The general gaming thread

[Daniel]

There have been a few gaming threads but these have dropped off the radar so I thought I'd start a new one off.

At the moment I'm mostly playing Left 4 Dead, Starcraft 2 and my old favourite, Day of Defeat: Source. All on PC. I bought myself an XBox 360 earlier this year to play Forza 3 on which I haven't looked at for a while tbh.

I've ordered a few games for preorder recently.

Goldeneye 007 Wii Collectors Edition (I love the original and had to have the updated gold controller!!!!!)
Call of Duty Black Ops (PC) I've not played either of the modern warfare's but I thought I'd give it a go
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit (PC) as I've always had a soft spot for the NFS games where you get to drive against the Police and I love it when you can actually be the police! :) Have just this minute ordered a 360 wireless adaptor for windows so I can use my 360 controller.

As you can see I've got a Wii, a 360 and a PC. I'll probably be replacing the PC next year with something with a Sandy Bridge processor, a lyndonville SSD, a crapload of DDR3 and perhaps a new graphics card :)

Come on geeks! Show yourselves and get this thread going :)

My steam ID is Sgtstupid http://steamcommunity.com/id/SgtStupid if anyone wants to add me

[555-04Q2]

Who you calling a geek :p :

[F1boat]

I have a PC and PS2. I am not a big gamer, but from time to time I like to play fighting games like Tekken, Soul Calibur and Guilty Gear.

[janneppi]

I bought the new Medal of Honor few weeks ago, disappointtingly short single player campaign. It did feel pretty good to move around and shoot, More Cod4 than farcry2.
My interwebasto connection isn't up to the demands of multiplayer games, so it has to wait. :(

[555-04Q2]

Got my PC, PS2, PS3 & Xbox 360.

Play mostly GT4, FF and Killzone on my PS2 (70% of the time).

[Ghostwalker]

only have a PC and is currently playing Just Cause 2 and MS Flight Simulator X.

[Sleeper]

I've been playing F1 2010 and Dragon Age: Origins on my PS3 a lot lately, the best console F1 game since F197 and a very good RPG.

[Captain VXR]

PS2 and PS3, the latter of which I mainly use
PS2 GTA San Andreas and GT4
PS3 GTA IV, GTA EFLC, Race Driver Grid, GT5P and soon GT5

[Shifter]

I do my gaming on the PS3, it's one of the old models that have backwards compatability and four USB slots (hooray for buying at JUST the right time!).

With backwards compatability, my PS2 went downstairs on the larger screen for casual gaming. Upstairs or down, PS2 games still played & considered classics included GT4 (of course), TimeSplitters, Need For Speed Underground 2, and FlatOut 2 (a game with amazingly decent physics on the cars).

Of course, primarily I play current gen, F1 2010 which I'm trying to decide if it's worth playing on any real difficulty or just backing off the settings and have fun with it. GRID is tons'o'fun and I still play that. Getting a lil bored with GT5 Prologue but of course still play because it's the best sim yet. Interest is fading in Modern Warfare 2 but still play in bursts. The real addiction lately is ModNation Racers -- good lighthearted kart racer but the cutomization and the track editor is redicously addicting!

[ioan]

Last time I played a video game it was when I got bored on a plane from middle east, other than that I really can't remember what I played last time.
I hope, in vain, that I will manage to find some time to try Starcraft 2.

[Daniel]

Last time I played a video game it was when I got bored on a plane from middle east, other than that I really can't remember what I played last time.
I hope, in vain, that I will manage to find some time to try Starcraft 2.
It's a good game. Multiplayer can be a little frustrating when your team mates have the strategic awareness of a packet of butter......

[ioan]

It's a good game. Multiplayer can be a little frustrating when your team mates have the strategic awareness of a packet of butter......

That's why I always preferred to play against the game AI's (not that it is exceptionally intelligent, however at least it is constantly good).

I loved Starcraft (and many other 'real time' strategy games starting with Warcraft a long long time ago) and really hope to get time to at least get an idea of Starcraft II.

BTW I just checked the NFS site out of curiosity and realized that there are at least 5 new versions since I last time played. :(

[Daniel]

That's why I always preferred to play against the game AI's (not that it is exceptionally intelligent, however at least it is constantly good).

I loved Starcraft (and many other 'real time' strategy games starting with Warcraft a long long time ago) and really hope to get time to at least get an idea of Starcraft II.

BTW I just checked the NFS site out of curiosity and realized that there are at least 5 new versions since I last time played. :(
Sadly some of the NFS versions were silly ones like NFS underground which were all to do with tuning and drifting and other such boring crap. I quite liked most wanted as there was no drifting and the police chases were just stupidly crazy :D Very hard to get away with them when you're doing 100mph and the police 4wd's are doing a similar speed and hitting you head on and there's a helicopter flying with you!!!!

[ioan]

Sadly some of the NFS versions were silly ones like NFS underground which were all to do with tuning and drifting and other such boring crap. I quite liked most wanted as there was no drifting and the police chases were just stupidly crazy :D Very hard to get away with them when you're doing 100mph and the police 4wd's are doing a similar speed and hitting you head on and there's a helicopter flying with you!!!!

I'll confess that I did play NFS Underground 2 (the last one from the series that I tried) from one end to the other, even if some of those drifting tasks were close to impossible to do (get 300.000 points and so on), at that time it was the latest NFS out and the impression of speed was well done. And those time attacks were great to drive. :D

Favorite NFS was NFS Porsche followed by High Stakes.

I will certainly have to buy a new computer in order to play the newer ones. :\

[Ghostwalker]

I'll confess that I did play NFS Underground 2 (the last one from the series that I tried) from one end to the other, even if some of those drifting tasks were close to impossible to do (get 300.000 points and so on), at that time it was the latest NFS out and the impression of speed was well done. And those time attacks were great to drive. :D

Favorite NFS was NFS Porsche followed by High Stakes.

