1.
Nintendo
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Nintendo Co. Ltd. is a Japanese multinational consumer electronics and video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. Nintendo is one of the worlds largest video game companies by market capitalization, founded on 23 September 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it originally produced handmade hanafuda playing cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small businesses, such as cab services. The word Nintendo can be translated from Japanese to English as leave luck to heaven. From 1992 until 2016, Nintendo was also the majority shareholder of Major League Baseballs Seattle Mariners, as of 31 March 2014, Nintendo has cumulative sales of over 670.43 million hardware units and 4.23 billion software units. The company has created and released some of the best-known and top-selling video game franchises, such as Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo was founded as a card company in late 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi. Based in Kyoto, Japan, the produced and marketed a playing card game called Hanafuda. The handmade cards soon became popular, and Yamauchi hired assistants to mass-produce cards to satisfy demand, in 1949, the company adopted the name Nintendo Karuta Co. Ltd. doing business as The Nintendo Playing Card Co. outside Japan. Nintendo continues to manufacture playing cards in Japan and organizes its own contract bridge tournament called the Nintendo Cup. In 1956, Hiroshi Yamauchi, grandson of Fusajiro Yamauchi, visited the U. S. to talk with the United States Playing Card Company and he found that the biggest playing card company in the world was using only a small office. Yamauchis realization that the card business had limited potential was a turning point. He then acquired the license to use Disney characters on playing cards to drive sales, in 1963, Yamauchi renamed Nintendo Playing Card Co. Ltd. to Nintendo Co. Ltd. The company then began to experiment in other areas of business using newly injected capital during the period of time between 1963 and 1968, Nintendo set up a taxi company called Daiya. However, Nintendo was forced to sell it because problems with the unions were making it too expensive to run the service. It also set up a hotel chain, a TV network. All of these ventures failed, and after the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, playing card sales dropped. In 1966, Nintendo moved into the Japanese toy industry with the Ultra Hand, Yokoi was moved from maintenance to the new Nintendo Games department as a product developer. Nintendo continued to produce toys, including the Ultra Machine, Love Tester
2.
Game controller
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A game controller is a device used with games or entertainment systems to provide input to a video game, typically to control an object or character in the game. A controller is connected to a game console or computer by means of a wire or cord, although, since the mid-2000s. Input devices that have been classified as game controllers include keyboards, mouses, gamepads, joysticks, special purpose devices, such as steering wheels for driving games and light guns for shooting games, are also game controllers. Game controllers have been designed and improved over the years to be as user friendly as possible, the Microsoft Xbox controller, with its shoulder triggers that mimic actual triggers such as those found on guns, has become popular for shooting games. Some controllers are designed to be deliberately best for one type of game, such as steering wheels for driving games, One of the first video game controllers was a simple dial and single button, used to control the game Tennis for Two. Controllers have since evolved to include directional pads, multiple buttons, analog sticks, joysticks, motion detection, touch screens, a gamepad, also known as a joypad, is held in both hands with thumbs and fingers used to provide input. Gamepads can have a number of action buttons combined with one or more omnidirectional control sticks or buttons, action buttons are generally handled with the digits on the right hand, and the directional input handled with the left. Gamepads are the means of input on most modern video game consoles. Most modern game controllers are a variation of a standard gamepad, common additions include shoulder buttons placed along the edges of the pad, centrally placed buttons labeled start, select, and mode, and an internal motor to provide haptic feedback. As modern game controllers advance, so to does their user ability qualities, typically, the controllers become smaller and more compact as to more easily, and comfortably, fit within the users hand. Modern examples can be drawn from such as Xbox, whose controller has transformed subtly, yet dramatically. A paddle is a controller that features a wheel and one or more fire buttons. The wheel is used to control movement of the player or of an object along one axis of the video screen. Paddle controllers were the first analog controllers and they lost popularity when paddle, a variation, the Atari driving controller, appeared on the Atari 2600. Designed specifically for the game Indy 500, it functioned almost identically in operation, the exceptions were that its wheel can be continuously rotated in either direction, and it was missing the extra paddle included on the previous model. Unlike a spinner, friction prevented the wheel from gaining momentum, a joystick is a peripheral that consists of a handheld stick that can be tilted around either of two axes and twisted around a third. The joystick is used for flight simulators. HOTAS controllers, composed of a joystick and throttle quadrant are a combination for flight simulation among its most fanatic devotees
3.
Analog stick
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An analog stick, sometimes called a control stick, joystick, or thumbstick is an input device for a controller that is used for two-dimensional input. An analog stick is a variation of a joystick, consisting of a protrusion from the controller, while digital sticks rely on single electrical connections for movement, analog sticks use continuous electrical activity running through potentiometers. The analog stick has greatly overtaken the D-pad in both prominence and usage in console video games, in a video game, an analog stick is often used to move some game object, usually the playable character. It may also be used to rotate the camera, usually around the character, the analog stick can serve a great variety of other functions, depending on the game. Today many analog sticks can also be pushed in like conventional face buttons of a controller and its use is prevalent in 3D games, where more than 8 directions are needed. Using a D-pad in a 3D game greatly limits the ability to move, for example, in a 3D platform game like Super Mario 64, using a D-pad would allow Mario to move forward, backwards, left and right, but nothing in between. With the prevalence of analog sticks, the limitations of the D-pad ceased to be an issue. Two analog sticks offer greater functionality than a single stick, on some modern game controllers, the left stick is positioned to the upper left of the D-pad while the right stick is positioned to the lower left of the face buttons. The Classic Controller for the Wii also uses this configuration, with genres such as action, adventure games, platforming, and shooting, the left stick normally controls the characters movement while the second stick controls the camera. The use of an analog stick alleviated problems in many earlier platform games. In Namcos Katamari Damacy and its sequels, both analog sticks are used at once to control the players character, Sonys PSP has been criticized for the lack of a second analog nub to accompany the left-hand one, a criticism that was later also leveled at Nintendos 3DS. Nintendo has since released an add-on for the 3DS that adds, among other things, the follow-up to the PSP, the PlayStation Vita, features dual analog sticks. It is the first handheld console to do so. The New Nintendo 3DS and New Nintendo 3DS XL added a second analog controller, the first consumer games console which had analog joysticks was the Prinztronic/Acetronic/Interton series, launched in 1976. This system was widely cloned throughout Europe and available under several brand names, the 2 sticks each used a pair of potentiometers, but were not self-centering. In 1982, Atari released a controller with an analog joystick for their Atari 5200 home console. However, its non-centering joystick design proved to be ungainly and unreliable, during that same year, General Consumer Electronics introduced the Vectrex, a vector graphics based system which used a self-centering analog joystick. In 1985, Segas third-person rail shooter game Space Harrier, released for the arcades, Segas analog Mission Stick was released for the Saturn console on September 29,1995
4.
D-pad
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Like early video game joysticks, the vast majority of D-pads are digital, in other words, only the directions provided on the D-pad buttons can be used, with no intermediate values. However, combinations of two directions do provide diagonals and many modern D-pads can be used to provide eight-directional input if appropriate, although digital D-pads offer less flexibility than analog sticks, they can easily be manipulated with very high accuracy. They are also far less demanding in maintenance and do not protrude very far from the controller, making them ideal for consoles such as the Game Boy, DS. D-pads have appeared on other kinds of equipment, including A/V remote controls, calculators, PDAs, smartphones. A precursor to the D-pad was the four buttons used in arcade games such as UPLs Blockade. A precursor to the standard D-pad on a game console was used by the Intellivision. The Intellivisions unique controller featured the first alternative to a joystick on a home console, similar directional buttons were also used on the Atari Game Brain, the unreleased precursor to the Atari 2600, and on some early dedicated game consoles such as the VideoMaster Star Chess game. Nintendos known cross design was developed in 1982 by Gunpei Yokoi for their Donkey Kong handheld game and this particular design was patented and later earned a Technology & Engineering Emmy Award. In 1984, the Japanese company Epoch created a game system called the Epoch Game Pocket Computer. It featured a D-pad, but it was not popular for its time, all major video game consoles since have had a D-pad of some shape on their controllers. To avoid infringing on Nintendos patent, most controller manufacturers use a cross in a shape for the D-pad. Sega coined the term D button to describe the pad, using the term describing the controllers for the Sega Genesis in instruction manuals. Arcade games, however, have continued using joysticks. Modern consoles, beginning with the Nintendo 64, provide both a D-pad and a compact thumb-operated analog stick, depending on the game, one type of control may be more appropriate than the other. In many cases with games that use a thumbstick, the D-pad is used as a set of buttons, all four usually centered on a kind of task. Even without a stick, some software uses the D-pads eight-directional capabilities to act as eight discrete buttons. Jam Sessions for the Nintendo DS, for example, uses the D-pad to select music chords during play, many, though not all, such designs include a trigger button in the center of the button arrangement, usually labeled Enter, OK, or the like. Some older devices do not have d-pads as such, but simple single-axis, on some remotes, the d-pad can also be used to control a robot using a signal-compatible receiver
5.
Accelerometer
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An accelerometer is a device that measures proper acceleration, proper acceleration is not the same as coordinate acceleration. For example, an accelerometer at rest on the surface of the Earth will measure an acceleration due to Earths gravity, by contrast, accelerometers in free fall will measure zero. Accelerometers have multiple applications in industry and science, highly sensitive accelerometers are components of inertial navigation systems for aircraft and missiles. Accelerometers are used to detect and monitor vibration in rotating machinery, accelerometers are used in tablet computers and digital cameras so that images on screens are always displayed upright. Accelerometers are used in drones for flight stabilisation, coordinated accelerometers can be used to measure differences in proper acceleration, particularly gravity, over their separation in space, i. e. gradient of the gravitational field. This gravity gradiometry is useful because absolute gravity is a weak effect, micromachined accelerometers are increasingly present in portable electronic devices and video game controllers, to detect the position of the device or provide for game input. An accelerometer measures proper acceleration, which is the acceleration it experiences relative to freefall and is the acceleration felt by people and objects. Put another way, at any point in spacetime the equivalence principle guarantees the existence of an inertial frame. Such accelerations are popularly denoted g-force, i. e. in comparison to standard gravity, an accelerometer at rest relative to the Earths surface will indicate approximately 1 g upwards, because any point on the Earths surface is accelerating upwards relative to the local inertial frame. The reason for the appearance of an offset is Einsteins equivalence principle. For similar reasons, an accelerometer will read zero during any type of free fall and this includes use in a coasting spaceship in deep space far from any mass, a spaceship orbiting the Earth, an airplane in a parabolic zero-g arc, or any free-fall in vacuum. Another example is free-fall at a high altitude that atmospheric effects can be neglected. However this does not include a fall in air resistance produces drag forces that reduce the acceleration. At terminal velocity the accelerometer will indicate 1 g acceleration upwards, Acceleration is quantified in the SI unit metres per second per second, in the cgs unit gal, or popularly in terms of standard gravity. For the practical purpose of finding the acceleration of objects with respect to the Earth, such as for use in a navigation system. This can be obtained either by calibrating the device at rest, conceptually, an accelerometer behaves as a damped mass on a spring. When the accelerometer experiences an acceleration, the mass is displaced to the point that the spring is able to accelerate the mass at the rate as the casing. The displacement is measured to give the acceleration
6.
