Giving up PC Gaming?

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EQTakeOffense

[H]ard|Gawd
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Sep 12, 2002
Messages
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I'm thinking of giving up PC Gaming. I've gone this this dilemma about every year for the past three or four years, but the XBOX 360 Slim has me on the edge. Here's my reasoning....

I'm sick of spending $1K for a computer and then upgrading it to be able to play the latest and greatest games. Besides, almost all good/great PC Games are available for PS3 or XBX 360. Console gaming seems to be the best bang for your buck platform out there.

My issue, which is really shallow, is graphics. My biggest annoyance about upgrading and the cost of PC Gaming allows me the ability to scale games with newer technology and have pretty graphics. It's impossible to scale the PS3 or XBOX 360, but then again, games shouldn't be played just for graphics, but it's a pretty big plus.

Ideas/comments/suggestions?
 
Have both. iYour PC is probably good enough for a long time coming. Console graphics look good and if you're having fun, you shouldn't notice it as much either. You also don't have to worry about "well all the bells and whistles aren't available. If only I spend a little more to play this game...." mentality. But you don't want to abandon PC all together or avoid consoles all together. As a gamer, you'll feel more well rounded with both.

Right now at target you can get a 360 arcade unit for $150 plus $50 gift card. Basically you get a 360 for $100
 
we've been here and done this. not the first person and wont be the last

games on the console are just too dumbed down.
the room for user made content is much less on the console
 
INB4 lock.

I"m the same way. Back in 2001 after building my first computer, I was all PC gamer gung hoo in every way. Spending hundreds of dollars to keep my e-penis size in check with everyone else, using water cooling to push my CPU to the limit, hacking and modding cases for maximum airflow with 12+ fans and even giving a shit about my 3dmark score! I used to care about my framerates dropping 5 FPS and doing everything I could get them back for the "ultimate" gaming experience

Now, nearly 10 years later and nearing 30 years old, I just don't care anymore about my PC gaming rig being top rig anymore. I'm sick of spending $400 yearly on vids cards to keep my framerates up in the 30's with all the eye candy turned on. I"m sick of people shitty admin rules on servers, running them like they were some kinda fucking God. I'm sick of having less and less choices with my PC games and getting less for my money. Remember when you would get a big ass 10'' by 6" PC game box full of goodies, maps, big manuals, shortcut keys? Now, your lucky to even get a damn paper pull out in the DVD plastic cases for a $60 PC game.

No, now I would rather sit downstairs in front of my 50" Sony TV, 5.1 surround sound with my kitty on my lap while pwning peeps online via Halo 3 talking smack while drinking an energy drink. Or playing online against/with with my best friend next to me that i've played games with since 1st grade, bullshitting the late night hours away having a great time. Hell, picking up Rock Band and playing with him is the funnest thing we've played together since BF1942 golden days

I do computers professionally for work and for other reasons such as email, surfing, HTPC, video encoding, MP3 player, but my PC gaming days are pretty much over with and im fine with that. I'll continue to do both, but my extreme PC gaming days are long gone and now its only casual at best. After waiting 12 years for Starcraft 2 after being a big fan of the original, I don't even care about that anymore, I don't find it enjoyable to spend 2 hours building an army only to get my ass kicked by a starcraft veteran in Korea.

I've also played dozens of MMO's since DAOC being my first in late 2001. I retired from level 80 in WoW over a year ago and I'm just flat out burnt out from playing MMO's in general. Only Star Wars:Old Republic may get me back into the MMO groove, but even Star Wars may not even been enough anymore after being burnt by SW: Galaxies years ago.

I look at my 10+ year pile of PC gaming box and I just sigh.... I have so many good memories of playing these games in PC's gaming glory days which I truly believe started in 1998 with the launch of the Voodoo 2 and began its current decline with the launch of the 360, PS3 and Wii. Sadly, all good things must come to an end eventually......

pcgaminghistory.jpg






End of line......
 
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Ask yourself do i want to enjoy low quality minimal anti aliasing 20-25fps 720p gaming for next 5 years ?

