Playstation 2 (Slim)

The Play Station 2 Slim version was a very decent console with a very memorable line of games. Although it was a home console it was able to solve a few issues with its previous fatter version. Because of its compact, small, and slim size it was able to use less energy and wasn't able to overheat unlike the regular Play Station 2. One great aspect of the slim version was its immense portability. The system is very lightweight, flat, and very portable. With the system you were able to play Play Station 2 games on and off line, watch DVD's, and play Play Station 1 games,

The portability factor also go rid of the Play Station 1's huge amounts of add ons needed to play on the road. This portable aspect of the console would become lost as future generations of video game consoles emerged with a change in direction. Instead of having one console that would be built both the home and for on the road, the market was divided. Now more consoles are focused on being the best all in one entertainment system, including the portable market. With the lack of portability in most of the consoles, mobile gaming was able to dominate the market with very mediocre games. Although most of the games on home consoles are great, their respective systems are too bulky and a real mess to drag around if you are going on a vacation or moving to a new location.

The Play Station 2, at the time it was one of the best systems, being able to render cinematic with good quality graphics and game control. It wasn't perfect though, the system would freeze constantly, overheat a lot, and really scratch the disks to the point where they were unplayable. The slim version however fixed the majority of problems, it was smaller and able to absorb less heat. It was smaller, more efficient, and was still able to have the same functionality of the regular Play Station 2. The creation of slimmer versions of consoles would later become a trend, thereby replacing the original version of the system entirely and allow for crucial problems to be solved. Although it can feel like it's a crutch for more monitary gain, it has been proven that the slimmer versions have been more capable of handling the same jobs as the older versions of the system as well as being more portable.

Nintendo 3DS

The Nintendo 3DS is an interesting portable device. Intended for casual video game enthusiasts, as well as a small group of friends, this system is very handy. It has a small, flat exterior that is a great leap in technology compared to its predecessors. The two screens are a bit strange to get used to at first, but very quickly become second nature. The 3DS is able to play 3DS games, older DS games, and is also compatible with the Nintendo Wii U as a controller for some games. Sadly, the older DS’s ability to play both Game Boy and Game Boy Advanced games was scrapped for the newer DS lineups.

The Nintendo 3DS uses SD cards for its memory, which is very different from both previous Nintendo consoles and its competition which simply have their own hard drives built in. The games for the 3DS are extremely small in size compared to previous systems, allowing for mass portability and small file sizes.  In a way this makes for easy storage of memory, but also allows for inconvenience for instead for not being able to either simply have a larger hard drive or the use of USB’s for even larger external storage.

There are some minor but useful functions to the 3DS that make the system unique compared to its competition. The 3D function of the system helps to really change the experience of the game. It greatly adds to both the graphics and a very different shift of perspective. The use of the stylus and touch screen allow for some very different experiences. The 3DS’s street pass function allows local gamers to be able to connect wirelessly to play together without a Wi-Fi connection, as well as send messages to each other. This greatly increases the comradery between gamers as well as competitive game play.

One small issue with the 3DS are that both the system and game updates are very compressed, which take a very long time to load. For a system that constantly needs to update on something as small as an SD card, it shouldn’t have to take as long as it does. A regular home console is understandable because it’s a very large device with a larger memory capacity.

Another minor issue is the ability to type in a friend code. There are so many number characters, and the process takes forever. Compared to other systems, where you still have to type in the characters if you are looking for a specific person and hit send, the 3DS gives a special serial number to that account. Each time you want to add a friend online you have to know the other person’s serial number and manually type it in. This process is very tedious and time consuming. Other systems allow you to find and add people near instantly if you happen to cross paths and want to join up in a game.

One last big issue are the library of games. This can also be said for both the Nintendo Wii and the Nintendo Wii U systems, there are a massive library of games that are exclusive to japan. Although this can cause a local market to thrive, it causes the worldwide market to become a barren wasteland. It isn’t like in most cases where the game being released is deemed offensive or are very difficult to translate from cultural differences, most of these games just simply remain exclusive. For a device that is built for interactivity amongst small groups of friends and online gamers, this tactic really dwindles the 3DS and the company’s reputation as a whole around the world. 

If these issues were to be fixed it would greatly increase profits for Nintendo, comradery amongst gamers, and the overall fun of using the system more often. It would allow for the system to be known better for its innovation in terms of overall design instead of letting another piece of technology become another useless novelty paperweight. 

Since the release of the 3DS there have been three other versions: the 2DS, 3DSXL, and the New 3DS. The 2DS is a flat version of the 3DS with the same capabilities with the exception of the 3D feature. This was created due to the 3D capabilities was harming children, causing them to get dizzy or sick. The 3DSXL is a very large version of the 3DS, complete with bigger screens and fatter controls. The New 3DS is a regular 3DS with very minor changes to the control pad being replaced with a newer analog stick device.

