P1-BBY JORDAN MOORE

MICROSOFT

• MICROSOFT ARE THE CREATORS AND CURRENT OWNERS OF THE XBOX GAMES CONSOLE. THE COMPANY WAS FOUNDED 4TH APR 1975 BY BILL GATES AND IS BEST KNOWN FOR THE CREATION OF THE GROUND-BREAKING OPERATING SYSTEM WINDOWS. MICROSOFT IS ONE OF THE MOST VALUABLE COMPANIES IN THE WORLD MAKING BILLIONS OF POUNDS EVERY YEAR SPECIALISING IN COMPUTER HARDWARE/SOFTWARE MANUFACTURING.

XBOX• THE XBOX WAS FIRST CREATED BY MICROSOFT IN NOVEMBER 2001AS

THE COMPANY VENTURED INTO NEW AREAS OF TECH DEVELOPMENT IN AN ATTEMPT TO DIVERSIFY THE COMPANIES ARSENAL. THE XBOX WAS MADE TO RIVAL THE INFAMOUS PS2 AND WAS A SUCCESS BY MICROSOFT’S STANDARDS SELLING 24 MILLION UNITS WORLDWIDE WHICH PERSUADED MICROSOFT TO CONTINUE THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS GAMES CONSOLE. IT’S SUCCESSOR WAS THE XBOX 36O WHICH RIVALLED SONY’S PS3, IT WAS MUCH MORE POWERFUL THAN ITS PREDECESSOR AND WAS ALSO THE FIRST TIME MANY PLAYERS BEGAN USING XBOX LIVE (WHICH ALLOWED FOR ONLINE GAMING), THE CONSOLE WHEN ON TO SELL AN OUTSTANDING 84 MILLION UNITS WORLDWIDE SINCE ITS RELEASE IN 2005. IN 2013; AFTER 8 YEARS OF WAITING, THE THIRD GENERATION OF XBOX WAS FINALLY RELEASED. THE XBOX ONE WAS MICROSOFT’S MOST AMBITIOUS AND INNOVATIVE CONSOLE TO DATE. IT FEATURED VOICE CONTROL, ALL NEW SECOND SCREEN TECHNOLOGY AND EVEN ALLOWED USERS TO WATCH TV. IT WAS ALSO MUCH MORE POWERFUL THAN THE 360 MODEL AND THE CONSOLE WENT ON TO SELL ONLY 19 MILLION UNITS WORLDWIDE. THIS WAS MAINLY DUE TO THE RELEASE OF THE PS4 WHICH MANY GAMERS SEEMINGLY PREFERRED.

PROS

• HAS THE BIGGEST COMPANY IN THE WORLD FINANCIALLY FUNDING THE CONSOLE (MICROSOFT).• XBOX LIVE ALLOWS PLAYERS TO PLAY GAMES ONLINE.• ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL CONSOLES ON THE MARKET.• HAS A LARGE FAN BASE WHICH MEANS MICROSOFT RECEIVE A LOT OF FEEDBACK.• XBOX CONTROLLERS ARE OFTEN PRAISED FOR BEING VERY COMFORTABLE AND FITTING TO THE

HUMAN HAND.• ARGUABLY HAD THE BEST EXCLUSIVE GAMES OUT OF ANY CONSOLE ON THE MARKET (HALO,

FORZA ETC.)• STRONG SECURITY SERVERS

CONS

• OFTEN OUTSHONE BY THE POWER OF PLAYSTATION’S CONSOLES.• THE NEWEST INSTALMENT, THE XBOX ONE, IS OFTEN CRITICISED FOR BEING

TOO BIG AND CLUNKY.• MANY PLAYERS REPORTED SUFFERING FROM THE INFAMOUS “RED RINGS OF

DEATH” WHICH ESSENTIALLY RENDERED THE CONSOLE UNUSABLE UNTIL IT WAS FIXED.

• THE XBOX HAS ALWAYS CAME WITH A POWER BRICK WHICH PEOPLE GREW TO HATE OVER THE YEARS DUE TO THEM ALWAYS HAVING TO FIND SPACE FOR IT.

