Data integration refers to the process of gathering data from multiple sources and transforming it into easily readable, interpretable, and a translatable chunk of information for different people or devices.
In a sense, you could think of data integration in much the same way as you would think about a textbook. It’s a large gathering of information regarding a multitude of subjects from a branch of knowledge, easily digestible within a few pages.
Good, now that we’ve got that out of the way, onto the next problem. What is data integration in gaming? What are data integration tools? We’ll try to explain both these questions in detail without going overboard with the technical aspects.
Types of Data Integration
There are a couple of ways through which we can achieve data integration. Those can be methods of bringing data together into an integrated view and techniques for bringing data together physically, for an integration version.
Either way, we’re talking about more or less the same thing, with the difference being whether the data is manipulated physically or simply translated into a separate chunk that can be integrated into a different system.
- Data consolidation refers to gathering data from multiple sources, often with different coding, and transforming it into a format that can be read universally, e.g. a PDF. A physical analogy would be the way USB has replaced PS/2, floppy, and classic printer ports.
- Data propagation is the use of applications to copy data from one location to another. It is event-driven and can be done synchronously or asynchronously.
- Data virtualization uses one location to be able to view data from multiple sources without storing everything in that specific single location.
Data Integration in Gaming
When it comes to gaming, the same principles apply but differ depending on the context. For example, as we saw with the latest trends regarding remasters, an older game might be ported to a newer engine.
As such, the ported data needs to be optimized for newer systems to avoid any incompatibility with hardware that the old software would otherwise fail to click with. As for multi-platform games, similar methods are used to port the game engine from, let’s say, a PlayStation to a PC.
And if a game has a multiplayer cross-platform playing feature, things get even more complicated since the two different consoles or PC operating systems need to be able to communicate with each other seamlessly so that both players can have a lag-free and glitch-free experience.
Examples of Data Integration in Gaming
During the last year, we have seen several titles exclusive to the PlayStation 4 appear on PC. One thing to note is that their original game engine was designed solely for that platform.
However, talented programmers have found ways in which to trick the engine into running on PC using the simple theory that both platforms use the x86 architecture for their CPUs. As such, we now have Detroit: Become Human, Death Stranding, and Horizon Zero Dawn among others on the mouse-and-keyboard oriented platform.
A much simpler example is the iGaming industry, however. They use the same principles to integrate a platform onto several different devices flawlessly. This is often done through the wonders of HTML5. However, it would be a little more complicated than that if you didn’t have reliable software. Fortunately, for entrepreneurs who want to undertake such a task, an all-in-one solution is the key to saving time, energy and resources.
Final Thoughts
Did you find this article useful? Do you have any other questions that we didn’t manage to answer clearly? Leave us a comment down below and we’ll try to answer it as simple as we can.