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PC gaming is dead to me.
local93bc
Member Posts: 353
Since iv known.(1990) PC gaming has alway's published the limits of gaming.
Gaming platforms were fun, but could not even come close to the PC power.
It was wild!
New out of this world games no one would have ever
even thought could exist was the driving force of the PC gaming.
The hole industry needs to wake up! Nothing works as intended, Glich's everywere.
Compatibility issues at every corner. Game engines that lock up for no reson at all.
What a mess! Its pathetic. Its everything. PC parts, Windows vista, software companys.
Every one needs to sit down and work togueter. PC qualatie is really bad. Why?
Withought a really amazing, out of this world fresh title that dosent glitch every 10 min,
I dont think i see myself supporting this industry.
All these water'd down games are great for platform's.
But never were they the reason I supported the PC gaming industry in the first place.
I think this industry is losing touch with why it had success in the first place, & I dont see
it geting better anytime soon.
Comments
"Gaming for Windows" tried to solve this, but failed (in my opinion) because many games still glitch and of course they have the Xbox too.
So what do we need, governments to interfere with gaming to assure quality? Better refunds when a game doesn't work?
The biggest problem atm, for me, is trying to gauge how well a game will play, if it will bug or not and if I need to patch. The downloads are getting ridiculous too, 10GB to try WAR etc, I'm sorry but pass..I'm not leaving my PC on overnight to try a game.
Compatibility and bugs is the main priority though.
Its really sad for me to admit this, but i really dont think there's anything anyone can do D=.
Even if the goverment try'ed, it would take years for this mess to sort out.
Its like becoming mainstream as changed the PC gaming industry.
And price war's have forced hardware makers to go cheep? OR
To many hardware companys, make it hard to test parts?
Everything is rushed, Compatibility problems everywere.
Waterd down games for younger kids rule.
That's what the nitendo was for i thought?
Im sick of Mmo's its the same thing over and over again.
Its time to step forward.
I want somthing completly new. Somthing i havent done yet.
wrong, as usual waterly
GFW is just a plot from Microsoft to move people from Windows to XBox 360, where can get more revenue.
Why would MS want to kill PC gaming?
Games help sell PC's and PC need OS.
Windows Gaming is about the only thing standing in the way of Linux becoming a mainstream OS next to Windows. I think MS does care if people play PC games or not. They make a profit on Xbox but it's nowhere near the profits they make from their Windows clients.
Why would MS help so many companies with DirectX problems and ship DX betas to game developers before anyone else and help them with PC games and their compatibility otherwise.
You might not know, but MS, ATI, AMD, INTEL, Nvidia, they all have teams working with game developers to assure compatibility, if MS wanted to kill PC gaming they could, there's just absolutely no logical reason why they would want to.
In the past two months I've played on the PC
Warhammer online
Evil Genius
galactic civilizations 2 with both expansions (fantastic 4x strat game)
Jade Empire
Fallout 3
Oblivion
Mass Effect
Portal
Yes fallout 3 and Oblivion were buggy as all hell, still a good time for me. And some of those are also for the 360 which I have, but I prefer the gameplay on the PC.
Not all companies are guilty of buggy games, BioWare always makes top of the line quality games.
I'm still having a great time with PC gaming. Still the place to be for MMOs, strategy gamesa and many xbox ports, like BioWare and Valve games - which still play better on the PC in my opinion.
OP sounds like the dude from the film, Network.
I just don't agree. Been PC gaming since my Tandy 1000 and PC gaming has been smooth and bug free since about 2000. Not saying specific games were bug-free but as far as incompatiblity issues with hardward and Windows, etc....just has not been a problem. CTDs or BSOD....rare on my self-built computers. Ah well.
I don't see where you find all these issues. Unless I'm beta testing, playing a CONSOLE port or a free to play mmo I rarely run across any bugs or glitches in games. I play several hours every day, with games of all genres. If and when I do run into a glitch or bug its always very minor, nothing to get worked up over. Besides, any problem that you run into can usually be solved with a quick google.
As for hardware compatibility issues, I have no idea what you are talking about. If you buy a pcb with an nvidia chipset ziptied to it because it was cheap... you should expect to have issues. PC components are just like automobile parts. You can expect great performance and reliability from trusted, name brand companies, but if you order a crate engine from jim-bob down the street don't expect miracles. BFG Technologies for example is a great company. Their graphic cards are top of the line, and carry a LIFETIME warranty. If you ever do run into compatibility issues, the same research concept applies here. Google. If you run into a legitimate issue, chances are you aren't the only one. But really, if you do your research in the first place before buying your hardware you should be able to avoid buying parts that don't get along.
