Topic: PC Gaming

[Najemikon]

To be honest, Achim, get the original first. It must be cheap as chips now. It still plays well. You tend to assume games move on too much, but I found it was still very playable last year and the graphics, while fairly crude in comparison now, were effective and sharp. As with the sequel, story is paramount as well. If you enjoy it, I absolutely recommend the second one despite it's fault and there is a brief nod to the original (otherwise, entirely new characters).

[RossRoy]

Mafia is 9.99$ on Steam - but that means you'd need a PC.

[Achim]

I have a Steam account (on my Mac), although when I was trying to setup a payment method it gave me some trouble (I wanted to buy some old Lucasarts games).

I don't really want to do gamiing on the Mac/PC anymore. I prefer the consloe and the conveniences that come with it (sofa). I have two games for my Mac that I could be playing right now (Portal came free with Steam at launch and Tales of Monkey Island came "free" with a software purchase), but I just don't feel like it.

It's not that I need games to have moved on too much. While I enjoy looking at pretty images, game play is king after all. Among my favorite games 2010 so far are Joe Danger and DeathSpank!

[Critter]

I just downloaded Portal through Steam. It's the first time I've ever actually done anything with my Steam account. I have a pretty crappy video card but I loaded Portal up and it runs fine and looks great on my new monitor. I played the first 5 levels or 'test chambers'. Interesting game and I'm liking it so far. I like how you can't just go rushing into it, but you need to just sit back and actually think about it beforehand.

[Najemikon]

 

I'm actually a little envious of you, being able to play this for the first time. I know that sounds daft, but it's such a wonderful little game when you're ignorant... 

By the way, I just downloaded Machinarium the other day. It's a simple idea with a fantastic atmosphere. Look it up. Ooh, and The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom. I haven't played that properly, but there are several independent games like these on Steam that look incredible.

[Critter]

Not daft, I know what you mean. I enjoy replaying games but there are a lot of games out there that I wish I could experience playing for the first time again. There's something great about playing an amazing game for the first time.

[Critter]

Portal has started to lag so much on my computer that I had to stop playing. Oh the troubles of PC Gaming. I knew there was a reason I loved console so much  .

[Najemikon]

Eh? What sort of PC are you running? Portal is over three years old and would run on an older PC!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal_%28video_game%29#Development

 

[Dr. Hasslein]

I built my own PC last February. It's awesome! I turn the graphics right and it doesn't even struggle.
Not that I play many games on PC, just RTS games like the Command and Conquer series.

[Critter]

I know it's an old game and it should run but for some reason it just isn't. It was okay up until test chamber 14 then it started to lag so much that I had to stop. I tried it again a couple of times but it's still lagging heaps in that level.
I like console because when you buy it you have the one unit and it works. PC just annoys me because there are about 20 different parts you need and it feels like sometimes if you don't have the latest of everything then it won't play the latest games. Those parts are expensive and seem to be needing upgrades all the time. It does my head in. I do like PC gaming, I like using the mouse and keyboard and I have a really awesome monitor now but everything is just so much easier with console. And apart from having a pretty old video card I do have a fairly good computer. So if Portal isn't working it's probably for some small little thing I need to upgrade which is just annoying. I actually paid for that game and now it isn't working.

[Najemikon]

Sounds more like a fault. PCs will play anything and have far more margin. Upgrading isn't expensive at all once you have the base rig, which is obviously a lot more than just games. I do mine every couple of years. The joke is, this one is getting on for three years and it still handles everything I throw at it.

When I look again, maybe next year, it will be the graphics card. £100-£150 will give it another couple of years and it looks so much better than a consoles output.

But all this is a moot point. I can pretty much guarantee this is a fault you're describing. Worked up to chamber four? You've hardly started. There's nothing unusual about that point in the game that makes it any more hardware intensive than chamber one. It could be disk space or memory playing up.

[Dr. Hasslein]

PC parts aren't that expensive if you go to the right place that is. I buy my parts from MSY in Clayton.
Custom PCs are great because you can gradually upgrade parts here and there instead of buying a whole machine.

But yeah, I too prefer console gaming. You know the game is going to work.

[Najemikon]

I can't remember the last time a PC game wouldn't run for me. Steam had teething trouble, but now it's a doddle and seems bullet proof.

By the way, just spotted Sophie said chamber 14, not 4. That's a bit more understandable. Few more things going on.

[Critter]

When I look again, maybe next year, it will be the graphics card. £100-£150 will give it another couple of years and it looks so much better than a consoles output.

How do you know for sure that PC looks better than a console output? PS3 plays their games on blu-ray disc. So playing an HD game on my 1080p HD 32 inch Samsung TV looks amazing.

Like Kevin said, it's the garuntee that I like about consoles. If you buy a console you know it's going to work, and it's just the one unit and that's all you need. And if you buy a game you know it will work on that console without a doubt, and that you won't need to upgrade anything before it does.

I don't even know how to check what parts I have in my PC to see what I need upgrading.  

[Dr. Hasslein]

My PC has better graphics than the PS3. The played the demon of Mafia 2 on each system and there was a noticeable difference between the two. The Graphics on the PC were allot smoother and had more detail, which is generally the case with most games.

But the PS3 still has amazing graphics, Uncharted 2 for example.