Gyroscope
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A gyroscope is a spinning wheel or disc in which the axis of rotation is free to assume any orientation by itself. When rotating, the orientation of this axis is unaffected by tilting or rotation of the mounting, according to the conservation of angular momentum, because of this, gyroscopes are useful for measuring or maintaining orientation. Due to their precision, gyroscopes are used in gyrotheodolites to maintain direction in tunnel mining. Gyroscopes can be used to construct gyrocompasses, which complement or replace magnetic compasses, a gyroscope is a wheel mounted in two or three gimbals, which are a pivoted supports that allow the rotation of the wheel about a single axis. In the case of a gyroscope with two gimbals, the gimbal, which is the gyroscope frame, is mounted so as to pivot about an axis in its own plane determined by the support. This outer gimbal possesses one degree of freedom and its axis possesses none. The inner gimbal is mounted in the frame so as to pivot about an axis in its own plane that is always perpendicular to the pivotal axis of the gyroscope frame. This inner gimbal has two degrees of rotational freedom, the axle of the spinning wheel defines the spin axis. The rotor is constrained to spin about an axis, which is perpendicular to the axis of the inner gimbal. So the rotor possesses three degrees of freedom and its axis possesses two. The wheel responds to a force applied to the axis by a reaction force to the output axis. The behaviour of a gyroscope can be most easily appreciated by consideration of the front wheel of a bicycle. If the wheel is leaned away from the vertical so that the top of the moves to the left. In other words, rotation on one axis of the turning wheel produces rotation of the third axis, a gyroscope flywheel will roll or resist about the output axis depending upon whether the output gimbals are of a free or fixed configuration. Examples of some free-output-gimbal devices would be the attitude reference gyroscopes used to sense or measure the pitch, roll, the centre of gravity of the rotor can be in a fixed position. Some gyroscopes have mechanical equivalents substituted for one or more of the elements, for example, the spinning rotor may be suspended in a fluid, instead of being pivotally mounted in gimbals. In some special cases, the outer gimbal may be omitted so that the rotor has two degrees of freedom. Essentially, a gyroscope is a top combined with a pair of gimbals, Tops were invented in many different civilizations, including classical Greece, Rome, and China
7.
Near-field communication
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NFC devices are used in contactless payment systems, similar to those used in credit cards and electronic ticket smartcards and allow mobile payment to replace/supplement these systems. NFC is used for networking, for sharing contacts, photos, videos or files. NFC-enabled devices can act as electronic identity documents and keycards, NFC offers a low-speed connection with simple setup that can be used to bootstrap more capable wireless connections. Similar ideas in advertising and industrial applications were not generally successful commercially, outpaced by technologies such as barcodes, NFC protocols established a generally supported standard. When one of the devices has Internet connectivity, the other can exchange data with online services. NFC-enabled portable devices can be provided with software, for example to read electronic tags or make payments when connected to an NFC-compliant apparatus. NFC reader/writer—enables NFC-enabled devices to read information stored on inexpensive NFC tags embedded in labels or smart posters, NFC peer-to-peer—enables two NFC-enabled devices to communicate with each other to exchange information in an adhoc fashion. NFC tags are passive data stores which can be read, and under some circumstances written to and they typically contain data and are read-only in normal use, but may be rewritable. Applications include secure personal data storage, NFC tags can be custom-encoded by their manufacturers or use the industry specifications. The standards were provided by the NFC Forum, the forum was responsible for promoting the technology and setting standards and certifies device compliance. Secure communications are available by applying encryption algorithms as is done for credit cards, NFC standards cover communications protocols and data exchange formats and are based on existing radio-frequency identification standards including ISO/IEC14443 and FeliCa. The standards include ISO/IEC18092 and those defined by the NFC Forum, in addition to the NFC Forum, the GSMA group defined a platform for the deployment of GSMA NFC Standards within mobile handsets. GSMAs efforts include Trusted Services Manager, Single Wire Protocol, testing/certification, a patent licensing program for NFC is under deployment by France Brevets, a patent fund created in 2011. This program was under development by Via Licensing Corporation, an independent subsidiary of Dolby Laboratories, a platform-independent free and open source NFC library, libnfc, is available under the GNU Lesser General Public License. Present and anticipated applications include contactless transactions, data exchange and simplified setup of more complex such as Wi-Fi. This is used for identification, authentication and tracking,1983 The first patent to be associated with the abbreviation RFID was granted to Charles Walton. 1997 Early form patented and first used in Star Wars character toys for Hasbro, the patent was originally held by Andrew White and Marc Borrett at Innovision Research and Technology. The device allowed data communication between two units in close proximity,2002 Sony and Philips agreed to establish a technology specification and created a technical outline on March 25,2002
8.
Bluetooth
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Bluetooth is a wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, and building personal area networks. Invented by telecom vendor Ericsson in 1994, it was conceived as a wireless alternative to RS-232 data cables. It can connect up to seven devices, overcoming problems that older technologies had when attempting to connect to each other. Bluetooth is managed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, which has more than 30,000 member companies in the areas of telecommunication, computing, networking, the IEEE standardized Bluetooth as IEEE802.15.1, but no longer maintains the standard. The Bluetooth SIG oversees development of the specification, manages the qualification program, a manufacturer must meet Bluetooth SIG standards to market it as a Bluetooth device. A network of patents apply to the technology, which are licensed to individual qualifying devices, the development of the short-link radio technology, later named Bluetooth, was initiated in 1989 by Nils Rydbeck, CTO at Ericsson Mobile in Lund, Sweden, and by Johan Ullman. The purpose was to develop wireless headsets, according to two inventions by Johan Ullman, SE 8902098-6, issued 1989-06-12 and SE9202239, issued 1992-07-24, Nils Rydbeck tasked Tord Wingren with specifying and Jaap Haartsen and Sven Mattisson with developing. Both were working for Ericsson in Lund, the specification is based on frequency-hopping spread spectrum technology. The idea of this name was proposed in 1997 by Jim Kardach who developed a system that would allow mobile phones to communicate with computers, at the time of this proposal he was reading Frans G. Bengtssons historical novel The Long Ships about Vikings and King Harald Bluetooth. The implication is that Bluetooth does the same with communications protocols, the Bluetooth logo is a bind rune merging the Younger Futhark runes and, Haralds initials. Bluetooth operates at frequencies between 2402 and 2480 MHz, or 2400 and 2483.5 MHz including guard bands 2 MHz wide at the end and 3.5 MHz wide at the top. This is in the globally unlicensed Industrial, Scientific and Medical 2.4 GHz short-range radio frequency band, Bluetooth uses a radio technology called frequency-hopping spread spectrum. Bluetooth divides transmitted data into packets, and transmits each packet on one of 79 designated Bluetooth channels, each channel has a bandwidth of 1 MHz. It usually performs 800 hops per second, with Adaptive Frequency-Hopping enabled, Bluetooth low energy uses 2 MHz spacing, which accommodates 40 channels. Originally, Gaussian frequency-shift keying modulation was the modulation scheme available. Since the introduction of Bluetooth 2. 0+EDR, π/4-DQPSK and 8DPSK modulation may also be used between compatible devices, devices functioning with GFSK are said to be operating in basic rate mode where an instantaneous data rate of 1 Mbit/s is possible. The term Enhanced Data Rate is used to describe π/4-DPSK and 8DPSK schemes, the combination of these modes in Bluetooth radio technology is classified as a BR/EDR radio. Bluetooth is a protocol with a master-slave structure
9.
Lithium polymer battery
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A lithium polymer battery, or more correctly lithium-ion polymer battery, is a rechargeable battery of lithium-ion technology using a polymer electrolyte instead of the more common liquid electrolyte. High conductivity semisolid polymers form the electrolyte for LiPo cells are being used in tablet computers, after that, other packaging forms evolved, including the pouch format now also called LiPo. Lithium polymer cells have evolved from lithium-ion and lithium-metal batteries. The primary difference is instead of using a lithium-salt electrolyte held in an organic solvent. The solid electrolyte can be classified as one of three types, dry SPE, gelled SPE and porous SPE. The dry SPE was the first used in batteries, around 1978 by Michel Armand, Domain University, and 1985 by ANVAR and Elf Aquitaine of France. From 1990 several organisations like Mead and Valence in the United States, in 1996, Bellcore in the United States announced a rechargeable lithium polymer cell using porous SPE. A typical cell has four components, positive electrode, negative electrode, separator. The separator itself may be a polymer, such as a film of polyethylene or polypropylene, thus, even when the cell has a liquid electrolyte. In addition to this, the electrode can be further decomposed in three parts, the lithium-transition-metal-oxide, a conductive additive, and a polymer binder of poly. The negative electrode material may have the three parts, only with carbon replacing the lithium-metal-oxide. To prevent the electrodes from touching each other directly, a separator is in between which allows only the ions and not the electrode particles to migrate from one side to the other. For LiPo battery packs with cells connected in series, a specialised charger may monitor the charge on a per-cell basis so that all cells are brought to the state of charge. Unlike lithium-ion cylindrical and prismatic cells, which have a metal case, LiPo cells have a flexible, foil-type case. By themselves the cells are over 20% lighter than equivalent cylindrical cells of the same capacity, being lightweight is an advantage when the application requires minimum weight, such as in the case of radio controlled models. LiPo cells provide manufacturers with compelling advantages and they can easily produce batteries of almost any desired shape. For example, the space and weight requirements of mobile phones, also, they have low-self discharge rate, which is about 5% per month. Test reports warn of the risk of fire when the batteries are not used in accordance with the instructions, as of mid 2016, LiPo packs of 1.3 Ah exist, providing 95C continuous discharge, and short-time 190C bursts
10.
