pc gaming

[plmko]

No generally specs have had an exponential leap over the years, Fallout 3 would generally destroy your computer through viewing distances + AA leaving you shattered with 15fps. Although I'd probably blame the badly programmed codes.

Although PC gaming has hit a new trend over these past few months, where developers would port console games to the PC. Just to go over a few:

L4D2: Clearly a console port, why? Firstly FoV (field of vision) has been cut which is why the gun may appear too close to the screen. Secondly if you look down, you can no longer see your body. Thirdly the infected are alot slower namely the Hunter. You can probably see that valve did that to make the game run better on the xbox (as the first game chugged pretty hard) and to make the game easier on the controller.

Borderlands: No V-sync, No AA settings and iron sights are toggled. Really the first sign of a console port is the lack of advanced options, what kind of game makes you turn on v-sync through chaning system files, given that the game is litterally screen tear mania you'd think V-sync would be in it.

MW2: No dedicated servers, matchmaking, no lean and no LAN. Sure most of this stuff could be excused because IW wanted you to use IW.net, but c'mon clearly its a console port. Suppose PC sales making up 3% of the 10,000,000 copies sold reflects how unhappy the PC community is.

This new trend has actually made PC gaming more accessible ironically, I was running L4D at around 30fps on my laptop on High settings with 4XAA, but L4D2 runs at 40fps despite more objects on screen.
Although what it is doing to holding back the industry and slowing the production of newer tech.

[Demongod86]

Originally Posted by 0utf0xZer0

Does IBuyPower have that bad a rep? A lot of their configurations look like they'd be pretty solid with a couple of upgrades (eg. Corsair power supply rather than generic).

http://www.epinions.com/webs-Web_Ser...asc/pa_~1#list

Yes. Yes, they do have that bad a rep. There are other review sites out there, but any independent review site will deliver a bunch of caustic reviews that essentially tell me this:

If you buy from these schmucks (or Cyberpower, which seems to be more or less an identical company), you're essentially rolling the dice. $1000 down and then if you roll a lemon, you roll a lemon. Considering that the refund period is only 30 days and that you have to pay to ship the thing back, you're very likely to be screwed if something goes wrong.

If Dell or HP or some other big-name brand had those kinds of reviews, their stock price would do a nosedive.

[chikorita157]

Originally Posted by 0utf0xZer0

My one caution here is that the graphics chips and CPUs in those laptops are adequate to run current games pretty well. We don't know how well they'll run future games, and unlike on a desktop, you can't just say "get a decently fast CPU and upgrade the graphics for $100 in two years if you need to", since laptops don't have upgradable graphics. I do think we're seeing less and less PC games that actually push the limits of PC hardware these days, but I'm still not sure I'd trust most laptops to make it through the next three years of games.

(Unless you're talking say, a laptop with a geforce GTX 260m GPU... and those tend to be heavy and lacking in battery life. Maybe this situation will improve when the Nvidia's high end 40nm mobile parts start shipping in actual systems.)

My 2006 Macbook Pro can barely play the latest game and it had the Radeon Mobility X1600 with 128 MB of RAM and it can barely play Audiosurf at the highest settings and resolution... It seems that these laptop cards go obsolete after a whole year...

But for some good news, I have read up that you can hook up a external graphics card which connects through Express Card and hook a monitor to that graphics card to get fast graphics, but that solution is pretty expensive ($300 at most)... and you would be better off with building a desktop unless you need to make it portable. Also, laptop CPUs are not nearly as powerful as the Desktop ones.

[einhorn303]

Originally Posted by plmko

L4D2: Clearly a console port, why? Firstly FoV (field of vision) has been cut which is why the gun may appear too close to the screen. Secondly if you look down, you can no longer see your body. Thirdly the infected are alot slower namely the Hunter. You can probably see that valve did that to make the game run better on the xbox (as the first game chugged pretty hard) and to make the game easier on the controller.

This is untrue. Valve have repeatedly stated that the PC is their preferred platform and they developed L4D primarily for the PC. Valve has also complained that user-made mods for L4D2 can't run on the Xbox at all. Here's one article where Valve talks about PC being "the future of gaming":

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/va...future-article

[Nosauz]

Originally Posted by chikorita157

My 2006 Macbook Pro can barely play the latest game and it had the Radeon Mobility X1600 with 128 MB of RAM and it can barely play Audiosurf at the highest settings and resolution... It seems that these laptop cards go obsolete after a whole year...

