In the world of electronic gaming you can narrow it down to three main streams. The Arcade game machines, the PC and the TV plug-in home entertainment consoles.
When it comes to home gaming, you needn’t be an Abraham to remember the 8-bit, blocky Atari- and Intellivision systems of the 1980s, and before those, the ZX Spectrum-type systems. In the space of just a few decades the home gaming advances seemed to go from the Stone Age to the Space Age.

With the home gaming systems it has a lot to do with both the processing power of the machine, and the storage capacity of the software delivery system on which the game is loaded.
Some of the old TV plug-in computers of the past utilized magnetic audio cassettes! This evolved into the cartridges reigning for many years (and still available today), from Space Invaders and Pac-Man, to Sonic The Hedgehog and Mortal Combat.
Once digital CD technology started to push analogue systems like 8-tracks, vinyl, cassettes and reel-to-reel systems out of the way as the consumer market leader for audio, other applications were being experimented with.
The first PlayStation console dramatically jacked up the quality of games with the larger CD storage capacity.
Things did not lie stagnant from there onwards, but evolved together with technology, smaller and more powerful processors, and discs with even more storage capacity. Enter the DVD. With over 5 times more space than your regular CD, the possibilities expanded yet again and gave birth to the PlayStation 2. The PS2 took gaming to yet another level and added the capability of watching DVD movies in addition to playing games. And with this came more realism, more detail, more opportunity for game developers to let their imaginations fly in the direction of any genre and beyond – motor racing, martial arts, war, puzzle- and strategy games, beat ‘em ups, shoot ‘em ups, surreal fantasy worlds, underground, outer space, platform themes…the list is endless.
Basic gaming criteria also started to expand by incorporating high quality rendered (and often live action) movies linking up game stages imbued with a sense of narrative, drama, mood and atmosphere. No wonder many games have been turned into movies – and vice versa.

The improved High Definition quality comes into its true right when used on an HD TV with 1080 resolution lines (as opposed to our regular television set’s 480 lines). Most of us cannot afford the top range screens (some a couple of metres wide!), but this is the future of home entertainment and your large LCD or plasma screen TV will become the focal point of your home, be it for watching TV, movies, gaming, picture downloads or browsing the web.

Sony’s new PlayStation 3 system is an all-encompassing entertainment monster. It offers you the highest quality in home gaming with the fastest processor ever on the platform, and consolidates all of your entertainment and lifestyle components - from storing all of your pictures and music to video and data. Your portable PSP can also be connected via Bluetooth. The first shipment of 20Gig consoles supported your PS2 games as well, but not the 40Gig one! That sucks, and is probably the PS3's biggest complaint. It supports a variety of memory cards and multiple outputs from HDMI, and LAN, to Digital and regular AV out. The look of the controls haven’t changed much, but is now cordless and utilizes a six-axis control with motion sensitivity, allowing you to use the control as a floating steering or trigger device. You can listen to Compact Discs, Super Audio CDs, or watch movies on DVD or Blu-ray.
Especially when paired with the right screen, the HD quality of the new Blu-ray discs is phenomenal (holding up to five times more space than regular DVDs).
But, with all of these advances, this also introduces the dilemma of weighing your options – cost and quality. Can you afford to dish out to such a degree? Are you not really all that phased by ultimate picture quality? Do you want the best technology has to offer? The leap between video and DVD is a noticeable one – if you’re happy with the current DVD quality, and don’t need the super-intensity of the new advancement, is it worth spending the cash?
Are you perhaps going the route of waiting for the prices to drop? This cannot however be guaranteed and you may be losing out in the long run – especially if the prices start to rise!
Nothing is free, and nothing good is often cheap.
A fine quality new Blu-ray player can cost you in the region of R8 000 – excluding a screen and sound system…
A PS3 with multiple application possibilities comes in at almost R2 000 less.
If it is within your budget, and you want more than just watch movies, the choice may be an obvious one.

PLAYSTATION MOVE

With all gaming systems venturing into getting people off the couch, freeing up the controls and placing the player inside its world, Move is PlayStation's addition to this new technology. Hitting the streets about a year ago, with most new technology it takes a while to integrate and for developers to come up with truly exciting titles and not just your basic obvious cartoon-like releases.

Flowing from their revolutionary EyeToy camera developed during the PS2 era, the new PlayStation Eye combined with the Move motion control is key - the camera detecting the position of the control's light orb in 3D space and thus linking you to the game, and in mosy cases, placing you within it.
One of the new developments in 2013 include the Wonderbook, where a book with strategic glyphs on each page is detected by the camera, allowing fo augmented relaity to emerge and enter your world.

Next Generation Guncon®

• Next Generation Guncon® – The most advanced Guncon ever, redesigned specifically to enhance next-gen gameplay.
• New dual analog stick design - Change camera angles, switch out weapons and control your character’s movement, including crouching and jumping.
• Full compatibility with all displays 13" to 50" - Enjoy the adrenaline pumping action in HD quality graphics whether you have an LCD, plasma or widescreen display. (Also supports Standard Definition displays)
• FPS mode – Exclusive to the console version and entirely new to the Time Crisis universe, roam freely as a new, console exclusive playable character, and experience FPS style gameplay in 5 new stages.
• Multiple modes – Time Crisis® 4 delivers intense-action in numerous modes of play including:
• Complete Mission - Play through a combination of original stages and brand new FPS stages.
• Arcade - Experience arcade action in your very own living room!
• Crisis Missions - The popular Crisis Missions are back and more exciting than ever, now with new tactical missions! Destroy biological weapons and complete other objectives requiring the utmost in stealth and precision.
• Mini Games - Test your sharp shooting skills and complete your objective within seconds, or go head-to-head with a friend in a variety of challenging mini games.
• Upgraded Arsenal – In addition to your standard weapons assortment, such as handguns and shotguns, upgrade to grenade launchers and mounted machine guns (FPS mode only) to increase your lethal arsenal. Also features unlockable console exclusive bonus weapons. Select your weapon and be prepared to assault enemies from every direction.

- Paul Blom