Mario Galaxy is out the day before Assassin's Creed! :)

HAHA, I was going to post that it comes out today.

Anyone else buying it?

A couple stores I went to don't have it yet. They should by the time I get off work though.

Go to Gamestop on Sierra Center Parkway. They had it in xbox360 and PC, I didn't notice if they had it in PS3.

50 bucks? Is that for PS2 or something?

PC

WTF why do I have to pay $60? Teh lame.

HAHA. Let me guess. xbox360 or PS2/3

Cause you're on next generation hardware.

Licensing fees and profit. The "next gen" excuse is nonsense - the PC has higher quality visuals than either console, and still released at $50. The PC version actually requires far more development work than the console, as the devs have to create fully scalable detail levels for performance, and then test the game against an array of possible hardware configurations. On consoles, there is only one hardware configuration, and the game's detail and performance are simply set with 1080p as the max goal.

The extra $10 is partly for MS and Sony to make extra $ and partly so 3rd party publishers will still make a profit after paying their per-copy licensing fees to MS and Sony.

That's lame. But CoD4 is awesome.

That is why I play PC games. F' the consoles and their bullsh!t hype. My pc outperforms any console I have ever seen.

Oh yeah, COD4 is INTENSE!!!!!!!

They have a level where you are the gunner on a C130 gunship. Similar to this video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vd17bBrVplY

SIMPLY OUTSTANDING GUMP!!!

The catch is that a PC that outperforms the latest console usually costs much more. A good gaming rig will usually cost about $1500-$2000 for the cpu tower alone. For that much, you could have all three consoles, with money left for games or accessories. Then, if you're talking about a gamer's PC, you have the possibilities of hardware or driver incompatibilities, spending more on the eventual upgrades, tweaking, dealing with detail settings, crashes, overclocking, etc., all of which take time and effort and keep you away from actually gaming.

I spent 5 years or so (about '96-'01, I think) as a "PC-only" gamer and eventually got sick of spending more time screwing with hardware and software details than gaming.

Consoles are also encroaching quite effectively these days on what used to be PC-specific functions and benefits, and offer even more. The Wii has a surprisingly useful web browser, and is capable of messaging. PS3 and XB360 both do music, movies, images, and their respective high-def movie formats. XBLive allows voice chat and the download of TV shows and HD movies. All three systems have libraries of downloadable classic titles and offer backwards compatibility with last-gen games.

It's a given that a more expensive PC will outperform in the graphics department, and really, the fact that publishers now charge an extra $10 for their console games does not mean that consoles should be invalidated as good gaming platforms. Between ease of use, adequately impressive graphics and sound even vs. a PC (especially when hooked up to an HDTV and 5.1 audio system), improving non-gaming functionality, lower price, and much larger combined game library than is available on PC, consoles usually turn out to be a better overall choice these days.

The things that keep me from getting a console are; a mouse, consoles won't run AutoCAD, my bitchen PC is a tax right off when it is upgraded, and I hate the console controllers.

I did have a PS1 back in College, but that was before I had a PC. My current PC makes me money on the side, which I would have to hypothesis that a console wouldn't make me any money. Yes, my PC cost me $3400, but then again over the last 4 years that I have had it, it has helped me earn over ten times that much. So, from a cost comparison, I am actually quite a bit ahead of any console gamer. For me, it is just not worth it to spend any money on something that will not have any returns other than the gaming side of it. Which my PC handles very well. I ran COD4 for about 3.5 hours last night with no problems. I also ran it on WoW for 2 hours.

PC's vs Consoles are in my opinion an Apples to Oranges comparison. At least in my case that is. For some people it may be a better comparison. If I spent that $3400 plus an extra $400 for a new video card and didn't get any returns from my PC from a financial stand point, then yes I would be WAYYYY behind a Console user.

Either way, COD4 rocks!!! WoW is fun too.

Well... you can get a mouse and keyboard for consoles. If I had a choice I'd def have a monster computer. I just have never had the money for the initial investment.

That's cool, but I'd say your situation probably applies to 1% of the gaming population. :lol:

I pretty much skipped the PSX/N64/DC generation since PC games were still so far ahead of the consoles in terms of just about everything - visuals, audio, playability, multiplayer, etc. I'm of the opinion that 3d console gaming had a really messy birth - some of the PSX and N64 games had really terrible graphics. I was playing Half-Life and Quake 2 MP over our barracks network in 1024x768 while other people were in the common room down the hall playing GoldenEye and Perfect Dark in 4-way split screen on a 21" TV, complaining that they couldn't see what was going on. :P It's quite the opposite for me now: I prefer to sit on the couch with a 42" DLP and 5.1 audio for my gaming.

I still play stuff like HL2, Morrowind, and Thief 3 (and lots of older titles) on my PCs. These days, though, consoles have definitely managed to make up the difference in performance and price. Overall platform comparisons may be apples to oranges, but in terms of my entertainment, it's gaming dollar vs. gaming dollar. On that subject, I should note that I have a Wii and XB360, but not a PS3 as I have not found it to be worth the purchase yet. At the time of the PS3 launch, it was possible to get the two other consoles for the price of a single PS3 and have lots more to play. Prices are coming down, though, so who knows. . . I just need to see more exclusive titles.