SONY

• SONY IS A JAPANESE MULTINATIONAL CONGLOMERATE THAT SPECIALISES IN THE MANUFACTURING/DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTRONIC GOODS SUCH AS DVD PLAYERS AND TELEVISIONS. IT WAS FOUNDED IN 1946 IN TOKYO, JAPAN AND IS NOW ONE OF THE LARGEST COMPANIES IN THE WORLD. SONY’S BIGGEST LINE OF PRODUCTS HOWEVER COME IN THE FORM OF THE PLAYSTATION WHICH IS CURRENTLY ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR GAMING PLATFORMS ON THE PLANET.

PLAYSTATION

• PLAYSTATION IS ONE OF THE MOST RECOGNISABLE BRANDS IN THE GAMING INDUSTRY. THERE IS CURRENTLY 4 GENERATIONS OF PLAYSTATION, THE PS1, PS2, PS3 AND MOST RECENTLY THE PS4. SONY’S PS2 IS CURRENTLY THE HIGHEST SELLING CONSOLE OF ALL TIME SELLING 155 MILLION UNITS WORLDWIDE. THE LATEST PLAYSTATION (PS4) IS CURRENTLY THE MOST POWERFUL CONSOLE ON THE MARKET WITH 8GB OF GDDR5 RAM AND A 8-CORE JAGUAR CPU. THE PLAYSTATION 4 HAS CURRENTLY SHIPPED 43.5 MILLION UNITS WORLDWIDE.

PROS

• THE PLAYSTATION 4 IS CURRENTLY THE MOST POWERFUL CONSOLE ON THE MARKET.

• PLAYSTATION CONSOLES HAVE ALWAYS OUTSHONE XBOX CONSOLES IN TERMS OF POWER.

• THE PLAYSTATION 4 IS MUCH SLIMMER AND LIGHTER THAN THE XBOX ONE.• PLAYSTATION PLUS MEMBERS GET TWO FREE GAMES PER MONTH.• THE PLAYSTATION 3 ALLOWS USERS TO PLAY ONLINE FOR FREE.

CONS

• SONY HAS HAD MANY SECURITY PROBLEMS IN THE PAST. FOR EXAMPLE, THE FAMOUS LIZARD SQUAD ATTACKS LEFT THE PLAYSTATION SERVERS SHUTDOWN FOR WEEKS.

• THE PLAYSTATION 4 CONSOLE REQUIRES YOU TO WAIT AROUND 30 SECONDS BEFORE YOU CAN ACTUALLY TURN IT OFF.

• THE DUALSHOCK 4 CONTROLLERS ONLY HAVE LOW BATTERY LIFE.

NINTENDO

• NINTENDO WAS FIRST CREATED 23RD SEPTEMBER 1889 AND WAS BASED IN KYOTO, JAPAN. IT ORIGINALLY STARTED OUT AS A JAPANESE PLAYING CARD MANUFACTURER BUT SLOWLY DEVELOPED INTO A GAMES/GAMES CONSOLE MANUFACTURER DURING THE 1970’S AND TODAY IS ONE OF THE MOST RECOGNISABLE BRANDS IN THE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY. NINTENDO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR SUCH CONSOLES SUCH AS THE NINTENDO 64, THE NINTENDO GAMECUBE, THE NINTENDO WII AND THE POPULAR HAND-HELD DEVICE THE NINTENDO DS. THE MOST POPULAR GAMES ON THE NINTENDO CONSOLES ARE THE SUPER MARIO GAMES WHICH ARE EXCLUSIVE TO NINTENDO PRODUCTS.

