When you’re playing Tomb Raider and you’re trying to beat the expletives out of something evil, your games controller takes a fair old battering. Even back in the 1980s when Daley Thompson’s Decathlon was all the rage you had to smash the keys on your ZX Spectrum to make the athlete run faster. So games consoles have to be tough.
Have you ever wondered what games consoles are made from?
You might like to …
• take an old games console to pieces and try to identify what the different parts of the system do, and what they are made from – you may need to find out technical information from the manufacturers
• survey existing games consoles; pick a particular component of the system, such as the console case, and find out what material is used by each system; find out if the materials are the same, different or similar
• find out about the general physical and chemical properties of a material that must be considered when designing a games console
• find out how much common materials cost – include those materials that are usually used for games consoles; think about why cost is important
• design and make the casing for a games console.