PC Gaming is not for me

[Darth Jebus]

I've tried to get into PC gaming. I really have. I've gone out and bought all of the classics put out by Interplay and BIS. I've gotten Fallout 1 and 2, Planescape: Torment, Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 (including the expansions), Icewind Dale, and Neverwinter Nights, including all of the mods that came with it.

 

By the way, I'd like to add real quick that I'm living proof that you can get all of these oldies LEGALLY and legitimately here in the US by just going to Amazon.com. There's no need to download the games or anything like that. I don't know where the proceeds go, but for anyone looking for these classics, I would recommend just going to Amazon.com, or any other legit website to just order them. They're out there and it doesn't take any effort to find them. And they're cheap. I bought PS:T and Soulbringer, along with FO 1 and 2 all in one big pack for like 8 bucks US through Amazon.com. They also have specials for BG 1 & 2 and IWD 1 & 2. So, if anyone is looking, they're there.

 

Anyway, I digress. My point is, though the games themselves are addictive as hell and I can see why they are so revered, the whole operation (and believe me, it is an operation) of playing games on the PC is taxing and tiresome for me.

 

Mostly because I have a computer that is not designed for PC gaming. It has a pretty cheap video card and not that much memory. But that's kind of my point. Since I've been playing all of these games I've had to acquaint myself with such terms as "updating my sound and graphics drivers". Studying up on Radeon. REALLY getting to know my computer to determine what it can and can not handle, and ultimately, what needs to be upgraded.

 

Since my computer is about two years old, none of the really old games are a problem. But when I started trying to get into some of the newer games, I started experiencing problems. I mean, things were going pretty well, although NWN had serious framerate issues on my PC until I learned I had to upgrade certain things and certain drivers and make sure I had the most current version Direct X running .

 

But then came Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines.

 

I really thought my computer was going to detonate right there on my desktop. It just could not handle this. I don't know how many times the game would just crash back to the desktop. When I bought it, the first thing the guy at the store told me was: "Dude. Make sure you run the update. Before you do anything. I'm serious. The minute the installation is complete, run the update."

 

I never even had a chance to run the update because right after it was done installing, it kept crashing back to the desktop. So, frusterated, I uninstalled it and took it back.

 

There are other games as well. World of Warcraft, the upcoming Matrix Online, and other PC games that I just don't think my PC can handle. And even it could, I find that PC gamers are in a constant state of flux. YOU HAVE TO KEEP UPGRADING. No matter how powerful your computer is, you have to make sure it stays that way every single year, or else you won't be able to play the newest games. Especially now. Where developers are REALLY pushing specs to make the game look all pretty and require a TON OF MEMORY to run it.

 

Some of those high-end video cards out there are incredibly expensive. And that's just to play games today. Those high-end video cards will be practically useless in a year or two when the new generation games come out.

 

How lame is that? Call me old school, but with my Xbox, all I have to do is turn it on, put the game in and play it. That's it. No updating my sound and graphics drivers. No getting the newest video cards or purchasing more memory (although you can do that but it's not a requirement to play the games), no waiting for a patch, and no crashing back to the desktop.

 

PC gaming just must be an acquired taste. A taste apparently, I just don't have.

[BlueNinja]

There is a simpler way.

 

Upgrade your computer to the top of the line. Buy the new games, and some if not most of the games coming out in the next year or two won't need the absolute best equipment. You can wait 2-3 years between computer upgrades. I have, and my latest one was to play Bloodlines. Of course, now Fallout won't run either ...

[Child of Flame]

I've tried to get into PC gaming.  I really have.  I've gone out and bought all of the classics put out by Interplay and BIS.  I've gotten Fallout 1 and 2, Planescape: Torment,  Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 (including the expansions), Icewind Dale, and Neverwinter Nights, including all of the mods that came with it.

