FUNDAMENTALS OF GAME DESIGN, SECOND EDITION

Types of Game Machines

When you first start fleshing out your game concept, you should concentrate on the dream, the player's role, and the target audience. However, a game concept is not complete without a statement about which machine (or machines) the game runs on. Some genres of games are better suited to one kind of machine than another, and all machines have features and performance characteristics—input and output devices, processor speed, storage space—that define the scope of the game. You need to know the strengths and weaknesses of the different types of machines and how their owners use them.

Throughout this book you'll see many references to PCs—personal computers. The IBM PC and its clones, running the Windows operating system, are by far the most popular personal computers for gaming. However, when you see the term PC, you shouldn't assume that it only means IBM PC clones running Windows. Developers also make games for the Macintosh and for machines running the Linux operating system, and these qualify as PCs too.