Oh yeah and once a pc gamer you will hate console fps from the depth of your heart for years.
 
Michaelius said:
Ask yourself do i want to enjoy low quality minimal anti aliasing 20-25fps 720p gaming for next 5 years ?

Oh yeah and once a pc gamer you will hate console fps from the depth of your heart for years.
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Spoken like a true, narrow minded, die hard PC gamer. :rolleyes:
 
Although you'll get flamed for saying that here for the most part, I say if YOU can be happy with just consoles then by all means do just that. I know many people who are only console gamers and they're experiences are no less rich or enjoyable then mine (I do both consoles and PC). Honestly, the graphics thing was true years ago but now an $800 computer from Best Buy can run the latest and greatest at decent settings. Sure there will always be the market for the top of the line crazy overclocked 50 pound desktop rigs (and if I had the money I'd be in the niche) but at the end of the day games like Crysis didn't sell well because it is not economically viable to upgrade one's computer every 6 months and many people can't afford that. It's sad but it's true. Don't get me wrong I LOVE PC gaming and I love upgrading my computer, but I can understand how for most people that isn't what they want out of gaming. I think it's great that for $500 or less you can get a console setup that can last 5+ years of being relevant before having to upgrade. Now, that being said the reason I will continue to buy most of my games on PC is because I prefer that interface/space better, but it is becoming a niche. The Steam community is great, but I will say it can't hold a candle to my Xbox Live experience for online play.

Not to mention with the quality of televisions and home theater setups these days playing your console through HDMI on a 52" plasma display and having it run perfectly smooth is a lot more appealing to most than buying/building a PC and still not being able to run things smoothly at high settings, or having to tweak setting for 15 minutes before they play a game, etc.

At the end of the day as long as you don't play MMO's the consoles of now will give you just a good an experience as PC gaming will for MOST games. It will be a very different experience moving completely to the couch from the computer but you won't have less fun playing Mass Effect 2 on your 360 than someone else did on their PC.
 
Yep, in the end, it's what YOU enjoy the most and justify spending your money on is what really matters in the end, no matter the platform. And to hell with what the fanboys say on either side.
 
Even though I feel console gaming has the edge and will from now on, I can't give up a gaming PC because some games are simply better on PC. The most recent examples I can give is Dragon Age and basically any FPS, as well as RTS, etc. Outside of Sports and some platformers, PC really has consoles beat.

I feel if you want the best of console and PC games, own a Windows box and a Playstation 3. 95% of the games available you'll have access too. Especially the lineup of badass Sony exclusives that they seem to have endless amounts of.
 
I understand the argument of cost but I feel that we have reached a point where hardware is cheap and the cost of upgrading is not immense.

It really is a tradeoff. Sure a console is cheaper but you will also be running on subpar graphics. What about not upgrading and running a game at lower settings?
 
bigdogchris said:
I feel if you want the best of console and PC games, own a Windows box and a Playstation 3. 95% of the games available you'll have access too. Especially the lineup of badass Sony exclusives that they seem to have endless amounts of.
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This man knows what he is talking about. The combo of PC / PS3 is about as good as you can get for covering your bases with gaming.
 
demingo said:
This man knows what he is talking about. The combo of PC / PS3 is about as good as you can get for covering your bases with gaming.
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Swap out the PS3 for a 360 or Wii depending on what games you like or go all the way and own them all and basically have everything! If you have the cash flow..... PC + 360 meets all my gaming needs personally.

Sony's bullshit the last several years has pissed me off to the point I no longer care about them anymore and I used to be a die hard playstation fan. Nintendo i've just long since out grown/moved on after N64's demise. YNMV.
 
Freezebyte said:
Spoken like a true, narrow minded, die hard PC gamer. :rolleyes:
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No spoken like a someone who has PS3 connected to monitor which stands 50 cm from pc connected to second monitor.

I even had Fragfx but it was still subpar experience compared to proper gaming mouse.
 
You know you don't have to spend thousands on a computer right? If you budget a computer well, like grabbing a Fry's i5 / Gigabyte board deal and a used card, you can play games that will blow console graphics out of the water for a very similar budget. You can also budget game purchases well if you are willing to wait 6 months and pick them up very cheap in a Steam sale. Consoles are very expensive if you are the type buying lots of $60 new titles.