YouTube is an interface that allows users to post their own content within certain restrictions, usually for entertainment purposes.

The YouTube interface has changed dramatically over the years, some of the updates were well received and most of which had been terrible and very arbitrary. Recently however, they've decided to improve the system overall with the addition of google

Their recent addition was the implement of YouTube Red which is a ten dollar monthly subscription program that allows you to save your favorite videos and watch videos without advertisements. It also helps content creators with a small boost of paycheck.

The only main issues is that the community is the last to know about any of the updates, if the company made it publicly available it would've been greatly improved overall.

Unreal Engine

The Unreal Engine is a great video game software that is able to be used in level and game design.

The interface for the engine is similar to the Unity engine in terms of functionality and interface. One main difference is that the time between testing the game and the menus is almost seamless. The work flows is more complex than Unity, which creates a small learning curve for new users. Other than that, and an annoying little built in readable tutorial, there really aren't any major issues. Had the tutorial been a video format, it would've made the program the best on the market.

A main feature in the engine is that there are built in blueprints that you can use straight from the beginning of launching the program. This lets you be able to quickly learn and prototype your game even faster. The rendering capabilities of the program are leagues ahead of Unity's rendering capabilities.

Overall it is more powerful than the Unity engine in terms of speed, rendering, and graphic capabilities.Since it launched the price used to be a subscription fee of $19. Just this year Unreal released the engine for free, with the exception of a 5% royalty fee of publishing games. This makes it very competative in the market now giving an alternative for the Unity Software.

GIMP

The Gimp software is a free to use image editing software. It is in essence, supposed to be a free variation of Adobe Photoshop. It’s the only free alternative to Photoshop on the market and it had just been updated slightly as of this month.

The Gimp interface, along with a majority of the functions however are terrible. A massive problem is the amount of windows used when using the program. Instead of a typical program with a single widow split into multiple panes, Gimp uses multiple smaller windows. There are three in total: the left window is for the tool display, the middle for the work space, and the right for the layers panel. This creates clutter during work flow and would've been simpler had it just been on one window. In terms of performance some of the tools are very basic and others are very arbitrary. To flip an object for example, you click the flip object tool, and it flips the specific object. However, it only flips the object on that specific layer, this can cause problems when trying working with multiple layers. Masking an object or selection is also a lot of work in Gimp than in Photoshop. There are lots of steps to making a mask, and in Photoshop there are barely any. The tool options for specific tools are also not intuitive to use. For example, in order to change the size and opacity of the brush, there is a slider with the option to manually type in the number. However unlike other programs where you can manipulate the slider by either scrolling or typing in the number, the only way to use the slider in Gimp is to manually slide the dial across. Another strange quirk about the brush tool is the selection of brushes available. Some are very basic while others are just taking up space and would never really be used, such as the pepper brush which is literally a green pepper.  Nowadays programs are becoming accustomed to using a tablet as well as a mouse. Although Gimp is able to integrate tablet usage, there is a huge delay of lag which is terrible for getting smooth line quality.

Although the program does get the work done, some basic functions that would be simple to execute in Photoshop or other programs are done in multiple steps in Gimp or are nonexistent. The shortcuts for the most essential tools don’t take into account the user’s work flow, but rather goes by a lettering logic. For example the shortcut for the paint brush tool is the “P” key, which isn’t intuitive design, having to force the user to leave the mouse or tablet pen in order to press it when the shortcut could've been on the other side of the keyboard.

If this program was to be updated with better usability and less arbitrary functions this would be a great improvement. Having used this program for a few years, the only main improvement that has been emphasized since its initial launch is the lack of crashing. It’s hard to say whether this program is salvageable. It has some very basic functions going for it and the price is free, but compared to other programs on the market, including cheaper ones, Gimp doesn't have a whole lot of unique features. Although it has had updates over the years they have been very minor tweaks. It would definitely need a big update that incorporated overall better design and user friendliness.

Overall the program is very basic, annoying to use, and can be very arbitrary. The price is free, and it’s able to get the most basic tasks done. Gimp however isn't very user friendly in terms of both use and functionality. It isn’t going to replace any other program on the market and isn’t even close to replicating the usefulness of Adobe Photoshop.

Unity 5 Personal Edition

The Unity 5 Personal edition is an amazing tool for those who are interested in creating independent video games. There are so many aspects to this program and its community. The software is capable creating both 3D and 2D video games with an overall very high performance. The user is able to create games on every platform including portable devices and also use virtual reality devices such as the Oculus Rift.

