http://www.giantbomb.com/platforms/
Playstation 1:
The PlayStation 1 is a home video console, developed by Sony Computer Entertainment, and first released in 1994. At release, it was simply called "PlayStation", but when the PlayStation 2 was announced, it became known as PlayStation 1, or PSone.
The PlayStation had a R3000A 32-bit RISC processor, which ran at 33.8 MHz.
The PS1 could support up to 16.47 million colours, with a screen size of up to 640x480 pixels, which could produce some good quality images, but still tended to show some pixelated areas and jagged lines.
Whilst the original PS was large and bulky, (1.77 x 10.24 x 7.28 inches, weighing 3.97 lbs), a "slimmer" version was released in 2000, which featured an improved laser disc reader. With it being almost half the size of the original, it was much more portable.
It had 2 MB main DRAM memory, with a 4 KB instruction cache.
The PlayStation had no internal storage, instead, game saves were saved to external Memory cards, which had a limit of 1 MB. The memory cards slotted into the "Memory Card" slots on the front of the consoles.
Over the years, over 8000 games were made and released for the PlayStation 1, although some of these were country specific (Only available in US, for example).
The Playstation (1) is the first in the series of video game consoles.
The player interacts with the console using a PlayStation Controller. Controllers at launch did not have thumb sticks. These controllers were released at a later date.
Limitations of the console was the laser disc reader burnt out very easily (I did it playing 8 hours straight), There was also no internet or LAN connectivity, so you couldn't game with others without sharing a controller (or plugging another in).
Over 102 million consoles have been sold worldwide.
Playstation 2:
The PlayStation 2 is a home video console, developed by Sony Computer Entertainment, and first released in 2000. It was the successor to the PlayStation.
The PlayStation 2 had a 128-bit RISC processor, which ran at 300 MHz.
It had 32 MB memory, but storage was still external memory cards, which now could carry up to 8 MB of data, which still slot into the front of the console.
The PlayStation 2 had a 128-bit RISC processor, which ran at 300 MHz.
It had 32 MB memory, but storage was still external memory cards, which now could carry up to 8 MB of data, which still slot into the front of the console.
Over 3000 games have been created and released in it's lifetime. It was also backwards compatible, meaning many, if not all of the PS1 games could also be played on this console.
As with the first PlayStation, a "Slim" version was released in 2004. It was less than half the size of the PS2.
The player interacts with the console using a DualShock 2 PlayStation Controller.
Over 155 million consoles have been sold worldwide.
Playstation 3:
The PlayStation 3 is a home video console, developed by Sony Computer Entertainment, and was released in EU and US in 2007, following delay due to part shortages, it was the successor to the PS2/Slim.
The processor is an NVIDIA RSX 'Reality Synthesizer', which was based on the NVIDIA G70.
The first PS3 was large, 9.8 x 32.5 x 27.4 cm, and weighed 5KG.
Total of 1575 game available now, with more being developed and released, and is not backwards compatible to the PS2.
Featured a 256 MB memory.
Storage varied, depending on which series was brought, and ranged from 40 GB to a 320 GB, though a special 500 GB was released as part of a bundle.
The player interacts with the console using a Dualhock 3 Playstation Controller.
Over 87 million consoles have been sold worldwide.
Playstation 4:
The PlayStation 4 is a home video console, developed by Sony Computer Entertainment, and was released in 2013 in the EU.
The processor has a total of 8 cores, based on AMD's Jaguar CPU. This processor runs at 1.6 GHz.
The GPU in the PlayStation 4 is an AMD Radeon GCN, with 18 CUs. The result is 60FPS 1080p graphics.
The memory of the PS4 is 8 GB of GDDR5, capable of a frequency of 2.75 GHz. This is 16x the amount of memory the PS3 had.
The console comes with a 500 GB internal storage hard drive.
There are over 400 games available for the PS4, with more being developed and released.
The PlayStation 4 is the fourth generation of consoles in the series, and is the latest to be released. A 5th generation PlayStation has not yet been announced.
