Oh how i miss the old days of PC gaming.

Streeteh · 11-02-2010, 21:11

*sigh* well, i ate my own words and forked out for Bioshock 2 despite being underwhelmed with the first. Is the second a better game? To be honest i couldn't tell you. The PC version for me has been plagued with little annoying bugs that have me dropping in and out of the game constantly. I'd been out and onto google for a solution to no less than three bugs within my first 20 min play session. First the mouse sensitivity refused to change, then the hacking tool didn't work correctly and now i can't loot corpses.

The first Bioshock was a horrendous mess too, it took me over an hour to get it running due to sound issues. I eventually found a solution but dear god was it a runaround (reinstall audio codec, set as windows xp compat, disable dx10).

Add to that my Mass Effect 2 game where Shepard kept getting stuck all the bloomin' time and achievements not unlocking correctly and then there was Dragon Age where mana regen was bugged and my character fell down a chasm just as i quick saved so i had to start from scratch as i was eternally stuck in a pit. I'm feeling fairly fed up of PC gaming at the moment, anyone else feeling utterly put off of investing in PC games these days? It's becoming a rare occurrence to find one that functions correctly.

Disclaimer: All of the above are widespread issues, it's not just my system having them.

cheets · 11-02-2010, 21:44

Last game I tried to play on my pc was Far Cry 2, it wouldn't run so not bothered since then and just use my 360 its hassle free and I don't care about the frame rate or graphics.

Less time to mess on games, PC gaming was great when I was a teenager.

Streeteh · 11-02-2010, 22:03

Graphics really don't bother me, it's the price that keeps luring me back onto the PC. For example, bioshock 2 cost me £27 and came with a free copy of bioshock, dragon age was again £27 and mass effect 2 cost a piddly £25. That's a good £10ish cheaper than the average release day console title. The better graphics and (in the case of shooters) preferred control methods are pleasant bonuses too. Fortunately i think ShopTo accidentally mispriced a load of PS3 exlusives so i've got all of the big ones preordered for £32 each, cheap enough for me to not need to venture back to PC gaming... at least for now.

Jonny69 · 11-02-2010, 22:05

I like modern pc's because I don't have to press the Turbo button to play Sopwith

Mark · 11-02-2010, 22:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Streeteh

Graphics really don't bother me, it's the price that keeps luring me back onto the PC. For example, bioshock 2 cost me £27 and came with a free copy of bioshock, dragon age was again £27 and mass effect 2 cost a piddly £25. That's a good £10ish cheaper than the average release day console title. The better graphics and (in the case of shooters) preferred control methods are pleasant bonuses too. Fortunately i think ShopTo accidentally mispriced a load of PS3 exlusives so i've got all of the big ones preordered for £32 each, cheap enough for me to not need to venture back to PC gaming... at least for now.

How much did you spend on the gaming PC though? I'll wager more than the console. Would you have spent that much if you didn't intend to play games on it? If not, the 'savings' on games are a false economy.

If some of the pundits are right, the trend towards user-friendly but functionally dedicated computing devices (Xbox, iPad, et al.) is likely to continue - adding further impetus to the demise of the PC as a gaming platform.

IMO, PC gaming isn't worth the hassle/expense - though that doesn't mean I wouldn't play some of the older, less demanding games like Q3 if the mood took me. In fact, maybe I should install it again.

Streeteh · 11-02-2010, 22:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark

How much did you spend on the gaming PC though? I'll wager more than the console. Would you have spent that much if you didn't intend to play games on it? If not, the 'savings' on games are a false economy.

Last thing i bought was approx 2 years ago, a new motherboard, ram and CPU. The cost, after reselling my old gear, was approximately £90. Nearly another year before that was a new graphics card which cost me £100. So that's £190 in three years, considering i also use it for other things i'd say it's worked out about as expensive as console gaming. I'd also say i can't see myself upgrading again for a long while yet, my current hardware is more than sufficient.

In short, i don't agree with these claims that hardware costs silly money if you want to play PC games. It doesn't, you just have to buy smart. My 8800GT for example still runs all of todays games on high settings (bar crysis), it cost me £150 new (then minus the £50 i sold my old card for) nearly three years ago, people who spend £300 on the newest graphics cards every few months are just mental imo.

Mark · 11-02-2010, 22:48

Totally agree with you on that last point. My last purchase of anything 'current generation' (at the time) was a Radeon 3850 - and that was forced due to not owning any PCI-e cards and wanting an HDMI-capable card to keep future options open. I recall that being about £100 too, and it still does everything I need it for (admittedly that doesn't include gaming).

divine · 11-02-2010, 22:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark

How much did you spend on the gaming PC though? I'll wager more than the console. Would you have spent that much if you didn't intend to play games on it? If not, the 'savings' on games are a false economy.