The Unity 5 interface is very user friendly. The main window is divided into four main sections. The middle section is your scene workstation where you can edit and customize levels and other assets as well as test out the game. The left section is the hierarchy, this area lists where every object is in the game and their specific groupings be it textures, animations, sound effects etc. The bottom section lists all of your favorite materials and assets as well as lets you check the coding during testing. The right section of the window lets you manipulate selected objects. The top section of the window lets you play, pause, and stop playing your game and has the tool bar. The program has a huge catalog of assets from their store, some of which are either free to use or a real bargain to purchase. In fact people have actually made a decent living just creating assets to sell on the store. Unity also comes with a wide array of packages of various tools and effects that you can use in your games. For example most beginners want to create a first person shooting video game but either aren't sure exactly how or just want to hit the ground running. They've developed an entire control kit to allow for very easy use and customization for those who really want to quickly want to make their next game or prototype. The tutorials on Unity’s website, along with the overall community, are great to use if you have the time and are very straight forward to learn. This is great considering most of the tutorials found on YouTube are usually outdated or very slow in the making.

The rendering engine, particle system, shading system, and physics system in Unity 5 are far superior to its predecessor and most of the competition on the market with perhaps the exception of the Unreal Engine. It’s very similar to the Unreal Engine, but the quality is just slightly better on the rendering aspect. The work flow of Unity 5 is great and very simple to get a hang of when creating levels and terrain. It is also compatible with other various programs such as Maya and Blender.

The flaws for Unity are very few and are very minor. As helpful as the tutorials are on their website, it’s all about the Unity Engine and their tools. Most people who want to jump into making a video game usually have an idea of what genre they want to work on. Because of this, you’ll have to turn to YouTube. YouTube’s tutorials are useful in principle, but are mostly very out of date and low quality. Although there are weekly tutorials from some of the best users and creators of the program, if Unity had specific series on some of the types of games that could be made, or even very popular genres, it would greatly increase user interest. Another suggestion would be to add 3D modeling capabilities into the program. Although you can create different terrain, weather, effects, shading textures, particle physics, and import other assets, it would seem simple enough to be able to create basic assets as well in theory.

There are two versions of the software, a more recent personal version and a professional version. Both of these versions have the same capabilities. The professional version comes with a few more tool kits, analytics tracking capabilities, cloud saving, prioritized bug handling, and beta access. Overall the program has quickly evolved since its initial launch. The personal edition is free to use and is capable of publishing on every platform. The professional version is a requirement when the creator retains one hundred thousand dollars in profit, and is a team license with the aforementioned capabilities. The professional version isn’t strikingly different than the free version. Overall the program is great for what it is, a very high performing level and game engine. 

Maya (2015)

Autodesk’s Maya software is a program for people who are interested in creating animation and CG models. This program is the current industry standard of video game, film, and design companies that are involved with computer generated images.

The Maya interface is very intuitive in its design. It’s easy to use for a beginner, the layout is simple and organized, and it’s feels great to work with for the most part. When the program boots up you’re automatically greeted with a blank canvas to work with, and the program also allows for various work flows. The program allows you to create a 3D model, add textures, add a wide range of effects, animate the model, see the finalized product, and easily import to other software with relative ease. Building and animating in the program is simplified when starting and also allows for more complex tools and geometry as your skill progresses. Overall it feels great and, depending on the process, can be very rewarding to see the finalized product.

There are some drastic downsides for the program however. Firstly the price is insane for the standard program, which is approximately three to five thousand dollars for a perpetual license. There is a choice of paying for a subscription for the program, which is a somewhat cheaper price. There is also the recent alternative program Maya LT which is a cheaper version of the Maya software for eight hundred dollars, however it doesn’t include very drastically important tools and functions of the original Maya software. The built in renderer for Maya is terrible compared to other programs and third party software. There are also lots of updates to the Maya software that have had major changes which have caused multiple problems: entirely lost functions that were very useful and convenient to use, disrupting work flow or making it tedious or too complex, and causing the program to crash more frequently from using a very basic function. Lastly, it can be extremely easy to make a mistake and not know what you did or how to fix it. This can also effect the work flow and be permanent to the program until it’s fixed.

Overall, the program is great to use and very fun. It’s simple to get a hang of, and most of the tutorials, including the outdated ones can still be put to use in principle. There is the choice of an annual subscription to the program. If the creators of the software were to listen to the community about the massive amount of complaints to their recent changes and dramatically reduce the price, there would be many benefits for CGI artists along with independent developers. There is a way to get it as a student, but the license is only three years.