I've stayed away from PC gaming...

[acidforblood]

..that is until today. For some reason playing games on the PC has never appealed, so today i bought 3 games for ?10....great i thought.

Deus Ex, Giants and Thief 2, all well known. Deus Ex is nigh on unplayable coz it's pitch black, Giants won't install coz it recognize the second disc and to be honest i can't be arsed with the third game.

Now it's most probably my old banger of a computer but the point is i won't be buying any more games for it, period. What is the ****ing point of PC gaming?

*coughs*....thoughts please....

[Garibaldi Biscuit]

Thoughts? I'm still sort of trying to fathom your point here.

When you say 'old banger of a computer' hold old are we talking here? I consider my P533 to be extremely long in the tooth, but, although I recognise that due to the nature of the P.C as a games platform experiences will differ, I didn't have any probs with the games you stated.

Most levels in Deus Ex are indeed quite dark, but, like Thief2, it's a game that benefits from being played in a room with very low light - rather than hamper the experience this actually adds to Thief2 quite a bit in terms of atmosphere. They're two great games so I'd recommend you perservere, nab all available patches you can and see if that helps the issue ( Thief2 in particular had some great patches ).

How does the second Giants disc look? Sounds like it might be scratched up a bit, I nabbed a Disc Doctor cleaner from a Virgin megastore a little while ago and this works wonders on audio and video game CDs, you can also buy an adapter for it to clean GC discs too.

P.C gaming can be a pain, no doubt, but when you have those games you mention you don't need to worry about waiting for the latest support as their age means that it's already out there, in fact the budget scene is by far the best thing about the P.C as a games platform IMO. I've lost a little faith in the system myself with the growing dissent towards SW:Galaxies, which I had high hopes for, but to ask what the point of P.C gaming itself is? Surely Half-Life2 more than answers that question.

[nips]

I love PC gaming. The platform is just so malleable it's great.

While the compatibility is a bitch, it's not too bad.

Mods are great. I just really like PC gaming, and a Keyboard and mouse, is often better than a controller pad.

LAN games are really good. There are millions of games, and they often are ?10 for 3.

My favourite games are on PC, but each to thier own!

But if you don't want Deux Ex, I'll but it off you for a fiver

[Concept]

On the contrary, PC gaming may be not the most accessiable, but I do feel as of late there are some promising titles on the horizon.

You might as just as well say "what is the ****ing point of console gaming?" if you're a part of the uninitiated. Just because you are not involved heavily in PC gaming doesn't mean it should be dismissed as an entire format in such an abrupt manner. Yes, the complexities of setting up games, patching, upgrading et al seems dispiriting... But the rewards are there.

For example, the online community in certain sections is far in advance than that which is represented in the console online sector. You can go for the stereotype that all PC online gamers are illiterate elitist loners, but let's face it, that kind of generalisation isn't far off the one which is currently plaguing the hardcore console community in the media.

There are experiences which PC gaming offers that can't be recreated on the console formats at present. And vice-versa.

If you're going to give up on PC gaming so easily, then obviously you're not that interested in the scene anyway. My PC too is decadent, and I am not a PC gamer, but having said that, there are some exiciting titles on the horizon. Arguably, the format had the most impressive showing at E3 this year.

[Kron]

If you like choosing a game from 3 Genres then PC gaming is great, but tbh I haven't bought a new PC game in over a year now (and my PC is quite decent).

A perfect word to describe the PC gaming market is Stale.

[Concept]

That exact word could also be used for the console market though, on the whole...

Interesting that it's the PC sector which is perhaps offering the most potentially revolutionary game since Super Mario 64.

[acidforblood]

All valid points chaps, but as a first time impulse buy for PC games this has been piss poor.

My PC? She's a P3 450...cue laughter

[Kirby]

What graphics card do you have though? I only have a PIII700 (with 768Gb ram) but i have a Radeon 8500 64Mb in it, and all the games you mentioned run fine.

ok, depending on what else is in your PC:

- Thief 2 uses the LGS engine which System Shock 2 and Thief used. It should run fine.

- Deus Ex uses a heavily modified Unreal engine, but then Unreal ran on a PII400 with a Voodoo card, so DE should run fine on your system. Without knowing anything else about your PC i would first try adjusting the Gamma/Brightness settings in the game options.

- Giants probably wont run very well unless you turn everything off. It was pretty demanding back then, and even now it can run a bit slowly with environment bump mapping, groovy lighting effects (tm) and shiny shiny water turned on. Although you cant really blame the PC for a dodgy CD

What OS are you running, and with how much memory? And what errors do you get when you try to run the games?