I will certainly have to buy a new computer in order to play the newer ones. :\

I agree with that, NFS Porsche was really great the only thing that i didn't like was that the factory driver career races weren't repeatable.
And i think that is the latest NFS game i've played. Dont care much about the newer ones.

Two other good old games that i played recently are Tie Fighter and X-wing Alliance seriously fun space combat games.

[Daniel]

I loves nfs Porsche and high stakes. Ioan if you can wait till the new year Intel are releasing a new generation of processors and ssd's. If you need any pointers just ask ;)

[ioan]

I loves nfs Porsche and high stakes. Ioan if you can wait till the new year Intel are releasing a new generation of processors and ssd's. If you need any pointers just ask ;)

Thanks for the tips.

I doubt I will have time to do any upgrade before new year anyway.
What I have been planning for like one year already is to build a small but powerful PC (4 x 2.6 Ghz. 8 GB RAM and, 1 GB video controller) on a uATX board in one of those nice passive aluminum cases, however, as of now, I didn't find a nice case big enough to hold a serious video controller, not to mention that the cooling problems would be almost impossible to solve.

An affordable SSD would help keeping temperatures a bit lower and give a nice performance boost over a regular HDD.

PS: I got as far as buying a 24 inch LCD monitor and an Ergotron flexible arm and attached it to the wall, at this rate I guess it will take at least another 6 months until I finish the whole setup. :)

[ioan]

I agree with that, NFS Porsche was really great the only thing that i didn't like was that the factory driver career races weren't repeatable.
And i think that is the latest NFS game i've played. Dont care much about the newer ones.

Two other good old games that i played recently are Tie Fighter and X-wing Alliance seriously fun space combat games.

I think I installed and played NFS Porsche at least 5 times from one end to the other.
I am yet to find another racing game that gives the same sensation like driving the 964 Turbo on the Pyrenees track.

[Sleeper]

I think I installed and played NFS Porsche at least 5 times from one end to the other.
I am yet to find another racing game that gives the same sensation like driving the 964 Turbo on the Pyrenees track.
I remember that game on the PSOne, bloody brilliant it was.

[Daniel]

Thanks for the tips.

I doubt I will have time to do any upgrade before new year anyway.
What I have been planning for like one year already is to build a small but powerful PC (4 x 2.6 Ghz. 8 GB RAM and, 1 GB video controller) on a uATX board in one of those nice passive aluminum cases, however, as of now, I didn't find a nice case big enough to hold a serious video controller, not to mention that the cooling problems would be almost impossible to solve.

An affordable SSD would help keeping temperatures a bit lower and give a nice performance boost over a regular HDD.

PS: I got as far as buying a 24 inch LCD monitor and an Ergotron flexible arm and attached it to the wall, at this rate I guess it will take at least another 6 months until I finish the whole setup. :)

One of these would be a very good starting point

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3871

Plus the best drive you can afford from here -> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/08/16/intel_lyndonville/

A decent motherboard, a good graphics card and 8gb of ram like you say and you'll be laughing :)

[Koz]

Day of Defeat: Source. All on PC.

That! My all time favorite multi-player!
Oblivion, Fallout 3, Rome Total War and Napoleon Total War.
All of them have great community mods are what make them great.

Which I had a computer capable of playing Crysis... One day...

Only ever used my PS3 as a media server.

[CaptainRaiden]

You can call me a semi-serious PC Gamer. I try to play whenever I have free time, but lately haven't been able to play much. Got myself a good setup about a year and a half ago.

Intel Core 2 Quad 2.6 Ghz
4 GB DDR3 RAM
ASUS P5QL/EPU Motherboard
ATI Radeon HD 4870 1 GB GDDR5

Played these games over the past year or so:

Crysis (Almost maxed out)
Half-Life 2 and the two episodes AGAIN (just love them).
COD: Modern Warfare 1 & 2
GTA IV - Runs beautifully on the Quad.
GTA IV: Episodes from Liberty City
rFactor with the F1-RFT mod
Race 07 and Race ON
GTR2
NFS Shift (Crap)
Assassin's Creed II
Dragon Age: Origins
MASS EFFECT 2! - One of THE absolute best gaming experiences I've had.
Singularity
Splinter Cell: Conviction
Mafia 2

Now playing F1 2010. Planning to get COD: Black Ops when it comes out. Don't wanna risk buying Medal of Honor with all the crap I've been hearing about it.

[CaptainRaiden]

Sadly some of the NFS versions were silly ones like NFS underground which were all to do with tuning and drifting and other such boring crap. I quite liked most wanted as there was no drifting and the police chases were just stupidly crazy :D Very hard to get away with them when you're doing 100mph and the police 4wd's are doing a similar speed and hitting you head on and there's a helicopter flying with you!!!!

I'd have to disagree. I didn't like Most Wanted or Carbon with the police chases or any of the Burnout games with wrecking your car etc. All that useless stuff just gets in the way of pure racing. So, even though Underground was as arcadey as it can get, the racing part was fun. Precisely why I liked the career mode in NFS: High Stakes and Porsche Unleashed. Played those two games to death.

Been a sim convert in the last 5 or 6 years, just can't see myself going back, although having said that, arcade racers are still quite good if you want to relax and have some less serious fun. I just hope they don't try to find a "balance" and create more disastrous games like NFS Shift. :eek:

[MrJan]

Always hated the idea of PC gaming, needing to check specs and upgrade this and that all the time. Far easier to have consoles and know that the games you buy will work as intended.

