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Thursday, 20 December 2012

EA Today Assignment Notes

EA Today Assignment Notes

Ok our second assignment for Understanding Creative Media Industry section, we had to do this as a presentation so regretably mine taken 40+ minutes because I didn't have a clue on what to include and what to get rid of.

Here are my notes:

Electronic Arts, also known as EA, is one of the biggest gaming companies in the world today and is spilt into four different categories that in turn have various international studios. These groups are known to be:

· EA Maxis

· EA Bioware

· EA Sports

· EA Games

EA Games

EA Games holds the biggest number of studio and development teams; reason being is this group sole concentrates on creating action adventure, role-playing, racing, MMORPG and combat genre type games. Studios accountable for this are:

Ø EA Interactive which includes EA's Pogo.com, Playfish and EA Mobile whose led by Barry Cottle and based in London (UK), Sao Paulo (Brazil) and Redwood (California, USA)

Ø Criterion Games (Guildford, England)

Ø Danger Close Games (formerly EA Los Angeles, California)

Ø EA Black Box (formerly Black Box Games in Burnaby, British Columbia)

Ø EA Digital Illusions CE (formerly Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment, Stockholm, Sweden)

Ø EA Montreal (Quebec, Canada)

Ø EA Partners (Redwood, California)

Ø EA Phenomic (Ingleheim, Germany)

Ø Visceral Games (formerly EA Redwood Shores, Redwood, California)

EA Maxis

Creates and publishes casual games which include The Sims series and development/ marketing life-simulation games and online communities. The label is headquartered at EA's campus in Redwood Shores, although the original studio is located in Emeryville.

Ø Maxis Emeryville (Emeryville, California)

Ø The Sims Studio ( Redwood, California)

Ø EA Salt Lake ( Salt Lake City, Utah)

Ø EA Hasbro ( Rhode Island, USA)

Ø MySims (Unknown)

Ø Casual Studios (Unknown)

EA Sports

EA Sports publishes the realistic, casual, and freestyle sports-based games including FIFA Football, Madden NFL, Fight Night, NBA Live, NCAA Football, Cricket, NCAA March Madness, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, NHL Hockey, NASCAR and Rugby.

EA Tiburon (Florida)

EA Canada (Burnaby)

EA North Carolina (Morrisville)

EA Bioware

EA acquired Bioware in 2007 from Elevation Partners which includes the integrated Bioware Victory founded nearly about a year ago. These studios focuse on creating multiplatform, role-playing, MMO and strategy games- much like the other studio EA Games

BioWare Edmonton (Alberta, Canada)

BioWare Austin (Texas, USA)

BioWare Montreal (Quebeck, Canada)

Mythic Entertainment (also known as BioWare Mythic based in Virginia)

BioWare Victory (formerly Victory Games based in Los Angeles, California)

Electronic Arts Executives

John Riccitiello(Chief Executive Officer)

John Riccitiello is Chief Executive Officer of Electronic Arts and is the world's primary developer and publisher of interactive entertainment.

John initially joined EA in October 1997 as President and Chief Operating Officer. He was President during a period of dynamic growth - with his help EA grew a better market share, diversified product portfolios and strengthened business across the globe. In 2004 he left to become a founding partner and managing director of Elevation Partners who was a private equity partnership that focused heavily on the media and entertainment sector. In addition to his responsibilities as a Managing Director at Elevation, he also served as the Chairman and CEO of VG Holdings which consisted of BioWare and Pandemic Studios and also served on the Board of Directors of Forbes Media LLC. He returned in April 2007 as a CEO for EA.

Peter Moore (Chief Operating Officer)

Peter Moore is the Chief Operating Officer of EA who provides strategic leadership for all global operations that enable the company to bring products to market .He has more than 25 years of experience in gaming, entertainment and consumer products. Since September 2007 to August 2011, he held the position of President of EA Sports and during his time, EA SPORTS delivered some of the top-selling sports video games of the current console generation with franchises FIFA, Madden NFL, NCAA Football and NHL, John was also able to expand EA Sports gaming to social Medias and mobiles devices.

Before joining EA he was Corporate Vice President of the Interactive Entertainment Business of Microsoft Corp giving him responsibility for leading both the Xbox and Games for Windows businesses, driving games development at Microsoft Game Studios, as well as gaining buisness relationships with third-party game publishers and developers around the world. Prior to that he was President and COO of SEGA where he was responsible for overseeing SEGA’s videogame business in North America.

Blake Jorgensen (Chief Financial Officer)

At EA Blake Jorgensen is Chief Financial Officer and is the world’s leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment. He joined EA in September 2012 with over 20 years of experience in finance spanning across different industries, with a deep understanding of technology, consumer products, online commerce and entertainment.