As for Vista being so bad... what the hell are people doing that they have such a hard time with this os? I've been runnning Vista on my machines since the month it was released, and I haven't had a lockup or freeze ONCE. Ever. I started using windows with 3.1, and this is the best release I've used. Where do people run into all the problems? Or are the majority of users so inept that they can create issues where none exist?
What games are you playing that glitch every ten minutes? I would really like to know.
If you don't like downloading large files, why are you even bothering to visis an mmo site? The need to download large patches is not a problem that is going to go away. The patches are only going to get bigger and bigger, and this isn't a problem that is PC specific. What do you think will happen when MMO's start to hit the consoles? FFXI players already know, large patches come to all platforms. If you can't be bothered to download large files you can forget about experiencing new content. You don't want to leave your pc on overnight to download a file? Why exactly? I haven't turned off my computer in over 3 months.
The PC has always been the vanguard of gaming, and will continue to be for the forseeable future. It is the most powerful gaming platform available, and always will be. Console hardware and coding is based around PC technology, but will never be able to perform on par with it. If a console can do it, the PC could do it better.
Yes, computer hardware is expensive if you buy the latest and greatest. Product life cycles are incredibly short, as the pc industry moves forward at such a fast rate. But look at it this way, the hardware in the 360 or the ps3 would be laughably weak when put into a pc chassis. "BuT yous can playz teh games in HD!" lol. We've been playing games in resolutions BEYOND HD for years before the console guys. The only reason those two consoles can display graphics as well as they do is because they are meant to do only that. For consoles to be able to display graphics as well as top of the line PC's can, they would cost almost as much as said PC. And even then the PC would surpass the consoles again within a month or two.
The problem with the PC industry isn't the platform. The hardware is great, the peripherals are great, even the operating environments are great. The problem is that developers are leaning more and more towards console development. Console's have a much larger consumer base for game companies than does the PC, despite the fact that you can't throw a rock without hitting someone who has a computer at home. Most everyday people don't think of the PC as a gaming platform, instead they think of word processors and pron.
Despite this, the PC will continue to see groudbreaking titles first. Why? Indie developers will always start on the PC. It is, by and large, the easiest, most well documented and supported platform to code on. When you first learn coding you learn to code for a PC. XNA might be blurring the line a little, but I don't see this fact changing any time soon. Besides this, the deepest, most complicated games are always on the PC.
Don't think any games are coming to make the PC worth supporting? How about Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, Dragon Age: Origins, Half Life 3 anyone? Don't forget every mmo coming out in the forseeable future.
Don't get me wrong... the consoles have their merits. Mass effect was released on the 360 before the PC version came out. (And was much better than it's console bretheren.) PS3 and the 360 are both getting Final Fantasy XIII, and I really doubt the PC will ever see that title. Metal Gear Solid 4 and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune are both games I would like to try. But beyond those games, ever console game I've had the slightest bit of interest in has also seen a release on PC.
So, the next time you see the kids bickering about whos console is better, and about how his daddy can beat up the other kids daddy, just sit back and relax. We who game on the PC have and will always be using the superior system. So yeah... My dad could kick his dad's ass.
I empathize with your frustration, Local. Myself and a pal of mine have both been there before. I went so far aso to buy a 360 (and he a PS3, but ironically, I no longer have the 360 and I bought his PS3 off of him hah!).
Bugs (and poor quality in general) were definitely a reason for our frustration, as was the need to buy new PC hardware so frequently in order to run games as they were intended. Ultimately, it worked out to be cheaper to buy a console every ~5 years than it was to remain a part of the PC rat race.
PC gaming will always have the most potential, but chasing after the safest dollar (endless sequels of a popular franchies) has squeezed out a lot of the innovation from the PC industry.
Now we see a lot of innovation on the consoles via both the 360 and the PS3 (Flower and Little Big Planet come to mind).
Perhaps we'll see more innovative titles on Steam, which appears to be the PC's version of XBLA or PSN. Perhaps the rising development costs will force studios to begin making innovative, less expensive titles again? Perhaps I'm dreaming lol.
Well, I empathize with ya regardless.