Besides, graphics aren't everything. There are a lot of deeper games on the PC you won't find on the consoles. If you are happy with the titles the Xbox has, go for it.

Like bigdogchrisI cover most of the games I want to play with a PC and PS3.
 
Freezebyte said:
Swap out the PS3 for a 360 or Wii depending on what games you like or go all the way and own them all and basically have everything! If you have the cash flow..... PC + 360 meets all my gaming needs personally.

Sony's bullshit the last several years has pissed me off to the point I no longer care about them anymore and I used to be a die hard playstation fan. Nintendo i've just long since out grown/moved on after N64's demise. YNMV.
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i think you missed the point...alot of games come out on 360/PC...
For the games that dont come out on PC, he can get them on the ps3. only a small portion of 360 games wont come over to the pc, or at least not right away. and in the interim he'll have two platforms to hold him over
 
Freezebyte said:
Swap out the PS3 for a 360 or Wii depending on what games you like or go all the way and own them all and basically have everything! If you have the cash flow. PC + 360 meets all my gaming needs personally.

Sony's bullshit the last several years has pissed me off to the point I no longer to even care about them anymore and I used to be a diehard playstation fan. Nintendo i've just long since grown out of after N64's demise.
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I'd never swap out a 360 for a PS3 to pair with a PC. You gain near nothing and lose so much. I can think of maybe 3 games on the 360 that are not on PC or PS3 that I want to play. There are far more on the PS3 that do not appear on 360 or PC. God of War 3, GT5, Heavy Rain, Metal Gear Solid 4, Resistance 1 + 2, Killzone, Uncharted 1+2, Little Big Planet (fantastic btw), Infamous are all PS3 only.

For the 360, all that interests me is Gears 2, Alan Wake, and Halo 3 to a lesser extent.
 
xFuryofFivex said:
i think you missed the point...alot of games come out on 360/PC...
For the games that dont come out on PC, he can get them on the ps3. only a small portion of 360 games wont come over to the pc, or at least not right away. and in the interim he'll have two platforms to hold him over
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I know, but some games i'd rather play on my 360 and 50" screen then my PC. But thats just me. Your needs may vary.

demingo said:
I'd never swap out a 360 for a PS3 to pair with a PC. You gain near nothing and lose so much. I can think of maybe 3 games on the 360 that are not on PC or PS3 that I want to play. There are far more on the PS3 that do not appear on 360 or PC. God of War 3, GT5, Heavy Rain, Metal Gear Solid 4, Resistance 1 + 2, Killzone, Uncharted 1+2, Little Big Planet (fantastic btw), Infamous are all PS3 only.

For the 360, all that interests me is Gears 2, Alan Wake, and Halo 3 to a lesser extent.
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Again, thats personal preference. Pretty much all games that are coming out for both PC and 360, i'd rather game on my 360. Only exception was Fallout 3, but I dunno if im gonna bother with Vegas or not. None of Sony's titles you listed interest me in the least so a PS3 is worthless. God of War is boring, havn't cared about GT since GT2, Heavy Rain looks retarded, gave up on MGS series after MGS2, Resistance/Killzone/Uncharted = yawn for me and Little big planet looks gay as hell.
 
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xFuryofFivex said:
I digress :) or you can be dumb like me.. and buy everything
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PC with ATI 5870...
PS3
Xbox 360
Wii
PSP
DSi

Not to mention most legacy consoles (xbox, ps2, saturn, gc, genesis, snes, nes, etc)


Yea.... My wife yells at me...... a lot.
 
Freezebyte said:
I know, but some games i'd rather play on my 360 and 50" screen then my PC. But thats just me. Your needs may vary.