But for some good news, I have read up that you can hook up a external graphics card which connects through Express Card and hook a monitor to that graphics card to get fast graphics, but that solution is pretty expensive ($300 at most)... and you would be better off with building a desktop unless you need to make it portable. Also, laptop CPUs are not nearly as powerful as the Desktop ones.

laptop cards are built on lower energy versions, because graphic cards can generate a lot of heat, also from the way graphic cards development has been going, it's natural, instead of new innovations they just add more memory or more shaders, hence why gpu card memory and clock speed are the most important factors when purchasing a card/laptop

a note on pc gaming, it isn't dead since game developers use pcs to develop, but the focus group is really the console. Hopefully BC2 will go gangbusters and pc gamers will be able to rejoice for the salvation of pc gaming. listen server<dedicated, and no matter how much iw jumps up and down claiming the oppossite won't make it true.

[tkdtiger]

Originally Posted by Demongod86

http://www.epinions.com/webs-Web_Ser...asc/pa_~1#list

Yes. Yes, they do have that bad a rep. There are other review sites out there, but any independent review site will deliver a bunch of caustic reviews that essentially tell me this:

If you buy from these schmucks (or Cyberpower, which seems to be more or less an identical company), you're essentially rolling the dice. $1000 down and then if you roll a lemon, you roll a lemon. Considering that the refund period is only 30 days and that you have to pay to ship the thing back, you're very likely to be screwed if something goes wrong.

If Dell or HP or some other big-name brand had those kinds of reviews, their stock price would do a nosedive.

they're not the only ones with a bad rep for hit and miss pcs...alienware is also notable for have pcs that crash and made of cheap plastic...although to be fair I have heard that Ibuypower's pcs and alienwares pcs do tend to fair better if you're willing to dish out $4000+ for a PC ..

[Vexx]

Really... if you have a decent parts supplier for pc parts - you're almost always better off learning how to choose and assemble your own components. Saves a lot of money as well.

[chikorita157]

Some/Most hard core PC gamers usually overclock their systems for maximum performance while having the proper cooling (and some go to extremes and water cool their computers)... and you won't likely find that unless you build your own, which the majority of PC gamers do and it's not really possible with prebuilt computers besides those expensive gaming computers because they lock you out of the BIOS settings necessary to overclock and they don't have that good of cooling which is another benefit of building your own gaming machine. Also, overclocking is limited on laptops since the cooling systems on them aren't really designed for overclocking.

Besides, they don't have to be laptops or computer towers since they also have small form factor computers that still allow you to have performance parts, but a little pricier (for example, Shuttle provides these types of cases) which makes them desirable alternative to a gaming laptop when bringing it to LAN parties.

[synaesthetic]

For many of us old-timey PC gamers who got into the hobby in the early 90s, PC gaming has died with the massive drop in PC exclusive titles and a marked shift toward online gaming and cloud computing.

Some of us still like single player games that come in a box, with little extras. Doesn't anyone remember that shit? Those old Gold Box AD&D games, or the Monkey Island titles--it still happens to some degree with collectors' edition boxes.

I remember back before WoW made it big, when EQ was really ramping up in popularity, I told a lot of people that eventually all gaming would be online and multiplayer, and when that happened I would officially stop being a gamer.

I don't like the way gaming looks anymore. It's about pretty pictures, about subscription services, about wringing the most amount of money out of the consumer as possible. It's not about engrossing gameplay and plot anymore.

In the 90s I was a pretty hardcore gamer, even as a kid with no real income. Now that I'm an adult who can purchase her own games, my gaming hobby has gotten steadily more casual as the gaming industry has changed with the times. I'm pretty sure that in a few years I probably won't care one whit about gaming outside of the classics.

*wanders off to continue playing Chrono Trigger for the 200th time*

Edit: The nicest part of the fact that I'll one day turn my gamer card in is I can finally say screw you to Microsoft and run Linux.

[Metaler]

Originally Posted by synaesthetic

For many of us old-timey PC gamers who got into the hobby in the early 90s, PC gaming has died with the massive drop in PC exclusive titles and a marked shift toward online gaming and cloud computing.

Some of us still like single player games that come in a box, with little extras. Doesn't anyone remember that shit? Those old Gold Box AD&D games, or the Monkey Island titles--it still happens to some degree with collectors' edition boxes.