Rajat Taneja (Chief Technology Officer)

Rajatis Chief Technology Officer of Electronic Arts and joined EA in October 2011 as CTO to drive critical technology decisions and investments for EA on a global basis, before joining EA he spent 15 years at Microsoft where he most recently lead the division responsible for development and deployment of all commerce and transaction technologies across Microsoft’s connected services, including Xbox Live, Windows Phone, Windows Azure, Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft adCenter and MSN.

Frank Gibeau (President, EA Labels)

In 2011, Frank was chosen President of EA Labels where he leads the transformation of the company into a digital entertainment powerhouse by bringing world-class properties to all gaming. He is responsible for product development, worldwide product management and marketing for all packaged goods and online offerings within the four EA Labels.

The intellectual properties under Frank’s sponsorships include Battlefield, Command & Conquer, Dead Space, Dragon Age, FIFA, Madden NFL, Mass Effect, Medal of Honor, Need for Speed, NBA Jam, NCAA Football NHL, SimCity, Star Wars: The Old Republic, The Sims, Spore, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, Warhammer Online and much more.

Before serving as President of the EA Games Label, he acted as Executive Vice President and General Manager of The Americas where he was responsible for a publishing operation that accounted for more than $1.5B of EA’s annual revenue. Frank directly oversaw product marketing, branding, public relations, marketing communications, sales, operations, and finance. Previously Gibeau aided as Senior Vice President of North American marketing and has held a variety of senior publishing posts at EA. At that moment of time he was answerable for driving the go-to-market strategy for the EA and EA SPORTS brands as well as the launch of hundreds of game franchises across multiple platforms that have shipped since 1991.

Patrick Söderlund (Executive Vice President, EA Games Label)

Patrick is the executive vice president of the EA Games Label having responsibilities for product development and marketing of packaged goods and digital releases across multi-platinum action, racing and shooter games like: Battlefield, Medal of Honor, Need for Speed and Dead Space. At the same time he oversees studios around the globe from Redwood Shores to Montreal, Guildford, Stockholm and Gothenburg.

Andrew Wilson (Executive Vice President, EA SPORTS)

The executive vice president of EA SPORTS is Andrew Wilson who provides tatic leadership over one of the most recognized brands in sports and entertainment. Mr. Wilson presumed his position in August 2011 after leading worldwide development for the company, having more than 11 years of experience at Electronic Arts. His responsibilities include management for product development and global marketing and planning for all packaged goods and digital services. Previously he served as vice president and executive producer of the EA Sports FIFA Soccer Division and was in charge of the strategic, creative and business direction of all EA Sports football games, including FIFA, FIFA World Cup, Euro, FIFA Manager and FIFA Street.

Gabrielle Toledano (Executive Vice President and Chief Talent Officer)

Gabrielle Toledano is the Executive Vice President and Chief Talent Officer and is responsible for EA's global staffing and resourcing, benefits and compensation, organization and leadership capability development, rewards and recognition, Facilities and Corporate Social Responsibility.

Joel Linzner (Executive Vice President, Business and Legal Affairs)

Joel has served as Senior Vice President of Legal and Business Affairs since April 2004, before joining Electronic Arts in July 1999, he served as outside litigation counsel to Electronic Arts and several others in the videogame industry.

Kristian Segerstrale (Executive Vice President, Digital)

Kristian is the Executive Vice President, Digital of Electronic Arts. At one point he was Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Playfish Limited from 2007 until November 2009 when the company was acquired by EA. Thereafter he took the role of General Manager of EA’s Playfish business unit.

Stephen G. Bene (Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary)

Stephen Bene has served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary since October 2004. Since then he’s held the position of Vice President, Acting General Counsel and Corporate Secretary and during June 2003- April 2004 he’s also held the position of Vice President and Associate General Counsel.

Ken Barker (Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer)

He joined EA in June of 2003 as Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer. Prior to EA, he served as Vice President, Corporate Controller and Principal Accounting Officer at Sun Microsystems.