Again, thats personal preference. Pretty much all games that are coming out for both PC and 360, i'd rather game on my 360. Only exception was Fallout 3, but I dunno if im gonna bother with Vegas or not. None of Sony's titles you listed interest me in the least so a PS3 is worthless. God of War is boring, havn't cared about GT since GT2, Heavy Rain looks retarded, gave up on MGS series after MGS2, Resistance/Killzone/Uncharted = yawn for me and Little big planet looks gas as hell.
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Agree. Plus depending, the user might like the achievements and the linking between window games and pc games and connecting with friends like that still. And I, like you, just depends on the game, on what i'll get it for (or might get for both on rare occasions) Dragon Age I didn't want to play on a console for example.

And 360 has plenty of it's one unique game not coming to PC games. Dead Rising, XBLA games, Kameo, Forza 3, Alan Wake, Halo 3, Halo Reach, Gears 3, Lost Odyssey.

Reality. Do this:

xFuryofFivex said:
I digress :) or you can be dumb like me.. and buy everything
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I did and I'm happy about it.

Except for the Wii. Let that shit die ;)

ok...i'm sorta kidding.
 
Netrat33 said:
And 360 has plenty of it's one unique game not coming to PC games. Dead Rising, XBLA games, Kameo, Forza 3, Alan Wake, Halo 3, Halo Reach, Gears 3, Lost Odyssey.
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Mass Effect is simply better played/experienced on a large ass screen with a booming surround sound system. I want to have Mass Effect 2's children.....
 
The OP mentions that price is the biggest (if not the only) factor involved in his dilemma. That said, let's zero-in on that.

You know a 5-6 year old computer is capable of the same visuals as a Xbox360/PS3? My point is PC gamers do not need enthusiast hardware to enjoy games either.

If you're spending $1K regularly to play the latest PC games, then you have a spending problem more than anything. If switching to consoles is enough to dampen that temptation, then by all means. I can almost guarantee that you'll find something you like in console gaming; even better if it does tighten up your spending habits.

On the other hand, if you choose to remain with PC gaming, you should really evaluate your purchases. I know I went a bit ape shit crazy with my PC gaming habits early on. I was upgrading videocards almost every 6 months, and for what? 8xAA vs. 4xAA? 120FPS vs 60FPS? Does it all really matter that much to me? Noooooooooooooooope! Upgrades are now limited to one every 2-3 years and I can still play the latest games.
 
To tell the truth... i am starting to become a mainstream console player to : (
All the games i have bought for the last year have been to PS3.
But still think PC is the best for gaming.
 
Freezebyte said:
I know, but some games i'd rather play on my 360 and 50" screen then my PC. But thats just me. Your needs may vary.



Again, thats personal preference. Pretty much all games that are coming out for both PC and 360, i'd rather game on my 360. Only exception was Fallout 3, but I dunno if im gonna bother with Vegas or not. None of Sony's titles you listed interest me in the least so a PS3 is worthless. God of War is boring, havn't cared about GT since GT2, Heavy Rain looks retarded, gave up on MGS series after MGS2, Resistance/Killzone/Uncharted = yawn for me and Little big planet looks gay as hell.
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You're missing out on a lot of really good games man. Two years ago I'd agree with you wholeheartedly and say 360 + PC but Sony's been stepping up their game and have some really good titles. Little Big, Heavy Rain and MGS4 are the one's that really stand out to me but there are more that others listed.

I sold my fat PS3 a while ago, and I regret, the start of that system's life cycle was sloth like at best. I like my 360, and always have but the only two game's I still own are Alan Wake and Halo 3. I grew tired of Fable and Gears, and those two are pretty much all the xbox has to offer that the PC/PS3 don't have.
 
EQTakeOffense said:
I'm thinking of giving up PC Gaming. I've gone this this dilemma about every year for the past three or four years, but the XBOX 360 Slim has me on the edge. Here's my reasoning....

I'm sick of spending $1K for a computer and then upgrading it to be able to play the latest and greatest games. Besides, almost all good/great PC Games are available for PS3 or XBX 360. Console gaming seems to be the best bang for your buck platform out there.

My issue, which is really shallow, is graphics. My biggest annoyance about upgrading and the cost of PC Gaming allows me the ability to scale games with newer technology and have pretty graphics. It's impossible to scale the PS3 or XBOX 360, but then again, games shouldn't be played just for graphics, but it's a pretty big plus.