The player interacts with the console using a DualShock 4 PlayStation Controller, which features a pad on the back, so the movement of the fingers on the pad can be used as an additional control.
Over 20 million consoles have been sold worldwide.
PSVita:
The PlayStation Vita is a handheld game console manufactured by Sony Computer Entertainment The Vita has the same buttons as the PlayStation Portable, with a couple of added features, such as the 2nd thumb stick and touch pad on the rear of the console..
There are over 900 games available for the PS Vita.
The Vita has a 2 GHz quad core AMR Cortex MPCore processor, and the graphics are from a Quad Core graphics card.
The Vita is a small hand held console, designed to be portable, and be used almost anywhere whilst on the move. The dimensions are 18.2cm x 1.8cm x 8.3cm (W x H x D).
It has 1GB of internal storage, with larger PSVita Memory Cards available with 4-64 GB available.. The Vita has has 512 MB of RAM (Random Access Memory).
The Vita is the successor to the Playstation Portable (PSP).
Limitations of a handheld console is the battery life. Use will drain the battery, and will need to be charged again before use. This can be managed by having a spare battery, which you can swap when one runs out of power.
A unique feature on the Vita is the touch pad on the rear of the console, which gives the player another way to interact with the console and it's games.
4 million consoles have been sold worldwide.
Xbox Original:
The original Xbox is a home video game console developed by Microsoft Studios, and released in 2001.
It had a custom Intel Celeron/Pentium III Hybrid, which clocked at 733 MHz, and a custom nVidia GeForce 3 NV2A DirectX 8.0, which ran at 233 MHz.
The Xbox had 64 MB of DDR SDRAM memory, which clocked at 200 MHz.
The player interacts with the console using official Microsoft controllers.
Over 24 million consoles have been sold worldwide.
Xbox 360:
84 million consoles have been sold worldwide.
Xbox One:
The Xbox One is the third generation of home video game console. It is the successor to the Xbox 360.
The Xbox One has an AMD eight-core processor, which runs at 1.75 GHz. It also has an AMD Radeon HD 7000 graphics card, which clocks at 853 MHz.
The Xbox One has 8GB of DDR3 RAM, and 32 MB of GPU Frame buffer memory.
Because it was released recently, and does not feature backwards compatibility, the XBO does not have many big games, mainly small Indie games.
As with the previous consoles from Microsoft, the players interact with the console using controllers.
10 million consoles have been sold worldwide.
Nintendo Wii:
Nintendo Wii is a home video console developed by Nintendo, released in 2006, and competes against the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.
The console has a PowerPC processor, which runs at 700 MHz, and an ATI Holywood GPU, running at 250 MHz.
Because of the small size of the console, 1.7 x 6.1 x 8.4 inches, (W x H x D), it only weighs 2.7 lbs, making it the lightest home console.
There are over 1200 games available for the Wii.
Successor to the Nintendo GameCube, predecessor to the Wii U.
The Wii has 88 MB of memory, 24 of which is integrated for the graphics, and 64 MB External SDRAM. It also had 512 MB of storage with a built-in NAND Flash memory, but up to 32 GB SDHC memory cards are available.
The Nintendo featured motion sensor controllers that allowed the player to manipulate game actions with hand actions. This innovative HCI influenced the development of the Xbox Kinect and Playstation Move.
Over 101 million consoles have been sold worldwide.
Nintendo DS:
The Nintendo DS in a hand held game console, developed by Nintendo, and first released in 2004. Since then, there have been endless models in the series, such as the DS Lite, DSi, DSi Xl, 2DS and 3DS.
The latest DS in the series is the 3DS, which is the first hand held console to utilise 3D technology.
The graphics processor is a custom PICA200, developed by Digital Media Professionals.
The size of the console varies from model to model, but are small enough to fit into bags/purses and deep pockets, for use when on the move.
The processor is an ARM11 MP-Core-based dual core processor. The 3DS uses one core for games and apps, whilst the other runs the operating system, allowing for background tasks. The processor is compatible with previous DS games.
The console has a 1 GB internal flash storage, but can be expanded using SDXC memory cards, available with up to 128 GB. The console has 128 MB of system memory, from 2 FCRAM chips. It also has 6 MB of RAM (Random Access Memory).
