Videogames 'R' Us

[Shryke]

I figured I might get this answer and tried to forestall it with my post. I see it didn't work.

Problem #1: I specifically said "without any additional work." You can do it but it's a pain in the dick. Consoles come with the necessary outputs and video cables, you just have to plug it all in. Connecting a PC requires a TV with the appropriate inputs, or a PC whose video and sound cards have the appropriate outputs, for easy matching. You then have to configure everything. TVs have fewer resolution options, it's plug and play.

So is a modern PC.

If you have a video card that can run modern games, it will have an output that will go straight to your TV. Shit, many of them even come with the cable and adapters if needed.

Plus, playing on the TV means no one else can watch the TV while you do that.

[Verboten]

Well, I feel plenty stupid at the moment. I'm trying to get started on DA:O and I'm stuck at the very first tutorial. It is giving me some kind of prompt to scroll forward, but nothing happens. Clicked and scrolling does nothing but shift the screen around, but the tutorial prompt won't go away, and the game stays in paused mode. Any help? I am playing on a laptop. I hope that's not the problem.

Arrow keys?

[Verboten]

Tried those too. I'm scrolling all over the place, but it's like I'm not doing whatever the tutorial wants me to do. :dunce:

Maybe it's using the WASD keys instead, or you could try using page up/page down.

[Jon AS]

Okay, I just started a new game and enabled tutorials to check what this could be, and I think you're supposed to zoom out using the mousewheel.

[Werthead]

Yup, the notion that you can't wire your PC up to your TV like a console is a fallacy. How far you want to go down that road is up to you, and certainly the controller issue is there, but a PC wired up to your TV can be a very cool thing. A friend of mine has a PC, 360, PS3 and Wii all wired up to his TV simultaneously and switches between them with no problem. He has a wireless keyboard with built-in mousepad to browse the net and switches his 360 controller between playing PC and 360 games at will.

It's not brilliant for, say, RTS or precision FPS games, but considering how many games are now made with consoles in mind, playing say Deus Ex on PC with a 360 controller is not an offensive proposition.

Of course I don't know how mod compatible the Steam version is.

Steam games are pretty mod-compatible, though they can be a bit of a pain in the arse if the game version is updated to something that wasn't designed to work with mod. Steam Medieval II can be a bit tricky to get to work with the Third Age and Westeros mods, for example, but you can do it with a bit of patience and folder-manipulation.

With Dragon Age I wouldn't worry about it too much. Whilst there's some good mods out there, there isn't anything that radically changes the entire game experience.

My copy of Dragon Age showed up today, actually. It's the Ultimate Edition with Awakenings and all the DLC. Now it just needs the new PC to show up :)

Mafia II and all its DLC are also in the Steam sale for a tenner, but I held off on that temptation. I have enough games to last me until The Winds of Winter comes out at least.

[Werthead]

Another question: How do the graphics differ (if at all) from the PC version to the console versions?

Vastly superior. Also, far more importantly, the PC allows you to switch from the console 'over the shoulder' camera view to an old-skool isometric control more akin to Baldur's Gate, which helps make combat more tactical and interesting.

It's worth noting that Dragon Age was developed primarily as a PC game and ported to PS3 and 360 later on (the reverse is much more often the case), and as a result the game is best experienced on PC. The sequel I'm not too sure about, as I believe that was created for console and ported to the PC (one of numerous reasons why it's been quite roundly condemned in many quarters).

[Werthead]

Thanks for the feedback, but just to make sure that I understand you, are you saying that the PC has the vastly superior graphics? That surprises me a bit (but I'm not very game-savvy). I guess I would have thought that the newest gen. consoles were supposed to be able to blow your mind with cool features like wicked graphics.

The latest-gen consoles are 5 years old at this point, so are using half-decade-old tech. Modern PCs absolutely leave them in the dust in terms of power. In terms of graphical capability, the latest PCs are already a full generation on from what the PS3 and X-Box 360 can do. You just have to compare the specially-released Direct X 11 version of Crysis 2 on PC to the console versions, the difference is stunning. Even Skyrim on Ultra with the PC-only features enabled is notably better than on either of the consoles.