You know, I have a copy of WoW that I received at a managers' conference that I never installed. . . I've tried EQ and SWG and have come to the conclusion that I just can't play MMORPGs. It's just too much for me since I prefer to move between different games. :lol: Right now I have Orange Box, Beautiful Katamari, Tomb Raider Ann., Bioshock, and Metroid Prime 3 going on, with Assassin's Creed and Super Mario Galaxy next week.

Hah, yeah I agree about MMOs. I gave them a shot, but I just don't like playing the same game day in and day out for months on end.

For FPSs, I still vastly prefer PC, which is why I keep spending $1000 on new shit every few years. I still haven't bought a 360 or PS3, mainly because I don't have the money after upgrading my PC and neither has compelling enough games (yet) to give up upgrading my PC.

very true.

How is Beautiful Katamari? I want it for PS3, hopefully it's underway. =/

I like the series for some reason..

It's good, clean fun. :) It has new environments, items, and music, so it's worth picking up. I only keep two iterations in my collection at a time, though: the PSP version is permanent, and I trade the last console version towards the newer. Katamari is a lot like a Mario Party in that it's not really worth having the older ones laying around unused.

Not necessarily. There's plenty to play on the 360, but much of it is also available on PC. Though you'll be missing out on good stuff like Forza 2 and Mass Effect. . .

Call of Duty is so epic. The online is fun too of course, but the campaign is bad ass.

Yeah it is!!!

Please excuse the crappy cell phone picture.
http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/4498/cod4atomicpx2.jpg

Portal start to finish in 18 minutes (warning: lots of spoilers)

http://www.videosift.com/video/Porta...eedrun-in-1805

^wow

Madness!

I think Portal may be the end-all of the mouse/keyboard vs. controller debate. . . some of the moves pulled off in the gold-time speed-run videos on youtube can NOT be done on a controller! :eek:

I want to get CoD4 for PC but I'm afraid my comp won't be able to keep up online. It barely meets the minimum system requirements with a AMD 3500+ 2.20 GHz but I've got two gigs of RAM so it's a little unbalanced. I honestly don't even remember what kind of video card I threw in there when I built it.

Edit: I've got an ATI Radeon X1600 video card.

your computer will explode the second you leave matchmaking. Online play looks soooo damn nice. CoD4 is bad ass!!

My computer won't even let me play HL2 Episode 2. It just crashes the second I start a new game.

Mine did this too when episode 2 first came out, I had to update my video drivers

I had that common loading screen dx9 error in ep1. . . forcing dx8 let me circumvent it, and then I just saved partway through the level and reloaded with dx9 re-enabled.

I updated my video drivers, reinstalled HL2 E2 and it still does the same thing. WTF?

When I was playing HL2, I got an error similar to what you are talking about. I was in the Citadel where the lift drops you off in that room that strips you of your weapons. You know, where your anti-gravity gun gets its steriods. My game would just stop, it wouldn't let me out of the room. Turns out the fix was to drop the screen resolution one level. That allowed my computer to process the game and allow it to continue to run.

Have you fiddled with your video settings?

No I haven't messed with them yet. I'll give that a shot when I get home tonight.

I can't even get past the intro!

Yeah, dropping the res worked for me as well.

So does Assassins Creed COME out today or SHIP today? Is there a difference?

Yes there is a difference. It's exactly what it sounds like. It gets release tomorrow. If anyone cares...

Wait so it doesn't come out today? I think it ships today if you ordered, I was told to come pick up my copy today, but in the afternoon?

I spoke to some guy at Gamestop and he said I can still preorder it today to get it when it comes out tomorrow. Best Buy said that they will be getting it tomorrow as well. I don't preorder games anymore because the last 3 times before I stopped, the game either came in late that day, or the next day or even 2 days later. And all 3 times Best Buy had it.

I don't think I'm going to get it anyway. This is just one review, but I've heard that Ubisoft really messed up in a couple spots and kept it from being truly great. I have to see it for myself first.
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/834/834676p1.html

I've read some bad reviews too. SA is shitting all over it. Luckily I wasn't that hyped up about it, so I'll stick with it. You can borrow it when I'm done.

I'm right there with you I think I will skip assasins creed

The last preview IGN did sounded awesome I thought for sure this game was going to be a 9+

AC ships on the 13th, arrives on the 14th.

I think I'm still gonna get it.

PRO STREEEEEEEEEEEEEET!

Need for Speed is dead to me. It was good when it was, "Road & Track Presents: Need for Speed." :(

I liked the first Hot Pursuit for the PC. That game was awesome.

That game was amazing. That was the first game I ever played day after day for months on end.

I finally played the C0D4 demo. It runs alright on my computer but holly shit, what a sweet game!

Where?

http://www.nndb.com/people/937/00003...holly-crop.jpg

Here?

http://rickshangle.com/rds_wordpress.../10/weezer.jpg

I beat COD4 last night. I loved the whole game. I thought it was a little on the short side. Wish it was a we bit longer. It was probably a little longer then Buddy Holly's last airplane flight. LOL.

Try playing on Veteran. YOU'LL NEVER BEAT IT EVER. Well, you'll die. A LOT.

I was thinking about doing that.