 

By the way, I'd like to add real quick that I'm living proof that you can get all of these oldies LEGALLY and legitimately here in the US by just going to Amazon.com.  There's no need to download the games or anything like that.  I don't know where the proceeds go, but for anyone looking for these classics, I would recommend just going to Amazon.com, or any other legit website to just order them.  They're out there and it doesn't take any effort to find them.  And they're cheap.  I bought PS:T  and Soulbringer, along with FO 1 and 2 all in one big pack for like 8 bucks US through Amazon.com.  They also have specials for BG 1 & 2 and IWD 1 & 2.  So, if anyone is looking, they're there.

 

Anyway, I digress.  My point is, though the games themselves are addictive as hell and I can see why they are so revered, the whole operation (and believe me, it is an operation) of playing games on the PC is taxing and tiresome for me.

 

Mostly because I have a computer that is not designed for PC gaming.  It has a pretty cheap video card and not that much memory.  But that's kind of my point.  Since I've been playing all of these games I've had to acquaint myself with such terms as "updating my sound and graphics drivers". Studying up on Radeon.  REALLY getting to know my computer to determine what it can and can not handle, and ultimately, what needs to be upgraded.

 

Since my computer is about two years old, none of the really old games are a problem.  But when I started trying to get into some of the newer games, I started experiencing problems.  I mean, things were going pretty well, although NWN had serious framerate issues on my PC until I learned I had to upgrade certain things and certain drivers and make sure I had the most current version Direct X running .

 

But then came Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines.

 

I really thought my computer was going to detonate right there on my desktop.  It just could not handle this.  I don't know how many times the game would just crash back to the desktop.  When I bought it, the first thing the guy at the store told me was: "Dude.  Make sure you run the update.  Before you do anything. I'm serious.  The minute the installation is complete, run the update."

 

I never even had a chance to run the update because right after it was done installing, it kept crashing back to the desktop.  So, frusterated, I uninstalled it and took it back.

 

There are other games as well. World of Warcraft, the upcoming Matrix Online, and other PC games that I just don't think my PC can handle.  And even it could, I find that PC gamers are in a constant state of flux.  YOU HAVE TO KEEP UPGRADING.  No matter how powerful your computer is, you have to make sure it stays that way every single year, or else you won't be able to play the newest games.  Especially now.  Where developers are REALLY pushing specs to make the game look all pretty and require a TON OF MEMORY to run it.

 

Some of those high-end video cards out there are incredibly expensive.  And that's just to play games today.  Those high-end video cards will be practically useless in a year or two when the new generation games come out.

 

How lame is that?  Call me old school,  but with my Xbox, all I have to do is turn it on, put the game in and play it.  That's it.  No updating my sound and graphics drivers.  No getting the newest video cards or purchasing more memory (although you can do that but it's not a requirement to play the games), no waiting for a patch, and no crashing back to the desktop.

 

PC gaming just must be an acquired taste.  A taste apparently, I just don't have.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Instead of buying top of the line equipment, I usually buy second best equipment, that's just experienced pricedrops. I can usually get by for about three years on that stuff, before I have to upgrade, though towards the end, I'm running at lower resolutions than at the beginning. It's really not hard, just takes getting used to.

 

 

There is a simpler way.

 

Upgrade your computer to the top of the line.  Buy the new games, and some if not most of the games coming out in the next year or two won't need the absolute best equipment.  You can wait 2-3 years between computer upgrades.  I have, and my latest one was to play Bloodlines.  Of course, now Fallout won't run either ...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

What components were these perchance? I don't want to lose the ability to play the BIS games when I next upgrade.

[Tanuvein]

I do pretty much the same thing as Eru. The cheaper, slightly older, components tend to last me three years.

[Azarkon]

Computer games began as a past time for folks with computers (ie computer scientists). Few people thought at that point in time that we'd have a flourishing game industry, and in this respect, I agree: consoles are more streamlined, standardized, and better suited for pure gamers, and right now the industry's noticing that more and more - hence the drop in games for computers.