Ideas/comments/suggestions?
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Even if they all have the same games the experience is different. I prefer to game on my PC. Consoles are for gaming with friends and sitting on the couch, at least for me. PC's offer a different experience. I like shooters, RTS and MMO's on the PC. Racing and sports on the console.

I don't buy a new PC all at once. I upgrade slowly over time. So I've never dropped $1k at once. My last major overhaul lasted me 3 years. Then I upgraded to an i7 and just needed to get a board and ram. This will keep me going awhile still.
Games also tend to be cheaper on the PC, especially with steam. I'm just not going to spend $60 on a console game. But if I could hack the console.....
 
i'm part of the buy everything group.

PC, Wii, ps3, 2x360 (one for me and one for the wife so we can lan :))

i've started neglecting the consoles a little bit since upgrading my pc though. i like both console and pc gaming, but connecting my pc to my tv through hdmi and using my 360 controller on the couch to enjoy glass smooth framerates on native 1080p is too nice to pass up :)

dirt2 on my 46" lcd is sooo nice
 
Freezebyte said:
Mass Effect is simply better played/experienced on a large ass screen with a booming surround sound system. I want to have Mass Effect 2's children.....
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I agree.. and it looks fantastic in true 1920x1080 on my 52" TV. Can't beat the visuals a PC can pump out. :)
 
EQTakeOffense said:
I'm thinking of giving up PC Gaming. I've gone this this dilemma about every year for the past three or four years, but the XBOX 360 Slim has me on the edge. Here's my reasoning....

I'm sick of spending $1K for a computer and then upgrading it to be able to play the latest and greatest games. Besides, almost all good/great PC Games are available for PS3 or XBX 360. Console gaming seems to be the best bang for your buck platform out there.

My issue, which is really shallow, is graphics. My biggest annoyance about upgrading and the cost of PC Gaming allows me the ability to scale games with newer technology and have pretty graphics. It's impossible to scale the PS3 or XBOX 360, but then again, games shouldn't be played just for graphics, but it's a pretty big plus.

Ideas/comments/suggestions?
Click to expand...

All right, I'm standing up on my bully pulpit.

EQTakeOffense said:
I'm thinking of giving up PC Gaming. I've gone this this dilemma about every year for the past three or four years, but the XBOX 360 Slim has me on the edge. Here's my reasoning....
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Really, every year? And you never acted on it? That's weird, usually it's pretty easy to be decisive when it comes to a hobby.


EQTakeOffense said:
I'm sick of spending $1K for a computer and then upgrading it to be able to play the latest and greatest games. Besides, almost all good/great PC Games are available for PS3 or XBX 360. Console gaming seems to be the best bang for your buck platform out there.
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User mods are a huge thing that consoles rarely have. I would argue that console gaming isn't as cheap as you make it out to be. Once you buy the system and all the accessories, you still end up shelling out a couple hundred, then you factor in that you'll be paying $60 for games and you don't have things like Steam sales to help you out when it comes to getting games you've wanted but didn't neccessarily have the money for or want to buy at the time.

Plus you'll get raped in the ass buying DLC for console, whereas on PC it's easy to get some good community generated content for most games that support that. $15 map packs for MW2, forget it man.

EQTakeOffense said:
My issue, which is really shallow, is graphics. My biggest annoyance about upgrading and the cost of PC Gaming allows me the ability to scale games with newer technology and have pretty graphics. It's impossible to scale the PS3 or XBOX 360, but then again, games shouldn't be played just for graphics, but it's a pretty big plus.
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Yes, that is shallow, but beauty is something we all instinctively desire, it's why we make fun of ugly women and fap to the beautiful ones. It's shallow, but it's human nature, dammit.

Also, we all know that console games do not look as good as their PC brethen and are downscaled whereas the PC version has the best graphics as you readily acknowledge, but also you can customize your graphics by hacking the .ini files or changing the settings to your liking, or Eyeinfinity if that's what you like.

$1k for "upgrades" is a little out of the ballpark, but admittedly not far off.