Job Roles In Gaming Industry

Games Design

· Lead Designer

· Games Designer

· Script Writer

· Map Builder

· Level Editor

· Object Planner

· GUI Designer

· Storyboard Artist

· Illustrator

· Graphic Designer

Art and Animation

· Creative Manager

· Lead Artist

· Art Director

· Concept Artist

· Environment Artist

· PreVis Artist

· Technical Artist

· Artist

· Animator

· 3D Modellor

Audio

· Musician

· Audio Engineer

· Sound Effects Designer

· Composer

Programming

· Lead Programmer

· Software Engineer

· Programmer

· A.I.Programmer

· Middleware/ Tools Programmer

· Graphics Programmer

· Gameplay Programmer

· Action Scripter

· Platform Designer

· Information Architect

· Systems Analyst

· Database Designer

· Engine Programmer

· Server Architect

Product Management

· Head of Development

· Executive Producer

· Project Manager/ Producer

· QA Director

· Art Director

· Programming Manager

· Assistant Project Manager

· Production Accountant

· Production Scheduler

· Production Assistant

· QA Manager

· Quality Assurance Technician/ Tester

· Lead Tester

Localisation

· Localisation Tester

· Localisation Manager

Project Management

· Executive/ Senior Producer (Publishing)

· Producer/ Project Manager (Publishing)

· Account Director

· Consultant

· Associate/ Junior Producer (Publishing)

· Project Co-ordinator (Publishing)

· External Relations

Business Management

· Chief Executive

· Managing Director

· Creative Director

· Technical Director

· Financial Planning Manager

· Supply Chain Manager

Business Development

· Business Development Manager

· Sales Manager

· Licensing/ IPR Manager

· Product/ Brand Manager

Support

· Operations Manager

· Customer Support

More Structure

In gaming companies it takes a hundreds of people to create one game that will take over a period of possibly two or more years, for indie gamers whose teams may only consist of around two members it could take a longer time to make their end product. With all the different roles that people have to train in and produce, the company then has to be set in a certain structure.

At the moment EA’s team structure would look like this. For most beginners who wish to pursue a career/ spot in the gaming industry they usually start off as game testers detecting bugs from the development team and telling them how to improve the game. We also have at the bottom outsources where the companies like EA will pay a certain amount of money in order for animation, voice actors, localisation and other services from companies in partnership with Electronic Arts.

Meanwhile the Electronic Arts co-publishing arm is used for publishing/ distributing games developed by third party developers, these include:

· APB – Realtime Worlds

· Brütal Legend – Double Fine Productions

· Bulletstorm – Epic Games

· Crysis series – Crytek

· DeathSpank – Hothead Games

· Fuse – Insomniac Games

· Hellgate: London – Flagship Studios

· Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning – 38 Studios, Big Huge Games

· Left 4 Dead series, The Orange Box, Portal 2 – Valve

· Rock Band series – Harmonix and MTV Games

· The Secret World – Funcom

· Shadows of the Damned – Grasshopper Manufacture

· Shank – Klei Entertainment

· Warp – Trapdoor

· Unconfirmed project – Respawn Entertainment – founded in April 2010, formed a partnership with ex Infinity Ward bosses Jason West and Vince Zampella

Animator

Animators are responsible for breathing life into 3D gaming models allowing them to move fluently. An animator is responsible for learning and completing motion cycles that allow various animate objects and beings to move, this can include humans, animals background pieces such as vegetation or no doubt cars. In some cases animators have to create special attacks using certain tool brushes in order to aid their creation.

During the game it’s animation that allows the characters to move in the first place and lets people view cut-scenes which gives the player and incentive of what to do next. However it’s not all about just making the object move by walking for example, they also have a responsibility to show emotions and lip synchronisation clearly which can be quite demanding as well as time consuming. On the other hand it gives the player interactivity with their gaming character making it worthwhile especially when profits are possibly reaching a high.

Animators usually work for development studios, both publisher-owned and independent and also for specialist outsourcing companies like Electronic Arts. Unlike other sectors, where work is often on a project-by-project basis, Animators in the games industry are usually permanently employed.

So What Do They Do?

Using objects, models, and characters created by 3D Artists, animators must define their movements and behaviours and apply them using the animation tools and techniques provided by the selected 3D animation software package like Maya, Mudbox and 3D Max. Even though game animation can be a complex combination of many different types of movement cycles they have to make extensive libraries of re-usable animations for each character.

At the same time they are also responsible for the technical processes of rigging and skinning of the characters, which lies heavily on understanding a creature’s anatomy being able piece to be one bone with the next in a correct sequence. It requires also working in a technically efficient manner, taking into account the constraints of the game engine, for example it’s sometimes necessary to restrict the number of key frames used or the number of characters that can appear on the screen at a time which can be a pain. Animators must need to work closely with programmers and artists in order to create the best balance between smooth seamless movement and enhanced performance on the target platform, keeping in mind how the animations will appear in the context of the game.

How Do They Get Into The Gaming Society?

When looking for an animation career in gaming, people usually contain some knowledge in animation using certain software packages during a degree or some other course. What also helps is use of being able to draw free handed and have experience in traditional and digital Medias of art possibly during childhood or the GCSE period. Another way people get these jobs is having experience with animation from different media sectors like film and television. Any animator thing about having a career in the game production should comprehend the interactive nature of games understanding all aspects of their discipline, which includes character modelling, rigging, skinning, kinematics, and basic cinematography.