 

The problem with consoles, however, remains a fundamental one: a console is purely for gaming. A computer can do alot more. Just about everyone needs a PC these days, but only the hardcore gamer has every console. Thus, in developing for the PC, you can potentially tap into a market independent of pure gamers - and where competition is concerned, that's a good thing. There's a problem with this line of thought, of course, and that's the high req's games nowadays have, which is counter-productive to the PC gaming industry because for the kind of money you'd need to get a gaming rig capable of handling the high-end games, you could just buy every console. Fortunately, at the moment the PC crowd also includes the truly gungho hardcore gamers, who looks down upon consoles because they're not graphically powerful enough. But once the next gen. console hardware comes out, that might no longer be true.

 

I'm not a very good prophet, but I reckon that computer games will always have a place and a market, just not one on the cutting-edge of the industry, unless emulators become popular, or Microsoft's PC-Xbox2 cross-platform support becomes a trend.

[GhostofAnakin]

Besides from the fact I'm not a big fan of twitch gaming, I think this is another reason why I enjoy RPG more than FPS. My computer can usually handle RPGs because they don't tend to be graphics hogs like FPS do. Presently, only V:tMB is the only cRPG that gives my computer fits, whereas quite a few FPS aren't even worth my time due to their specs.

[BlueNinja]

There is a simpler way.

 

Upgrade your computer to the top of the line.  Buy the new games, and some if not most of the games coming out in the next year or two won't need the absolute best equipment.  You can wait 2-3 years between computer upgrades.  I have, and my latest one was to play Bloodlines.  Of course, now Fallout won't run either ...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

What components were these perchance? I don't want to lose the ability to play the BIS games when I next upgrade.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't know exactly what is causing the problem - the game loads, but about every 0.5-2 seconds, it blacks out the entire screen except for where the cursor is. Doing something to change what is displayed - ie, scrolling, opening the character screen, etc - will bring everything back ... for 0.5-2 seconds, and then blackness envelops the wastes again. I only discovered this this morning, however, so I haven't had a chance to look around for a fix.

[Child of Flame]

There is a simpler way.

 

Upgrade your computer to the top of the line.  Buy the new games, and some if not most of the games coming out in the next year or two won't need the absolute best equipment.  You can wait 2-3 years between computer upgrades.  I have, and my latest one was to play Bloodlines.  Of course, now Fallout won't run either ...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

What components were these perchance? I don't want to lose the ability to play the BIS games when I next upgrade.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't know exactly what is causing the problem - the game loads, but about every 0.5-2 seconds, it blacks out the entire screen except for where the cursor is. Doing something to change what is displayed - ie, scrolling, opening the character screen, etc - will bring everything back ... for 0.5-2 seconds, and then blackness envelops the wastes again. I only discovered this this morning, however, so I haven't had a chance to look around for a fix.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Actually, mine already does that, but only when I enter a new area. Not nearly as annoying as the Camera Bug I was getting on my desktop with Torment. I'm thinking Fallout would probably work properly on my laptop too.

[ShadowPaladin V1.0]

There are other games as well. World of Warcraft, the upcoming Matrix Online, and other PC games that I just don't think my PC can handle.  And even it could, I find that PC gamers are in a constant state of flux.  YOU HAVE TO KEEP UPGRADING.  No matter how powerful your computer is, you have to make sure it stays that way every single year, or else you won't be able to play the newest games.  Especially now.  Where developers are REALLY pushing specs to make the game look all pretty and require a TON OF MEMORY to run it.

 

Some of those high-end video cards out there are incredibly expensive.  And that's just to play games today.  Those high-end video cards will be practically useless in a year or two when the new generation games come out.

 

How lame is that?  Call me old school,  but with my Xbox, all I have to do is turn it on, put the game in and play it.  That's it.  No updating my sound and graphics drivers.  No getting the newest video cards or purchasing more memory (although you can do that but it's not a requirement to play the games), no waiting for a patch, and no crashing back to the desktop.

 

PC gaming just must be an acquired taste.  A taste apparently, I just don't have.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Been there done that. My current PC is relatively futureproofed but I nolonger bother to upgrade.

I suppose back when I was doing it, it was sort of worth it but today there are so few worthwhile PC titles I dont feel it is. I wouldnt fork over $500 just to play Dragon Age and NwNII.

I'd save the money for a next gen console of your choice.