There are over 600 games released for the 3DS, but because of it's backwards compatibility, it has many more games available for it.
The Nintendo DS line is the successor to the Nintendo Game Cube. The 3DS is the most recent model available.
What makes the DS series unique is it's two screen. One is a touchscreen, which is interacted with fingers or a style, whilst the top screen displays a 2D image of the game, or in the 3DS's case, a 3D image.
A limitation for the DS is the lower quality hardware than other consoles, such as Wii or PS/Xbox. Graphics and sound will be of a poorer quality than other consoles, in order for the console to run smoothly.
Over 154 million consoles have been sold worldwide.
Nintendo Wii U
The Wii U is a home video game console, developed by Nintendo, and released in 2012.
The graphics are run by a GX2 GPGPU for Wii U games, and a GX GPU, which runs Wii games, as the console is backwards compatible. The GX2 is designed by AMD, based on their Radeon R700, and runs at 550 MHz.
The processor is is a custom chip, designed by AMD, is a tri-core processor with a 3MB cache, clocked to 1.24GHz. It is based on PowerPC's 750 chip.
The console has 2GB of DDR3 system memory, consisting on 4 512MB DRAM chips.
The console includes either an 8GB or 32GB internal flash memory, which can be expanded to 2TB with external disc drives.
The Wii U is the successor to the Nintendo Wii.
There are nearly 500 games available for the Wii U, including some big name Wii exclusives, such as Super Mario Bros and Legend Of Zelda.
The Wii U has an interactive controller, similar to the touch pad of a DS, which is used to interact with many of the games available.
Over 9 million consoles have been sold worldwide.
Apple (iPhone 6)
The iPhone 6 has a PowerVR GX6450 graphics processor, which has 4 cores, resulting in sharp, high quality graphics. Paired with a Dual-core 1.4 GHz Cyclone processor, based on the ARM V8.
The iPhone weighs just 129g, and is 13.8 x 6.7 x 0.7 cm in size (L x W x D), making it very portable, whilst still maintaining a good sized screen.
The iPhone 6 has between 16 and 128 GB of internal storage, with 1 GB of RAM (Random Access Memory).
There are over 1.5 million games and apps available for download from the App Store. Some games are free to download, whilst others require one-time payment.
The iPhone 6 is the sixth generation of iPhone, and the successor to the iPhone 5.
The major limitation of the Apple iPhone is the battery life. It does not last long, maybe 8 or so hours, before it needs to be recharged again.
Over 10 million were sold within the first 3 days alone.
Android (HTC ONE M9)
The HTC ONE M9 has a Qualcomm SnapDragon 810 processor, which runs at 2GHz.
The graphics are from a Adreno 430 card, which displays at 1080p on a 5" screen.
The ONE M9 has 3GB of RAM (Random Access Memory).
The Android Smartphone has 16GB of storage, which can be expanded by purchasing SD cards, which have up to 128GB of storage space.
The Model 9 is small, at just 144.6 x 70.6 x 9.4mm (H x W x D), weighing 157 grams.
All games and apps can be downloaded from the Google Play Store, for free or a one-time payment. there are nearly 1.5 million games/apps available on the app store.
The HTC ONE M9 is the successor to the ONE M8, and is set to be released in the next couple of days.
The limitations are the same as the rival iPhone 6; short battery life, which means the battery has to be charged before it can be used again.
PC:
The graphics and processor capabilities depend on the hardware. The better than GPU/CPU are, the faster the computer will run, and the better the graphics will look.
Memory depends on the amount of RAM is in your computer. RAM can be added/removed from your PC at any time, assuming the motherboard has slots for the sticks. The fastest RAM available is DDR5.
As with the above, storage also depends on your hardware. 500GB - 3/4 TB. SSDs can greatly improve the speed of the storage in a computer, but cost much more than a HDD.
Whilst PCs are not portable, because of the size, laptops are much smaller and lighter, making it easier to be moved/transported.
