Topic: PC Gaming

[MEJHarrison]

Well, my friend has now settled for the cute stuff (like PixelJunk Monsters <- added a link this time).

That game has gotten more playtime on our PS3 than all other games, and DVD/Blu-ray watching, put together.  My wife loves it.

[Kathy]

That might be enough to get me into gaming!

To wet your appetite:...

Okay...I'm wet...my appetite of course!

[Najemikon]

That might be enough to get me into gaming!

To wet your appetite:...

Okay...I'm wet...my appetite of course!

Bad Panda! Bad!

[Kathy]

That might be enough to get me into gaming!

To wet your appetite:...

Okay...I'm wet...my appetite of course!

Bad Panda! Bad!

I know; I tried really hard to resist such a bad joke but I couldn't help myself! I will go to the corner and hide in shame.

[RossRoy]

That can't be right! 

I was playing a game earlier today (The Sims 2 .... yes, I'm still hooked ) and had a temperature monitoring software running in the background. The game was playing fine, no graphic corruptions, everything went very smoothly, but out of curiosity, I Alt-Tab out of the game to check on temperatures of GPU and CPU (it was kinda warm in the room). What was the app showing? 112 degree Celsius for the CPU!!

ONE HUNDRED AND TWELVE CELSIUS!!

Of course I panicked. Shut down the computer on the spot. Then I thought: how the heck can it get that hot, and still run smoothly? So I started it up, went to the BIOS and ... temp is a cool 29C.

Now, explain to me how it can cool itself from 112C down to 29C with no fans running (I had turned off the PC, remember?) in like 10-15 seconds? That's I thought, it's all but impossible.

Guess that temperature monitor software is going down the drain.

For the curious, it was HMonitor Trial from http://www.hmonitor.com - to think they'd want me to pay for that! HA!

Back to good ol' PC Probe II (Asus) from now on.

[DJ Doena]

Maybe it was Fahrenheit?

 +44.5 °C = +112.1 °F

Although even 16°C in ten seconds are rather unlikely.

[RossRoy]

Maybe it was Fahrenheit?

 +44.5 °C = +112.1 °F

Well, it clearly showed 112°C, but it's not impossible that a bug made it not convert for F to C - didn't think of that!

[RossRoy]

Well well.. I knew I should have read more before purchasing. It looks like I will not be playing Spore after all.

Read the comments there: http://www.amazon.com/Spore-Pc/dp/B000FKBCX4/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1220882871&sr=8-1

I will NOT be putting with more problem than the game is worth. 3 activations and then you're bust? Of course, they say you can call them and bla bla bla and MAYBE on a case-by-cae basis, get an additional activation. Well guess what? I reinstall my system and/or upgrade way too many times for this, and I'm not going to plead my cause, as a LEGIT purchasing customer of said games, while pirates will be happily playing their pirated version without any nags. No thanks.

One less copy sold for you EA. It's a shame you are killing PC gaming with these measures.

Guess I will take this 50$ and give it to Microsoft for Tales of Vesperia.

After all, I won't have to reactivate everytime I want to play. I won't even have to reinstall. Or plead my cause as to why I decide to format MY computer.

Oh sure, it's a console, but still, there's no fucking DRM to deal with. Just put the disc in and VOILA!

too bad it's too late now to cancel the order - it already shipped. But I'll be at Best Buy returning it first thing in the morning - the day after I receive it

[RossRoy]

Don't know if anybody read my little rant about excessive DRM, but here's the result:

DRM riddled:



Magically transformed into DRM free:



Long live DRM and restricting my game choice! Better for my wallet*! Thank you EA!

* Because I would've bought Tales of Vesperia sooner or later

[Achim]

I saw another rant against Spore on YouTube.

The Mac version didn't run on that guy's (blunty3000) computer. However, the Windows version would supposedly run on his computer if he would Boot Camp and run windows on that very same machine! Needless to say he also gave up on Spore and moves on to play other stuff.

[Jimmy]

I saw another rant against Spore on YouTube.

The Mac version didn't run on that guy's (blunty3000) computer.

Not really surprising since this a game made by Electronic Arts 
All the problems that their hockey games gave me was enough to never buy anything release by them (10 years of boycott and perfectly happy like that).

[RossRoy]

There's so much negativity against Spore right now, that the producer of Red Alert 3 gave an interview to one of the gaming site (can't remember which) pleading for people to not pass on Red Alert just because of DRM and to still buy the game. He also said they'd tone it down a bit: 5 activations instead of 3.

Yeah right! Like hell I'm buying Red Alert 3.Or anything else published by EA.

There are perfectly good games available, some in the very same genre as Red Alert, that are selling really well, with no DRM attached, despite that pirates. Sins of a Solar Empire comes to mind. Very good game!

You know I find it funny that my boss at work keeps coming to me about problems with his perfectly legit copy of The Sims 2 he bought, each and every time a new expansion pack comes out, because the so called DRM breaks. While at the same time, almost day to day (if not actually before the official street date), a perfectly working copy shows up on the internet for grabs, and people can install this pirated version with little to no hassle.

I'd actually be quite interested to see how it would turn out if, let's say EA, released a popular game, say Red Alert 3, in two version: DRM restricted version at 30$, and DRM free at 40-50$? I wonder which copy would sell more.. and if it would actually hurt sales to have a non-DRM version available.

[RossRoy]

Argh! Why must console accessories be so expensive??

The DVD reader of my Xbox 360 is slowly dieing. It will regularly give my "disc unreadable" errors on immaculate discs, especially in Rock Band 2 after playing a downloaded song (which doesn't use the DVD), but it also happens a lot on Fable II, NHL 09, Lost Odyssey (sometimes the music cuts out in cinematics because of it), etc.

Now, Microsoft is coming out with NXE later this month, which will introduce a great feature. No, not the avatars, but the ability to fully install a game on the hard drive. 

This would effectively eliminate any disc read error from my failing DVD, and speed up loading time as well. The thing is, I have a lowly 20GB hard drive (with already only 13GB usable). Now between Rock Band downloads, game demos, arcade games, save games, and now full game installs? I'm running out of space fast! (even before installing any game, and with all game demos deleted. I kept only the save games and DLC, I only have 4GB left). So I want to buy a shiny 120GB hard drive.

But it costs 149.99$!! I can get a brand spanking new Xbox 360 for 199.99$!! Admitedly, it doesn't fix my space issue, but it should fix the failing DVD!

I'm torn... because since the DVD is failing, I'll have to change the XBox at some point anyway... yet the possibility of the installing the games, even if just to speed up load times, is really appealing... I don't know what to do!

Usually, I'd say "fuck it!" and buy both.. But I'm trying to be a little more responsible with my money...

[Sanuye]

Usually, I'd say "fuck it!" and buy both.. But I'm trying to be a little more responsible with my money...

Are you sure you have a good reason to be more responsible with your money? 

[RossRoy]

Usually, I'd say "fuck it!" and buy both.. But I'm trying to be a little more responsible with my money...

Are you sure you have a good reason to be more responsible with your money? 

Well... no!