Got PS2, PS3 and 360 but seem to spend most of my time playing FIFA10 and MW2 on the PS3. PS2 is reserved for ocassional attempts at RBR or We Love Katamari and the 360 is for DiRT2 (love the sound of that 6R4), F1 2010 and recently NHL08.

Don't seem to have as much time for gaming any more though, I'm very much in the casual vein of pick up and play for an hour or so and then put the game back down for weeks. This makes full race weekends at 20% length on F1 fairly difficult to get through :D

[MrJan]

I'd have to disagree. I didn't like Most Wanted or Carbon with the police chases or any of the Burnout games with wrecking your car etc. All that useless stuff just gets in the way of pure racing. So, even though Underground was as arcadey as it can get, the racing part was fun. Precisely why I liked the career mode in NFS: High Stakes and Porsche Unleashed. Played those two games to death.

I loved NFS:Most Wanted when I was at uni. I spent weeks thrashing around in a Gallardo trying to get a chase up to over 30 minutes and then escape. Didn't take to Carbon or Undercover and Pro Street was a massive pile of ****.

I quite like the tuning/drifting stuff though, NFS has never been a sim so it's nice to have something different, if everything was like GT5 then the world would be boring as **** :D

[CaptainRaiden]

Always hated the idea of PC gaming, needing to check specs and upgrade this and that all the time. Far easier to have consoles and know that the games you buy will work as intended.

But that's the fun part of it. Upgrading is a constantly interesting process. :D You sell off the older parts and add newer stuff and see the PC get better every day, to a point where they blow any console out of the planet with MUCH better FPS and higher resolution. (I mean what's with games locked at 30 FPS on PS3?!). Once you buy a console, that's it, you're stuck with it until the next generation comes. There's no upgrade.

On top of that, I absolutely hate how first person shooters and RPG games play on the console. You get much better crosshair aiming with a mouse compared to those sticks on the gamepad, same again with strategy and RPG games. Sure, if you want to make those games needlessly challenging, consoles are the way to go. :p

Then there's the whole modding community. I mean I was playing an F1 mod for rFactor long before F1 2010 ever came. You get hundreds of mods for every game. There are more than 30 mods for F1 2010 already, from realistic sunlight to a different onboard camera view etc. PC gaming is limitless. Yeah, it can be a pain in the ass sometimes, but it's worth it.

[MrJan]

Constantly upgrading irritates me like you wouldn't believe. Like I say, I'm a casual gamer, I don't want to spend my time pissing about with the internals or playing about with mods, I just want to pick up the game and play. That's why consoles are much better for me, I can buy one and then 5 years later get the next gen.

PCs are only better than consoles if you are willing to spend out all the time, I'm not happy doing that so there is no way that I'd actually have better FPS (although I probably wouldn't notice anyway).

And aiming with mouse is another thing that annoys me. Moving around with analog sticks feels more intuitive for me, the movements are more realistic and I can't see how you could consider them to be challenging.

But most of all I just want to sit back on the sofa and play, not be confined to having to find somewhere to have the mouse. Unless you spend most of your free time playing games I really can't see the benefit of spending out on a PC.

[Mark]

I do like NFS, it seems to run so much faster than exporting via GPFS and it's included in the standard distributions too! Of course it doesn't provide failover in the same way but perhaps clustered NFS could do that.

[CaptainRaiden]

Constantly upgrading irritates me like you wouldn't believe. Like I say, I'm a casual gamer, I don't want to spend my time pissing about with the internals or playing about with mods, I just want to pick up the game and play. That's why consoles are much better for me, I can buy one and then 5 years later get the next gen.

More like 10 years for the next gen. :p And if the latest rumor is to be believed, because of the recession, both Sony and Microsoft are gonna delay their next gen consoles by a few years.


And aiming with mouse is another thing that annoys me. Moving around with analog sticks feels more intuitive for me, the movements are more realistic and I can't see how you could consider them to be challenging.

Ha! Blasphemy! Ask any serious FPS fan, and you'll get the answer that a mouse and keyboard is the way to go. And this is why many of the first person shooter games used to be PC exclusive, ex. Counter Strike, Half Life 2, Crysis etc. The mouse provides faster, more accurate aiming (if you have a good mouse, higher dpi, at least 2000), that translates into more kill. The scroll wheel provides for faster switching between weapons. So, overall the gameplay becomes easier.

But well, the PC gaming industry, sadly, is on a decline firstly because of stupid piracy, and secondly because consoles have found a way to make aiming easier in shooters, and made the whole gaming experience easier for the average user. And because it's hard to pirate console games, all game developers are now sucking up to the consoles.


But most of all I just want to sit back on the sofa and play, not be confined to having to find somewhere to have the mouse. Unless you spend most of your free time playing games I really can't see the benefit of spending out on a PC.

Ever heard of wireless keyboard and mouse? :p Not only this, both PS3 and X360 controllers work on the PC. So, I have multiple options. If I wanna stick next to the monitor and play first person shooter games better, or lay back on the couch and just put on a mindless arcade racer. Can't do this with consoles, they're more one dimensional.

[Daniel]

Wtf's the deal with people whining about having to upgrade all the time? This is simply not the case. My pc is as I bought it in Jan 2008 other than one hard drive which is about 7 years old. You DO NOT need to upgrade all the time. It's just not TRUE.

[CaptainRaiden]

Wtf's the deal with people whining about having to upgrade all the time? This is simply not the case. My pc is as I bought it in Jan 2008 other than one hard drive which is about 7 years old. You DO NOT need to upgrade all the time. It's just not TRUE.

Same here. Bought my PC in early 2009, effortlessly plays all games on almost full graphics.

[MrJan]

More like 10 years for the next gen. :p And if the latest rumor is to be believed, because of the recession, both Sony and Microsoft are gonna delay their next gen consoles by a few years.