Games on computers are almost unlimited. There are thousands of games available from distribution clients, such as Steam and Origin, as well as games which can be played in browsers.
Player interaction is usually through Keyboard and mouse, but steering wheels, joysticks and joy pads are just a few other ways you can interact with a computer.
Limitations of having a computer is the price of the hardware, which needs to be maintained and upgraded as it becomes outdated. There is also a higher risk of malicious files, but this can be managed by having common sense when using the internet, and having Anti-Virus software.
My favorite Platform(s):
As I have never used the following platforms, do I not have an opinion on them, and therefore I can not rank them.
- Original Xbox
- PS3
- Xbox One
- PS4
- PS Vita
- Wii U
Here is the ranking of my favorite platforms, from most to least favorite:
- Xbox 360
- PC
- PS2
- Wii
- PS1
The player interacts with the console using a DualShock 2 PlayStation Controller.
Over 155 million consoles have been sold worldwide.
Playstation 3:
The PlayStation 3 is a home video console, developed by Sony Computer Entertainment, and was released in EU and US in 2007, following delay due to part shortages, it was the successor to the PS2/Slim.
The processor is an NVIDIA RSX 'Reality Synthesizer', which was based on the NVIDIA G70.
The first PS3 was large, 9.8 x 32.5 x 27.4 cm, and weighed 5KG.
Total of 1575 game available now, with more being developed and released, and is not backwards compatible to the PS2.
Featured a 256 MB memory.
Storage varied, depending on which series was brought, and ranged from 40 GB to a 320 GB, though a special 500 GB was released as part of a bundle.
The player interacts with the console using a Dualhock 3 Playstation Controller.
Over 87 million consoles have been sold worldwide.
Playstation 4:
The processor has a total of 8 cores, based on AMD's Jaguar CPU. This processor runs at 1.6 GHz.
The GPU in the PlayStation 4 is an AMD Radeon GCN, with 18 CUs. The result is 60FPS 1080p graphics.
The memory of the PS4 is 8 GB of GDDR5, capable of a frequency of 2.75 GHz. This is 16x the amount of memory the PS3 had.
The console comes with a 500 GB internal storage hard drive.
There are over 400 games available for the PS4, with more being developed and released.
The PlayStation 4 is the fourth generation of consoles in the series, and is the latest to be released. A 5th generation PlayStation has not yet been announced.
The player interacts with the console using a DualShock 4 PlayStation Controller, which features a pad on the back, so the movement of the fingers on the pad can be used as an additional control.
Over 20 million consoles have been sold worldwide.
PSVita:
The PlayStation Vita is a handheld game console manufactured by Sony Computer Entertainment The Vita has the same buttons as the PlayStation Portable, with a couple of added features, such as the 2nd thumb stick and touch pad on the rear of the console..
There are over 900 games available for the PS Vita.
The Vita has a 2 GHz quad core AMR Cortex MPCore processor, and the graphics are from a Quad Core graphics card.
The Vita is a small hand held console, designed to be portable, and be used almost anywhere whilst on the move. The dimensions are 18.2cm x 1.8cm x 8.3cm (W x H x D).
It has 1GB of internal storage, with larger PSVita Memory Cards available with 4-64 GB available.. The Vita has has 512 MB of RAM (Random Access Memory).
The Vita is the successor to the Playstation Portable (PSP).
Limitations of a handheld console is the battery life. Use will drain the battery, and will need to be charged again before use. This can be managed by having a spare battery, which you can swap when one runs out of power.
A unique feature on the Vita is the touch pad on the rear of the console, which gives the player another way to interact with the console and it's games.
4 million consoles have been sold worldwide.
Xbox Original:
The original Xbox is a home video game console developed by Microsoft Studios, and released in 2001.
It had a custom Intel Celeron/Pentium III Hybrid, which clocked at 733 MHz, and a custom nVidia GeForce 3 NV2A DirectX 8.0, which ran at 233 MHz.
The Xbox had 64 MB of DDR SDRAM memory, which clocked at 200 MHz.
The player interacts with the console using official Microsoft controllers.
Over 24 million consoles have been sold worldwide.