Essential knowledge and skills

They must be able to work as part a team and also on their own initiative, taking responsibility for organising their work within the production schedule, managing files and meeting deadlines. Have an understanding of the production process and the ability to communicate effectively with other disciplines is essential. Some knowledge of programming is desirable.

Game animation must be simple and expressive. The Animator should know how to reveal attitude, emotions and mood through a character’s movement and behaviour, creating memorable characters that will appeal to players, whilst knowledge of the timing and appearance of human and animal movement and facial expressions is essential along with the ability to lip sync.

Concept Artist

Concept Artists produce the illustrations that help 3D modellers create the characters. Their job involves creating initial and final designs of characters, backdrops and props giving full reference and detail as to what it is and what it will play in the game later, this can be shown through a portfolio of sketches that show how the character has developed, as the creator thought more in-depth about how the project should be represented. In the end after creating different styles and designs of that object, they’ll all be presented in colour on a huge scale board so other artists, developers and modellers can choose the correct design. Another piece they’re responsible for his designing the gaming levels and backdrops, concept artist must be able to work as a team member but use their own imagination to create these pieces, which is why their role is highly specialised, and there is a limited demand for this work.

Typical career routes
Unfortunately there’s no set career route to becoming a Concept Artist. Some may start their careers as Graphic Artists, Illustrators or Graphic Novelists; others have worked in Special or Visual Effects or in Animation, and make the transition to Concept Artist via storyboarding.

Essential knowledge and skills
Concept Artists must have knowledge of computer illustration software like Adobe Photoshop/ Illustrator, SAI, Art Range or Paint.

A.I.Programmer

An artificial intelligence programmer gives the game a brain, constructing a set of parameters by which the characters not controlled by the player operate and make decisions creating a system of action and reaction. This is a deep field in game programming that requires a technically skilled team of highly specialized programmers to create dynamic and intuitive gameplay that is functionally flawless.

What They Do

This person works under the direction of the lead programmer and is responsible for determining a character’s behaviour which is when actions are taken by the non-player characters. The AI programmer creates code and procedures for pathfinding, group movement and cooperation, tactical strategy, and camera control. They set patterns and parameters for state mechanics and establishes how a character thinks and solves problems- creating a framework for artificial emotions and ideas. The job of an AI programmer’s depends as they move from one studio to the next—in some cases, object collisions fall to the AI programmer; in others, this task may be assigned to a physics specialist. During development, the programmer will work closely with designers to implement the necessary processes to make combat possible, establish decision trees for opponents, and create neural networks. He or she also cooperates with game testers to identify bugs and insert the appropriate fixes.

What Skills Are Needed?

The role necessitates a person who enjoys challenging problem-solving, is both a creative and critical thinker, and has a strong education in advanced mathematics. A bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or game development is required for a job as an AI programmer. Larger game developers may prefer a master’s degree. You will be expected to have a firm foundation in C++; STL; APIs like OpenGL and PhysX; Perl, Perforce, and profiling tools. Coursework in physics and technical writing are also helpful. An AI programmer should be comfortable on multiple game consoles and able to adapt to existing systems. Strong written and verbal communication skills are necessary, as is the ability to draft clear, concise technical documentation. Most importantly, developers look for an individual who is passionate about making and playing games. The field of AI is constantly evolving, and therefore offers great opportunity for creativity and innovation.

Level Editor

Level Editors defines and creates interactive architecture for a segment of a game, including the landscape, buildings, and objects.They must follow the design specification, using elements like the characters and story that’re defined by the games designer, but they do have the chance to say if they feel something isn’t right. The Level Editor also develops the game play for the level, which includes the challenges that the characters face and the actions they must take to overcome them. The architecture helps to define those challenges by presenting obstacles, places to hide, tests of skill, and other elements to explore and interact with. Settings and atmosphere devised by the Level Editor can also give the player clues as to different ways of progressing though the level and the game as a whole.

What is the job?

Working from the overall game design documentation, the Level Editor designs a portion of the game usually referred to as a ‘level’, specifying in detail all the possible actions and game play events which take place within that level; the environment, including locations, general layout of the spaces within the level, and thoughts about visuals, eg lighting, textures, and forms; the characters and objects involved, whether they are player controlled or non-player characters; and any specific behaviours associated with the characters and objects.

The Level Editor first sketches ideas on paper or using 2D drawing software. They have to imagine the playing experience, putting themselves in the position of the player, mapping out all the possibilities.

They need to think about the logic and flow of events and actions, the conditions that need to be met for certain things to happen, the challenges the player will encounter, and the game play that occurs as a result.