So be it. My life doesn't revolve around gaming enough for that to matter, tbh I feel so for you if yours does.




Ha! Blasphemy! Ask any serious FPS fan, and you'll get the answer that a mouse and keyboard is the way to go. And this is why many of the first person shooter games used to be PC exclusive, ex. Counter Strike, Half Life 2, Crysis etc. The mouse provides faster, more accurate aiming (if you have a good mouse, higher dpi, at least 2000), that translates into more kill. The scroll wheel provides for faster switching between weapons. So, overall the gameplay becomes easier.

Easy doesn't = realistic though. PC does = elitest, arrogant bull**** though. Seems that all PC users are the same and try to tell me what I should think. If I prefer consoles why should it matter to you?


But well, the PC gaming industry, sadly, is on a decline firstly because of stupid piracy, and secondly because consoles have found a way to make aiming easier in shooters, and made the whole gaming experience easier for the average user.

Make your mind up. Is it easier or more challenging? :confused:


Ever heard of wireless keyboard and mouse? :p Not only this, both PS3 and X360 controllers work on the PC. So, I have multiple options. If I wanna stick next to the monitor and play first person shooter games better, or lay back on the couch and just put on a mindless arcade racer. Can't do this with consoles, they're more one dimensional.

Not an issue seeing as I want to sit on the sofa anyway ;)


@ Daniel - My xBox 360 is older than your PC, still works fine with new games yet there seemed to be a lot of people compliaining that WRC wouldn't work on their computer.

I'm also interested as to whether you have a seperate PC for gaming if you've got one for surfing, films AND gaming. My current 4 year old (or so) PC struggles to open something like iTunes so I'm really not convinced that I wouldn't be needing to upgrade fairly quickly. Also how much does all of this cost? I somehow doubt that what I'm willing to spend on a PC is anywhere near what would be required to happily play the sort of games that I like, especially when you consider that I wouldn't be able to build it myself.

[Daniel]

So be it. My life doesn't revolve around gaming enough for that to matter, tbh I feel so for you if yours does.





Easy doesn't = realistic though. PC does = elitest, arrogant bull**** though. Seems that all PC users are the same and try to tell me what I should think. If I prefer consoles why should it matter to you?



Make your mind up. Is it easier or more challenging? :confused:



Not an issue seeing as I want to sit on the sofa anyway ;)


@ Daniel - My xBox 360 is older than your PC, still works fine with new games yet there seemed to be a lot of people compliaining that WRC wouldn't work on their computer.

I'm also interested as to whether you have a seperate PC for gaming if you've got one for surfing, films AND gaming. My current 4 year old (or so) PC struggles to open something like iTunes so I'm really not convinced that I wouldn't be needing to upgrade fairly quickly. Also how much does all of this cost? I somehow doubt that what I'm willing to spend on a PC is anywhere near what would be required to happily play the sort of games that I like, especially when you consider that I wouldn't be able to build it myself.
You're being deliberately ignorant now.

If people rave about things being good you do the opposite? Huh?

A good gaming PC is not expensive. £400-600 for something alright and another 100 or 200 pounds for something really OMFGWTFBBQ good.

You seem an intelligent enough person, you can change a wheel on a car right? If you can do that you can build a PC.

[Daniel]

Just specced up a good spec gaming machine without really shopping around

Core i5 650
4gb ddr3
AMD HD5830 1gb
Windows 7 Home Premium
2tb hdd

£640

You could go more expensive or cheaper if you wanted to, plus you could easily cut costs by shopping around.

Now how much do you spend on a PC normally? Also remember that PC games are cheaper...... got a few games coming this week

NFS Hot Pursuit
PC £24.99
Xbox 360 £35.99

CoD: Black Ops
PC £35
Xbox 360 £40

If you add £5 here £10 here or £15 for each game it soon adds up.....

[edv]

Solitaire FTW!!!

[NeverKnow]

I have 4-5 year old desktop computer (CPU is Pentium D 930). Over the time I only had to change PSU (for more powerful one), GPU(for better one), HDD (added one for more storage space) and put more RAM in it. It can still play any newer game, just have to adjust video settings for power hungry games. Latest games I have tried were Mafia 2 and Starcraft 2 on and it played them without any problems on max settings. On PC scene these days developers are focusing more on looks and less on the substance. So far there hasn't been a game that I wanted but wasn't able to play because my computer was outdated or underpowered to run the game.

PC game I have played lately:
Starcraft 2
Operation Flashpoint: Rising Dragon
Operation Flashpoint: GOTY with FFUR '85 mod
Mass Effect 1 & 2
X3: Terran Conflict
Richard Burns Rally with RSRBR10
S.T.A.L.K.E.R - Call of Pripyat

On PS3 I have played lately:
Dragon Age: Origins
Fallout: New Vegas
Mafia 2
GTA IV

[Daniel]

My pc is the following

Intel e8400 3ghz
Asus p35 chipset motherboard
ATI sapphire hd4870
4gb of ddr2
1 x 36gb raptor
1 x 750gb Samsung data drive
Antec p180 case
Antec neohe 550w psu
Samsung sm2443bw 24" 1920 x 1200 monitor
Logitech g9 mouse
Logitech g15 v1 keyboard

It plays starcraft 2 alright and only slows down in stupidly big battles but I have everything set to max so I can't complain

[CaptainRaiden]

So be it. My life doesn't revolve around gaming enough for that to matter, tbh I feel so for you if yours does.

Jeez, someone got riled up there, relax dude. This is not a "My life is better than yours" contest, weird why you would jump to that.


Easy doesn't = realistic though. PC does = elitest, arrogant bull**** though. Seems that all PC users are the same and try to tell me what I should think. If I prefer consoles why should it matter to you?

