Fallout 3

[Streeteh]

Originally Posted by NokkonWud

And not one of those was immediate on day of release. It's okay saying "Get the PC version, in 12 months it will be awesome", but most people want to play it now and on launch days it's laughable how many PC games have issues.

Well i haven't had any issues so i'm happy

It's just as good on the PC (assuming you're not one of the few who have had crashing issues) so you get the same experience, but for your money you also get the ability to replay it in the future in a far improved form. Sounds good to me!

[EDIT] As a side note, pumpkin stew, do you happen to have an Asus Xonar sound card? Apparently the current drivers for those cause fallout 3 to crash and you need to use the beta drivers. If not there's a few other things you could try, let me know and i'll do some digging.

[Marmoset]

Originally Posted by NokkonWud

Have you not thought of going consoles? No arsing around with security, no updating drivers, no tweaking audio and graphical settings so you can get a playable framerate, no installing.

Just simple as putting it in the drive and playing.

As long as you can spank £400 every few months on a new graphics card then there's no tweaking required: just max everything out and go for it.

I understand that consoles are easier to use, that's the point of them. But I prefer the modular nature of PCs and the fact that, if you can afford the hardware, your game will look and run better than the equivalent on a console.

That said, I think I must be one of the lucky few who has no problems running PC games at all and haven't had for as long as I can remember.

Every game that I can think of that I've installed has just worked. I never have issues with drivers or game crashes and much prefer mouse/keyboard to any console controller (I own a 360 and PS3 as well as a PC before anyone calls me a fanboy ).

If a game is multi-platform then it's PC for me every time.

[NokkonWud]

Originally Posted by Marmoset

I understand that consoles are easier to use, that's the point of them. But I prefer the modular nature of PCs and the fact that, if you can afford the hardware, your game will look and run better than the equivalent on a console.

I was lucky enough to compare FarCry 2 on Xbox360 and FarCry 2 on PC side by side, both on the same monitors (PC running 4gb RAM and 8800 Ultra) and barring a little bit of sharpness from the increased resolution there was nothing in it, and the Xbox360 is 3 years old (older than the graphics card by a long way).

When I say a little bit of sharpness I'm not exaggerating, some people wouldn't even notice.

Then there is Gears of War 2 which I saw being run and blows away anything I've seen.

I like the idea that you buy your console and don't have to worry about anything, it's all done for you and done brilliantly. I think a lot of PC users like to believe that PC's do graphics a lot better than consoles when it's a total fallacy. I've seen people commenting that Call of Duty 4 looks rubbish on consoles in comparison when in actual fact it's stunning on 360 and often just lacks that little bit of sharpness because you're running it on a large HDTV. I also like that you don't have to be updating your drivers for audio and video and then on top of that patching your game and tweaking configs, Consoles then get better looking over the years where as PC's get worse (if unchanged).

Considering the Xbox360 is 3 years old it's still very close to matching the PC in almost every way.

Originally Posted by Marmoset

That said, I think I must be one of the lucky few who has no problems running PC games at all and haven't had for as long as I can remember.

Every game that I can think of that I've installed has just worked. I never have issues with drivers or game crashes and much prefer mouse/keyboard to any console controller (I own a 360 and PS3 as well as a PC before anyone calls me a fanboy ).

If a game is multi-platform then it's PC for me every time.

I never had THAT many problems, I had that major echo bug in Battlefield 2 way back when and that's pretty much it, but I just got sick of all the tweaking - sometimes it's nice to just sit back and enjoy and with the LIVE service I find it hard to use anything else.

[Marmoset]

Originally Posted by NokkonWud

some people wouldn't even notice

I'm not one of those people. I notice. And increased resolutions aren't the only added eye candy the latest graphics cards can handle.

There is also undeniable slowdown on console games (I've seen this on a lot of 360 and PS3 titles) as well as pop-ups which you just have to put up with. If you get slowdown on a PC you can upgrade.

Two other things I don't like about consoles: the controllers and long load times (compared to a decent RAID setup). Not much you can do about those either.

I'm not saying PC gaming is the cheapest or easiest solution, far from it, but I'm fortunate enough to have all 3 platforms and I know which one I keep going back to for gaming (hint: it's not the 360 or PS3).

I can't deny the ease of use of consoles though; I'm with you on that one.

I'm not into online gaming so I've never really used PSN or Live. Everything I've read indicates that Live is still a long way ahead though. Is this still the case?

Sorry for taking this OT.

[NokkonWud]

It's miles ahead (Live). I'm hoping MS can enforce it in the PC market too, that would bring PCs and Xbox's onto the same service (though not necessarily cross compatible). I just think it would be the best thing to happen to PC gaming in a long, long time.

I personally love the Xbox360 controller, I'm with you on the PS controller though, it's just not good. With the latest Xbox360 update you can install games to your hard-drive.
I can't say I've noticed a whole lot of long load times at all anyway. I played Fallout 3 last night for 3 hours and only encountered 4 loads all of which were less than 2 seconds.

I still think Fallout 3 will be the first game I install (albeit just to try it out).

[Matblack]

Can anyone tell me how to disarm landmines other than with my face?

MB

[Zico]

I picked this up tonight from Sainsburys for £29. I also managed to get a copy of Fable 2 for £29.97. £58.97 for Fallout 3 and Fable 2, bargain!

Unfortunately my trip to Sainsburys turned out to be a little more expensive than that as I ended up paying for £98 on food shopping and a further £75 on diesel, sum total of £231.97

[NokkonWud]

Oh my god! You still have to get Gears of War 2 in a week! .

I suppose the diesel should last you a while at least.

[Matblack]

OMG! This game is soooooooooooooooooooooo good!!!!!

MB

[Pickers]

did you sort out teh landmines MB? I'm going on a scavenge now for some