6 posts tagged “gaming”
As you are probably aware, I have been looking in to getting a top-spec PC to run my various OSes on under Vrtualisation and use of partitioned hard drives. Also, as I am starting to do some more creative and development work it will be nice to get a more future-proof system and something to play Crysis on...
I am veering towards a Core i7 system, purely because I've had issues with AMD systems in the past and, basically, if I'm going to pay £2000+ for a system I want to have something that is top of the line, so that it will be less likely to be obsolete within a year when the next crop of games comes around and Adobe brings out the latest Creative Suite. Having worked with SGI and Apple systems in the past, I want something that looks good on the desk and which screams "creative" to clients, so a beige box is out of the question. I know it sounds stupid, but my studio is all white and I like a system that will stand out on the desk and look good - partly out of vanity (I like my workspace to look good), but also because things like that make a difference in giving confidence to clients. After all, a beowulf cluster of home-built PCs is just as good as a dedicated rack server, but which would you trust your mission-critical data to?
However, whilst I was quite comfortable to build a custom system, the impatient part of me can't wait to collect all the components before I can use the system. So, could I find a pre-built system to suit that I can reasonably afford - that's a big question, as pre-built "gamer" systems tend to fall into two camps: those that are built by small companies to order, but which reflect the off-the-shelf nature of such outfits - they'll work brilliantly, but look like a dog's dinner - or those from the "big name" brands which are usually over-priced, under-perform but at least look like a complete system, rather than a collection of parts. I have memories of a Dell I once used that, once it had a top-flight NVidia card from their configuration list, it ran so hot that the case smelled permanently of burning plastic. So, there is a need to be wary, but in the intervening time there have been a few high points - Alienware, being the notable example.
Ignoring the recent acquisition by Dell, Alienware was a reasonably small fish, making high-end gaming and creative machines that had a real boutique feel to them - the brand is strong and the system design is usually first-class. However, they aren't cheap. Recently, too, I have noticed a lot of messages on the net about Alienware suffering a drop in quality (presumably as they become more commodity-focussed under Dell's ownership), whilst their cost is still equivalent to a maxed-out Mac Pro, although the raw performance in gaming terms may well be higher.
In my trawling of the internet, however, I came across a system that might well tick my boxes - I had been looking at a Core i7 system, with 12GB or DDR3, dual ATI 4870X2s, 6TB of storage and a Lian Li Ati branded red Armoursuit case - and it is made, of all people, by Acer.
The predator G7700 runs a Core2Duo, 4GB of RAM, has 1.28GB of Storage and a pair of Geforce 9800GT cards, so why does it appeal? Well, the price, basically. I can pick one up for £1700, then buy RAM, drives, Motherboard, Core i7 920 and Dual ATI 4870X2s and still end up paying out less than I would have for my custom sytsem. The drives are hot-swappable, which is a bonus, as I wanted the huge storage to enable me to strip the system drive, then mirror it, whilst having a separate mirrored storage drive. The out-of-the-box reviews are all surprisingly favourable and, well....just look at it.
This is a truly eye-catching system that, when paired with the matching monitor and a Razer Lachesis keyboard it will certainly turn heads. It's a bit love-it-or-hate-it, but you certainly can't miss it. I personally love it and I will be hopefully picking one up soon!
For a while now, I have been raving about how I think the PS3 is going to be the king of the hill once developers start getting to grips with it (not to mention showing some tasty snippets from some rather lovely up-coming games), when two things happen that could drastically improve the quality of the games on PS3 - first up, Sony announce RSX Edge, a set of development tools that, in a similar way to the way Renderware allowed PS2 programmers to forget about the nitty-gritty of graphics/physics and concentrate on the gameplay and textures, gives Third Party developers the tools they need to get on with giving us top-notch PS3 games that look astounding.
The second, well, it's a more personal thing - I've just been asked to apply for a Producer/Project Management role running a team of PS3 developers. Keep your fingers crossed that I get it, as I promise that I'll take any developers that fail to deliver top-grade product out to the car park and shoot them - how's about that for a deal?
In all seriousness, I think that life for PS3's early adopters is going to get better and better - XBox 360 is already creaking at the seams to keep up and Microsoft have just basically admitted the first "Core" system is obsolete by announcing the "Ultimate" edition with a bigger hard drive and (it is rumoured) HD-DVD as standard, or at least the ugly £120 external drive bundled in the same box. So that would make the 360 cost £350-ish including a standard "premium" pack and an HD-DVD add-on. Not much less than the PS3 that is all in one box (no external PSU or HD-DVD drive to clutter the place up), has a larger hard drive (60gb, as against 20gb) and has Bluray, which is looking set to trounce HD-DVD as a format. Oh, and you have to pay to get all the "Gold" (i.e useful) features of XBox Live, whereas Playstation Network for PS3 is totally free. That white box doesn't look like such a good investment after all - I am so glad that I cancelled my order for one when Amazon had their pre-order fiasco: a) it means I waited for PS3 and b) I bought a PSP to get me by in the meantime and love it.