Huh? You're making NO sense whatsoever here. First of all, no matter what you use, you'll never get "REAL" gameplay. It's a video game, wake up. Aiming with a console gamepad doesn't make it more "real". :laugh: And secondly, weren't you the one jumping here talking about how you hate upgrading PCs and "Ooh, I love consoles."? WTF?


Make your mind up. Is it easier or more challenging?

I didn't say consoles made the aiming easier than PC. Read again. I meant they improved games to the point where you could aim better in FPS games with the crappy analog sticks for "CONSOLES". Ever tried to play proper shooting games on the PS1 and PS2?? Compare that to now. So, once again, I'll repeat it for your benefit, they made it easier for the "CONSOLES" to aim. But it's still crap and nowhere near the kind of accuracy you get with let's say a 2000+ dpi mouse, not even a contest.

[ioan]

Wtf's the deal with people whining about having to upgrade all the time? This is simply not the case. My pc is as I bought it in Jan 2008 other than one hard drive which is about 7 years old. You DO NOT need to upgrade all the time. It's just not TRUE.

Right you are.
My old Dell Inspiron was up to date for like 3 years (OK it had 2GB RAM and dual core 2GHz processor when I bought it 6 years ago). It still works fine as I am using it right now.

What one needs is to keep his PC in good shape by regularly cleaning the crap from it, or even better not install crap first of all.

[ioan]

I'll be honest and say I have no clue about Play stations, as I never considered buying something that can only be used for gaming.
My next PC will be optimized for 3D modeling first of all as that is what I like to do most (thus the need for strong processors and a lot of memory both RAM and video), gaming being only secondary use for some relaxation.

PS: Thanks Daniel for the links, I will look out for those new CPUs and SSDs.

[MrJan]

Huh? You're making NO sense whatsoever here. First of all, no matter what you use, you'll never get "REAL" gameplay. It's a video game, wake up. Aiming with a console gamepad doesn't make it more "real". :laugh: And secondly, weren't you the one jumping here talking about how you hate upgrading PCs and "Ooh, I love consoles."? WTF?

I mentioned that I didn't have a PC because I didn't like them, just stating my own opinon, and then you posted all about how **** consoles are and why I should have a PC. I also never said that the games were real, I said that aiming being more difficult (by not moving superfast like with a mouse) is more realistic, not that it made it real.


I didn't say consoles made the aiming easier than PC. Read again. I meant they improved games to the point where you could aim better in FPS games with the crappy analog sticks for "CONSOLES". Ever tried to play proper shooting games on the PS1 and PS2?? Compare that to now. So, once again, I'll repeat it for your benefit, they made it easier for the "CONSOLES" to aim. But it's still crap and nowhere near the kind of accuracy you get with let's say a 2000+ dpi mouse, not even a contest.

I'm sorry, I wasn't clear on what you meant. To me it looks like this:

The mouse provides faster, more accurate aiming (if you have a good mouse, higher dpi, at least 2000), that translates into more kill. The scroll wheel provides for faster switching between weapons. So, overall the gameplay becomes easier.

Is contradicted by this

consoles have found a way to make aiming easier in shooters, and made the whole gaming experience easier for the average user.

I don't think that the analog sticks made it 'easier' as such. They took away the jerkiness of the d-pad and, IMO, made it less ****. I love the way that console shooters are smooth now, playing MW2 is a joy.


I don't spend a lot on computers (can't actually remember because it's been a while), usually something right down in the base area, but when I get one it's to do a handful of things and definitely wouldn't cost more than £400. I want something to store my music on, do bits of college work (well not anymore) and watch films. This clogs it all up a bit so I would need something else just for gaming. I certainly couldn't build my own. I can cock around with cars because it's nice and mechanical, as soon as anything involves electrics then I go blank and get bored. I also tune out when people start mentioning GHz, DDR and RAM, it means nothing to me. That's what I don't like about consoles, balancing sound cards, graphics cards, hard drive, ram. Balls to that, far easier to just buy a console, plug it into the telly and go. It's completely effort free and there is no worry that anything might not work (unless it's a Microsoft product).

[ioan]

Guys this thread is about games not about proving to each other who is better and who is right, please let us talk about games and PC's without egos getting in the way.

[ioan]

It's completely effort free and there is no worry that anything might not work (unless it's a Microsoft product).

Microsoft products are fine, the problem is very very often situated in front of the PC.

[CaptainRaiden]

I don't think that the analog sticks made it 'easier' as such. They took away the jerkiness of the d-pad and, IMO, made it less ****. I love the way that console shooters are smooth now, playing MW2 is a joy.

Probably I should have phrased it better. What I meant when I said "consoles have found a way to make aiming easier in shooters" was related only to first person shooters WITHIN the console realm, not outside, certainly not pertaining to PC. Hopefully that's cleared up now.

About the PC thing. I spent about $1000 on the PC in early 2009, and I use it for general use, surfing, gaming, Adobe Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Premiere, in fact the whole Adobe Creative Suite, 3Ds Max, playing 1080p HD movies on my 42 inch TV, and about 12 high definition games all crammed in the 620 GB hard drive. Works like a dream. (Although I'm starting to think I need a 1 TB hard drive now). :p

Having said that, hey, I like consoles as well, but there are very few console specific games I like to make me want to buy them. The only one that I can't play on PC, and which I REALLY like is Tekken 6, and even Mortal Kombat. I played Tekken 5 almost exclusively on my old PS2, got quite good with the combos and even took part in some tournaments. In fact, I like the Tekken series so much that I might even buy the PS3 for Christmas. ;)

[Daniel]

I mentioned that I didn't have a PC because I didn't like them, just stating my own opinon, and then you posted all about how **** consoles are and why I should have a PC. I also never said that the games were real, I said that aiming being more difficult (by not moving superfast like with a mouse) is more realistic, not that it made it real.



