Computer Games Development
,Kamran Ali Unit-14 Games Design
Contents
Introduction to the Current Gaming Market.........................................................................................2
PC Market..........................................................................................................................................2
Nintendo Switch Market....................................................................................................................3
Xbox One Market...............................................................................................................................3
Playstation 4 Market..........................................................................................................................4
Mobile Gaming Market......................................................................................................................4
The Developmental Advantages and Disadvantages of Each Platform..................................................5
PC platform........................................................................................................................................5
Mobile Platforms...............................................................................................................................6
Console platforms..............................................................................................................................7
Xbox...............................................................................................................................................8
PlayStation.....................................................................................................................................8
Nintendo Switch............................................................................................................................8
Common Issues when developing on Consoles.............................................................................9
Hardware...............................................................................................................................................9
CPU (Central Processing Unit)........................................................................................................9
RAM.............................................................................................................................................10
Software..............................................................................................................................................12
Operating System............................................................................................................................12
Programming Languages.................................................................................................................13
Device Drivers..................................................................................................................................14
Graphics APIs (Application programming Interface)........................................................................14
Game Engine........................................................................................................................................15
Rendering........................................................................................................................................15
References.......................................................................................................................................15
, Kamran Ali Unit-14 Games Design
Introduction to the Current Gaming Market
Since the Covid pandemic, it caused an enormous shift in the gaming industry as during the
pandemic it caused possibly the highest spike in gamers across multiple platforms due to covid
causing increased amount of leisure time leading to more people play games across many different
platforms. An increase of “39%”(statistica) in time spent in video games. Steam one of the biggest
gaming platforms on the pc platform reached its highest of 26 million concurrent steam,`A 10 million
player increase`(steamDB), users since the beginning of the pandemic. You can see this from the
graph below from steamDB of the large player increases.
(steamDB)
PC Market
The pc platform is known as the longest lasting gaming platforms dating back to the late 1970s with
computers like the Apple II.Because of the ever growing demand of better and faster hardware
pushing the consumer want for newer and better games. As developers are able to better take
advantage of newer hardware to create the next generation type of games. During covid, at the end
of 2020 pc hardware it was expect to rise by “$3.6 billon” and hit “$40 billion”(techradar) not only it
reached this exceded the target. Covid has caused many buy pcs or upgrade existing hardware for
work and a sideeffect was a boom to pc gaming industry as many was not just working but also
playing pc games due to inceased lesiure time as people had to find new ways of entertainment at
home. The pc gaming platform has remained as 2 nd largest gaming platform on the market making
“24%” of the global gaming reveune. One reason, pc gaming has remained like this is future-
proofing. That gamers are able to upgrade their systems extending their longevity of their system for
multiple generations of games. As well as the pc platform having the one of largest variety of games
compared to their console counterparts. This level of control which are given to pc gamers are what
make pc a very appealing plaftorm.
,Kamran Ali Unit-14 Games Design
Contents
Introduction to the Current Gaming Market.........................................................................................2
PC Market..........................................................................................................................................2
Nintendo Switch Market....................................................................................................................3
Xbox One Market...............................................................................................................................3
Playstation 4 Market..........................................................................................................................4
Mobile Gaming Market......................................................................................................................4
The Developmental Advantages and Disadvantages of Each Platform..................................................5
PC platform........................................................................................................................................5
Mobile Platforms...............................................................................................................................6
Console platforms..............................................................................................................................7
Xbox...............................................................................................................................................8
PlayStation.....................................................................................................................................8
Nintendo Switch............................................................................................................................8
Common Issues when developing on Consoles.............................................................................9
Hardware...............................................................................................................................................9
CPU (Central Processing Unit)........................................................................................................9
RAM.............................................................................................................................................10
Software..............................................................................................................................................12
Operating System............................................................................................................................12
Programming Languages.................................................................................................................13
Device Drivers..................................................................................................................................14
Graphics APIs (Application programming Interface)........................................................................14
Game Engine........................................................................................................................................15
Rendering........................................................................................................................................15
References.......................................................................................................................................15
, Kamran Ali Unit-14 Games Design
Introduction to the Current Gaming Market
Since the Covid pandemic, it caused an enormous shift in the gaming industry as during the
pandemic it caused possibly the highest spike in gamers across multiple platforms due to covid
causing increased amount of leisure time leading to more people play games across many different
platforms. An increase of “39%”(statistica) in time spent in video games. Steam one of the biggest
gaming platforms on the pc platform reached its highest of 26 million concurrent steam,`A 10 million
player increase`(steamDB), users since the beginning of the pandemic. You can see this from the
graph below from steamDB of the large player increases.
(steamDB)
PC Market
The pc platform is known as the longest lasting gaming platforms dating back to the late 1970s with
computers like the Apple II.Because of the ever growing demand of better and faster hardware
pushing the consumer want for newer and better games. As developers are able to better take
advantage of newer hardware to create the next generation type of games. During covid, at the end
of 2020 pc hardware it was expect to rise by “$3.6 billon” and hit “$40 billion”(techradar) not only it
reached this exceded the target. Covid has caused many buy pcs or upgrade existing hardware for
work and a sideeffect was a boom to pc gaming industry as many was not just working but also
playing pc games due to inceased lesiure time as people had to find new ways of entertainment at
home. The pc gaming platform has remained as 2 nd largest gaming platform on the market making
“24%” of the global gaming reveune. One reason, pc gaming has remained like this is future-
proofing. That gamers are able to upgrade their systems extending their longevity of their system for
multiple generations of games. As well as the pc platform having the one of largest variety of games
compared to their console counterparts. This level of control which are given to pc gamers are what
make pc a very appealing plaftorm.