I remember back before WoW made it big, when EQ was really ramping up in popularity, I told a lot of people that eventually all gaming would be online and multiplayer, and when that happened I would officially stop being a gamer.

I don't like the way gaming looks anymore. It's about pretty pictures, about subscription services, about wringing the most amount of money out of the consumer as possible. It's not about engrossing gameplay and plot anymore.

In the 90s I was a pretty hardcore gamer, even as a kid with no real income. Now that I'm an adult who can purchase her own games, my gaming hobby has gotten steadily more casual as the gaming industry has changed with the times. I'm pretty sure that in a few years I probably won't care one whit about gaming outside of the classics.

*wanders off to continue playing Chrono Trigger for the 200th time*

Edit: The nicest part of the fact that I'll one day turn my gamer card in is I can finally say screw you to Microsoft and run Linux.

I completely agree with you. Gaming just doesn't seem to be the same anymore. Of course, everything tends to change, but I'll always prefer classic gaming. At least developers used to focus a lot more on gameplay than on graphics. Sure, Doom's graphics were amazing for the time it was developed, back in 1993, but what blew everyone's minds was the gameplay, which was extremely innovative (and scary! o_o). Honestly, I still have more fun playing mods for Doom 2 than playing Gears of War.

Still, I don't think PC gaming will die. Many small developers start with the PC, and some of them even stick with PCs for a long time, like id Software (although I haven't played the new Wolfenstein on the PC, but I'm pretty the console version is a port).

[synaesthetic]

As long as Eastern European developers keep putting out awesome stuff (srsly <3 The Witcher and STALKER), PC gaming won't totally die out.

And Doom is awesome even to this day. Srsly E4M2 is so goddamned hard. =|

[Nosauz]

I wish Lucas arts would stop sucking and just put out a good game but then again that would be near impossible since they axed their game development. Really with a back log of north american release, not including how many eroge's I've stockpiled I could care less if "pc" gaming died. Best platfroms are open ones, and the pc is the only open platform so lets hope it will continue to survive.

[synaesthetic]

Originally Posted by Scorpian

Well looks like the boutique may not be as dead as you think... Some of the old executives from alienware (who were probably let go/laid off) got together and started up a new boutique company call "Origin PC". These are the people who have been with alienware since before it was purchased by Dell; ~10 years according to the CEO. If the market was truly dying I think he'd be one of the people to know about it, yet hes starting a new company.

Wow.

Can nobody make a gaming laptop that doesn't look like it was designed by a twelve year old Dragonball Z fan?

Edit: AND WHY IS IT 18"?!

Christ. Might as well build a desktop. That's friggin' enormous.

[0utf0xZer0]

Originally Posted by Metaler

I completely agree with you. Gaming just doesn't seem to be the same anymore. Of course, everything tends to change, but I'll always prefer classic gaming. At least developers used to focus a lot more on gameplay than on graphics. Sure, Doom's graphics were amazing for the time it was developed, back in 1993, but what blew everyone's minds was the gameplay, which was extremely innovative (and scary! o_o). Honestly, I still have more fun playing mods for Doom 2 than playing Gears of War.

Still, I don't think PC gaming will die. Many small developers start with the PC, and some of them even stick with PCs for a long time, like id Software (although I haven't played the new Wolfenstein on the PC, but I'm pretty the console version is a port).

I'm not sure what really kills games is a concentration on graphics... it's when developers decide to get... it's when developers purposely try and impress/show off with the graphics when it gets bad.

I'd actually say that the biggest "eye candy" game of recent years, Crysis, manages to demonstrate both how to do a graphics intensive game right and how to do it wrong. I thought most of the game was great gameplay wise - unsurpising, since Crytek had pretty much set the bar for this kind of FPS in Far Cry. Then you hit the alien levels, which I always thought of as being more "show off", and... yeahhhhh... the game kind of tanks. Compare with Far Cry's mid game "twist", which was the introduction of the trigens. The trigens were less showy, but worked much better from a gameplay standpoint.

From the little I've played, Gears of War strikes me as looking like it leans a bit too much to the "show off" side, although I don't want to make a final judgement without playing it on a PC... I tried the game on my friend's 360, and I absolutely suck with controllers, so it was hard to get much of a feel for the gameplay.