The ideas are then worked out in 3D and tested in the game engine, which produces further ideas. In consultation with the programmers and artists, the Level Editor draws up a detailed inventory of level ‘assets’ (all the objects and programming requirements needed to make the level run in the game in its final form).

Every asset can impact on the game’s performance and the Level Editor must understand the technical constraints the team is working to, eg there may be a limit on the number and complexity of objects that can be displayed on screen at any one time.

Typical career routes

There is no set route into this job, but it is rarely an entry level role. Industry experience is a definite advantage and candidates are normally educated to degree standard. Level Editors need an understanding of the conventions of game playing and also an awareness of the target market.

Many Level Editors are enthusiastic games consumers, and may well have gained experience through ‘modding’, which involves creating their own levels of published games using software toolkits provided as part of these games.

A Level Editor might progress into the role from various junior positions in the industry, eg working as a tester in a Quality Assurance department provides useful experience and gives an overview of the development process, access to software and tools, and insight to the different jobs.

Essential knowledge and skills

Level Editors must have good spatial and layout design skills, knowledge of 3D modelling, and a firm grasp of game design principles.

They also need to be very well organised. Game development is a collaborative process and Level Editors work both independently and as part of a team and they must be able to accept and give direction.

They train the testers to play the game and also work closely with artists and programmers, for which they need a practical understanding of programming and preferably some scripting language competence. This is a multi-skilled role, requiring:

•spatial awareness and the ability to visualise layouts; imagination and creativity;

•excellent communication skills (both verbal and written);

•IT skills and competence in the use of world editing tools;

•attention to detail and the ability to evaluate quality;

•knowledge of different platforms;

•a passion for games and knowledge of game design theory;

•knowledge of the requirements of the relevant Health and Safety legislation and procedures.

Bibliography

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Arts

(Accessed on 1/12/12 at 15:26)

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasbro

(Accessed on 1/12/12 at 15:27)

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BioWare_Victory

(Accessed on 1/12/12 at 15:42)

4. http://www.ea.com/executives

(Accessed on 1/12/12 at 16:08)

5. http://www.creativeskillset.org/games/careers/article_2768_1.asp

(Accessed on 1/12/12 at 19:07)

6. http://www.creativeskillset.org/search/search.asp?cx=017089483065169768250%3A9in6iomm4cg&cof=FORID%3A11&q=concept+artist&headerSearchSubmit=GO

(Accessed on 2/12/12 at 21:03)

7. http://getinmedia.com/careers/ai-programmer

(Accessed on 2/12/12 at 22:46)

8. http://www.creativeskillset.org/games/careers/article_4736_1.asp

(Accessed on 2/12/12 at 23:19)

Cables and Components Assignment

This assignment was the second part of our Gaming Platforms section, we had to write notes and memorise 3 or more components on an Xbox 360 motherboard to then point them out and explain what they do whilst being taped. The second part of this was to set up an Xbox 360 by plugging in:

AV Cables
x2 Controllers
Power Cable
Hard Drive.

So here are my notes:

Xbox 360 motherboard components:

· CPU

· GPU

· ROM/ RAM

· Ethernet Jack / Ctrl

· Single USB Port

· AV Cable Port

· CPU/TMDS Transmitters

· 4-pin power connector( similar to ATX12U)

· SATA data connector/ interface

· Memory Cards

· Operating System

· NAND Flash device

· TV encoder- located on the Xenos GPU itself

· 100 Mbit Phy

· Southbridge/ Northbridge

· ANA

· Power

· eDram

· Heatsink

CPU Notes

o The CPU is like the brains of the computer and also called the processor or central processor

o CPU needs a heatsink and fan because without them the central processing bit, will over-heat resulting in it melting or burning out.

o The computer code is basically mathematics. For example imagine you wanted to do simple arithmetic like 12/2, you’ll type this on your keyboard. The keyboard will then turn this information into a sequence of ones and zeros (programming computer code) The information is then registered an sent to the CPU for analysis, where it gives additional logic required and uses the inbuilt logic to send the actual answer.

o CPU allows you to operate software and of course there’s no connection between the power of the computer and the work of the CPU.

o The more powerful a CPU is the more software you can run on it a top-of-the-line CPU will perform tasks more quickly.

o CPU’s performance is within the central processor. The chip’s design, architecture, clock speed and memory caches all influence how quickly the CPU can perform tasks.

o External performance refers to the rest of the system

o The amount of RAM the capacity of the data bus and the motherboard circuitry all influence the CPU

o More RAM= better CPU performance and make sure your system is a good match for the processor.

