遊戲主機架構
A practical analysis by Rodrigo Copetti
電子遊戲主機的進化史是如此地迷人。 一直以來個人電腦都是採取「逐步漸進」地發展方式，然而新世代的遊戲主機卻呈現了另一種截然不同的樣貌。 您將在這裡看到一系列文章，為您揭示最新技術趨勢背後的原理。 同時還將說明為什麼每個系統不能單純地用「xx 位元」、「oo 兆赫」、或是記憶體的大小來概括其性能。
這不是開發手冊，只是對遊戲主機系統內部工作原理的深入介紹。 請記住，技術隨著時間發展到非常複雜的程度，所以如果您對最新文章的理解感到吃力，或許可以先讀讀更早的文章。 這些文章介紹了許多概念和定義，以及在技術的發展中，這些概念與定義也經常地被重新審視。
儘管閱讀本書最好有基礎的計算機知識，但我仍盡力讓內容能夠通俗易懂，所以不用害怕嘗試！ 但若仍遇到不懂的地方，也可以先翻翻這個 相關閱讀材料。
雖然我行文力求準確，但如果您發現任何錯誤，請 與我聯繫 或 提出修改建議。
話不多說，讓我們開始吧！
3rd generation
Known as '8-bit' consoles, these machines brought more sophisticated graphics and richer sounds than their predecessors. After all, a big market crash just occurred and newer standards had to be set.
Outstanding GPU features: Scrollable tile maps and larger colour palettes.
4th generation
DMA, horizontal interrupts, multiple modes... These are some examples of the new concepts that brought the new '16-bit' generation, opening the door to new genres of games.
Notable CPU advancements: Multiplication and division instructions, DMA and dual-processing.
Outstanding GPU features: Affine transformations and horizontal interrupts.
5th generation
3D gaming has become a need but 'how' is not clear yet. The response? Every company presented their own different vision.
Notable CPU advancements: Pipeline stages and L1 cache.
Outstanding GPU features: Programmable vertex pipelines, Z-buffering and perspective corrections.
6th generation
Most of the graphics limitations from the previous generation are no more. Portable consoles start to resemble familiar systems.
Notable CPU advancements: Superscalar architectures, SIMD instructions and L2 cache.
Outstanding GPU features: Programmable pixel pipelines and anisotropic filters.
7th generation
Consoles have evolved into supercomputers and multimedia hubs. These machines are now more capable than just playing games, which is why security is now a critical factor.
Notable CPU advancements: Thread level parallelism and symmetrical multi-core architectures.
Outstanding GPU features: Unified shader model and HDR rendering.
8th generation
The entertainment market has now been conquered by cheap smartphones and tablets. Social media capabilities become the first priority of every peripheral. It's time for traditional video-game companies to renovate their status quo, and they better do it quick.
Roadmap
There are many consoles I could write about... If you are wondering what's next on my list here it is:
### Next articles
- Sony PSVita
- Nintendo Switch
### Retro consoles / In-between the next articles
- Panasonic 3DO
- Neo Geo
- Atari Jag
- Atari 2600
- WonderSwan
- Mega Drive add-ons (MegaCD and 32x)
#### Personal computers repackaged as consoles
- Apple Pippin
- Atari XEGS
- Amiga CD32
### Modern consoles / More research needed
- Sony PlayStation 4
- Microsoft Xbox One
- Sony PlayStation 5
- Microsoft Xbox Series X/S
- Playdate
### Honourable articles / For another series
- Commodore 64
- Amiga 500 (featuring the Original Chip Set)
- Amiga 3000 (featuring the Enhanced Chip Set)
- Amiga 4000 (featuring the Advanced Graphics Architecture)If you find my articles interesting then please consider donating. Your contribution will be used to fund the purchase of tools and resources that will help me to improve the quality of existing articles and upcoming ones. I also provide a list of interesting materials to acquire at the end of each article.
You can also buy the eBook edition in English. I treat profits as donations.
As a token of gratitude, your name will be included in the credits section of the next article or your nominated one, unless stated otherwise.
Stay updated
I post updates on my Twitter profile, but you can also get an email when a new article is out. You can unsubscribe at any time, I use Mailchimp to handle this.