One of the things I do dislike about modern FPSes is that we seem to have a trend away from sci-fi/fantasy settings (and yes, it is possible to do a fantasy FPS... go try the 1999 Wheel of Time game if you don't believe me. You wouldn't think the setting would work for an FPS but the game is actually pretty awesome) towards more just straight military settings... and yet at the same time, nobody seems to actually be doing the hardcore "one shot you're dead" tactical shooters (think early Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon titles on the PC) anymore. We're basically getting realistic settings without the realistic gameplay.

Originally Posted by synaesthetic

Edit: AND WHY IS IT 18"?!

HP actually had a 20 inch notebook with a screen on a tilt arm a couple years back, but at least they never tried to pretend it was anything other than "luggable" - the kind of PC you move between two locations, but don't carry around with you everywhere.

[idont]

Originally Posted by synaesthetic

For many of us old-timey PC gamers who got into the hobby in the early 90s, PC gaming has died with the massive drop in PC exclusive titles and a marked shift toward online gaming and cloud computing.

Some of us still like single player games that come in a box, with little extras. Doesn't anyone remember that shit? Those old Gold Box AD&D games, or the Monkey Island titles--it still happens to some degree with collectors' edition boxes.

I remember back before WoW made it big, when EQ was really ramping up in popularity, I told a lot of people that eventually all gaming would be online and multiplayer, and when that happened I would officially stop being a gamer.

I don't like the way gaming looks anymore. It's about pretty pictures, about subscription services, about wringing the most amount of money out of the consumer as possible. It's not about engrossing gameplay and plot anymore.

In the 90s I was a pretty hardcore gamer, even as a kid with no real income. Now that I'm an adult who can purchase her own games, my gaming hobby has gotten steadily more casual as the gaming industry has changed with the times. I'm pretty sure that in a few years I probably won't care one whit about gaming outside of the classics.

*wanders off to continue playing Chrono Trigger for the 200th time*

Edit: The nicest part of the fact that I'll one day turn my gamer card in is I can finally say screw you to Microsoft and run Linux.

you should get Dragon Age. It's the only game I've played in months and it's really good if you like single player RPGs.

[Metaler]

Originally Posted by 0utf0xZer0

One of the things I do dislike about modern FPSes is that we seem to have a trend away from sci-fi/fantasy settings (and yes, it is possible to do a fantasy FPS... go try the 1999 Wheel of Time game if you don't believe me. You wouldn't think the setting would work for an FPS but the game is actually pretty awesome) towards more just straight military settings... and yet at the same time, nobody seems to actually be doing the hardcore "one shot you're dead" tactical shooters (think early Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon titles on the PC) anymore. We're basically getting realistic settings without the realistic gameplay

True. In fact, some of my favorite FPSes are Heretic, Hexen and Blood which are set in a fantasy world (Hexen even resembles an RPG in some parts).
I seriously recomend these games, if you get to replay them one day. They're simply fantastic. Proof that fantasy can scare you to death. xD

[tkdtiger]

i just wish they would bring back the old PC Adventure games like quest for glory and kings quest...

[Scorpian]

Originally Posted by Demongod86

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUGH!

$2000 for a desktop?! $2300 for a laptop?!

ARE THEY OUT OF THEIR MINDS?!

Holy sh!t...

Are there budget boutiques out there that are willing to take very slim profits but in return for recognition and branding and the chance to grow? Aka systems at Cyberpower/Ibuypower price, but not their garbage every-system-is-a-lemon quality?

you know... Many people call those "boutique companies" con artists... Which I'm sure some of them are (for charging double or triple of a reasonable price), but they claim you are getting a "quality" product and unmatched customer service since the company is small and you can actually speak to the technicians who built your machine...

But what is quality in this context? I mean all manufacturers use either intel or amd, and for the other components, the choices are not much more either, in terms of manufacturers. Most of them seem to just heavily mod a lian li case and stamp their names on it.... I mean I'd completely understand if they made most of the components themselves, and it offered a specific advantage(s)...

whats "quality" and why do you think you would you buy a mac, hp, dell, voodoo, falcon or w/e over the other?

[Mueti]

Originally Posted by tkdtiger

i just wish they would bring back the old PC Adventure games like quest for glory and kings quest...

Great adventure games are still being made though...did you try this year's Machinarium yet?

[Midnight Commander]

They need to give dragon age origins pc game of the year. I mean I dont think they have much else to choose from anyway the way things are going. Still Steam and that other program i forgot which, makes it very easy to get pc games so i guess that will make it last for a bit longer.