Civilization. you say the new expantion are fun? might be the cure i need.
Still though. im tired of seeing the same vid games re-packaged and shiped out like civ.
The industry has lost its new frontier feel.
As cool as Mmo's are. they are so limited, buged, or jamed full of kids the's days its no more fun then playing mario bro's 3.
Nothing will give. Its stuck to suck for the next 10 years minimum.
With all the money being spent on Mmo's from companies the days we could have so many awsom PC games everyone of them cooler then the next.
How many more Failed Mmo's will it take?
As a gamer I demand fresh Ideas.
To long has it been since the last time iv set my eye's on somthing compleatly diffrent.
Games iv played in last month:
-Fallout3
-WaR
-AoC
Narishma, all thos awsome games you talk of that are coming out, is nothing fresh.
most are Re-hashed old games.
Its like the same song over and over again.
after playing 10 final fantasy id shot myself in the head!
Last FF i played was 3. yay it was great but.. been there done that move on folks!
This is the real issue. Games aren't made for the "core" crowd any more, they're made for the masses, which means they have to be pretty and "accessible"...or easy/shallow, if we're being honest.
Take 2 Mass Effects and call me in morning.
Mankind is simply not ready for 64 bit yet.. Still has a ways to go on 32bit
But since 64bit is there, too much resources here and now technology is foopar.....
Also, economy is outta whack, doctors are too smart to become doctors and potato chip delivery guys in unions think they should make 80k a year.. Money gets sucked in via this and that tactics and eventually blows up... the loan market for now.. just the beginning of what will be a civil war to come... Think its recovering? lol you are just seeing government stalling tactics.
We are in a small pocket era of technical confuson, i myslef call it the "clusterfuck" years because
all different aspects of markets are in for some crazy times until life hits us hard and we realize whats most important again..
If companie were not milking the hell out of folks every penny they got.
Patato chip diliverie men would have 0 reson to make 80k a year.
Corp. are alot more part of the problem then the small guy trying to live.
When companie were famaly owned, Greed was not the pimal and only reson for the company to exist.
As soon as the owning famaly was rich,most felt no need to keep jacking up prices. As long as the company made a profit to sustain itself and the owner was happy and felt everything was great. That was the golden age of Capitalist. My Grandfathers Gen.
Corp. is like giving a company the same rights as a person and making its prime Charackteristic (Most Greedy Person In The World)
And we wonder why everything is messed up??? Duh
That patato chip dilivery man has 20 Corps Scrooing him over!
He dosent have much of a choice to scroo somone over as well.
If the Patato chip guy lives in poverty the Corperation's will lose costumer's and will collaps.
Now who is to blame?
The Babyboomers i think.
But this is a little bit off topic
Dude, you need steam. They just had a 50% off left4dead weekend.
They have weekend sales all the time and you don't need to leave your house.
The majority of instability problems generally fall into two categories: the game developers or the system developers (OS and drivers). Now, for game developers who attempt new ideas in rendering subsystems and some such the possibility of it being their problem is quite easy to conclude, but sometimes some drivers and kernels don't play well.
Yet, I have to lay the bulk of the blame on the game developers as many use languages like C++, which are powerful, but very unforgiving. For example, if you create a pointer that references a const'd variable, you can change that variable's contents as logical constness is not what is covered by the const keyword (bitwise constness is what is categorically covered by the majority of C++ compilers as I've been reading and finding out on my own). So, it's not hard to imagine how a developer can quite literally setup their product to FUBAR all over one's system, even if it's rock solid stable on the majority of games.
I can't say that it's universally easy to get around the hurdles of fatal code, but I can say that it's easier to practice good coding habits (such as recognizing the difference between logic const versus bitwise const) and making sure that they are the core of your development(s). Otherwise, code will trend lesser quality, regardless if it's a game or any other application.
This also follows for system developers, who all too often will attempt new constructs, which may not translate well to higher levels of abstraction, thus are prone to produce unintended errors. It's something that can be avoided by cleaner architecture design, which can be done even before one sets down any hard-fast code (even pre-UML development).
Simply put, it all boils down to good level headed coding and architectural practices.
Lol Thx Green i got steam already
.
Havent been on there in a long time ill go check it out.
Maybe it isn't the game industry hasn't changed, but its your perceptions of what you find fun or not has changed.
Maybe you don't find PC gaming as much as you did before, therefore the bugs and problems you mention are not a product of a crappier and crappier industry-wide software development lifecycle, but a product of your growing disinterest in this particular form of entertainment.