It's a shame that 360 seems to be relying solely on Halo 3 and Gears of War to try and beat down the opposition, as none of the other features seem as well implemented after 12 months in the field as either those on the Wii or the PS3. I really loved my original XBox (I sold my PS2 when I got one, it took over so much), but the 360 didn't seem next-gen enough once I got my hands on one and now, by altering the specs and selling bolt-ons to try and match the PS3's specifications, it appears that Microsoft is admitting that is exactly the case. If you bought a "Core" 360 at launch, you'd have paid £299-ish. Say £250 to be fair. Then add £80 for the hard drive and £120 for the HD-DVD drive. That's £450 for a machine that still doesn't match the PS3's standard spec (£425 list price at launch in the UK), not to mention the "Red Ring Of Death" (no free replacement under warranty in the UK, by the way - £80 charge to replace a dead 360, unlike in the USA where it is done for free) problems, or the fact that you end up with an Xbox, an external drive and a brick-sized PSU all making the place look untidy. Oh, and you'd have a non-wireless controller and only basic XBox Live features unless you paid even more. Methinks that Microsoft has dropped the ball...
Well, here we are, another post, another up-coming game for the PS3 that looks like it could be well worth a look. "Uncharted: Drake's Fortune", by Naughty Dog software (creators of "Jak & Daxter" and "Crash Bandicoot") have released footage of what appears to be a cross between "Tomb Raider", "Indiana Jones" and "Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure". Little seems to be known about the game, aside from the fact that the sections that appear to be in-game look very good, with some jungle gun-fights and obligatory ruined temples to climb around in. However, given the pedigree of the developers, I think it's safe to say that it'll play well enough to justify our interest. It is, it seems, scheduled for a September/October release.
Speaking of September, it looks to be a strong month for PS3 releases, as developers including Sony's own in-house teams have some rather tasty projects due for release in that month. We have "Heavenly Sword", a sword-fighting game in the vein of "Dynasty Warriors" (albeit with some adventure-style exploration sections, according to the developers), which is shaping up nicely according to ign.com, who have play-tested an early build version. Then there is "Lair", the aerial/ground dragon-flight combat game, which again has been play-tested in early form by ign.com and gets the thumbs-up. It looks lovely, too. According to the semi-official Sony Three Speech blog, "Killzone", the awesome much-anticipated FPS is due for the same month. Forget "Halo 3", or even "Gears of War" - if this game is half as good as the tech demos and trailers suggest, it will blow its competitors out of the water. The final game slated for release by Sony is "Warhawk", a sci-fi flight combat game that uses Sixaxis flight controls and reportedly does so rather smoothly. The interesting thing is that "Warhawk" is also said to be a download-only release, which could mark the beginning of a Steam-like service from Sony.
Rumours abound of a "Wipeout Pure" HD-updated port to fill the gap until a dedicated PS3 version is finished, as well as a version of "BioShock", which was previously thought to be Xbox 360 only, yet now it seems that the exclusivity deal is limited to a delayed release of the PS3 version, if the rumours are to be believed. Then we have "Stranglehold"(see my earlier post about this game), which is due in the middle of the year, along with "Half-Life 2: Episode 2" (do I even need to make a case for this game?), "The Darkness" (Mafia-meets-supernatural FPS), "Indiana Jones" (evidently in possession of some awesome technical AI and physics, as well as some beautiful graphics - could be a real beauty), "Medal Of Honor: Airborne" (use the Sixaxis to control your parachute jumps!), "Devil May Cry 4" and "The Getaway" - the London-based gangster game.
All this gaming goodness before the final quarter of 2007, when "Assassin's Creed", "Grand Theft Auto IV", "Gran Turismo 5" (not to be confused with the downloadable "Gran Turismo HD Concept" demo) and "Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots" are scheduled for release. I think that any fears that the PS3 is going to be starved of quality games are highly unjustified. All this is not taking into account the obligatory cross-platform franchises - Madden, FIFA, Spiderman, etc. I think that the people who took the plunge to buy the Bad Boy in Black from Sony are going to start reaping the dividends fairly soon. I can't wait, myself.
After the last couple of posts that were rather self-indulgent and rather serious, respectively, I am back to talking about fun things. I can hear the rejoicing from here.
Ok, so what's new? Well, whilst I wait for my PS3 to arrive, I have been playing "Another World: 15th Anniversary Edition" on the PC. Now, those of you too young, or just too new to gaming, to remember the game first time around should definitely go and pick it up. It is the pinnacle of the style of game originally started by the very first "Prince of Persia" (no, not the 3D ones, the old rotoscoped 2D ones made in the early 1990s). I don't want to talk too much about the plot, as discovering what is going on is part of what involves you in this game. Frankly, if you don't get sucked in by "Another World" (or "Flashback", or the original "Prince of Persia"), then you shouldn't really call yourself a gamer, in all honesty. The game was made with hand-drawn graphics and it always looked stylish and somewhat other-worldly, as you came to grips with a learning curve that could be damn-near vertical in places, yet never made you want to give up and stop playing. Once you had struggled through the game (which required you essentially memorise every screen in order to get through in one piece), the real fun began, as you would replay it to see if you could get through in one go, without dying or progressing in stages. The real experts could make the game look almost like a cartoon, with the graphics and atmosphere lending themselves very neatly to this.