WII U

• THE WII U IS THE LATEST GAMES CONSOLE RELEASE BY NINTENDO AND IS A FOLLOW UP TO THE REVOLUTIONARY NINTENDO WII. THE NINTENDO WII WAS RELEASED TO COMPETE WITH SONY’S PS4 AND MICROSOFT’S XBOX ONE AND HAS SOLD AROUND 13 MILLION UNITS WORLDWIDE. THE CONSOLE FEATURES AND TOUCHSCREEN AND HD GRAPHICS WHICH IS A FIRST FOR A NINTENDO CONSOLE. THE CONSOLE ALSO HAS MANY MOTION FEATURES JUST LIKE ITS PREDECESSOR THE NINTENDO WII. HOWEVER, THIS CONSOLE HAS RECEIVED MIXED REVIEWS SINCE ITS RELEASE IN 2012.

PROS:

• CHEAPER THAN THE PS4 AND THE XBOX ONE• HAS MANY EXCLUSIVE NINTENDO GAMES SUCH AS MARIO AND ZELDA• IS PERFECT FOR “OLD SCHOOL” GAMERS WHO GREW UP WITH CONSOLES

SUCH AS THE NINTENDO 64• FEATURES BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY

CONS:

• THE PERFORMANCE IS NOWHERE NEAR THAT OF THE PS4 AND XBOX ONE• GAMES GENERALLY HAVE POOR GRAPHICS DUE TO THE BELOW PAR

CAPABILITIES OF THE CONSOLE• WII U GAME PAD HAS BEEN CRITICISED FOR BEING OVER COMPLICATED• THE CONSOLE LACKS FEATURES WHEN COMPARED TO ITS COMPETITION

APPLE

• APPLE WAS FIRST FOUNDED IN 1976 BY STEVE JOBS, STEVE WOZNIAK AND RONALD WAYNE IN CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA. APPLE IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST TECH COMPANIES ON THE PLANET WITH ONLY MICROSOFT BEATING IT IN TERMS OF SIZE AND SALES. THERE ARE CURRENTLY 475 APPLE RETAIL STORES IN 17 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. THE COMPANY HAS HAD A TOTAL REVENUE OF $233 BILLION AS OF 2016. SOME OF APPLES MOST POPULAR PRODUCTS INCLUDE THE IPHONE, IPOD, IPAD AND THE APPLE MAC PC.

IPHONE

• THE IPHONE WAS FIRST RELEASED BY APPLE IN 2007 AND HAS NOW BECOME THE MOST SUCCESSFUL SMARTPHONE ON THE MARKET WITH THE COMPANIES LATEST RELEASE THE IPHONE 7. ON APPLES WEBSITE; YOU CAN CURRENTLY PURCHASE THE IPHONE 6S FOR THE PRICE OF £539. ALTHOUGH PRICEY FOR A PHONE; PEOPLE WILL BE WILLING TO PAY THIS AS THEY KNOW THAT THE PRODUCT THAT THEY ARE GETTING WILL BE OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY DUE TO IT BEING A PRODUCT MADE BY APPLE.

PROS

• THE IPHONE 7 HAS THE BEST PERFORMANCE AVAILABLE IN A SMARTPHONE AS OF 2016

• APPLE HAS ALWAYS BEEN GOOD AT MAKING ITS PRODUCTS USER FRIENDLY• IPHONES HAVE MANY EXCLUSIVE FEATURES SUCH AS FACETIME AND APPLE

MUSIC• APPLE IS BY FAR THE WEALTHIEST PRODUCER OF SMARTPHONES• IPHONES ARE CURRENTLY THE BEST SELLING SMARTPHONES

CONS

• SAMSUNG’S SMARTPHONE RANGE DO HAVE SOME EDGES OVER APPLE SUCH AS WATER RESISTANCY AND BATTERY LIFE

• IPHONES ARE GENERALLY ONLY MADE TO LAST AROUND 2 YEARS FORCING YOU TO UPGRADE

• DESPITE THE QUALITY YOU GET FOR PURCHASING AN IPHONE, THEY ARE ONE OF THE MOST EXPENSIVE SMARTPHONES ON THE MARKET

• THE IPHONE 7 NO LONGER HAS A HEADPHONE JACK RENDERING STANDARD HEADPHONE UNUSABLE WITHOUT A LIGHTNING PORT ADAPTER