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Platforms - TV Tropes

️Fri Dec 22 2023

Platforms are software (programs, apps, websites), hardware (video game systems, tablets, mobile phones, other devices), or locations (theaters, concert halls, film festivals, other public venues) that are made or used to allow people to experience various creative works or performances. Some are specialized around a single medium of work, while others are designed to be more versatile and allow for people to enjoy multiple forms of media.

A large number of the platforms listed here arose as a result of the advent of computers, and with technology continuing to advance to this day, will likely become even more powerful, less expensive, and more ubiquitous in the future. Aspects like technical specifications, memory limitations, and other design details play a significant role in shaping the kinds of works that can be hosted through such platforms.

So in general, while platforms themselves usually do not have tropes of their own^note, they can inform the tropes available to the works or performances they host.

For info on subjects and phenomenon that pop up in works on platforms and to debunk common misconceptions about them, see Useful Notes. For background information and history on media, how it is made, and the accolades given to them, see Media Notes. Not to be confused with Platform Game, which is a video game genre.