[ShadowPaladin V1.0]

  There's a problem with this line of thought, of course, and that's the high req's games nowadays have, which is counter-productive to the PC gaming industry because for the kind of money you'd need to get a gaming rig capable of handling the high-end games, you could just buy every console.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I bought the whole console set for around

[Tsel]

You do have a point about not wanting to pay to upgrade a PC just to be able to play the newer games, but someone like me whose occupation requires my PC to be top notch for the times, I never really have the problems others here speak of.

 

I do know that although ATI pumps out awesome graphics cards, most PC games are based OpenGL therefore making NVIDIA a better choice if you want fewer headaches. Yes, all hardware has some problem or another; I

[Ellester]

PC Gaming is for intellectual geeks while consoles are for the masses. It started that way, and although the two groups have become more clouded recently, in general its still the case. There are some of us that upgrade our computer systems regularly because we are geeks, not because of the games. Most of my upgrades have nothing to do with playing the newest games. Even though it

[Judas]

Also, it

[GhostofAnakin]

I don't know too many girls that think having a PS2 or XBox is lame, or immature. Actually, isn't the average age of gamers about 29-30 years old?

 

If anything, having a million-dollar PC setup would be considered more "geeky" to most girls than a guy with a console hooked up to his TV.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Agreed. In college, we'd sit around playing PS2 anytime we had spare time, and the girls would love to mess around on the thing as well. Yet, I don't recall one incident of the girls wanting to play all the new games on my buddy's fully tricked out PC.

 

Matter of fact, quite of a few of the girls had their own PS2 or XBox or whatever other console systems were out in their rooms, but I don't recall any of them actually computer gaming.

[Kaftan Barlast]

Apparently, your buddy did not have The Sims2 on his fully tricked out PC...

[GhostofAnakin]

I think he did. But again, it just didn't seem to be the kind of thing girls wanted to do, sit around in front of the computer instead of lounging on a couch playing a console system.

[Drakron]

I dont think all girls like The Sims ... besides looking at the sheer amount of time it takes to just build a Sim family (let alone play it) its something its cannot be just played for half a hour.

 

Its not like Tekken you can pretty much finish with a character in about a hour or so.

[GhostofAnakin]

So basically you're saying women have a short attention span? "

[Drakron]

Err ... no.

 

Its time investment, in Tekken you pretty can finish a storyline in a hour as in The Sims you spend hours just building up a house and decorate it, it takes days to complete a Sim generation.

 

Also there is the attachment to the Sims they create, its not a something people just just create a character and go around playing for a time and then leave it alone.

 

I am a Sim player and once taken about 4 hours just to build a house.

[Ellester]

Agreed.  In college, we'd sit around playing PS2 anytime we had spare time, and the girls would love to mess around on the thing as well.  Yet, I don't recall one incident of the girls wanting to play all the new games on my buddy's fully tricked out PC.

 

Matter of fact, quite of a few of the girls had their own PS2 or XBox or whatever other console systems were out in their rooms, but I don't recall any of them actually computer gaming.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree 100%. Like I said above, there was a time for it. In college everyone has one. Girls have no problem with it, as they aren

[Drakron]

That would be a dumb question to be asking herself.

 

Why NOT having a console, they are dirty cheap and can be used for other things besides playing games, I got a PS2 over a Xbox because the PS2 did not forced me to get a accesory to play DVDs as the Xbox does.

 

What next?

 

PSP that play movies as well MP3 being "nerdy" or something?

 

Any women that is stupid enough to judge someone because it owns some applience as "not good enough" is simply not worth my time.

[Ellester]

Any women that is stupid enough to judge someone because it owns some applience as "not good enough" is simply not worth my time.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Women judge you on what type of shoes you wear. Is this surprising? But I agree with your assessment.

[Darque]

[Tanuvein]

Any women that is stupid enough to judge someone because it owns some applience as "not good enough" is simply not worth my time.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Women judge you on what type of shoes you wear. Is this surprising? But I agree with your assessment.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Hah, I've actually had that happen to me before.

[GhostofAnakin]

I just make sure to show off my extra large shoes.