I wouldn't have spent £110 on a graphics card. The rest would have been exactly the same spec.

PC gaming isn't necessarily always ultra expensive, especially if you have other reasonably demanding uses for your PC that you need to buy for anyway. Obviously a sole gaming machine is far less cost effective but how many people really buy a PC for gaming and nothing else?

Haly · 11-02-2010, 23:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Streeteh

In short, i don't agree with these claims that hardware costs silly money if you want to play PC games. It doesn't, you just have to buy smart.

My laptop although nothing overly impressive can run DiRT2, ME2 and Bioshock 2 on medium without any noticeable difficulty. Admittedly I've never been one to notice FPS rates unless they're ridiculously low/stuttering but I'm happy with it.

I've always been the same even when I was pretty much a PC gamer only for a brief time. I'd have a decent specced PC but nothing ridiculous like some did. Just enough that the games I wanted to play could run on medium. The idea of having to spend a fortune seems a fallacy to me unless you're someone who gets worryingly excited over benchmark scores

Hope I don't come across the problems you've had though Streeteh! Currently only got Bioshock 2 for the PC although hopefully being sent a console copy sometime soon.

Flibster · 11-02-2010, 23:46

I miss the games of old, but not the hassles of old.

EMM386, EMS, XMS....

Although, some of the crap to go through now to get a game to run is almost as bad. GTA4 for example..GFWL, Rockstar live thing...

The stupid levels DRM have reached really piss me off. I cancelled my Bioshock2 preorder because of it.

11-02-2010, 21:11	#1
Streeteh Vodka Martini Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Kingston Posts: 862	Oh how i miss the old days of PC gaming. sigh well, i ate my own words and forked out for Bioshock 2 despite being underwhelmed with the first. Is the second a better game? To be honest i couldn't tell you. The PC version for me has been plagued with little annoying bugs that have me dropping in and out of the game constantly. I'd been out and onto google for a solution to no less than three bugs within my first 20 min play session. First the mouse sensitivity refused to change, then the hacking tool didn't work correctly and now i can't loot corpses. The first Bioshock was a horrendous mess too, it took me over an hour to get it running due to sound issues. I eventually found a solution but dear god was it a runaround (reinstall audio codec, set as windows xp compat, disable dx10). Add to that my Mass Effect 2 game where Shepard kept getting stuck all the bloomin' time and achievements not unlocking correctly and then there was Dragon Age where mana regen was bugged and my character fell down a chasm just as i quick saved so i had to start from scratch as i was eternally stuck in a pit. I'm feeling fairly fed up of PC gaming at the moment, anyone else feeling utterly put off of investing in PC games these days? It's becoming a rare occurrence to find one that functions correctly. Disclaimer: All of the above are widespread issues, it's not just my system having them. __________________ PSN & Live! ID: Streeteh

11-02-2010, 22:03	#3
Streeteh Vodka Martini Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Kingston Posts: 862	Graphics really don't bother me, it's the price that keeps luring me back onto the PC. For example, bioshock 2 cost me £27 and came with a free copy of bioshock, dragon age was again £27 and mass effect 2 cost a piddly £25. That's a good £10ish cheaper than the average release day console title. The better graphics and (in the case of shooters) preferred control methods are pleasant bonuses too. Fortunately i think ShopTo accidentally mispriced a load of PS3 exlusives so i've got all of the big ones preordered for £32 each, cheap enough for me to not need to venture back to PC gaming... at least for now. __________________ PSN & Live! ID: Streeteh

11-02-2010, 22:05	#4
Jonny69 Noob Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Socialist Republik of Kent Posts: 5,032	I like modern pc's because I don't have to press the Turbo button to play Sopwith __________________

11-02-2010, 23:46	#10
Flibster Moonshine Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 3,388	I miss the games of old, but not the hassles of old. EMM386, EMS, XMS.... Although, some of the crap to go through now to get a game to run is almost as bad. GTA4 for example..GFWL, Rockstar live thing... The stupid levels DRM have reached really piss me off. I cancelled my Bioshock2 preorder because of it. __________________

11-02-2010, 21:44	#2
cheets Long Island Iced Tea Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 442	Last game I tried to play on my pc was Far Cry 2, it wouldn't run so not bothered since then and just use my 360 its hassle free and I don't care about the frame rate or graphics. Less time to mess on games, PC gaming was great when I was a teenager.

11-02-2010, 22:48	#7
Mark Screaming Orgasm Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Newbury Posts: 15,194	Totally agree with you on that last point. My last purchase of anything 'current generation' (at the time) was a Radeon 3850 - and that was forced due to not owning any PCI-e cards and wanting an HDMI-capable card to keep future options open. I recall that being about £100 too, and it still does everything I need it for (admittedly that doesn't include gaming).