XBOX 360 CPU Notes:

The XCPU named Xenon is a custom triple-core 64-bit PowerPC-based design that emphasises high performance through multiple FPU and SIMD vector processors in each core. It has a supposed peak performance of 115.2 gigaFLOPS and is capable of 9.6 billion dot products per second. Each core of the CPU is able to complete simultaneous multithreading and works at 3.2 GHz.

A 21.6 GB/s front side bus, aggregated 10.8 GB/s upstream and downstream, connected Xenon with the graphics processor/northbridge. Xenon was equipped with a 1 MB Level 2 cache which is shared amongst the three CPU cores. The CPU also contains ROM storing Microsoft private encrypted keys that are used to decrypt game data. The heat sink executed to cool the Xenon CPU is composed of aluminium fins with a copper base, and a heat pipe. Newer revisions, which have a smaller core do not use the heart pipe and copper base, but instead uses two fans at the rear of the Xbox 360 S consoles.

GPU Notes

The GPU is a specialized electronic circuit designed to swiftly manipulate and alter memory to quicken the building of images in a frame buffer used for output to a display. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mobile phones, personal computers, workstations, and game consoles. Modern GPUs are very efficient at manipulating computer graphics, and their highly parallel structure makes them more effective than general-purpose CPUs for algorithms where processing of large blocks of data is done in parallel. They can be integrated onto the motherboard or found on a video card.

However nowadays GPUs have become more advanced where they use most of their transistors to do calculations related to 3D computer graphics. Initially there were used to accelerate the memory-intensive work of texture mapping and rendering polygons, only to then later add units that accelerate geometric calculations such as the rotation and translation of vertices into different coordinate systems. Recent developments in GPUs include support for programmable shaders which can change vertices and textures with many of the same operations supported by CPUs, oversampling and interpolation techniques to reduce aliasing, and very high-precision colour spaces.

Even now today's GPUs include basic 2D acceleration and frame buffer capabilities (used in conjunction with a VGA compatibility mode). Newer cards like AMD/ATI HD5000-HD7000 even lack 2D acceleration; it has to be emulated by 3D hardware.

XBOX 360 GPU Notes:

GPU works at a clock speed of 500 MHz and has a 10 MB eDRAM daughter-die where the Xenos can do 4× FSAA, z-buffering, and alpha blending with no substantial performance penalty on the GPU. It also contains additional capabilities typically separated into a motherboard chipset in PC systems, effectively replacing the northbridge chip. Due to the GPU frequently overheating in early motherboard models, Microsoft revised the GPU heat sink in order to better move heat away from the GPU die though not completely.

Memory (RAM and e DRAM) Notes:

RAM (Random Access Memory) is the most important component of a computer, mobile phones and consoles. There are products of RAM such as DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) which work more efficiently- however the key thing is you must have enough of any type of RAM for your item. Without a sufficient amount it will over-work your console, computer or phone because it will takes ages before for every activity or program to reload.

RAM is the memory that allows the user to keep many programs open at once. The more the RAM there is the more programs can be kept open without the system freezing which can be quite annoying. The RAM is where the programs are kept so you can move between them therefore if there is insufficient memory, there will be a lag because the information needed at the time cannot be handled by the RAM meaning you must close some programs to counteract this problem. If more RAM is needed, it can be easily put in;just make sure the computer you purchase allows you to put in more RAM.

XBOX 360 RAM/ e DRAM Notes:

The XBOX 360 features 512 MB of GDDR3 RAM clocked at 700 MHz with an operative transmission rate of 1.4 GHz on a 128-bit bus. The memory is shared by the CPU and the GPU because of the unified memory architecture.

The eDRAM internal logic to its internal memory bandwidth is 256 Gbit/s. The high bandwidth is used for z-buffering, alpha blending, and antialiasing which saves time and space on the GPU die. Between the eDRAM die and the GPU, data is transferred at 32 GB/s; the memory interface bus has a bandwidth of 22.40 GB/s and the southbridge a bandwidth of 500 MB/s.

Northbridge and Southbridge Notes:

Northbridge and Southbridge are two support chips that make up the core logic chipset on a motherboard. The function of the north bridge is to handle transmissions between the CPU chip itself and with the memory bus and graphics bus. The function of the southbridge however, is to handle communication between the north bridge and the peripheral buses APM/ACPI (power management), PCI/PCIe x1 Bus, AC97/HDA (audio), SATA/USB/LAN ports, other devices. Without them the CPU is useless because it is unable to communicate with the motherboard and the other components.

XBOX 360 Connectors and Cables Notes:

The power connectors on the back of these systems incorporate a "keying" system that will prevent plugging an awful lower-rated power supply into an older system which will sadly need more power. On the other hand keying system does allow older power supplies to be connected to newer systems therefore posing no problems. The first motherboard version was known as "Xenon" and used a 203 watt power supply whilst lacking an HDMI video port. The HDMI port became an addition to the Xbox 360 motherboard after Xenon was reviewed and called Zephyr which was a larger version of Xenon but with the HDMI and an improved heatsink.

