@opollo PC gaming is far from dead. In fact the PC still sees more releases each year than any console. Just look at the next couple of months top games like Spore, Farcry 2, Warhammer Online, Litch King, Starcraft 2 and many more all coming to PC. The only games that I wish were on PC this xmas are Fable II and Force Unleashed but I'm sure those will get PC ports in the not too distant future. Sure Piracy is a problem as it is much easier to do on PC but there is still a large install base and potential to still be selling the games years later as people that are slower to upgrade pick up older titles. PC still has the best graphics, the best online, the best control options (not just keyboard mouse there's a whole range of control pads including xbox360 and PS2 controllers) and with laptops getting better at gaming the best mobile/travel gaming.
Seems the ATI backed game (Team Fortress) really favours the AMD/ATI graphics cards. Tempted to go back to ATI/AMD cards as I was a big ATI fan before Nvidia came out with the 8xxx series. I hope these cards do well as competition leads to the prices dropping on both sides so the consumer wins whether they go AMD or Nvidia. Right now I'm rocking Intel Nvidia combo which seems to be the current best option but if AMD bring out a decent processor and graphics card I might build an pure AMD rig too.
Wireless mice just don't cut it when it comes to gaming - even the good ones are far to laggy or unresponsive compared to a wired mouse. However, with things like wireless USB and transfer jet (see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLwfMsGZo3c) it might not be too long before we see speeds and response times needed for wireless to compete. Until then I'll stick with a good wired Razor/Logitech
Excellent feature. I laughed at the need for gaming mice until I got one and it really does enable you to take it to the next level. It won't turn a n00b into a pro but at least when you get owned you know it was your own lack of skill and not your cheapo mouse not reading your direction accurately. The super high DPIs are not really mean for FPS (apart from maybe sniping) but are really handy in RTS games when you have a hi-res screen and need to click very precisely. Also really good for using Photoshop and other apps where accuracy is everything.
I agree with Rugripper40. Game developers should make games to as high a standard as possible. This means that only a few of the top end systems would be able to play it on maximum settings - why? They should take advantage of the lastest hardware so that those that have it can get the best gaming experience possible - otherwise their money is wasted on high end specs if nothing exists to take advantage of it. It should of course be scalable so that on lower settings it runs on the current standard systems. This also prolongs the life of the games. When I upgrade my system, older games that I had to play on medium to low quality have new life when I can max out the settings. Games with graphics ahead of their time keep selling for longer than those that had standard - shoddy graphics when released. Currently running Ati x1950 Pro 256mb, 2GB ram, AMD 64 3200+ Athlon and neverwinter runs smoothly at 1024x768 and all settings maxed. Haven't tried higher res yet. If you are having problems running games like NWN2 and HL2 etc. then maybe your system isn't as kick ass as you thought - it maybe 1 component or driver is holding it back or it may just be you need an upgrade.
The Sims 2 game was virtually unplayable due to not only the load times but their sheer frequency. It took on average about 15mins to create a character and start a new game even if you werent fussed about apperances. Another flaw with the UMD format is the noise and the battery drain. Games like Pro Evolution Soccer (aka winning eleven) constantly access the UMD. When I have the game muted to have a quiet game in bed without disturbing the misses the constant spining up and down of the disc is horrendous and it also means that battery life is halfed compared to games like Monster hunter and Siphon Filter. Even disabling some of the sound features from the menu does little in reducing the access frequency.
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