I'm sorry, I wasn't clear on what you meant. To me it looks like this:


Is contradicted by this


I don't think that the analog sticks made it 'easier' as such. They took away the jerkiness of the d-pad and, IMO, made it less ****. I love the way that console shooters are smooth now, playing MW2 is a joy.


I don't spend a lot on computers (can't actually remember because it's been a while), usually something right down in the base area, but when I get one it's to do a handful of things and definitely wouldn't cost more than £400. I want something to store my music on, do bits of college work (well not anymore) and watch films. This clogs it all up a bit so I would need something else just for gaming. I certainly couldn't build my own. I can cock around with cars because it's nice and mechanical, as soon as anything involves electrics then I go blank and get bored. I also tune out when people start mentioning GHz, DDR and RAM, it means nothing to me. That's what I don't like about consoles, balancing sound cards, graphics cards, hard drive, ram. Balls to that, far easier to just buy a console, plug it into the telly and go. It's completely effort free and there is no worry that anything might not work (unless it's a Microsoft product).

It means nothing to you because you're wilfully ignorant of what it means. It's like a person who goes "Valves, camshafts, cylinders, 500cc!!!! It's all meaningless and I don't know what it means" and throws their hands up in the air in non-mock idiocy.

Seriously you could pretty much learn everything you need to know by reading a couple of webpages. It really is stupidly simple. If you're really so silly as to not want to learn what it all means you could simply buy a prebuilt PC.

Installing a game is no different to installing flash, live messenger or any other program.


I don't spend a lot on computers (can't actually remember because it's been a while), usually something right down in the base area, but when I get one it's to do a handful of things and definitely wouldn't cost more than £400. I want something to store my music on, do bits of college work (well not anymore) and watch films. This clogs it all up a bit so I would need something else just for gaming.

Seriously, you really don't know what you're talking about. Computers don't "clog up" with work and things. If you had a decent PC it would just do its thing. My PC is hardly that great these days and is fine. I built Caroline a PC for a few hundred pounds a few months ago and it's stupidly quick.

If you actually played a computer game on a proper PC

http://hi-techreviews.com/Reviews_2008/P180/P180.jpg
with a nice big monitor

http://image.ebuyer.com/UK/R0150970-06.jpg
And a nice keyboard
http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/80_g15_1275514509.jpg

And a good quality mouse
http://benchmarkreviews.com/images/reviews/input_devices/Logitech_G9/logitech_g9_07.jpg

You'd see what people mean when they talk about PC gaming being so good. Gaming with a laptop is like trying to race in F1 with a HRT. It's not going to be fulfilling in any way shape or form.

I think consoles are good for racing games, platform games and party games. But PC's provide a much better graphical experience and are far more immersive and useful.

[Daniel]

Microsoft products are fine, the problem is very very often situated in front of the PC.

PEBKAC

[ioan]

PEBKAC

Is that Afrikaans for Exactly?!

[Daniel]

Is that Afrikaans for Exactly?!
Nope. Google it ;)

[Shifter]

I totally understand why, from a technical standpoint, PC gaming is better. On my budget and for my money, I've invested in the home theater setup, and using it for gaming just makes more sense for me. The desktop that's powerful enough is in the home office area and when I get friends over I'd rather be playing in the living room.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I agree the Mr Jan Yeo.

I remember several Xmas days as a young child that were dissapointing when i got a game for the PC and then found out i needed a new part for the PC to make it work properly. Maybe I would feel different now if I made an effort to get to know about PCs but I don't even own one anymore.

One game I miss playing on PC is Football Manager. :(

[ioan]

Nope. Google it ;)

That's a great one! Thanks! :)

[CaptainRaiden]

And a good quality mouse
http://benchmarkreviews.com/images/reviews/input_devices/Logitech_G9/logitech_g9_07.jpg

Oh, I would definitely go for the Mamba :D :

http://savasplace.com/content/files/Image/blog_posts/2009/01/razer-mamba-gaming-mouse.jpg

http://ucables.com/img/ipics/RAZER-MAMBA-WIRELESS-R110406.jpg

[Ghostwalker]

one thing that the pc is far superior on is modding and 3rd party contents.

Especially games (series) like totalwar, Arma2 & MS flight Simulator.
Especially for MS FS 9 & X there are tons of addons but freeware and payware, all kinds of stuff planes, scenery, airports....

And thats is somethingthat you probably couldnt get to a console gane.

[Daniel]

Oh, I would definitely go for the Mamba :D :

http://savasplace.com/content/files/Image/blog_posts/2009/01/razer-mamba-gaming-mouse.jpg

http://ucables.com/img/ipics/RAZER-MAMBA-WIRELESS-R110406.jpg
I'm sorry, I'm just a logitech person ;)

[Ghostwalker]

I'm sorry, I'm just a logitech person ;)

personally i never liked logitechs mices, i just dont find them comfortable.
i prefer the MS IM Explorer 3.0, not as fancy as the Razor Mamba but very comfortable and price worthy :

http://www.krunker.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/WindowsLiveWriter/MicrosoftIntelliMouseExplorer3.0_B09B/mk_ime3_otherview_1%5B3%5D.jpg

[Ranger]

BTW I just checked the NFS site out of curiosity and realized that there are at least 5 new versions since I last time played. :(

Don't bother with most/all of them except Most Wanted. :up:

[ShiftingGears]

Reflections Interactive used to be among the best when it came to arcade driving games, with Destruction Derby 2 and Driver being, in my mind, the games that could get you hooked within a minute. These two games have possibly the most enjoyable arcade handling of any game, ever. Too bad they've gone backwards from there.

