Vivi22 Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 And this, my friends, is why I'll neeeeeeeeeeever get a gaming PC. Am I the only one who thinks that 800 smackeroos is just too much to spend on hardware alone? Do you know how many games (on several different consoles), controllers (for several different consoles), Gamefly subscriptions, or even better TVs or surround sound systems I could get with that kind of moolah?! And the craziest part is, $800 is only considered DECENT! What kind of ludicrous amounts must I spend to get something noteworthy?!?!?! It just doesn't seem worth it to me, and I don't think it ever will. How much did you spend to buy the computer you posted this on? Is the difference between that and $800 really too much to spend given what you could play by spending the extra? I'd be surprised if the difference were much more than the cost of a current console. However, I feel like they should be optimizing it better considering the hardware in the 360 is still quite good by any standards. It can't beat a current high-end system, but the porting team will probably still end up doing a great job optimizing the code. One thing I would never accuse Valve of is not doing a good enough job optimizing for PC hardware. Given they run the hardware survey through Steam they know exactly what their customers are using and optimize it to run on as many of those systems as possible within reason. It's a lot easier to optimize for the 360 since every single one has the exact same hardware. Getting a game running as smoothly on similar PC hardware (especially with all of the processes PC's run in the background) would be almost, if not impossible due to the sheer number of different configurations out there. At the very least, it would never be worth the time it would take to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level 99 Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 One thing I would never accuse Valve of is not doing a good enough job optimizing for PC hardware. Given they run the hardware survey through Steam they know exactly what their customers are using and optimize it to run on as many of those systems as possible within reason. It's a lot easier to optimize for the 360 since every single one has the exact same hardware. Getting a game running as smoothly on similar PC hardware (especially with all of the processes PC's run in the background) would be almost, if not impossible due to the sheer number of different configurations out there. At the very least, it would never be worth the time it would take to do it. I think you might have misunderstood me, or I may be misunderstanding you, but I wasn't accusing Valve of anything of the sort. I was, in fact, saying Valve does an INCREDIBLE job of their optimizations on the PC and was implying that whatever porting team for the 360 will do just as fine a job getting it run well on that hardware. I adore Valve's approach to nearly everything it does, from game programming to releases to the entire Steam distribution service, even if I may not be the biggest fan of the Half-Life series. L4D hit home with the zombie-lover in me, so I would hope that they do the exact same with the 360 port again this time around. I'm not a big console player, and I never will be a console player for FPS's (WASD + mouse 4 lyfe), so it matters to me not either way. I was responding to a supposed comment that the 360 version wasn't looking too good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleck Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 I've never found L4D to be particularly frightening - the different between say, L4D and Silent Hill, is that in L4D, I can basically kill every zombie I see with either my almost infinite ammo shotgun or, if worse coems to worse, my infinite ammo pistols. And if somebody dies, we can just bring them back to life in a magic closet later. Whereas in Silent Hill oh my god what is that what do I even agh god it's spitting shit at me OH MY GOD THERE IS ANOTHER ONE BEHIND ME OH MY FUCK AAAHHHHHHHH HAVE YOU SEEN MY DAUGHTER Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global-Trance Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 I just tried the 360 Demo. It looks pretty awful compared to the PC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malaki-LEGEND.sys Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 How much did you spend to buy the computer you posted this on? Is the difference between that and $800 really too much to spend given what you could play by spending the extra? I'd be surprised if the difference were much more than the cost of a current console. And this here is what PC gamers don't understand in their consumer lust: It's not a question of can a person afford the rig as much as there isn't enough of a justification to throw down about eight Benjamins on a whim. It's the same reason people were appalled at the $500 and $600 price tag when the PS3 launched. Can he afford it? Maybe, but it's all about priorities. Ok we can now go back to talking about Left 4 Dead 2 AKA, my latest obsession. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BardicKnowledge Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 You can get a Radeon HD 4850 for $100 now, and it'll be even cheaper on Black Friday (when I'm going to get mine). People talk about a "gaming" computer costing $800, but if you have a home desktop, it's not actually going to cost you that much. I'm running a 2.4Ghz quad core with a Nvidia 7800GTX atm and can run Source just fine. Hell, Fallout 3 runs just fine. My processor is a full generation back, and my graphics card is TWO generations back, and I don't have a problem. It's easy to get a gaming-capable PC these days. Edit: When you buy your next notebook, take gaming into consideration. Get an independent graphics card if you want to play games, simple as that. My wife's laptop, while not GREAT for gaming, has an Nvidia 9400M inside, and runs Heroes of Newerth and emulation stuff well enough. If I lowered the settings a ton, it'd probably play TF2 / L4D just fine also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCvgluvr Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 It's not a question of can a person afford the rig as much as there isn't enough of a justification to throw down about eight Benjamins on a whim. It's the same reason people were appalled at the $500 and $600 price tag when the PS3 launched. Can he afford it? Maybe, but it's all about priorities. Exactly my point. The only thing that could possibly tempt me into PC gaming is PC exclusive games. And sorry, but there's absolutely no PC exclusive game that interests me in the slightest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdgeCrusher Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 The awesomesness of mouse + keyboard, better graphics/resolution, and free online play/actual good online play should be enough to tempt you. If that doesn't, there's no point in even arguing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleck Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 not to mention people who play PC games online as opposed to console games have a much lower tendency of being ten year old boys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schwaltzvald Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 not to mention people who play pc games online as opposed to console games have a much lower tendency of being ten year old boys This! Oh for the love