Falcon combined a newer CPU, the GPU and required less power so it came packaged with a 175 watt power supply.

Jasper used both a 65 nm CPU and GPU, as well as 256 MB of on-board flash memory-without the addition of this internal memory, a hard disk drive or memory card is required. It also needed less power to run meaning the power supply was also reduced to 150 watts.

Xbox 360 S introduced a new motherboard version called Trinity that held a 45 nm integrated CPU, GPU, and eDRAM, then later modernised in 2011 with a second model of the Xbox 360 S motherboard known to be Corona which integrates the HANA chip into the southbridge .

XBOX 360 Storage Notes:

Xbox 360 uses standard SATA hard disk drives, these units have a connector to enable connection to the Xbox 360 and the drives themselves feature custom firmware meaning it makes stand-alone drives incompatible. SATA hard disk drives are detachable, making it possible to move data from one console to another and then allows the consumer to upgrade the size of drive on a console. One of the companies that manufacture these hard drives (Western Digital) lets people modify the drives with a program called HDDHackr in conjunction with the Xbox 360.

7 -60 GB drive is reserved for system use meaning that 4 GB of that portion is reserved for game title caching and other hard drive specific elements in games that support the hard drive as well as an additional 2 GB which is reserved for use by the Xbox 360 backwards-compatibility software. This then leaves just under 54 GB of free space that’s rounded down to 53 GB in the dashboard for saving game files, Xbox Live Arcade downloadable content, and media files.

Original Pro configuration: 20GB HDD- updated to 60 GB HDD in September 2008

Elite Console: 120 GB HDD released in April 2007

Super Elite Console (bundled with Modern Warfare 2): 250 GB HDD released in November 2009

Xbox 360 S (Gears of War 3 Limited Collector's Edition) : 320 GB HDD released in June 2012

DVD Storage

Early Xbox 360’s are equipped with a 12x DVD drive- capable of a maximum read rate of 15.85 MB/s which is astounding. Xbox games are stored on standard dual-layer DVD-ROMs with 6.8 GB on the older Xbox Game Disc 2. However the modern XGD3 discs contain 7.8 GB of usable space available for game content. Later drive models have the external debug triggering removed and black hard glue added to cover all the chip and controller pins, now the drive is able to read both DVD±R and DVD±RW in addition to being able to play DVD-Video out of the box. The console is also capable of playing standard CDs along with CD-R/RW, CD-DA, CD-ROM XA, CD-Extra, WMA-CD, MP3-CD, and JPEG Photo CD.

A new drive was later released and it plays HD DVD movies, although all Xbox 360 games will remain on the DVD format. The drive connects to the Xbox 360 via USB and contains two integrated USB ports on the rear. Games can’t sadly be played on the HD DVD drive.

XBOX 360 Sound and Display Notes:

Xbox 360 is required to support at least Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. It works with over 256 audio channels and 320 independent decompression channels using 32-bit processing for audio, with support for 48 kHz 16-bit sound. Sound files for games are encoded using Microsoft's XMA audio format. An MPEG-2 decoder is included for DVD video playback. VC-1 or WMV is used for streaming video and other video is compressed using VC-1 at non-HD NTSC and PAL resolutions or WMV HD. The Xbox 360 also supports H.263 and H.264 MPEG-4 videos. Voice communication is handled by the console allowing for cross-game communication.

Initially there were no digital video outputs such as DVI or HDMI on the Xbox 360; instead, HD-quality output could only be produced over YPBPR component video later going to VGA via a software update. An HDMI port was introduced to the Xbox 360 Elite model. Now sll Xbox 360 SKUs currently manufactured feature an HDMI port. A wide array of SDTV and HDTV resolutions are supported by the console hardware up to 1080p after a software upgrade in October 2006 .

Most games are rendered at 720p and the video can be scaled by the hardware to whatever resolution the user has set in the console's settings; from 480i NTSC , 576i PAL all the way to 1080p HDTV.

XBOX 360 Networking Notes:

All Xbox 360 consoles come with a built-in 10/100 Ethernet network adapter. Branded USB Wi-Fi 802.11n and 802.11g adapters can be purchased separately. The Xbox 360 S also contains a built in wireless N 2.4 GHz networking.