Wii U GamePad
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The Wii U GamePad is the standard controller for Nintendos Wii U video game console. Incorporating traits from tablet computers, the GamePad has traditional input methods, touchscreen controls, the touchscreen can be used to supplement a game by providing alternate, second screen functionality or an asymmetric view of a scenario in a game. The screen can also be used to play a game strictly on the GamePad screen, conversely, non-gaming functions can be assigned to it as well, such as using it as a television remote. The Wii U GamePad can be used in conjunction with other controllers compatible with the console, such as the Wii Remote Plus, Wii Balance Board, and the more conventional Wii U Pro Controller. Nintendos development team had determined that the Wiis notification light did not provide information to be useful beyond whether it had received content or not. Satoru Iwata explained that the design is intended to allow players to see games in a different way. With the Wii Us Miiverse social networking functionality, Iwata also likened the controllers screen to a social window, gyroscopic capabilities were added by the team specifically to aid in aiming for first and third person shooter games. The Nintendo EAD development team created two prototypes, a monitor with two Wii Remotes glued to the sides, and a display attached to a Wii Zapper. In a prototype shown at E3, the controller had featured circle pads similar to those of the Nintendo 3DS, on June 3,2012, Nintendo officially unveiled the final version of the controller, named Wii U GamePad, in a video presentation preceding E32012. The presentation confirmed the changes, and unveiled other features making use of the screen. The GamePads primary feature is its 6.2 in, FWVGA, resistive touchscreen display, which can be controlled with either fingers or an included stylus. The screen can be used as a supplement to gameplay to provide functionality that can be controlled using the screen. The GamePads display contents are streamed as video from the using a custom protocol. Nintendos first presentation of the controller in 2011 led to confusion upon whether the Wii U would support the use of multiple GamePads, during Nintendos E32012 presentation, it was confirmed that Wii U games can theoretically support up to two GamePads simultaneously. This was never put into practice however, Remote Play Xbox SmartGlass Wii Remote Wii U system details
11.
Nintendo Switch
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The Nintendo Switch is the seventh major home video game console developed by Nintendo. Known in development as the NX, it was unveiled in October 2016, Nintendo considers the Switch a hybrid console, it is designed primarily as a home console, with the main unit inserted onto a docking station to connect to a television. Alternatively, it can be removed from the dock and used similarly to a computer through its LCD touchscreen. The Switch supports both physical flash ROM cartridges and digital content for games and software, and does not use region locking. From 2014, Nintendo had several quarters of financial losses due to poor sales of its previous console, the Wii U. Then-Nintendo president Satoru Iwata pushed the company towards mobile gaming and novel hardware, the Switchs design is aimed at a wider demographic of video game players through the multiple modes of use, while retaining Nintendos hardware uniqueness and innovation. Nintendo saw 2014 as one of its largest financial losses in its modern history, previously, the company had been hesitant about this market, with then-president Satoru Iwata considering that they would cease to be Nintendo and lose their identity if they attempted to enter it. Following Iwatas death in July 2015, Kimishima was named as president of Nintendo, in an interview with Asahi Shimbun, Kimishima stated that the Switch was designed to provide a new way to play that would have a larger impact than the Wii U. In some cases, games for the Switch are designed to encourage social interactions in groups, Kimishima said that as Nintendo is an entertainment company, they see games on the Switch that encourage enjoyable social interactions such as these as supporting their ultimate goals. EPD deputy general manager Yoshiaki Koizumi served as the producer of the Switch during development. According to Miyamoto, the Switchs development within Nintendo was headed by employees, with him saying. its really been them that have put this forward. For Miyamoto, his limited involvement allowed him to more time on Nintendos software titles being developed at the time. The development of the Switch continued Nintendos blue ocean approach for the competitive console marketplace, One choice made by the development team was to use an existing system on a chip rather than creating their own as they had done on previous consoles. Koizumi said that this break from tradition was to help be able to gain more third-party support for the console by using an SOC they could easily port to. The first public news of the Switch hardware was alongside the announcement of Nintendo, at this stage, Nintendo referred to the console under the codename NX, and described it as a brand new concept. At an investors meeting in April 2016, Nintendo announced that it planned to release the NX worldwide in March 2017. At a Nintendo shareholders meeting following the conference, Miyamoto stated that the company had concerns that competitors could copy ideas from the NX if they revealed it too soon. The following month, rumors began to surface surrounding the nature of the console, including its use of Nvidia Tegra hardware, and being a hybrid device intended for both home and mobile use
12.
Wii Remote
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The Wii Remote, also known colloquially as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendos Wii console. Another feature is its expandability through the use of attachments, the attachment bundled with the Wii console is the Nunchuk, which complements the Wii Remote by providing functions similar to those in gamepad controllers. Some other attachments include the Classic Controller, Wii Zapper, the controller was revealed at the Tokyo Game Show on September 14,2005, with the name Wii Remote announced April 27,2006. It has since received much attention due to its unique features, the Wiis successor console, the Wii U, supports the Wii Remote and its peripherals in games where use of the features of the Wii U GamePad is not imperative. Development of a motion enabled controller began in 2001, coinciding with development of the Wii console, in that year, Nintendo licensed a number of motion-sensing patents from Gyration Inc. a company that produces wireless motion-sensing computer mice. At this point, Gyration Inc. brought in a design firm Bridge Design to help pitch its concept to Nintendo. Under requirement to preserve the existing Game Cube button layout, it experimented with different forms through sketches, models. By late 2004, early 2005, however, Nintendo had come up with the Wii Remotes less traditional wand shape, and the design of the Nunchuk attachment. Nintendo had also decided upon using a sensor, infrared pointer, and the layout of the buttons. Coincidentally, this idea would later be implemented on the Wii Us GamePad controller, sources also indicate that the Wii Remote was originally in development as a controller for the Nintendo GameCube, rather than the Wii. Video game developer Factor 5 stated that development of launch title Star Wars Rogue Squadron II, Rogue Leader. As the Wii gained in popularity, reports surfaced of counterfeit Wii Remotes entering circulation, although these devices may provide the same functionality as official Wii Remotes, the build quality is typically inferior and components such as the rumble pack and speaker are noticeably different. It is also unclear if current and future accessories will operate correctly with counterfeit units due to the differences in internal components, the Wii Remote assumes a one-handed remote control-based design instead of the traditional gamepad controllers of previous gaming consoles. This was done to make motion sensitivity more intuitive, as a design is fitted perfectly for pointing. The body of the Wii Remote measures 6.2 in long,36.2 mm wide, the Wii Remote model number is RVL-003, a reference to the project codename Revolution. The controller communicates wirelessly with the console via short-range Bluetooth radio, however, to utilize pointer functionality, the Wii Remote must be used within five meters of the Sensor Bar. The controllers symmetrical design allows it to be used in either hand, the Wii Remote can also be turned horizontally and used like a Famicom/NES controller, or in some cases a steering wheel. It is also possible to play a game with a Wii Remote in each hand
13.
Gamepad
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A gamepad, is a type of game controller held in two hands, where the fingers are used to provide input. They are typically the main input device for video game consoles, gamepads generally feature a set of buttons handled with the right thumb and a direction controller handled with the left. The direction controller has traditionally been a four-way digital cross, there are programmable joysticks that can emulate keyboard input. Generally they have made to circumvent the lack of joystick support in some computer games. Initially used toggle switches built into the computer display to control the game. These switches were awkward and uncomfortable to use, so Alan Kotok and Bob Saunders built and this device has been called the earliest gamepad. The third generation of video games saw many changes. Nintendo developed a device for directional inputs, a D-pad with a cross design for their Donkey Kong handheld game. This design would be incorporated into their Game & Watch series, though developed because they were more compact than joysticks, and thus more appropriate for handheld games, game designers soon discovered that D-pads were more comfortable to use than joysticks. The original Sega Genesis control pad has three buttons, but a six-button pad was later released. The inclusion of six action buttons was influenced by the popularity of the Street Fighter arcade series, for most of the 1980s and early 1990s, analog joysticks were the predominant form of gaming controller for PCs, while console gaming controllers were mostly digital. This changed in 1996, when all three major consoles introduced an optional analog control, despite these changes, gamepads essentially continued to follow the template set by the NES controller. Gamepads failed to any soft of dominance outside of the home console market, though several PC gamepads have enjoyed popularity. In 1994 Logitech introduced the CyberMan, the first practical six degrees of freedom controller, but due to its price, poor build quality. Industry insiders blame the CyberMans high profile and costly failure for the gaming industrys lack of interest in developing 3D control over the several years. The Wii Remote is shaped like a remote control and contains tilt sensors and three-dimensional pointing which allows the system to understand all directions of movement. The controller is also multifunctional and includes a bay which can be used with different types of peripherals. An analog stick peripheral called Nunchuk also contains an accelerometer but unlike the Wii Remote, gamepads are also available for personal computers
14.
USB-C
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USB Type-C, commonly known as simply USB-C, is a 24-pin, fully reversible plug USB connector system allowing transport of data and energy. The USB Type-C Specification 1.0 was published by the USB Implementers Forum and was finalized in August 2014 and it was developed at roughly the same time as the USB3.1 specification. A device that implements USB-C does not necessarily support USB3.1 or USB Power Delivery, the USB-C connectors connect to both hosts and devices, replacing various USB-B and USB-A connectors and cables with a standard meant to be future-proof. The 24-pin double-sided connector is slightly larger than the micro-B connector, connecting an older device to a host with a USB-C receptacle requires a cable or adapter with a USB-A or USB-B plug or receptacle on one end and a USB-C plug on the other end. Legacy adapters with a USB-C receptacle are not defined or allowed by the specification because they can create many invalid, devices may be hosts or peripherals. Some, such as phones, can take either role depending on what kind is detected on the other end. These types of ports are called Dual-Role-Data, when two such devices are connected, the roles are randomly assigned but a swap can be commanded from either end. Furthermore, dual-role devices that support USB Power Delivery may independently and dynamically swap data and this allows for charge-through hub or docking station applications where the Type-C device acts as a USB data host while acting as a power consumer rather than a source. USB-C devices may optionally support bus power currents of 1.5 A and 3, USB-C3.1 cables are considered full-featured USB-C cables. They are electronically marked cables that contain a chip with an ID function based on the configuration channel, Cable length should be ≤2 m for Gen 1 or ≤1 m for Gen2. USB-C2.0 cables do not have shielded SuperSpeed pairs, sideband use pins, increased cable lengths up to 4 m are supported. All USB-C cables must support 3 A current, cables supporting high-power 5 A current must contain e-marker chips programmed to identify the cable as being 5A capable, USB Charging ports should also be clearly marked with supported power wattage. Full-featured USB-C cables that support USB3.1 Gen 2 can handle up to 10 Gbit/s data rate at full duplex and they are marked with a SuperSpeed+ logo. There are also cables which support only USB2.0 with up to 480 Mbit/s data rate, there are USB-IF certification programs available for USB-C products and end users are recommended to use USB-IF certified cables. USB-C plug supports analog headsets through an audio adapter accessory with a 3.5 mm socket providing four standard analog audio signals, the audio adapter may optionally include a USB-C pass-through plug to allow 500 mA device charging. The engineering specification states that a 3.5 mm analog headset jack should not replace a USB-C plug, analog signals use the USB2.0 positive differential pair and the two side-band use pairs. The presence of the accessory is signalled through the configuration channel. An Alternate Mode dedicates some of the wires in a USB-C3.1 cable for direct device-to-host transmission of alternate data protocols
15.