Xbox 360:
The second generation of home video consoles developed by Microsoft studios, first released in 2005.
The 360 had an IBM PowerPC tri-core processor, which clocked at 3.2 GHz, a huge leap from the Xbox Original.
The graphics were from a custom ATi Radeon X1800 chip, which ran at 500 MHz.
The memory of the 360 was much improved from the Original, with 512 MB of GDDR3 RAM (Random Access Memory).
There are many different models of the 360, from the Arcade (White), Elite (Black), and slim (Matte or Metallic Black), each available with a variety of storage space.
Storage varied from 20 GB at release, to 250 GB hard drives, which are inserted either on the top of the console, for Arcade/Elite, or in a cage at the bottom for the slim.
The slim, pictured above, had a sleeker design, resulting in a smaller, lighter console, and improved cooling.
There are thousands of games released for the 360, and more still being developed and released 10 years after it's release. The 360 supported backwards compatibility for 50% of the Original's game library.
The player interacts with the console using the Xbox 360 controllers.
84 million consoles have been sold worldwide.
Xbox One:
The Xbox One has an AMD eight-core processor, which runs at 1.75 GHz. It also has an AMD Radeon HD 7000 graphics card, which clocks at 853 MHz.
The Xbox One has 8GB of DDR3 RAM, and 32 MB of GPU Frame buffer memory.
Because it was released recently, and does not feature backwards compatibility, the XBO does not have many big games, mainly small Indie games.
As with the previous consoles from Microsoft, the players interact with the console using controllers.
10 million consoles have been sold worldwide.
Nintendo Wii:
Nintendo Wii is a home video console developed by Nintendo, released in 2006, and competes against the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.
The console has a PowerPC processor, which runs at 700 MHz, and an ATI Holywood GPU, running at 250 MHz.
Because of the small size of the console, 1.7 x 6.1 x 8.4 inches, (W x H x D), it only weighs 2.7 lbs, making it the lightest home console.
There are over 1200 games available for the Wii.
Successor to the Nintendo GameCube, predecessor to the Wii U.
The Wii has 88 MB of memory, 24 of which is integrated for the graphics, and 64 MB External SDRAM. It also had 512 MB of storage with a built-in NAND Flash memory, but up to 32 GB SDHC memory cards are available.
The Nintendo featured motion sensor controllers that allowed the player to manipulate game actions with hand actions. This innovative HCI influenced the development of the Xbox Kinect and Playstation Move.
Over 101 million consoles have been sold worldwide.
Nintendo DS:
The Nintendo DS in a hand held game console, developed by Nintendo, and first released in 2004. Since then, there have been endless models in the series, such as the DS Lite, DSi, DSi Xl, 2DS and 3DS.
The latest DS in the series is the 3DS, which is the first hand held console to utilise 3D technology.
The graphics processor is a custom PICA200, developed by Digital Media Professionals.
The size of the console varies from model to model, but are small enough to fit into bags/purses and deep pockets, for use when on the move.
The processor is an ARM11 MP-Core-based dual core processor. The 3DS uses one core for games and apps, whilst the other runs the operating system, allowing for background tasks. The processor is compatible with previous DS games.
The console has a 1 GB internal flash storage, but can be expanded using SDXC memory cards, available with up to 128 GB. The console has 128 MB of system memory, from 2 FCRAM chips. It also has 6 MB of RAM (Random Access Memory).
There are over 600 games released for the 3DS, but because of it's backwards compatibility, it has many more games available for it.
The Nintendo DS line is the successor to the Nintendo Game Cube. The 3DS is the most recent model available.
What makes the DS series unique is it's two screen. One is a touchscreen, which is interacted with fingers or a style, whilst the top screen displays a 2D image of the game, or in the 3DS's case, a 3D image.
A limitation for the DS is the lower quality hardware than other consoles, such as Wii or PS/Xbox. Graphics and sound will be of a poorer quality than other consoles, in order for the console to run smoothly.
Over 154 million consoles have been sold worldwide.
Nintendo Wii U
The Wii U is a home video game console, developed by Nintendo, and released in 2012.