Task 2- Cables and Connectors

Connectors and Cables Present:

· USB Ports

· USB Hub

· Crossfire Wireless Gaming Receiver Adapter

· Rechargeable Battery Pack Connector (via USB cable)

· USB HID-compliant keyboards (via USB cable)

· Infrared

· External AC Adapter

· External IR Receiver

· Composite AV Cable

· S-Video AV Cable

· Advanced Scart AV Cable

· Component HD AV Cable

· D- Terminal HD AV Cable

· VGA HD AV Cable

· HDMI Cable

· HDMI Audio Adapter

· Composite SCART Adapter Block

· HD DVD Player

XBOX 360 Cables and Components Notes

The Xbox 360 has various official AV cables allowing it to connect to a wide variety of audio and video equipment.

All official cables, except for the HDMI cable, connect to the Xbox 360's AV connector and are compatible with all Xbox 360 models. The analogue stereo audio is output by these cables by RCA connectors (with the exception of the Advanced SCART AV Cable) where it is delivered via the SCART connector's audio pins. Apart from the VGA HD AV Cable and HDMI Audio Adapter, all cables are also capable of outputting SD video at 480i/60 Hz and 576i/50 Hz.

A TOSLINK optical S/PDIF connector was integrated into the AV connector of many pre-2010 (grey) Xbox 360 AV cables, allowing output of stereo LPCM, Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital with WMA Pro audio. All official AV-based cables block the HDMI port when plugged in to equipped models; on pre-2010 (grey) cables this is due to the size of the connector, while 2010 (black) cables feature a plastic tab for this purpose.

More XBOX 360 Storage Notes:

Optional detachable SATA hard drives are used for the storage of games, music, downloaded trailers, levels, demos, player preferences, and community-created content from Xbox Live Marketplace. It may also be used to transfer such content between Xbox 360 units. It is required to play original Xbox games and a select number of Xbox 360 games. The total capacity of the Xbox 360 Hard Drive is either 20 GB, 60 GB, 120 GB, 250 GB, or 320 GB.[37]

Initially 250 GB hard drives were only available through third-party manufacturers or through the purchase of a special-edition Xbox 360 console bundle,[38] but from 2010 it was being sold as a separate accessory in Japan,[39] North America[40] and the UK.[41] Currently the 320 GB hard drive is only available as part of either limited/special edition Xbox 360 S bundles[37] or as a separate purchase for Xbox 360 S consoles;[42] it is not available for original Xbox 360 models. Of the total storage capacity, approximately 6 GB is reserved for system use; around 4 GB of that portion is reserved for game title caching and other hard drive-specific elements in games that support the hard drive and an additional 2 GB is reserved for use by the Xbox 360 backwards-compatibility software.[43] This leaves users with approximately 14, 54, 114, 244, or 314 GB (displayed as 14, 52, 107, 228, or 292 GiB) of free space on the drive. Depending on the market, the hard drive comes preloaded with content, such as videos and Xbox Live Arcade games or demos.

Hard drives designed for the original models of Xbox 360 are not directly compatible with Xbox 360 S models and vice versa. However, if removed from its case, the 2.5" SATA hard drive within older model HDD units may be inserted into the Xbox 360 S hard drive slot and will function normally. On August 20, 2010, Microsoft announced a 250 GB stand-alone hard drive for use with Xbox 360 S models priced at US$129.99 The actual drives inside their respective casings are standard 2.5" (laptop-size) SATA hard disk drives loaded with special firmware. However, the Microsoft versions are notably more expensive than standard drives. Certain Western Digital hard drives can be modified with a program called HDDHackr to be used with the Xbox 360.

When sold separately some drives come with a data exchange transfer cable to facilitate moving data from one drive to another. The drive that is packaged with the Elite comes in black and a transfer cable is available from Microsoft by calling the Xbox 360 support hotline and paying US$20 plus tax, shipping and handling.

Memory units

Small, portable, flash-based memory devices allow the transfer of saved games, unique gamer profiles, and content downloaded from Xbox Live Marketplace to other Xbox 360 consoles. Sizes available are:

64 MB memory card (Discontinued)

256 MB memory card (Supplied only with the Xbox 360 Arcade package.) - (Discontinued)

512 MB memory card (Was pre-loaded with the Xbox Live Arcade game Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved for a limited time.

Some game saves and downloaded content cannot be copied from hard drives to memory cards. What content cannot be moved is up to the discretion of the individual video game developers

USB Storage Devices

The Xbox 360 can read USB storage devices such as thumb drives, Microsoft Zune, Apple iPod (except iPod Touch and iPhone), mp3 players, PSPs, and hard drives, however an Optional Media Update is required to play music and other files from certain music players, this is available from the Xbox Live Marketplace. The devices which have been previously mentioned can be used to play music, or to view pictures and videos. The file systems FAT, FAT32 and HFS+ are supported but NTFS is not.