AA battery
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The AA battery—also called a double A or Mignon battery—is a standard size single cell cylindrical dry battery. The IEC60086 system calls it size R6, and ANSIC18 calls it size 15, historically, it is known as HP7 in official documentation the United Kingdom, though it is colloquially known as a double A battery. AA batteries are common in electronic devices. An AA battery is composed of an electrochemical cell that may be either a primary battery or a rechargeable battery. The exact terminal voltage and capacity of an AA size battery depends on cell chemistry, however, ANSI and IEC Battery nomenclature gives several designations for cells in this size, depending on cell features and chemistry. An AA cell measures 49. 2–50.5 mm in length, alkaline AA cells have a weight of roughly 23 g, lithium AA cells have a mass around 15 g, and rechargeable Ni-MH cells around 31 g. Primary zinc–carbon AA batteries have around 400–900 milliamp-hours capacity, with measured capacity highly dependent on test conditions, duty cycle, zinc–carbon batteries are usually marketed as general purpose batteries. Zinc-chloride batteries store around 1000 to 1500 mAh are often sold as heavy duty or super heavy duty, alkaline batteries from 1700 mAh to 3000 mAh cost more than zinc-chloride batteries, but last proportionally longer. Lithium iron disulfide batteries are intended for use in equipment compatible with alkaline zinc batteries, a fresh alkaline zinc battery can have an open-circuit voltage of 1.6 volts, but an iron-disulfide battery with an open-circuit voltage below 1.7 volts is entirely discharged. Lithium ion chemistry has a voltage of 3. 6-3.7 volts. Nickel-zinc cell AAs are also available, but not widely used, in 2011, AA cells accounted for approximately 60% of alkaline battery sales in the United States. In Japan, 58% of alkaline batteries sold were AA, known in country as tansan. In Switzerland, AA batteries totaled 55% in both primary and secondary battery sales, list of battery sizes Battery nomenclature Datasheet for Energizer alkaline AA battery Datasheet for Energizer lithium AA battery Datasheet for Duracell alkaline AA battery
16.
Wii Sports
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Wii Sports is a sports game developed and published by Nintendo as a launch title for the Wii video game console. The game was first released in North America along with the Wii on November 19,2006, and was released in Japan, Australia, and Europe the following month. Wii Sports is now available on its own as part of the Nintendo Selects collection of games and is no longer a game for the Wii. The game is a collection of five sports simulations, designed to demonstrate the capabilities of the Wii Remote to new players. The five sports included are tennis, baseball, bowling, golf, players use the Wii Remote to mimic actions performed in real-life sports, such as swinging a tennis racket. The rules for each game are simplified to make more accessible to new players. The game also features training and fitness modes that monitor players progress in the sports, overall, Wii Sports has been well received by critics and received awards from the gaming press and entertainment community. As of September 30,2016,82.79 million copies in total had been sold worldwide, Wii Sports has been featured on television in Wii commercials, news reports, and other programming. The game has become a means for social gatherings and competitions among players of varying ages. A sequel, Wii Sports Resort, was released in 2009, featuring Wii MotionPlus support, while a high-definition remake, Wii Sports consists of five separate sports games—tennis, baseball, bowling, golf, and boxing—accessed from the main menu. The games use the sensor capabilities of the Wii Remote. The player moves the remote in a manner to how the separate games are played in real life, for example, holding and swinging the Wii Remote like a golf club. Some aspects of the gameplay are computer controlled, in tennis, player movement is controlled by the Wii, while the swinging of the racket is controlled by the player. Baseball consists of batting and pitching, with all of the fielding and baserunning handled by the Wii, the in-game characters are taken from the Wiis Mii Channel, which allows the user to create a Mii that can be imported into games that support the feature. Wii Sports is the first Wii title to use this feature, Miis saved on the Wii will appear in the crowd during bowling games and as members of human-controlled teams in baseball. The non-player characters in the game were created using the Mii Channel toolset. Miis created on one Wii can be transferred onto the memory of a Wii Remote for use on another Wii with different save data. After a game, a player is awarded or penalized skill points based on relative to the computers skill level
17.
Wii Fit
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Wii Fit is a video game designed by Nintendos Hiroshi Matsunaga for the Wii home video game console. It is a game consisting of activities using the Wii Balance Board peripheral. As of March 2012, Wii Fit has held the position of third best selling console game not packaged with a console, the game uses a unique platform peripheral called the Wii Balance Board, on which the player stands during exercise. The game features yoga, strength training, aerobics, and balance games, Matsunaga described the game as a way to help get families exercising together. Wii Fit has been used for rehabilitation and has been adopted by various health clubs around the world. Additionally, the game has used in nursing homes to improve posture in the elderly. The game has received positive reviews, despite criticism over the lack of intensity in some of its workout activities. Wii Fit requires the use of the Wii Balance Board, a unique platform peripheral that the player stands upon during play. Similar to a scale, the Wii Balance Board is capable of measuring a persons weight, but is also able to detect the persons center of balance. Wii Fit contains more than 40 activities designed to engage the player in physical exercise, which consist of yoga poses, strength training, aerobics, most activities generally focus on maintaining COB and improving posture. Players register and play in Wii Fit via a profile, assigned with the players date of birth, height, and Mii character. Physical activities done outside of Wii Fit can also be logged into the profile, Wii Fit allows up to eight different profiles to be registered. The yoga and strength training activities in Wii Fit provide the player with a personal trainer. While standing or otherwise leaning on the Wii Balance Board, the player is instructed to perform the activity by precisely imitating the trainers actions. In yoga, the player holds a pose or series of poses for a duration of time. During these sessions, the player is shown a visual indication of his or her COB, the trainer advises the player to maintain the COB throughout the activity, requesting that it not move outside a particular threshold. When the activity ends, the player is scored based on how well the player kept his or her balance during the session, there are 30 yoga and strength training activities included in Wii Fit. The other two categories in Wii Fit, Aerobics and Balance Games, consist of 18 minigame activities that feature Miis as playable characters
18.
Motion controller
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A motion controller controls the motion of some object. Frequently motion controllers are implemented using digital computers, but motion controllers can also be implemented with analog components as well. Motion controllers require a load, a mover, some sensors. It was followed by similar devices, including the ASUS Eee Stick, Sony PlayStation Move. The Sega AM2 arcade game Hang-On, designed by Yu Suzuki, was controlled using a game arcade cabinet resembling a motorbike. The invention was registered as patent initially in Israel on May 111988 after 4 years of R&D. In 1992 the first complete Light Harp was created by Assaf Gurner and Oded Zur and was presented to Sega of America, However, it was a failure due to its unwieldiness. Another early motion-sensing device was the Sega VR headset, first announced in 1991 and it featured built-in sensors that tracked the players movement and head position, but was never officially released. The Atari Mindlink was an early proposed motion controller for the Atari 2600, which measured the movement of the users eyebrows with a fitted headband
19.
Amiibo
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Amiibo is Nintendos wireless communications and storage protocol, for use between compatible toys-to-life figurines, and the Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, and Nintendo Switch gaming platforms. It was launched in November 2014 in the form of software updates. These figurines are similar in form and functionality to that of the Skylanders, the platform was preannounced to potentially accommodate any form of figurine, specifically including general plans for future card games. These figurines use near field communication to interact with supported video game software, potentially allowing data to be transferred in and out of games and across multiple platforms. Amiibo can be used directly with the Nintendo Switch, Wii U GamePad, New Nintendo 3DS series, by September 2016, Nintendo reported that 39 million Amiibo had been sold, along with 30.6 million Amiibo cards. The new system was codenamed NFP, standing for either Nintendo Figurine Platform or NFC Featured Platform, Nintendo is known as a video game company, but in fact, it is also a toy company. Amiibo were first released in North America on November 21,2014, in Europe on November 28,2014, the Super Mario series, featuring Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Bowser, and Toad, arrived on March 20,2015 for both regions. In 2015, Nintendo began to extend the Amiibo line into new form factors, on February 27,2015, on April 1,2015, Nintendo unveiled Animal Crossing, Happy Home Designer, a spin-off in the Animal Crossing series that will utilise Amiibo cards. Nintendo also unveiled Amiibo yarn plushies as a tie-in for Yoshis Woolly World, during the E32015 Nintendo Direct on June 16,2015, Activision revealed Bowser and Donkey Kong Amiibo and vehicles for use in Skylanders, SuperChargers. These Amiibo are compatible with either the Skylanders games or Amiibo games by means of a switch on their bases. They will work across platforms in Skylanders, SuperChargers and it is the first Amiibo of a non-Nintendo character that is not associated with a first-party title, previous Amiibo of third-party characters were associated with Super Smash Bros. Explaining the arrangement, a Nintendo representative stated that we were like, there is also a The Legend of Zelda Amiibo line, It initially began solely with the Wolf Link Amiibo, which is mainly used in The Legend of Zelda, Twilight Princess HD. It will be expanded with the 30th Anniversary collection, and the Breath of the Wild collection, the Amiibo line quickly spiked in popularity, with preorders selling out before the products became available to the public. While Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata stated that Amiibo will be kept in stock, the rarity of certain Amiibo influenced the prices held by online retailers and auctions, of which most can be seen offering select Amiibo at prices above the retail price. Nintendo acknowledged these issues in early May 2015, the retailer continued this practice with its exclusive release of the Palutena Amiibo as well as those released on September 11,2015. Following this announcement, rarer Amiibo such as Wii Fit Trainer, Meta Knight, and Ike have been receiving limited re-releases in North America. For the US, the exclusive Best Buy release of the Dark Pit Amiibo, the retailer announced it would not take any preorders or online orders, the Wii U, New Nintendo 3DS, and Nintendo Switch contain integrated NFC support, and can be used with Amiibo. On Wii U, Amiibo are scanned using an NFC reader contained within the Wii U GamePad, the Nintendo Switch similarly features an NFC reader in both the Joy-Con R and Pro Controller
20.