The graphics are run by a GX2 GPGPU for Wii U games, and a GX GPU, which runs Wii games, as the console is backwards compatible. The GX2 is designed by AMD, based on their Radeon R700, and runs at 550 MHz.
The processor is is a custom chip, designed by AMD, is a tri-core processor with a 3MB cache, clocked to 1.24GHz. It is based on PowerPC's 750 chip.
The console has 2GB of DDR3 system memory, consisting on 4 512MB DRAM chips.
The console includes either an 8GB or 32GB internal flash memory, which can be expanded to 2TB with external disc drives.
The Wii U is the successor to the Nintendo Wii.
There are nearly 500 games available for the Wii U, including some big name Wii exclusives, such as Super Mario Bros and Legend Of Zelda.
The Wii U has an interactive controller, similar to the touch pad of a DS, which is used to interact with many of the games available.
Over 9 million consoles have been sold worldwide.
Apple (iPhone 6)
The iPhone 6 has a PowerVR GX6450 graphics processor, which has 4 cores, resulting in sharp, high quality graphics. Paired with a Dual-core 1.4 GHz Cyclone processor, based on the ARM V8.
The iPhone weighs just 129g, and is 13.8 x 6.7 x 0.7 cm in size (L x W x D), making it very portable, whilst still maintaining a good sized screen.
The iPhone 6 has between 16 and 128 GB of internal storage, with 1 GB of RAM (Random Access Memory).
There are over 1.5 million games and apps available for download from the App Store. Some games are free to download, whilst others require one-time payment.
The iPhone 6 is the sixth generation of iPhone, and the successor to the iPhone 5.
The major limitation of the Apple iPhone is the battery life. It does not last long, maybe 8 or so hours, before it needs to be recharged again.
Over 10 million were sold within the first 3 days alone.
Android (HTC ONE M9)
The HTC ONE M9 has a Qualcomm SnapDragon 810 processor, which runs at 2GHz.
The graphics are from a Adreno 430 card, which displays at 1080p on a 5" screen.
The ONE M9 has 3GB of RAM (Random Access Memory).
The Android Smartphone has 16GB of storage, which can be expanded by purchasing SD cards, which have up to 128GB of storage space.
The Model 9 is small, at just 144.6 x 70.6 x 9.4mm (H x W x D), weighing 157 grams.
All games and apps can be downloaded from the Google Play Store, for free or a one-time payment. there are nearly 1.5 million games/apps available on the app store.
The HTC ONE M9 is the successor to the ONE M8, and is set to be released in the next couple of days.
The limitations are the same as the rival iPhone 6; short battery life, which means the battery has to be charged before it can be used again.
PC:
The graphics and processor capabilities depend on the hardware. The better than GPU/CPU are, the faster the computer will run, and the better the graphics will look.
Memory depends on the amount of RAM is in your computer. RAM can be added/removed from your PC at any time, assuming the motherboard has slots for the sticks. The fastest RAM available is DDR5.
As with the above, storage also depends on your hardware. 500GB - 3/4 TB. SSDs can greatly improve the speed of the storage in a computer, but cost much more than a HDD.
Whilst PCs are not portable, because of the size, laptops are much smaller and lighter, making it easier to be moved/transported.
Games on computers are almost unlimited. There are thousands of games available from distribution clients, such as Steam and Origin, as well as games which can be played in browsers.
Player interaction is usually through Keyboard and mouse, but steering wheels, joysticks and joy pads are just a few other ways you can interact with a computer.
Limitations of having a computer is the price of the hardware, which needs to be maintained and upgraded as it becomes outdated. There is also a higher risk of malicious files, but this can be managed by having common sense when using the internet, and having Anti-Virus software.
My favorite Platform(s):
As I have never used the following platforms, do I not have an opinion on them, and therefore I can not rank them.
- Original Xbox
- PS3
- Xbox One
- PS4
- PS Vita
- Wii U
Here is the ranking of my favorite platforms, from most to least favorite:
- Xbox 360
- PC
- PS2
- Wii
- PS1
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