[Mr Ono]

My PC has garnered more gaming hours than all 3 of my current consoles put togther (and then some).

Currently playing an online competition on Links 2003.

Also played recently stuff that you couldn't dream of implementing on a console with any effectiveness:

Warcraft III
Medieval Total War

As for online FPS games - my PC pisses on the XBox/PS2 in terms of number of players without lag.

Medal of Honour can easily have 32 players on a server with no performance issues.

Counter-strike (coming out on XB) will not be a touch on the PC version.


....... and I haven't even mentioned the kb/mouse controls yet.


Oh, and my PC is only a crappy Athlon 900 + GF4.


Will be upgraded when Doom III and HL2 hit though.

[Kron]

That exact word could also be used for the console market though, on the whole...

Interesting that it's the PC sector which is perhaps offering the most potentially revolutionary game since Super Mario 64.

I'd have to disagree with that completely, the Console Market is full of Developers who have the ability to market and create something other than a first person shooter/strategy or flight sim.

For a market with so many potential customers its surprising their is no commercial interest to expand beyond (IMO) a poor span of already acknowledged "same old".

There is next to no revolution in the PC games, everyone uses standardised 3D engines that were conceaved many years ago that are simply adapted and built upon, The advancement in technology isn't used.

Its widely known that PC games are very poorly optimised due to lazy developers leaving the core of code dependant on the latest cpu speeds, in other words its very lazy work which causes the incompatibility and frame rate problems.

I agree that the only saving grace is the homebrew/modding community, as far as im concerned from a commercial point of view the PC gaming market is the walking dead.

[Super Stu]

What is the ****ing point of PC gaming?

Same ****ing point as consoles.

[Concept]

I'd have to disagree with that completely, the Console Market is full of Developers who have the ability to market and create something other than a first person shooter/strategy or flight sim.

Yes, but again this is generalisation. A typified view that all PC software is based in those genres. Even from what little I know of PC gaming, this simply isn't true.

Console gaming can be equally as cynical and tired as its PC counterpart.

For a market with so many potential customers its surprising their is no commercial interest to expand beyond (IMO) a poor span of already acknowledged "same old".

Again, the same could be said of the console market. There are leftfield developers from both sides battling against conformism. But commercially, anything different or unfamiliar generally doesn't sell.

All I can say is that at E3 this year, it appeared to me to be the reverse. The console market was clinging onto the "same old". Those within the PC community, although also showcasing lots of sequels, were showing a refreshing amount of creativity.

Especially where it mattered.

[Kron]

Yes, but again this is generalisation. A typified view that all PC software is based in those genres. Even from what little I know of PC gaming, this simply isn't true.

Your quite correct, I have just looked over at the upcoming PC releases on ebgames.com and there are a few racing games too.

Operation Barabarossa: IL-2 campaign pack Flight Sim
Stronghold Warchest Stragegy
Age of Wonder Stragegy
Disciples 2:Servants of the Dark Strategy
Indycar Series Racing
Street Legal Racing Racing
Anarchy Online Shadowlands Strategy
Europa Universalis Crown of the North Strategy
The Great Escape Strategy
Nexacon Deathmatch Strategy
Dark Fall Strategy/Adventure
Squad Assault [Strategy/first person shooter[/b]
Airborne Assault Flight Sim
Microsoft Flight Sim 2004 Flight Sim
Hoyle Majestic Chess Strategy
Titans of Steel Strategy
Rebels Prison Escape Strategy
Korsun Pocket Strategy
Aquanox 2 Space Shooter
1914 Great war Strategy
Halo First Person Shooter

That is the next 2.5 months worth of releases with no gaps, and descriptions straight from EBgames, and it does continue I just thought that this proved the point enough.

[Vaipon]

There is a time and a place for PC games...

The time:
The lull period between two major console games being released.

The place:
A darkened room, devoid of any social atmosphere or friends.

They do have their moments and titles such as Half-Life 2 and Deus Ex will be worthy of play, but ultimately I think consoles slaughter them.

[JRMacumber]

You want my thoughts? Well, I think it isn't PC gaming's fault, but yours. You obviously didn't go into it expecting much (in fact I'd say you went in expecting it to be ****), gave a half-assed effort, and now want to paint all PC gaming as **** based on it. If that's how you chose to handle it, then I think you should just stick to your TV and consoles.