Haptic technology
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Haptic or kinesthetic communication recreates the sense of touch by applying forces, vibrations, or motions to the user. Haptic devices may incorporate tactile sensors that measure forces exerted by the user on the interface, most researchers distinguish three sensory systems related to sense of touch in humans, cutaneous, kinesthetic and haptic. All perceptions mediated by cutaneous and/or kinesthetic sensibility are referred to as tactual perception, the sense of touch may be classified as passive and active, and the term haptic is often associated with active touch to communicate or recognize objects. Haptic technology has made it possible to investigate how the sense of touch works by allowing the creation of carefully controlled haptic virtual objects. The word haptic, from the Greek, ἁπτικός, means pertaining to the sense of touch and comes from the Greek verb ἅπτεσθαι haptesthai, One of the earliest applications of haptic technology was in large aircraft that use servomechanism systems to operate control surfaces. Such systems tend to be one-way, meaning external forces applied aerodynamically to the surfaces are not perceived at the controls. Here, the normal forces are simulated with springs and weights. In lighter aircraft without servo systems, as the aircraft approached a stall the aerodynamic buffeting was felt in the pilots controls and this was a useful warning of a dangerous flight condition. This control shake is not felt when servo control systems are used, alternatively, the servo force may be measured and the signal directed to a servo system on the control, known as force feedback. Force feedback has been implemented experimentally in some excavators and is useful when excavating mixed material such as large rocks embedded in silt or clay and it allows the operator to feel and work around unseen obstacles, enabling significant increases in productivity and less risk of damage to the machine. The first US patent for a telephone was granted to Thomas D. Shannon in 1973. An early tactile man-machine communication system was constructed by A. Michael Noll at Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc. in the early 1970s, the Interactor Vest is worn over the upper torso and the audio signal is reproduced through a speaker embedded in the vest. Both the Vest and the Cushion were launched with a tag of $99. In 1995 Norwegian Geir Jensen described a wrist watch haptic device with a skin tap mechanism and it would connect to a mobile phone via Bluetooth. Tapping-frequency patterns would identify callers to a mobile and enable the wearer to respond by selected short messages and it was submitted for a governmental innovation contest and received no award. It was not pursued or published until recovered in 2015, the Tap-in device by Jensen was devised facing the user to avoid twisting of the wrist, see image. It would adapt across all mobile phone and watch brands, in 2015 Apple started to sell a wrist watch which included skin tap sensing of notifications and alerts to mobile phone of the watch wearer. A tactile electronic display is a kind of device that presents information in tactile form
21.
Polygon (website)
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Polygon is an American video game website that publishes news, culture, reviews, and videos that was launched on October 24,2012. The site distinguishes itself from competitors by focusing on the stories of the people behind the games instead of the games themselves and they also produce long-form magazine-style feature articles, video content, and allow review scores to be updated as a game changes. The 16-person founding staff included the editors-in-chief of the gaming sites Joystiq, Kotaku, Vox produced a documentary series about the founding of the site. Polygon is Vox Medias third property, the gaming blog Polygon was launched on October 24,2012, as Vox Medias third property. The site grew from technology blog The Verge, which was launched a year earlier as an outgrowth of sports blog network SB Nation before the Vox Media was formed, Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff approached Joystiq editor-in-chief Christopher Grant in early 2011 about starting a video game website. Bankoff considered video games to be a vertical market for Vox. He also saw games to be a market in consideration of mobile. Forbes described Bankoffs offer as a commitment to online journalism in an age of content farms and disappearing print publications. Upon seeing the effort that Vox put into The Verge, their Chorus content management system, Grant wanted the new site to compete with top gaming websites GameSpot and IGN, but still be able to run longform magazine-style journalism that could be of historic interest. As part of the attempt to redefine games journalism, Vox made a 13-part documentary series of the sites creation that tracked the sites creation from start to launch. Forbes described Polygons original 16-person staff as star-studded for including the editors-in-chief from three competing video game blogs, Grant left Joystiq in January 2012 and brought the editors-in-chief of Kotaku and The Escapist, Brian Crecente and Russ Pits. Other staff included Joystiq managing editor Justin McElroy and staff from UGO, IGN, MTV, Videogamer. com, ben Kuchera joined the site after The Penny Arcade Report closed in November 2013. The team works remotely from places including Philadelphia, New York, West Virginia, San Francisco, Sydney, London, the site was developed over the course of ten months, where the staff chose the sites name and set standards for their reporting and review score scale. Polygon staff published on The Verge as Vox Games beginning in February 2012, the sites name was announced at a PAX East panel in April. It refers to a basic visual building block of video games. In March 2016, editors from Polygon and SB Nation launched a new Vox Media venture, The Rift Herald, Polygon publishes video game news, entertainment, reviews, and video. They sought to set their content apart from games journalism outlets by focusing on the people making and playing the games rather than the games alone. At the sites outset, Polygon planned to run multiple longform feature articles weekly, the site received criticism for its comparatively low review score given to The Last of Us, which was later increased with the games remastered edition
22.
Eurogamer
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Eurogamer is a website and YouTube channel focused on video game news, reviews and other features. It is operated by Gamer Network Ltd. with headquarters in Brighton, East Sussex, the site primarily caters to a UK/Ireland audience, Gamer Network operates other sites using the Eurogamer brand that caters to other European countries. Most of its reviews are of European or PAL releases of the games, eurogamers current editor is Oli Welsh, who took over the role from Tom Bramwell in September 2014. The editor prior to Bramwell was Kristan Reed. biz editor Rob Fahey, Eurogamer founder Rupert Loman was interviewed in February 2007 by MCV magazine. He was also featured in the Sunday Telegraph on 19 August 2007, at the Games Media Awards, Eurogamer won the categories of Best Games Website – News, and Best Games Website – Reviews & Features in 2007. Deputy Editor Tom Bramwell won Best Writer in Specialist Digital Media, News editor Wesley Yin-Poole won Best News Writer in 2014. Rupert Loman was winner of Entrepreneur of the Year 2003 at the Sussex Business Awards and he was also selected as one of 30 Young Guns by Growing Business magazine in October 2008. At the Leipzig Games Convention in August 2006, Eurogamer launched their first non-English language site of the franchise, in April 2011, Eurogamer Netherlands and Eurogamer Belgium merged to form Eurogamer Benelux. Eurogamer Romania closed down in 2011, in November 2012, Eurogamer launched their first non-European site, Brasilgamer, and 2012–2013 also saw the launch of USgamer, Gamer Networks US flagship multi-format games website. Eurogamer has a site, GamesIndustry. biz, which reports on the global video games industry. In May 2008 the site launched the GamesIndustry. biz Network for industry professionals, Eurogamer has hosted the Digital Foundry channel since 2007. Digital Foundry evaluates video game hardware and software from a technical level, often comparing performances of the same game across different platforms
23.
The Verge
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The Verge is an American technology news and media network operated by Vox Media. It has offices in Manhattan, New York City, the network publishes news items, long-form feature stories, product reviews, podcasts, and an entertainment show. The website uses its own proprietary publishing platform with video content, the networks content is financed through advertising and sponsorship and is managed by its editor-in-chief Nilay Patel and executive editor Dieter Bohn. The site launched on November 1,2011, the Verge won five Webby Awards for the year 2012 including awards for Best Writing, Best Podcast for The Vergecast, Best Visual Design, Best Consumer Electronics Site, and Best Mobile News App. Throughout the 2010s, AOL began to acquire websites in pursuit of a new content strategy for the company. One of their first acquisitions was Weblogs, Inc. in 2005, a company that ran dozens of websites, including Engadget, according to Business Insider, Engadget became the industry-leading gadget site, and AOLs most popular and important media property. All Things Digital called it one of the largest in tech, joshua Topolsky became Engadgets editor-in-chief in 2007, and was responsible for new efforts like The Engadget Show and their mobile app, and the sites continued growth. When the acrimony between the two editors escalated in January 2011, AOL didnt intervene, the next month, an internal AOL editor training document called The AOL Way, a new content strategy that prioritized profitability metrics, leaked to the press. The document leaked before Engadget writers and editors saw it internally, the AOL Way dispirited the Engadget staff and created an ideological schism between the two entities. Topolsky and up to eight of Engadgets most prominent writers, editors, the other departing editors included managing editor Nilay Patel and staffers Paul Miller, Ross Miller, Joanna Stern, Chris Ziegler, as well as product developers Justin Glow, and Dan Chilton. In early April 2011, Topolsky announced that their new site would be done in partnership with sports news website SB Nation. Jim Bankoff of SB Nation saw an overlap in the two sites demographics and an opportunity to expand SB Nations model, Bankoff previously worked at AOL in 2005, where he led their Engadget acquisition. Other news outlets viewed the partnership as positive for both SB Nation and Topolskys staff, and negative for AOLs outlook, Bankoff also expressed a wish to attract other journalists and bloggers outside of the sports medium to Vox Media. Development of the Vox Medias content management system, Chorus, is led by Trei Brundrett, by August 2011, the site had reached 1 million unique visitors and 3.4 million page views. By October 2011, the site had 3 million unique views per month and 10 million total page views, time listed the site in its Best Blogs of 2011, calling the prototype site exemplary. The site closed upon The Verges launch on November 1,2011, on June 11,2014, The Verge launched a new section on TheVerge. com called This Is My Next, edited by David Pierce, as a buyers guide for consumer electronics. The Verge launched November 1,2011, along with an announcement of a new parent company, according to the company, the site launched with 4 million unique visitors and 20 million pageviews. At the time of Topolskys departure, Engadget had 14 million unique visitors, Vox Media overall doubled its unique visitors to about 15 million during the last half of 2012
24.