The entertainment of PC gaming is no longer outweighed by the problems you mention.
Its a paradox maybe?
I know for me personally I find it harder and harder to find a game to get immersed in w/out complaining about problems, glitches, and what not. I think its me being harder to please because I've done gaming since the Atari 2600 and there is little that I have seen that is truly new, rather than something that's been done before wrapped up in a shiny new package.
...or it could be that the industry needs a QA wake up call
I'm not creative enough to have a signature
I think the Console vs PC match is kind of moot. Consoles are getting a mouse and keyboard, and basically turning into striped down PC's.
You are really talking about PC gaming or just MMORPG's?, I must say that since several years GTA4 was the first game I had issue's with, with a game I bought on release, there hasn't been a game for years not even a MMORPG that was unplayeble for me, atleast not those I actualy played/tried/tested.
Overall I would say pc gaming is getting better and better overall, just the MMORPG is getting more and more dumped down, mostely due to the way people complain about this genre, and it seems most don't really want a MMORPG but more a solo friendly multiplayer online game.
PC gaming Owns!!!
Great graphics, The best Fps,Rts,Rpg and MMOs and amazing Mod communities that keep old games rolling for years after release.
Im 30 years old, a grown man with children and a wife. I look like a freaking retard holding a remote in my living room.
Atleast with PC games I can hide my gaming addiction.
Long live PC gaming!!!!!
Playing: Nothing
Looking forward to: Nothing
Bugs in the software, well unfortunately its nothing new and has been creeping into console games more and more because of the broadband connectivity that is more and more common.
As to the other issues about compatibility etc.... Maybe you were gaming on a mac back in the 90's, at least the early 90's. I say this because, at least on ibm and compatibles, getting games to run was a nightmare. You basically had to be programmer/scripter in order to get anything to run. You had to set up complete boot environments to be able to load up games, reserve the proper amounts of memory, load up specific drivers etc etc.
The best part of the "old days" was that new hardware wasn't coming out every 2 or 3 months. They released new vid cards like once a year, maybe every 18 months, if not further apart. Hell I know I used my soundblaster AWE 32 for close to a decade lol. And they weren't these tiny little incremental upgrades that the companies foist on people today. Which is important for this discussion.
Today, new hardware is planned to come out in x months. The hardware folks get in touch with publishers and work out deals so to get the games specced for the new hardware. Then the developers sit there and chug away on the machines they are given with far better stuff than the average user has available. Once they finish the program and get ready to start on a new game they start with all new hardware again with some new bell or whistle. Developers, while being very smart and talented people, do not have the skill nor expertise that they used to have when they wanted to advance their craft with yesterdays hardware. They had to squeeze every last bit of juice out of the hardware they had which led to far tighter and optmized code.
This whole recession/depression thing could, maybe, be the best thing to happen to our hobby. As fewer people have extra cash to blow on new computers every 6 months developers may be forced to write better code, leading to better games.
http://www.speedtest.net/result/7300033012
I quit being a PC gamer back in 2005, Now I use my PC for work, Video edeting and downloading games for my modded consoles.
Its not exclusive to PC games anymore. Now that consoles can patch, they are starting to come out with buggy games too.
To me buggy mmos is nothing new. I would be surprised to find an mmo that isn't buggy. By nature mmos will have bugs because they are constantly changing and must in order to survive. As for single player games, I find compatibility issues to be less then norm. The only notable single player games I can think of that I encountered compatibility problems with are games using SecuROM, games based on the Oblivion Engine, and Two Worlds.
I actually think the opposite. I find that games have gotten less buggy since 2000. I remember having quite a few pre-2000 games with bug issues including Total War.
However, the biggest problem I have right now with PC gaming is that its a big mess with all the parts and how they intertwine with gaming specs. I know what they mean, but it doesn't mean the average person understands. I think in the last 2 years Microsoft has been taking the steps necessary to clarify this. They have gotten together with hardware manufacturers and created mandates on what a piece of hardware must accomplish. They have also setup a system inside Vista that rates your hardware pieces. The next step would be to use that for gaming.
It would be something like a category system where if your specs meet the requirements of that category, then you can play any game of that category or lower. Probably based on a number to make it simple. I think this would make PC gaming much easier to understand and help consumers purchase machines that can meet those standards.
Very good point about the mods.