they were complicated (for the day), they were made up of transistors, diodes, springs, light bulbs and rubber bands. You could see the moving parts and the scorch marks where something had burned out.

However, since the Seventies, the machines that supply our distraction have no moving pieces except perhaps a joystick and hardly anyone has a clue what happens inside that appropriately-named Xbox and they have no clue about repairing it themselves.

So what does go on inside that mysterious video games machine and how can it produce so much satisfaction for so many without a single rubber band or spring in sight?

First, there is a big difference between a games computer and a video game console. A typical office computer to be used for everyday admin and the Web does not have to be anything special, but a games computer has to have more RAM, the fastest CPU and the fastest graphics card to be any good.

A games console strives to emulate a games computer, but strips out any component that is not absolutely crucial to play games. The distinction is becoming more and more blurred as gamers require more powerful interactive, multi-player games that they can use over the Net whilst chatting with their mates in chat rooms, which are frequently dedicated to the game in hand.

Games machines will have a cut-down operating system, because it does not have to be 'ready for anything', so games load far more quickly. They are typically stronger than a computer too, because manufacturers realize that some gamers get carried away.

They may even get more waterproof than your average laptop. They are often easier to connect to a screen or home movie theatre system too because numerous crowd who use them are not technically minded, but might want to take the console to a friend's house.

The insides of the games console have not changed much since the Ataris of the Eighties. That is to say the level of sophistication has, but the names for the components have not.. A games console still has a CPU, RAM, audio out, video out, a user control interface, a power supply and a way of loading the game. The sole new items are the DVD and Net connections

There is no question that modern gaming consoles are a lot better than the old Ataris of 30 years ago, but the technology is just better, not different, which goes to show either how creative Atari were or modern console makers are not.