Destructoid
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Destructoid is a Webby Award-winning independent news website, that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez. It is part of the ModernMethod network, Destructoid was owned by Yanier Gonzalez so that he could attend the Electronic Entertainment Expo in 2006. After being rejected, Gonzalez began writing editorials and drawing cartoons which were picked up by established gaming blogs like Joystiq. In 2007 the site relaunched with user blogs, forums, yaniers blog was moved off the home page in favor of a staff-edited, multi-author format. Similar to IGN, Destructoid offers free registration and readers can submit off-homepage blogs, after E3, Gonzalez appeared at the press conference dressed as Mr. Destructoid to hand out promotional flyers. Gonzalez was the first to break the news of Jack Thompsons disbarment, Destructoid posts an average of 50 stories a day. It was among the first to break stories such as the Nintendo Wii controllers final design and its original editorial work gained mainstream syndication including the web show Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin. Destructoid reviews editor Jim Sterling ran a weekly podcast with associate editor Jonathan Holmes, when Jim Sterling left Destructoid, the podcast was taken over by a new host with much less frequent updates. In 2008, Jim Sterling, a Destructoid editor, took part in a sponsored gaming marathon raising money for cancer patients. Raising $3,000 for the charity, Sterling and friend John Kershaw played a selection of games from the SingStar franchise, the event was broadcast live online for the duration of the event. In 2009, Niero, and other Destructoid editors continued the gaming marathon tradition on October 17–18 for cancer awareness raising $4,835.60 for Extra Life childrens hospital in Texas, in 2010, the Destructoid office hosted a 24-hour gaming marathon for the charity Extra Life. Community members raised over $6,000 for Childrens Miracle hospitals in Texas, Destructoid has also partnered with Revision 3 to build a clean water well in Africa through the Charity Water organization. In 2011, Destructoid hosted another marathon for Extra Life, raising $6909.16 for Childrens Miracle hospitals, in 2012, Destructoid hosted a 56-hour livestream on its Dtoid. tv channel, which raised over $7,000 for Habitat for Humanity. The Gonzalez flew to Costa Rica and assisted the build of a 32-house government project for families living in poverty in Liberia. Destructoid has been nominated for awards in video game coverage. The site was nominated for the inaugural Games Media Awards in 2007 under the “Non-Commercial Website or Blog” category, Destructoid was also selected as an Official Webby Honoree in the Games-Related category of the 11th Annual Webby Awards in 2007. They were nominated by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences in 2009 in the same category, the sites mascot, Mr. Destructoid, has appeared in various console, mobile, and PC video games. Mr. Destructoid later appeared in Bomberman Ultra, the PlayStation 3 port of Bomberman Live, Mr. Destructoids head is available as an unlockable helmet in PixelJAMs game Dino Run, by entering the password totinos in the cheats menu
25.
Gamasutra
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Gamasutra is a website founded in 1997 that focuses on all aspects of video game development. It is owned and operated by UBM TechWeb, a division of Unite Business Media, the articles can be filtered by either topic or category. Gamasutra encourages professionals to publish blogs in order to share their expertise with other developers, analysis articles are popular reads as writers spark discussions on game design and the various trends of the industry. Many postmortems have been published, ranging from independent games such as Okabu and The Path to major studio projects such as Okamiden, there are currently over 150 collected post-mortems dating back as far as 1997. Learning from Past Post-Mortems” that details the most common mistakes that developers make as admitted in the articles, Gamasutra requires users who wish to publish articles on the website to work with the features director Christian Nutt, whether they have fleshed-out drafts, an outline, or a concept. The editorial staff offers help in shaping, polishing, and editing articles before publication, a broad range of topics can be selected given the audience, which consists of businesspeople, educators, and developers, both professional and aspiring. The articles are required to contain at least 1500 words, though the length tends to be 2500 to 3500 words. Gamasutra also requires a thirty-day exclusivity period from the date of publication, after which the writer is free to take the article elsewhere, users are also allowed to comment on articles, but there is a strict set of rules. Users are encouraged to post only constructive thoughts that add to the conversation, GameSetWatch is an alternative video game weblog and sister site of Gamasutra. com. It is dedicated to collecting curious links and media for offbeat and often ignored games from consoles old and new, as well as from the download, iOS. GameSetWatch was founded by Simon Carless in November 2005, GameSetWatch has remained up for readers but no new content has been posted since. The editors at the time Eric Caoili and Danny Cowan have taken different steps to help out at their sister sites, Cowan has gone to blog over at IndieGames. com and Caoili is at Gamasutra. IndieGames. com is Gamasutras sister site dedicated to reporting on indie games and it became the UBM TechWebs main method to deliver news about independent games after GameSetWatch closed. The IndieGames. com Podcast was started by Michael Rose and Tim in September 2010 and it is available to listen to online or download on the website or iTunes store. An episode is released every week with a guest indie developer hosting the podcast in addition to the two creators of the show, Tim was the independent owner and operator of the Independent Gaming Weblog which was shut down and sold to IndieGames. com in December 2007. Michael Rose is an editor and writer at IndieGames. com, the show has taken a hiatus since July 2012 and has no news of restarting as of yet. The interviews section of the site features interviews with indie game creators and developers, the interviewees answer a set of questions posed by the interviewer including questions regarding their inspirations and hardships. The page is split into three categories, desktop, console and mobile to organize the interviews by platform interests
26.
IGN
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The website was the brainchild of media entrepreneur Chris Anderson and launched on September 29,1996. It focuses on games, films, television, comics, technology, the company is located in San Franciscos SOMA district in California, United States. Originally a network of websites, IGN is now distributed on mobile platforms, console programs on the Xbox and PlayStation, FireTV, Roku, and via YouTube, Twitch, Hulu. IGN was sold to publishing company Ziff Davis in February 2013 and now operates as a J2 Global subsidiary. com, PSXPower, Saturnworld, Next-Generation. com and Ultra Game Players Online. Imagine expanded on its owned-and-operated websites by creating a network that included a number of independent fansites such as PSX Nation. com, Sega-Saturn. com, Game Sages. In 1998, the network launched a new homepage that consolidated the individual sites as system channels under the IGN brand, the homepage exposed content from more than 30 different channels. Next-Generation and Ultra Game Players Online were not part of this consolidation, dissolved with the cancellation of the magazine, and Next-Generation was put on hold when Imagine decided to concentrate on launching the short-lived Daily Radar brand. In February 1999, Imagine Media incorporated a spin-off that included IGN and its channels as Affiliation Networks. In September, the newly spun-out standalone internet media company, changed its name to Snowball. com, at the same time, small entertainment website The Den merged into IGN and added non-gaming content to the growing network. Snowball held an IPO in 2000, but shed most of its properties during the dot-com bubble. In June 2005, IGN reported having 24,000,000 unique visitors per month, with 4.8 million registered users through all departments of the site, IGN is ranked among the top 200 most-visited websites according to Alexa. In September 2005, IGN was acquired by Rupert Murdochs multi-media business empire, News Corporation, IGN celebrated its 10th anniversary on January 12,2008. IGN was headquartered in the Marina Point Parkway office park in Brisbane, California, on May 25,2011, IGN sold its Direct2Drive division to Gamefly for an undisclosed amount. In 2011, IGN Entertainment acquired its rival UGO Entertainment from Hearst Corporation, ultimately, News Corp. planned to spin off IGN Entertainment as a publicly traded company, continuing a string of divestitures for digital properties it had previously acquired. Financial details regarding the purchase were not revealed, prior to its acquisition by UGO, 1UP. com had previously been owned by Ziff Davis. Soon after the acquisition, IGN announced that it would be laying off staff and closing GameSpy, 1UP. com, the role-playing video game interest website Vault Network was acquired by IGN in 1999. GameStats, a review website, was founded by IGN in 2004. GameStats includes a GPM rating system incorporates an average press score and average gamer score
27.
Mii
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A Mii is a customizable avatar used on several Nintendo video game consoles. Miis were first introduced on the Wii, and later extended to the Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, Miis can be shared and transferred between consoles, either manually or automatically with other users over the internet and local wireless communications. On the 3DS and Wii U, user accounts are associated with a Mii as their avatar, on the Nintendo Switch, a Mii can still be used as an account avatar, but static display pictures are also available. Nintendos first public debut of free-form personal avatar software was at the Game Developers Conference in 1997, there, Shigeru Miyamoto said that the personal avatar concept had originally been intended as a Famicom game, where a user could draw a face onto an avatar. Miyamoto commented that the concept could not be turned into a game, in 1999, the 64DD, was launched in Japan. Nintendo had produced a film using the 64DDs Mario Artist, Talent Studios avatar maker, which includes clothes. The player can utilize the Game Boy Camera and the 64DDs Capture Cassette to put their own face upon the avatar. The next avatar implementation was for the Nintendo e-Reader and GameCube, along with the Game Boy Camera, it can build an avatar maker. Miyamoto showed another short film made with this software, which was shown at E32002 with the name Stage Debut. This software, renamed to Manebito, was discontinued prior to release, Mii characters are created and stored in the Mii Channel or the Mii Maker, which are pre-installed on the Wii and the Nintendo 3DS/Wii U consoles respectively. Most of the features can be further adjusted, including their size, position, color. Accessories such as hats and glasses are available to add. The features can then be fine-tuned by the user and these versions also have more options then their Wii counterpart. Because the selection of features is considered by some to be limited. Nintendo periodically releases special Miis, usually during E3 or to commemorate game, for a limited time between March 13 and March 29,2007, Wii owners in Japan were sent Mii versions of comedian Sanma Akashiya and tennis player Shuzo Matsuoka. The duo had been featured in Japanese promotions for the Wii, Miis of Satoru Iwata and Reggie Fils-Aime were released on the 3DS for the 1st anniversary of the handheld console. During 2013, Nintendo released special Miis of Shigeru Miyamoto and Kensuke Tanabe, and during E32013, also released special Miis for Takashi Tezuka, Koichi Hayashida, Eiji Aonuma, and Hideki Konno. Their Miis feature gold pants, as opposed to a gray pair, if owners transfer them to another Wii or Wii Remote, they will be removed from their original location, instead of traditionally making another copy
28.
Nintendo eShop
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The Nintendo eShop is a digital distribution service powered by the Nintendo Network for the Nintendo 3DS, Wii U and Nintendo Switch. Launched in June 2011, the eShop was enabled by the release of an update that added the functionality to the Nintendo 3DSs HOME Menu. It is the successor to both the Wii Shop Channel and DSi Shop, unlike on the Nintendo 3DS, the eShop was made available on the launch date of the Wii U, although a system update is required in order to access it. The Nintendo eShop features downloadable games, applications and information on upcoming film, the Nintendo eShop icon appears as part of the HOME Menu on the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS and requires an Internet connection to access. Initially, the two versions of the Nintendo eShop between the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U were independent of each other. The eShop stores a record of all downloads and purchases, allowing users to re-download previously purchased software at no additional charge, provided the software is still available on the eShop. Downloads can be started immediately, or they can be queued up, users upgrading from a Nintendo DSi system can transfer their previous DSiWare purchases to the Nintendo 3DS, with limited exceptions, such as Flipnote Studio and the DSi web browser. A December 2011 update enabled a similar feature allowing users to transfer their purchases between 3DS systems, prior to the implementation of Nintendo Network ID for the Nintendo 3DS in December 2013, only five transfers between Nintendo 3DS systems were permitted. The limit on system transfers has since been permanently waived, unlike the Wii Shop Channel and the DSi Shop services, which use Nintendo Points for purchases, the Nintendo eShop lists pricing in the appropriate regional currencies, such as dollars and euros. Accounts can be funded using either cards or prepaid cards purchased in stores. The Nintendo eShop can be accessed any time via the HOME menu screen, even when a game is already running and this feature, however, is only available on Wii U. Currently,10 downloads can be queued up at a time, the status of the downloads can be checked on the HOME menu under the Download Manager. If notifications are activated, a message will appear in the top right corner of the screen to notify the user that a download is finished. The Nintendo eShop supports user reviews of games, applications, after an eShop title has been acquired and used for at least one hour, users can then submit a review consisting of a crescent range of one to five stars, representing the titles quality. Users can also categorize games by age and gender, and as being suitable for hardcore or casual gamers. Wii U has Miiverse integration for user reviews on the Nintendo eShop, on September 13,2012, during a Japanese Nintendo Direct presentation, Satoru Iwata introduced a new dimension to Nintendos online offering, called Deluxe Digital Promotion /Nintendo Network Premium. It is a loyalty program similar to PlayStation Plus offered on PlayStation Network, the promotion was available through March 31,2015. The program was discontinued on April 1,2015 and the URL just leads to a discontinuation message and these can be applications, videos, or games
29.