[Daniel]

I'll be honest and say I have no clue about Play stations, as I never considered buying something that can only be used for gaming.
My next PC will be optimized for 3D modeling first of all as that is what I like to do most (thus the need for strong processors and a lot of memory both RAM and video), gaming being only secondary use for some relaxation.

PS: Thanks Daniel for the links, I will look out for those new CPUs and SSDs.

Np's Ioan ;)

Depending on when you're waiting till, you might want to look at the LGA2011 socket Sandy Bridge processors which will be replacing LGA1366 as the enthusiast socket. Quad channel memory goodness ;)

[schmenke]

I totally understand why, from a technical standpoint, PC gaming is better. On my budget and for my money, I've invested in the home theater setup, and using it for gaming just makes more sense for me. The desktop that's powerful enough is in the home office area and when I get friends over I'd rather be playing in the living room.

Ditto.

I'd much prefer to game in comfort in front of my 50" plasma with surround sound than sitting at a desk in front of my pc :mark: .
I can't be bothered spending money on upgrading my pc peripherals for the sake of gaming.

[ioan]

Np's Ioan ;)

Depending on when you're waiting till, you might want to look at the LGA2011 socket Sandy Bridge processors which will be replacing LGA1366 as the enthusiast socket. Quad channel memory goodness ;)

As I said I barely had time to buy a monitor and a wall mount arm during the last year, so I guess that it will be at least another 6 months before I chose a board. :D

[ioan]

Np's Ioan ;)

Depending on when you're waiting till, you might want to look at the LGA2011 socket Sandy Bridge processors which will be replacing LGA1366 as the enthusiast socket. Quad channel memory goodness ;)

As I said I barely had time to shop for a monitor and a wall mount arm during the last year, so I guess that it will be at least another 6 months before I chose a board, you might have to keep me updated on Sandy Bridge II by then. :D

[janneppi]

http://i.imgur.com/BITmX.jpg
A friend of mine linked that pic few days ago. So i'm going to complain again how the Medal of Honor was short and scripted. ;) FPS games are in a sorry state when you can approach a target only via 5 meter wide route and you have to place yourself to a specific spot to engage the next scripted sequence. MOH was full of these, much worse than COD4.

[555-04Q2]

Just specced up a good spec gaming machine without really shopping around

Core i5 650
4gb ddr3
AMD HD5830 1gb
Windows 7 Home Premium
2tb hdd

£640

You could go more expensive or cheaper if you wanted to, plus you could easily cut costs by shopping around.

Now how much do you spend on a PC normally? Also remember that PC games are cheaper...... got a few games coming this week

NFS Hot Pursuit
PC £24.99
Xbox 360 £35.99

CoD: Black Ops
PC £35
Xbox 360 £40

If you add £5 here £10 here or £15 for each game it soon adds up.....

Don't complain about game prices Dan. New Xbox & PS3 games over here start at R699 up to R799 depending on if it is a best seller or not.

:crazy: Ridiculous :crazy:

[ShiftingGears]

Might look into getting a gaming PC later on. None of the consoles at the moment have games that entice me enough to buy them. Will have to rely on completing PS1 and 2 games for the zillionth time in the meantime :p :

[Daniel]

Don't complain about game prices Dan. New Xbox & PS3 games over here start at R699 up to R799 depending on if it is a best seller or not.

:crazy: Ridiculous :crazy:

Crazy! I wasn't complaining about the cost because I think if you buy carefully you get a lot of playtime out of a good game. I bought Day of Defeat: Source back in 2006 for about £15-£20 and I kid you not when I totalled the time I'd spent on it just in the 5 or so months I had it when I still lived in Australia I'd spend the equivalent to 2 or 3 weeks on the game..... and I've had the game for another 4 years.

Got black Ops yesterday and played it for a solid 4 hours tonight and have to say i like it. It's different to what I'm used to so I'm not doing all that well but I'm sure in time I'll be making n00bs cry.

[Zico]

Has anyone tried this 'Onlive' gaming service where the graphics, gameplay etc is all streamed over the internet..


'After seven years in stealth mode, a Silicon Valley start-up has launched a "revolutionary" video game service that offers new competition to consoles.

OnLive, which launched at the Game Developer Conference, promises to deliver on-demand video games via the cloud to the PC, Mac or TV.

The company said it could provide high quality gaming on low end machines.

"We think this moment, this day will be remembered as the beginning of a new era," said OnLive boss Steve Perlman.

"This is huge. This is transparent cloud computing. This is really really important for the industry.

OnLive screenshot
The MicroConsole connects the TV to the internet

"This will open up creativity, allow for new experiences and new kinds of expression that have never been available before," Mr Perlman told an audience of analysts, industry types and journalists at a ritzy unveiling of the product at San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art.

The innovation behind OnLive rests in its video compression technology which instantly streams video via the internet so that it appears "effectively instantaneously".

"Perpetually, it appears the game is playing locally."

The reality is that all the heavy lifting is done by remote data centres that can be up to a thousand miles away while players use a simple PC or TV hooked up to a broadband connection.

This removes the need for paying hundreds of dollars for traditional disc-based consoles made by the likes of Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony.

"We're giving access to people who don't have access. We've moved hardware out of the equation," said Mr Perlman.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7962180.stm


I can see the attraction if your hardware is a bit dated but still cant imagine it being half as good as local hardware run games for different reasons, Ping rates alone never mind Lag must be a major problem surely?

Apparantly it works quite well with the Ipad, Iphone etc.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoRRiMDq5r0&feature=related

Anyone tried it?

[Daniel]

Has anyone tried this 'Onlive' gaming service where the graphics, gameplay etc is all streamed over the internet..