It's taken a lot longer than the previous two generations for the PC to outstrip the consoles due to the consoles' overwhelming market share, meaning that the PC has to try to improve technically whilst being hamstrung by working with console ports. But it's finally starting to get there. The next couple of years, where the PC reaches a technical level that the consoles cannot match until the next generation comes out, should be interesting.

[Jon AS]

It's taken a lot longer than the previous two generations for the PC to outstrip the consoles due to the consoles' overwhelming market share, meaning that the PC has to try to improve technically whilst being hamstrung by working with console ports. But it's finally starting to get there. The next couple of years, where the PC reaches a technical level that the consoles cannot match until the next generation comes out, should be interesting.

Well Crysis looked better than any console game years ago (and obviously you can do stuff like force AA for any PC game, even if it's not officially supported), but generally it's true that only recently that this has become more widespread. It'll be interesting to see how The Witcher 2 looks on the Xbox next year.

[Inigima]

I didn't say you couldn't do it, Wert. I said it was a pain in the dick and that it presents control questions, and I stand by those points.

[Centrist Simon Steele]

Hmmm...I'm thinking about heading out into Black Friday to buy DA:O for the PC.

If you decide to go PC, get the Witcher 2--amazing game.

If you decide to go console, get the 360 as it seems Witcher 2 isn't heading to PS3. That is a great RPG.

[Shryke]

I didn't say you couldn't do it, Wert. I said it was a pain in the dick and that it presents control questions, and I stand by those points.

The point is it's really not a pain in the dick these days. It's the same connections and the same cords these days.

[Stalker]

Mainly posting to plug Cavestory+, remake of indie classic Cavestory. Graphics are now retro 16bit rather than retro 8bit. No, really, buy it for the gameplay, with the nostalgia as an extra. Also the entire support indie developers thing, if that matters to you. Available on steam for less than £10.

Trisk, for some reason I feel compelled to give you my advice. If you only get one gaming platform, get a PC. Even an old budget PC has capabilities far in advance of the current generation of consoles, and the PC has more exclusives than other platforms have games total. Of the consoles, the 260 is probably technically best, but since it's basiclly a crippled overpriced PC in a box, it will do little for you that a PC won't. It's also easy to port between them, so few exclusives. The Wii has some great 'party games', and not much else. Since I imagine you completely lacking in an social life, it won't be for you. Thus, if you want a console, go with the PS3. You say you like RPGs, and when it comes to popular RPGs not available on PC, I can really only think of PS3 titles.

As an extra, given the people who frequents this tread, many may enjoy this web game: http://www.nevercompletedgame.com/

[Relic]

Trisk, plug in a usb keyboard and mouse.

[The Anti-Targ]

That's definitely what I'm doing for now. I'm glad I came to the board, because like I said, I am not a big gamer, so I was sort of ignorant to some of the things that have been said. I already have a PC, so I mostly just want to geek out on some RPG's. I didn't quite realize 1) how many of them are available on PC and are possibly better on the PC than they are on the consoles and 2) that PC gaming tech is moving past the consoles pretty rapidly.

I'm not too far into Dragon Age: Origins yet, but I think it's going to keep me occupied for some time, and I'm really glad that I didn't go out and splurge on a console yet. The only complaint (and it's a pretty minor one) is that I think I'd prefer to play it with a controller rather than my laptop keyboard.

Like folks have said. You get a console for playing the games you can only get on console. And if it's RPGs you love, aside from the JRPGs, PC is still the home of the best RPGs*. So you might as well stick with PC.

*except Demon's Souls^, Dark Souls^ and Valkyria Chronicles** are up there among the best RPGs and you can only play these on console. Are they enough, by themselves, to justify a console purchase?

^Technically these are JRPGs because they're made by Japanese developers but to all intents and purposes they play like WRPGs.

**Valkyria Chronicles is a strategy RPG, so not really at all like your stereotypical PC RPG.