Hulu
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Hulu is an American subscription video on demand service owned by Hulu LLC, a joint venture with The Walt Disney Company, 21st Century Fox, Comcast, and as of August 10,2016, Time Warner. It is primarily oriented towards television series, carrying current and past episodes of series from its owners respective television networks, the subscription service is, in turn, divided into advertising-supported and mostly ad-free tiers. In 2016, Hulu spun out its content into a joint venture with Yahoo. called Yahoo. View and announced plans for a television streaming service some time in 2017. The name Hulu comes from two Mandarin Chinese words, húlú, calabash, bottle gourd, and hùlù, interactive recording, the company blog explains, In Mandarin, Hulu has two interesting meanings, each highly relevant to our mission. The primary meaning interested us because it is used in an ancient Chinese proverb that describes the Hulu as the holder of precious things and it literally translates to gourd, and in ancient times, the Hulu was hollowed out and used to hold precious things. The secondary meaning is interactive recording and we saw both definitions as appropriate bookends and highly relevant to the mission of Hulu. Key executives instrumental in the founding of Hulu include Bruce Campbell, Peter Chernin, JB Perrette, Michael Lang, Beth Comstock, the venture was announced in March 2006 with AOL, Comcast, Facebook, MSN, Myspace, and Yahoo. planned as initial distribution partners. Kilar was named the CEO in June 2006, the name Hulu was chosen in late August 2007, when the website went live, with an announcement only and no content. It invited users to leave their addresses for the upcoming beta test. In October, Hulu began the private beta testing by invitation, Hulu launched for public access in the United States on March 12,2008. The first product to launch was the HULU Syndication network, which was designed and developed by the NBC Universal team from New York, on October 29,2007, followed by the Hulu. com destinations site. Hulu began a campaign during NBCs broadcast of Super Bowl XLIII with an initial ad starring Alec Baldwin titled Alec in Huluwood. The ad intended to reveal the shocking secret behind Hulu. Advertisements have since aired featuring Eliza Dushku, Seth MacFarlane, Denis Leary, with its investment came a seat on the board of directors, where Providence was said to act as an independent voice on the board. In October 2012, Providence sold its 10 percent stake to Hulus media owners, ComScore says monthly video streams reached 903 million in January 2010, over three times the figure for a year earlier, and second only to YouTube. On August 16,2010, a report revealed that Hulu was planning an Initial Public Offering which could value the company at more than $2 billion. On June 21,2011, The Wall Street Journal reported that an unsolicited offer caused Hulu to begin weighing whether to sell itself
30.
Niconico
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Niconico, formerly known as Nico Nico Douga or Nico-dō for short, is a video sharing website in Japan managed by Dwango. Niconico or nikoniko is the Japanese ideophone for smiling, as of September 2015, Niconico is the eighth most visited website in Japan. The site won the Japanese Good Design Award in 2007, users can upload, view and share video clips. Unlike other video sharing sites, however, comments are overlaid directly onto the video and this allows comments to respond directly to events occurring in the video, in sync with the viewer—creating a sense of a shared watching experience. Tags may be edited by any user, not just the uploader, Each video may have up to ten tags, of which up to five may be optionally locked by the uploader, but all others may be edited by any user. Frequently these tags are used not only as categorization, but also as critical commentary, satire, the site is also known for its MAD videos and its medleys of popular songs on the website, most notably Kumikyoku Nico Nico Douga. Certain original net animations have been distributed on the website, such as Candy Boy, Tentai Senshi Sunred, other features include, High video quality, Niconico encourages users to pre-encode their videos in a format suitable for unmodified distribution. As of July 5,2008, H.264 video, mylist, Each user may create mylists, which function similarly to a list of bookmarks. All users can create up to 25 mylist folders, while a basic account can have 100 videos recorded, daily mylist activity is used to compute the default ranking view, although one may also sort by view or comment count. Mylists may be made public and linked to, for example. Uploader comments, The uploader of a video may attach permanent comments to the video and these are often used for such things as subtitles, lyrics, or corrections. The first version of Niconico used YouTube as a video source, however, as the site became more popular, so much traffic was transferred from YouTube that YouTube blocked access from Niconico. Consequently, Niconico was forced to shut down the service but two later it commenced its service with its own video server. On May 7,2007, a Niconico for mobile phone users was announced, since August 9,2007, Nico Nico Douga Mobile has serviced mobile phones of NTT DoCoMo and au. As of October 31,2011, Niconico has over 23,690,000 registered users,6,870,000 mobile users and 1,390,000 premium users. Due to the server capacity, Niwango limits the amount of free users accessible to the website at peak times. The website is written in Japanese and the majority of the traffic is from Japan, although approximately four percent is from outside Japan. A Taiwanese version of the site was launched on October 18,2007, in July 2008, the website was localized to German and Spanish
31.
Wii U
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The Wii U is a home video game console developed by Nintendo, and the successor to the Wii. The console was released in November 2012 and was the first eighth-generation video game console, as it competes with Sonys PlayStation 4, the Wii U is the first Nintendo console to support HD graphics. The systems primary controller is the Wii U GamePad, which features a touchscreen, and combines directional buttons, analog sticks. The screen can be used either as a supplement to the display, or in supported games. Online functionality centers around the Nintendo Network platform and Miiverse, a social networking service which allows users to share content in game-specific communities. The Wii U was met with slow consumer adoption, with low sales primarily credited to a lineup of launch titles, third-party support. Wii U production officially ended in January 2017, on March 3,2017, Nintendo released a new flagship home console, the Nintendo Switch. With Wii U, Nintendo wished to bring back core gamers and it was decided that a new console would have to be developed to accommodate significant structural changes. Ideas on which direction to take for the new led to a lot of debate within the company. The concept of a touchscreen embedded within the controller was originally inspired by the light on the Wii disc tray that illuminates to indicate new messages. Miyamoto and his team wanted to include a screen to provide game feedback. However, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata later stated that he saw no significant reason to include HD into the Wii, miyamoto also expressed Nintendos interest in working with HD graphics, but clarified that the company is primarily focused on gameplay. Iwata also mentioned that the Wiis successor might be 3D-compatible but concluded that the rates of 3D televisions should increase to at least 30% first. Fils-Aimé also stated that Nintendos next home console would likely not feature stereoscopic 3D, in April 2011, an uncredited source indicated that Nintendo was planning to unveil a successor to the Wii known as Project Café at its E32011 presentation. Café was claimed to be a high definition console, also would have backward compatibility with Wii software. On April 25,2011, Nintendo released a statement announcing a system to succeed the Wii to be released during 2012. Speaking at a conference, Iwata stated the Wii successor would offer something new for home game systems. He also confirmed that the device would not launch in fiscal year 2012, Game was teased, and Electronic Arts then-CEO John Riccitiello appeared on-stage to discuss the companys prospective plans for products on Wii U
32.
Nintendo video game consoles
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The Game Boy line is a line of handheld game consoles developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. The product line has sold 200 million units worldwide, the original Game Boy and Game Boy Color combined sold 118.69 million units worldwide. All versions of the Game Boy Advance combined have sold 81.51 million units, all Game Boy systems combined have sold 200.20 million units worldwide. The Game Boy line was succeeded by the Nintendo DS line, a number of Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance games have been rereleased digitally through the Virtual Console service for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. Nintendos Game Boy handheld was first released in 1989, yokoi was also responsible for the Game & Watch series of handhelds when Nintendo made the move from toys to video games. By following this simple mantra, the Game Boy line managed to gain a vast following despite technically superior alternatives which would have color graphics instead and this is also apparent in the name, which connotes a smaller sidekick companion to Nintendos consoles. Game Boy continues its success to this day and many at Nintendo have dedicated the handheld in Yokois memory, Game Boy celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2004, which nearly coincided with the 20-year anniversary of the original Nintendo Entertainment System. To celebrate, Nintendo released the Classic NES Series and an NES controller-themed color scheme for the Game Boy Advance SP, in 2006, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said on the rumored demise of the Game Boy brand, No, its not true after all. What we are saying is that for whichever platform, we are always conducting research and development for the new system, be it the Game Boy. Perhaps they misunderstood a part of story, but as far as the handheld market is concerned we really want to focus on more sales of the DS. The original gray Game Boy was first released in Japan on April 21,1989 and it plays games from ROM-based media contained in small plastic detachable units called cartridges. The game that pushed the Game Boy into the reaches of success was Tetris. Tetris was widely popular, and on the format could be played anywhere. It came packaged with the Game Boy, and broadened its reach, adults, releasing Tetris on the Game Boy was selected as #4 on GameSpys 25 Smartest Moments in Gaming. The original Game Boy was one of the first cartridge-based systems that more than four players at one time. In fact, it has shown that the system could support 16 simultaneous players. However, this feature was supported in Faceball 2000. In 1995, the Play it Loud version of the original Game Boy was released in five different colors such as red, yellow, green, black, the Game Boy Pocket is a redesigned version of the original Game Boy having the same features released in 1996
33.
