The Seventh Generation

Seventh Generation Video Games - What's that? Here's a brief history.

We are now all experiencing The dsl vs broadband Generation of Mcmb Tmnet games. You might say that we are all Children of the Seventh Generation; everyone and all ages and yet, one wonders how many have even heard of it!

The Seventh Generation brought the arrival of new disc formats, albeit that only one format seems to have survived to this day: the Blue-ray disc Tmcom used by the PlayStation 3 and the HD DVD as used by the Xbox 360. The XBox HD DVD was used through an optional accessory but this later fell by the wayside in the format war that ensued. Not Microsoft's finest moment!

One really significant feature to arrive on the scene windows anti virus the use of motion as an input medium. This is of course used extensively by the Nintendo Wii and also by different means, the Playstation 3. The Wii of course also utilises Infra Red tracking; perhaps the mainstay of the Wii concept. Last but not least, all Seventh Generation systems support standard wireless controllers.

Of course, only the biggest players in manufacturing have been able to develop the Seventh Generation Streamyx Mobility systems:

XBox 360

Microsoft are behind the XBox 360 and believe it or not, this was launched as long ago asNovember 2005. Their HD DVD drive didn't really take off and although originally available as an accessory, the format has been dropped.

The XBox Live service can be connected to the internet either through its built-in Ethernet port or its Wi-Fi accessory. Currently available in three versions, the XBox can be bought in the entry level "Arcade" version; a Standard version using a hard drive and an "Elite" version, also using HD. The biggest difference between these versions is their storage capacity.. The Arcade edition has 256MB storage, the Standard version has a 60GB hard drive capacity, whilst the Elite comes with a 120GB drive. They all come with wireless controllers and to make it clear Internet Service Provider one has splashed out on the Elite, the console and controllers are in Black, so your friends wireless broadband speed test definitely know! The other differences relate to what games are bundled, cables etc.

The Xbox 360 is capable of Broadband Subscription full 1080p through HDMI and component cables.

Sony Playstation 3

The Sony Playstation 3 was launched in Japan and the USA in November 2006. Europe had to wait for the PS3 until March 2007.

All PlayStation 3s come with a hard drive and are able to play Blue-ray disc movies and games, straight from the box. The PlayStation 3 was the first video game console to support HDMI out of the box, utilizing full 1080p. For the anoraks out there, "HDMI" stands for High-Definition Multimedia Interface and the "1080" refers to the number of lines of vertical resolution and 1080 horizontal scan lines - those who remember the old CRT televisions will remember being able to see the lines as there were far less. The bottom line with HDMI is fabulous resolution!

It is possible to connect up to seven devices to the console through Bluetooth, including the controllers with tilt-sensing capabilities.

There are a number of versions of Playstation 3 on the market but they appear to vary according to the region in which purchased. No doubt there is wisdom in the regionalised marketing but to go into the various specifications extend beyond the scope of this brief article. Anyway, in the writer's opinion, they are all good!

The Nintendo Wii

The Nintendo Wii was launched in the USA in November 2006 and in Japan, Australia and Europe in December 2006.

At Telekom Malaysia Berhad with the other Seventh Generation systems, the Wii does not utilise an internal hard drive. One can argue that the lack of moving parts for a system that is expected to take a few knocks, might be regarded as an advantage as the Wii uses 512 MB of internal Flash memory and removable SD card storage. SD stands for "Secure Digital" and you have most likely used one of these in your mobile telephone or even your camera or video recorder.

Although a fan of the Wii, one has to admit that the maximum resolution output of only 480p is a slight disappointment, making it the only seventh generation console not outputting high-definition graphics. However, the fun to be had and lower price is generally regarded as more than adequate compensation.

Central to the Wii experience is the Wii's cutting edge controller, which aficionados will know as "the Wii remote" and it does indeed resemble a TV remote control unit. The players face the system sensor, which also emits infrared light. This is captured by an infrared receiver in the Wii remote and is then translated by the brilliant software to interpret orientation relative to the source. People used to think one would need to use Virtual Reality headgear to experience this sensation. It was the stuff you would see in Sci-Fi movies. The Wii has brought this into the average family's living room.

The Wii is the first Nintendo console to be back-compatible with previous Nintendo consoles and will be seen as a bonus for owners of GameCube games; in fact the Wii will support four GameCube controllers and two memory cards.

All in all.............

It is fair to say that Seventh Generation has changed the way people see Video Games. Previously the exclusive territory of children and adolescents, the Seventh Generation console systems are being purchased increasingly by mature adults.

Welcome to The Seventh Generation!

Sometimes using a pseudonym, I am a young at heart 60 year-old, exploring and now working in the fascinating dimension of Internet Marketing. After 36 years as a CPA/Auditor, it's like breathing pure Oxygen! Two of my early sites are http://www.lawrencesupersite.com and its UK sister-site: http://www.lawrencesupersite.co.uk

This phone began life as a member of Japanese carrier KDDI au's ongoing Design Project series, a line of concepts geared at envisioning tomorrow's phones -- and a pretty impressive number of those concepts ultimately go on to become production phones. In checking out the Ply concept last year, we said "the phone itself is pretty stunningly beautiful, so we'd love to see it on the streets of Tokyo even if it meant nixing the printer," and indeed, that's what they've done; the original idea was for each "layer" of the phone to represent some wild function like printing or pico-projecting, but now, the layer tabs are nothing more than stylized buttons accessing totally pedestrian features like keylock and camera. Here's our take: when your phone looks this much like five pieces of wood sandwiched together, that's a totally acceptable sacrifice to High Speed Broadband Internet It'll be available in three colors later this month as a member of KDDI's iida designer series, which means that if you're outside Japan, your odds of getting in on it are precisely zero.

KDDI's curious Ply goes from concept to reality in one years' time originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 09 Sep 2009 07:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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