Technology
A videogame is executed thanks to a software program (the video game) that is processed by a machine (the hardware) that has input and output devices.
The software program or logical support contains all the information, instructions, images and audio that make up the video game. It is engraved on cartridges, optical discs, magnetic discs, special memory cards for video games, or it is downloaded directly to the device via the Internet.
In the 1980s, the usual support for the software was the cartridge in the videoconsolas, and the magnetic disc or the cassette tape on the computers. Subsequently, the CD-ROM was used, since it had more capacity than the cartridges since they had reached their technological stop and it was also more economical to produce. Currently, the high capacity DVD system is used and, on the desktop consoles such as PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the Blu-ray, of very high capacity. However for a few years the download from the Internet is growing, as it is an extended technology massively, easily accessible and less expensive than the physical distribution of discs, apart from the security advantages by avoiding damage losses or loss of discs (already That the videogame will be virtually always available).
A command, typical input device in the consoles.
The input devices are those that allow the player to handle the game. While it is usual for the use of an external input device - as they are the classics keyboard and mouse, the control, or the joystick-, the portable platforms of today (smartphones, tablets, pocket video consoles ...) allow you to play Through its touch screen or by moving the apparatus itself (thanks to the use of gyroscopes and accelerometers). Other input devices can be motion detectors, among which handle devices stand out (for example Wii Wiiimote), pressure (carpets or sensor supports), virtual reality devices such as the PlayStation VR and The capture of images, Xbox Kinect case. The voice can also be used in those videogames that support it through voice processors.
The output devices are those that show the images and sounds of the video game: a television, a monitor or a projector for the video, and a speakers or headphones for audio. The most modern equipment use digital sound with Dolby Surround with Eax effects and modern visual effects by means of the latest technologies in videogame engines and graphic processing units.
The central part of the hardware is the CPU or central processing unit, which interprets the instructions contained in the programs and processes the data. Its capacity for processing, greater in each new generation of devices, marks the limit of technical and graphic possibilities of video games.
All these devices (input, output, processing ...) can constitute physically separated units but connected to each other - as it is the case of the PCs or the desktop video consoles, or be integrated into a single device - as It happens on mobile phones and other portable devices.