'After seven years in stealth mode, a Silicon Valley start-up has launched a "revolutionary" video game service that offers new competition to consoles.

OnLive, which launched at the Game Developer Conference, promises to deliver on-demand video games via the cloud to the PC, Mac or TV.

The company said it could provide high quality gaming on low end machines.

"We think this moment, this day will be remembered as the beginning of a new era," said OnLive boss Steve Perlman.

"This is huge. This is transparent cloud computing. This is really really important for the industry.

OnLive screenshot
The MicroConsole connects the TV to the internet

"This will open up creativity, allow for new experiences and new kinds of expression that have never been available before," Mr Perlman told an audience of analysts, industry types and journalists at a ritzy unveiling of the product at San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art.

The innovation behind OnLive rests in its video compression technology which instantly streams video via the internet so that it appears "effectively instantaneously".

"Perpetually, it appears the game is playing locally."

The reality is that all the heavy lifting is done by remote data centres that can be up to a thousand miles away while players use a simple PC or TV hooked up to a broadband connection.

This removes the need for paying hundreds of dollars for traditional disc-based consoles made by the likes of Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony.

"We're giving access to people who don't have access. We've moved hardware out of the equation," said Mr Perlman.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7962180.stm


I can see the attraction if your hardware is a bit dated but still cant imagine it being half as good as local hardware run games for different reasons, Ping rates alone never mind Lag must be a major problem surely?

Anyone tried it?
Complete crapola. There's just not enough bandwidth available to reliably stream that sort of data. If everyone starts doing it the situation is going to get even worse. The cloud is great for storage and number crunching when you've got the bandwidth but it's going to be ages before this sort of thing is viable.

[555-04Q2]

Crazy! I wasn't complaining about the cost because I think if you buy carefully you get a lot of playtime out of a good game. I bought Day of Defeat: Source back in 2006 for about £15-£20 and I kid you not when I totalled the time I'd spent on it just in the 5 or so months I had it when I still lived in Australia I'd spend the equivalent to 2 or 3 weeks on the game..... and I've had the game for another 4 years.

Got black Ops yesterday and played it for a solid 4 hours tonight and have to say i like it. It's different to what I'm used to so I'm not doing all that well but I'm sure in time I'll be making n00bs cry.

That's why I love games like Gran Turismo and Final Fantasy. Even though they cost a crazy amount of money, you seem to get your moneys worth from the game time! Also, I have made over 100,000 kills on my PS2 Killzone which made the R 199 bucks I paid for it about a million years ago seem like a bargain!!!

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I really want to complete Halo:Reach but I can't bring myself to take F1 2010 out of my Xbox.

[A.F.F.]

I think I'll try Fall Out New Vegas as long as they have patched the game. I read it would be optioned to play similar to Fall Out 2 which was excellent. And I liked Fallout 3 very much but it was a bit too serious.

EDIT: With PC of course.

[Koz]

Bump.


So anyone playing The Witcher 3?

[rjbetty]

http://i.imgur.com/BITmX.jpg
A friend of mine linked that pic few days ago. So i'm going to complain again how the Medal of Honor was short and scripted. ;) FPS games are in a sorry state when you can approach a target only via 5 meter wide route and you have to place yourself to a specific spot to engage the next scripted sequence. MOH was full of these, much worse than COD4.

Hey I recognise that E1 M6 from Doom :)

Can be quite tough as there's two areas where doors lock and you are ambushed by hordes, especially at the end...

[schmenke]

How about the new Dirt: Rally? Any good?

Haven't played that in a while. Decent concept sim, but graphics were lousy.

[Louis]

Glad I found this gaming thread, because I love gaming:) At the moment I´m considering buying my own game server to play together with some friends at home (so, not like a public server, but just for a few people I know). But to be honest, I wouldn´t really know where to start choosing one. I saw for example that 1&1 offers dedicated game servers, so I was wondering if that would be a good choice. Does anyone of you have experience with this stuff? Could you recommend me something?

[cabaye2]

I just want to pick up the game and play. That's why consoles are much better for me, I can buy one and then 5 years later get the next gen.

[MrJan]

Thanks to the cabaye2 bot for just ripping off my earlier post

Funny how things change, 5 years on and I'm now looking to get a PC rather than a PS4...but pretty much just for Dirt Rally. I still don't like the specs difference though, even doing research into it is hard to pin down what versions of the i5 or i7 equate to what and whether they're really better than AMD stuff...and then what graphics card to match it to and whether I need x or y. And I still don't get on with mouse and keyboard, even if it is more direct, I just find a controller more intuitive.

[Bagwan]

My son just finished a 3 year game design program .

He's now working at getting a company going with some of his fellow students .

The first aim is at developing a game that will help young people become interested in environmentalism , where they take up the role of government , so they may understand the pressures involved in the decision making process .
They must learn to save the world , or take responsibility for seeing it perish .

It's a tall order , to create a game meant to inspire .
And , to do it without preaching , or being so "teaching" that it kills the spirit , is tough as well .

He's got a dream , and dreams are possible in gaming .
They're quite common , actually .

[AL14]

My son just finished a 3 year game design program .

He's now working at getting a company going with some of his fellow students .

The first aim is at developing a game that will help young people become interested in environmentalism , where they take up the role of government , so they may understand the pressures involved in the decision making process .
They must learn to save the world , or take responsibility for seeing it perish .

It's a tall order , to create a game meant to inspire .
And , to do it without preaching , or being so "teaching" that it kills the spirit , is tough as well .

He's got a dream , and dreams are possible in gaming .
They're quite common , actually .

All the best to your son and his team. Those things gives you back the faith in humanity.

[Bagwan]

All the best to your son and his team. Those things gives you back the faith in humanity.

Thanks .