of all that is awesome and good it's this~! EDIT* I see there's a weird filter that prevents allcaps on text. Is it really necessary? Next I'll be seeing words filtered out for PC use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big giant circles Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 not to mention people who play PC games online as opposed to console games have a much lower tendency of being ten year old boys very true, but at the same time, which is more frustrating, a 10 year old kid who's acting like an obnoxious 10 year old, or a grown man who's acting like an obnoxious 10 year old who suddenly realized they know every trendy obscene word in the language and make it a point to use all of them twice every time they speak words. It's like trying to decide if you'd rather fall into a fire or a vat of boiling acid. Naturally, in the end, I think I'd go with the one that involves less 10 year olds, but it's still so sad to think of the grown people acting the way they do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vivi22 Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 And this here is what PC gamers don't understand in their consumer lust: It's not a question of can a person afford the rig as much as there isn't enough of a justification to throw down about eight Benjamins on a whim. It's the same reason people were appalled at the $500 and $600 price tag when the PS3 launched. Can he afford it? Maybe, but it's all about priorities. Ok we can now go back to talking about Left 4 Dead 2 AKA, my latest obsession. You missed my point. If you're already spending $500 on a new computer, and looking for a new gaming platform, the extra $300 to get there with a PC is a lot more justifiable than just saying, "I think I'm going to drop $800 on a gaming PC today." I also refuse to accept the argument that there are no interesting PC exclusives when no FPS made for the PC should ever be played without a mouse and keyboard and games like Starcraft 2 are coming down the pipe. Anyway, how about the L4D2 that comes out in a week? It's going to be fucking awesome. Also, I still have yet to get to use the Magnum in the demo. Had I not seen one player with it in a game I joined I'd be convinced everyone was bullshitting me about it's existence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdgeCrusher Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 I loooooooooooooooooove the magnum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JadeAuto Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 I loooooooooooooooooove the magnum In the demo: The first long street (right after the cafe with the jukebox), it has around a 30% chance of replacing the handgun at the end of the street. I haven't seen it spawn anywhere else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scufo Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 I've never seen a magnum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phill Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 I've never seen a magnum Hawaiian shirt, mustache, drives a Ferrari, kinda hard to miss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global-Trance Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 Yea if it shows up, I think it's near the street barricade right before you have to hop the fence into the alleyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big giant circles Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 Hawaiian shirt, mustache, drives a Ferrari, kinda hard to miss. aha, that was awesome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Damned Posted November 10, 2009 Author Share Posted November 10, 2009 I can only hope that there is some sort of mod later where you can have dual magnums; yes, it would be totally unbalanced, but FUCK YEAH, MAGNUMS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triad Orion Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 Hawaiian shirt, mustache, drives a Ferrari, kinda hard to miss. Win. One thing I notice Valve forgot to put into L4D2's demo. You know, that lovely little feature that has the user's preferred difficulty level override a server preset. Imagine my surprise when me and three friends think we're playing on Advanced and when one of them shoots me by accident I lose 2/3rds of my health. Turns out the server overrode me and had it set on Expert as a default. What the hell. Really, a minor annoyance for an otherwise outstanding demo, but it struck me as kind of weird that they forgot to implement that when it was one of the first things they patched in the original. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Damned Posted November 10, 2009 Author Share Posted November 10, 2009 Yeah, happened a few times to me. It also reset to expert when we went to the next level. Also, where are people getting all these ammo packs and incendiary rounds in the demo? You can spawn one in with cheats, but it's supposed to show up naturally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scufo Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 Same here. Me and my friends did an easy-mode, melee-only run. Didn't work out so great when the zombies started hitting for 20. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vivi22 Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 Also, where are people getting all these ammo packs and incendiary rounds in the demo? You can spawn one in with cheats, but it's supposed to show up naturally. I didn't even know they were in the demo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdgeCrusher Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 I did a melee only machete run on expert with bots as teammates. Got all the way to the alarm area and made it up to turn it off and got gang raped. Damn it was great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCvgluvr Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 The awesomesness of mouse + keyboard,No thank you. I've gone 10 years playing FPSs strictly on consoles, so it's way too late for me to adapt to mouse + keyboard. Besides, I probably wouln't even want to. I'd probably just connect my 360 controller to my computer instead.better graphics/resolution, True, but I barely care. I find PS3/360 graphics to be quite satisfactory.and free online play/actual good online play should be enough to tempt you. If that doesn't, there's no point in even arguing it. Well, guess what? It isn't enough to tempt me, because it costs $800. So, you're right, probably isn't worth arguing it.If you're already spending $500 on a new computer, and looking for a new gaming platform, the extra $300 to get there with a PC is a lot more justifiable than just saying, "I think I'm going to drop $800 on a gaming PC today." Who's plopping $500 on a new computer? I know I'm not! I'll stick with the cheap $250 laptops, thank you. Besides, I just got the one I'm using right now this past June. I won't be grabbing another computer for quite some time.I also refuse to accept the argument that there are no interesting PC exclusives when no FPS made for the PC should ever be played without a mouse and keyboard and gamesWell, very few FPSs are made exlusively for PC nowadays. As for the ones that are exclusive, like I said, they (as well any other PC exclusive games in general) don't interest me. I really do believe that mouse + keyboard is overrated. I see nothing wrong with console controllers. I've been playing L4D and L4D2 just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.