You can do it for half that if you don't try to get the latest and greatest, generally all you need to replace is mobo, processor, ram, and video card. The PSU needs to be replaced if your current one doesn't give out enough juice.

Generally though if you buy a nice processor and mobo, you'll only need to upgrade a GPU once a year unless you happened to buy one of those bad ass 8800GTX's that lasted forever. Today that's the 5850 and 5870 that we feel might last a while, and they have, come to think of it.

But why not just enjoy both? Truth is there aren't many games out there that are commonly played that absolutely demand the best possible rig, except stupid games like Crysis that everyone runs as a tech demo.

I'm using a 2 year old laptop to run my games and I feel satisfied, I also have a Wii and a PS3.

Why don't you just enjoy it all and just leave your wallet in your pocket untill technology advances enough to merit you shelling out good money for a rig? You don't have to upgrade your rig at all every year, only the GPU.
 
Freezebyte said:
INB4 lock.

I"m the same way. Back in 2001 after building my first computer, I was all PC gamer gung hoo in every way. Spending hundreds of dollars to keep my e-penis size in check with everyone else, using water cooling to push my CPU to the limit, hacking and modding cases for maximum airflow with 12+ fans and even giving a shit about my 3dmark score! I used to care about my framerates dropping 5 FPS and doing everything I could get them back for the "ultimate" gaming experience

Now, nearly 10 years later and nearing 30 years old, I just don't care anymore about my PC gaming rig being top rig anymore. I'm sick of spending $400 yearly on vids cards to keep my framerates up in the 30's with all the eye candy turned on. I"m sick of people shitty admin rules on servers, running them like they were some kinda fucking God. I'm sick of having less and less choices with my PC games and getting less for my money. Remember when you would get a big ass 10'' by 6" PC game box full of goodies, maps, big manuals, shortcut keys? Now, your lucky to even get a damn paper pull out in the DVD plastic cases for a $60 PC game.

No, now I would rather sit downstairs in front of my 50" Sony TV, 5.1 surround sound with my kitty on my lap while pwning peeps online via Halo 3 talking smack while drinking an energy drink. Or playing online against/with with my best friend next to me that i've played games with since 1st grade, bullshitting the late night hours away having a great time. Hell, picking up Rock Band and playing with him is the funnest thing we've played together since BF1942 golden days

I do computers professionally for work and for other reasons such as email, surfing, HTPC, video encoding, MP3 player, but my PC gaming days are pretty much over with and im fine with that. I'll continue to do both, but my extreme PC gaming days are long gone and now its only casual at best. After waiting 12 years for Starcraft 2 after being a big fan of the original, I don't even care about that anymore, I don't find it enjoyable to spend 2 hours building an army only to get my ass kicked by a starcraft veteran in Korea.

I've also played dozens of MMO's since DAOC being my first in late 2001. I retired from level 80 in WoW over a year ago and I'm just flat out burnt out from playing MMO's in general. Only Star Wars:Old Republic may get me back into the MMO groove, but even Star Wars may not even been enough anymore after being burnt by SW: Galaxies years ago.

I look at my 10+ year pile of PC gaming box and I just sigh.... I have so many good memories of playing these games in PC's gaming glory days which I truly believe started in 1998 with the launch of the Voodoo 2 and began its current decline with the launch of the 360, PS3 and Wii. Sadly, all good things must come to an end eventually......
End of line......
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This is me exactly even down to the job type. One difference is that I am 30 :).
 
Blauman said:
This is me exactly even down to the job type. One difference is that I am 30 :).
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Lol, i'll be 30 in two weeks. Can't believe I left HS 11 years, seems like a different lifetime now.

I may be near 30, but I still have the attitude of a kid at times, and I like it that way :cool:
 
The problem is when games like Crysis come out, it makes your PC look REALLY old and slow. Shit, my GTX 260 has a hard time getting constant 24fps Crysis with visual goodies, an almost two year old game! Thats insane in my book......
 
pc and consoles have their pros and cons. pcs can be used for a lot of things other than gaming though, so making a good pc isn't always a bad idea
 
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