Nintendo Entertainment System
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The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit home video game console that was developed and manufactured by Nintendo. The best-selling gaming console of its time, the NES helped revitalize the US video game following the video game crash of 1983. With the NES, Nintendo introduced a business model of licensing third-party developers, authorizing them to produce. It was initially released in Japan as the Family Computer on July 15,1983, and was released in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986. In South Korea, it was known as the Hyundai Comboy and was distributed by SK Hynix which then was known as Hyundai Electronics and it was succeeded by the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. In 2009, the Nintendo Entertainment System was named the single greatest video game console in history by IGN and it was judged the second greatest console behind the Sega Dreamcast in PC Magazines Top 10 Video Game Consoles of All Time. Following a series of arcade game successes in the early 1980s, Nintendo made plans to create a console called the Famicom. A test model was constructed in October 1982 to verify the functionality of the hardware, because 65xx CPUs had not been manufactured or sold in Japan up to that time, no cross-development software was available and it had to be produced from scratch. Perhaps we could say it is a family computer, meanwhile, Hiroshi Yamauchi decided that the console should use a red and white theme after seeing a billboard for DX Antenna which used those colors. Original plans called for the Famicoms cartridges to be the size of a cassette tape, careful design attention was paid to the cartridge connectors since loose and faulty connections often plagued arcade machines. As it necessitated taking 60 connection lines for the memory and expansion, the controllers were hard-wired to the console with no connectors for cost reasons. There were concerns regarding the durability of the design and that children might step on joysticks left on the floor. Katsuyah Nakawaka attached a Game & Watch D-pad to the Famicom prototype and found that it was easy to use, ultimately though, they installed a 15-pin expansion port on the front of the console so that an optional arcade-style joystick could be used. Uemura added an eject lever to the slot which was not really necessary. He also added a microphone to the controller with the idea that it could be used to make players voices sound through the TV speaker. The console was released on July 15,1983 as the Family Computer for ¥14,800 alongside three ports of Nintendos successful arcade games Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr. and Popeye. The Famicom was slow to gather momentum, a bad chip set caused the release of the system to crash. Following a product recall and a reissue with a new motherboard, the deal was set to be finalized and signed at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in June 1983
34.
Famicom Titler
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The Famicom Titler, also known as the Famicom Editor, is a Nintendo-licensed Famicom-compatible device produced by Sharp Corporation in 1989. The console was released exclusively in Japan at a price of 43,000 yen. The system was the only consumer-level Famicom to internally generate RGB video, the only Famicom system with S-Video output, the system also functioned as a subtitle-generator and it could be used in combination with a RF-video camera to create gameplay videos and demos. The Famicom Titler was the most technologically ambitious project that Sharp had attempted with the Famicom system and it was the only commercially available Famicom to internally generate RGB video, and this has been identified as responsible for markedly improved clarity of image over other Famicom models. It is the only Famicom console to employ S-Video output and it also features a keyboard and pressure-sensitive touchpad that enables users to produce subtitles directly on the screen during gameplay, and to thereby create demos. In order to create to S-video output, Nintendos RP2C02 PPU was replaced by an RGB-output-compatible RC2C05-99 PPU, here, RGB video signals generated within the composite outputs were converted to the external S-video signals. This allowed gamers to enjoy a crisper image, with the flip of a switch, the Famicom Titler could be used to produce intertitles or subtitles for video footage. Character input was made upon a small touch-sensitive tablet mounted into the console, a stylus was included as attached to the body, and audio additions to the demo could be made using the included microphone. Flipping the switch back would superimpose the video and subtitles on the console, although relatively obscure at the time of its release, the console has recently seen increased interest from fans, hackers/modders, and collectors on the secondary market. Apart from historical interest in the system, several unique to the Famicom Titler make it a popular system for modification. Since the PlayChoice-10 was not released commercially, the Famicom Titler has recently been recognized as a way to get a system with the same clarity for a cheaper price. In addition, the fact that the Famicom Titler is the system to feature S-Video output has meant that the system enjoys compatibility with setups that allow only this form of component video. Nintendo Entertainment System C1 NES TV SF-1 SNES TV Twin Famicom Famicom Titler at Famicom World
35.
Twin Famicom
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The Twin Famicom was produced by Sharp Corporation in 1986, and was only released in Japan. It is a licensed Nintendo product which combines the Family Computer, FDS disks can be removed using the yellow button below the disk slot. The mechanism that it uses is similar to ones that are used in contemporary floppy disk drives, the eject button for cartridges is located between the power and reset buttons. It causes the cartridge to pop out of the slot, much like the way bread slices do when coming out of a pop-up toaster, the system does not allow both slots to be used at the same time. The switch that changes the mode from disk to cartridge works in a manner in choosing to use the cartridge slot will block the disk drive. However, in systems, only the cartridge slot will be blocked. Main Processor, Ricoh 2A03 at 1, there also is a second port of a slightly different shape for connecting another Famicom via the black RAM unit that comes with the standard Famicom Disk System. This allows a standalone Famicom to use the drive on the Twin Famicom. Another unique trait of this console is its color, whereas the original Famicom only came in one color combination, the Twin Famicom was initially sold in two colors, red with black highlights, and black with red highlights. Unlike the Famicom, which used an RF adapter, the Twin Famicom used RCA connectors for video and mono audio, allowing for greater audiovisual quality on TVs. An external RF modulator was bundled with the unit for connection through a TVs antenna/cable input, Nintendo Entertainment System C1 NES TV Famicom Titler Super Famicom Naizou TV SF1 Atari HQ Everything2. com Video of Twin Famicom features from FamicomDojo. TV
36.
Nintendo Entertainment System (Model NES-101)
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The NES-101 model of the Nintendo Entertainment System is a compact, top-loading redesign of the original Nintendo Entertainment System control deck released by Nintendo in 1993. Nintendo marketed the NES-101 model as the Nintendo Entertainment System Control Deck, exactly the same as the original NES-001 model and it retailed in North America for $49.99 USD. This was at a lower price than the already released Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The NES-101 model is similar to the HVC-101 model of the Family Computer, which was released in Japan at roughly the same time. The NES-101 controller design is similar to the Super NES controller. The major differences are that it has two face buttons instead of four, no L and R shoulder buttons, and is thinner in the middle and this controller, due to its shape, is often nicknamed the dogbone or doggie controller. The case design was by Lance Barr, who designed the NES-001, the SNS-001. The power and reset buttons, while never a problem with the original design, the NES-101 does not have an LED power light to indicate the unit is on, as the original NES-001 and SNS-001 included. The most obvious change in the redesign was the removal of the system that caused trouble in maintenance. In that system, the user had to first open the lid of the case, slide in the cartridge, then press it down. The large space inside allowed plenty of room for dust to settle, the NES-101 returned to the standard top-loading method, used by almost all cartridge systems before and since for its ease and reliability. The design of the controllers was changed. These were officially known as NES-039 model controllers and informally known as dogbone controllers and they were packaged with the system and also sold separately. The controllers were restyled to resemble the SNES controller, with rounded edges that fit more ergonomically in the hands than the old rectangular design, the NES-039 model controller does not fit in R. O. B. s controller slot because of this ergonomic change. The A and B buttons were also set at an angle to mimic the SNES controller as well as provide better ergonomics, the original NES-004 controllers and the NES-039 controllers are interchangeable between the original NES-001 model and the NES-101 model, as they use the same controller ports. The 10NES authentication chip was removed from the system in an effort to eliminate the blinking red power light problem associated with it in the original NES. A minor side-effect is that Nintendo World Championship will not work properly since it needs to know when the console is reset in order to go back to the menu and this signal is only provided by a working 10NES on official hardware. The original video amplifier circuit path on the motherboard was designed and created faint jailbar interference patterns in the game image
37.
Sharp Nintendo Television
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The Sharp Nintendo Television is a television produced by Sharp Corporation with a built-in licensed Nintendo Entertainment System. Originally released in Japan in 1983, the unit was released in the US in 1989, the concept was followed up in Japan by the Super Famicom-based SF1 in 1990. The C1 is a television set developed jointly by Sharp Corporation, the system was licensed by Nintendo and was released in 1983 to Japanese markets and 1989 to American markets, and supported until 1989. It was noted for having a picture quality than the original setup requiring a Famicom. This system used the 2C03 PPU which supports native RGB output for the highest quality picture at a cost of some compatibility, for this reason, screenshots featured in video game magazines of the time were often taken from the C1. The system featured two programs, JR GRAPHIC and TV NOTE, and in Japan it was shipped with a multicart containing cut down versions of Donkey Kong Jr. At the time of its release, this cartridge was unique to the C1, the second Famicom multicart, Final Fantasy I & II, would be released in 1994 at the end of the Famicoms life. When the TVs were released in the United States, Nintendo and Sharp used the composite output only PPU. While the picture was not as crisp as with the Japanese C-1, just like the original Nintendo Entertainment System, It also has the 10NES region protection chip. If the game does not load, it would consistently reset, much like a normal NES system, 19C-C1F・W 14C-C1F・W・R AN-320 19SV111 and 19SC111 - The North American release known as the Sharp Nintendo Television. All models came in both a red and a black color
38.
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
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In Japan, the system is called the Super Famicom, or SFC for short. In South Korea, it is known as the Super Comboy and was distributed by Hyundai Electronics, although each version is essentially the same, several forms of regional lockout prevent the different versions from being compatible with one another. It was released in Brazil on September 2,1992, by Playtronic, the SNES is Nintendos second home console, following the Nintendo Entertainment System. The console introduced advanced graphics and sound compared with other systems at the time. The development of a variety of enhancement chips integrated in game cartridges helped to keep it competitive in the marketplace. The SNES remained popular well into the 32-bit era, and continues to be popular among fans, collectors, retro gamers, and emulation enthusiasts, some of whom still make homebrew ROM images. To compete with the popular Family Computer in Japan, NEC Home Electronics launched the PC Engine in 1987, the two platforms were later launched in North America in 1989 as the TurboGrafx-16 and the Genesis respectively. Both systems were built on 16-bit architectures and offered improved graphics, however, it took several years for Segas system to become successful. Nintendo executives were in no rush to design a new system, designed by Masayuki Uemura, the designer of the original Famicom, the Super Famicom was released in Japan on Wednesday, November 21,1990 for 25,000 yen. The systems release also gained the attention of the Yakuza, leading to a decision to ship the devices at night to avoid robbery, with the Super Famicom quickly outselling its chief rivals, Nintendo reasserted itself as the leader of the Japanese console market. Nintendos success was due to its retention of most of its key third-party developers from its earlier system, including Capcom, Konami, Tecmo, Square, Koei. Nintendo released the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, a version of the Super Famicom. It began shipping in limited quantities on August 23,1991, the SNES was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland in April 1992 for £150, with a German release following a few weeks later. Most of the PAL region versions of the use the Japanese Super Famicom design, except for labeling. The Playtronic Super NES in Brazil, although PAL, uses the North American design, both the NES and SNES were released in Brazil in 1993 by Playtronic, a joint venture between the toy company Estrela and consumer electronics company Gradiente. The SNES and Super Famicom launched with few games, but these games were received in the marketplace. In Japan, only two games were available, Super Mario World and F-Zero. In North America, Super Mario World launched as a bundle with the console, and other titles include F-Zero, Pilotwings, SimCity