Ok, so enough about the original, what about the anniversary edition? Well, it's the same. No, really it is. All that has been done to the game is to give it a quick polish in the old resolution department, so it looks nice even at 2048*1536 levels of detail on your PC. Other than that, I am pleased to say, the gameplay is the same. Yes, there is a "making of" documentary included, and some design notes and the like, but the best thing about the package is the fact that the game is unaltered, aside from its new set of clothes. Many would have been tempted to go 3d (a la "Prince of Persia"), or to add extra characters, or do something, but the brave decision to trust in the original games' gameplay and quality was the right choice to make - this truly shines, even after 15 years. Go, buy it and either remember how good things were when creativity meant more than brand name, or (if you never played it before), welcome to a game that is possibly older than the people playing it, yet still feels fresh and exciting. A true masterpiece.
Could it be true, could it really be the case that a game based on a box office smash-hit might not be a foetid pile of monkey poo? Yes, the Spiderman games were...ok, but the golden rule has always been that the bigger the license, the worse the game. There have been a few exceptions - the original wire-frame Star Wars arcade game was amazing for its day, Rogue Squadron doesn't count (based in the universe, not on an actual movie). Before anyone cries "Tomb Raider" or "Resident Evil", the films were based on the game, not the other way around. Same goes for Doom. The side-scrolling Robocop game was good in 1989...erm, now I am struggling. Some of the Lord of The Rings arcade action games were ok, if a little samey in a Golden Axe rip-off sort of way...Ok, as a last-ditch attempt, I would pick Die Hard Trilogy on the Playstation. Whew, that was tough. I think the point is made, however - 90% of movie license games are pants.
Imagine my horror when I heard that there is an upcoming release of a Pirates Of The Carribean game that spans not only the second film, but the soon-to-be-released third film, too. After the shambolic first effort, I did not hold out a lot of hope, but so far, on PS3 at least, it looks to be shaping up pretty well. The characters look great (obviously, considering it's on PS3), with gestures motion-captured from Mr. Depp himself. Every action Jack Sparrow makes is not just a set punch or kick, but is blended with a Mo-Cap'ed sequence that may be a stumble or a wave of the hand which makes it look and feel like it is the real deal on your screen. True, the voice acting is by someone else, but you can't have everything.
The game allows you to play as not only Cap'n Jack, but also as Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann. From the footage I have seen, you appear to be able to use Will and Elizabeth as a sort of tag team in combat, which is nice. The game makes use of the SIXAXIS controller to balance along beams, etc, as well as allowing you to dodge attacks in combat and counter with a suitably pirate-y kick to the groin, etc. All in all, it looks to be a good action game with some exploration/adventuring thrown in (you get to have sea battles and look for booty, it appears). Ok, it's not exactly paradigm-shifting stuff, but I think it'll be a good enjoyable romp with a yo-ho-ho and a whole bottle of rum thrown in. Once my PS3 arrives, I will be looking to get Pirates Of The Carribean: At World's End firmly on my shopping list. Yar!
Well, here I sit on the horns of a dilemma. I have, since the drive in my old XBox died, been without a games console (apart from my PSP, which is more of a travel companion). I do have a Gamecube, but save for the odd go at Donkey Konga, or a run at Resident Evil 4, it has not seen the light of day since I completed Zelda and all of the other games I had on it. No, that now lives with my fiancee who is happy to join me in the odd post-pub game of Monkeyball. So, I need to get a new console to fill the slot on my TV stand and stop me building a monster PC just to play games.
Why do I need one at all, I hear some nay-sayers ask? Well, the fact is I prefer a good couple of hours gaming to watching Big Brother or the like - games are, by nature, interactive and get your mind working. I tend to watch DVDs to relax and play games for fun. The last ones I really enjoyed were the Prince of Persia trilogy (including the extra in-between version on the PSP) and Tomb Raider Legend. I've played a lot of Neverwinter Nights on my laptop and have also spent a lot of time playing Dawn of War and the like. But what I really like to have as a leisure option is a nice console with a racing game, a golf and/or other sport game, maybe a fighting game and something with a bit of action (i.e Halo, or Splinter Cell for example). So, given the fact that I will no doubt buy my other half a Wii (she is a) a Zelda fanatic and b) very interested in the nunchuk controller), do I get myself an XBox 360 or a PS3? This is my current dilemma.
So, the Playstation 3. Well, I have to admit to loving my PSP, but I never really got on with my PS2 (bought one of the Gran Turismo 3 packs the day they came out many moons ago) - I preferred the fun factor of the Gamecube (I used to take it round to friends' houses regularly) and the superior technology of the first XBox (Halo 2 was great) to the black box from Sony. Yes, I know it had Final Fantasy ( I really enjoyed FF-X), but that didn't sell the system to me and I eventually sold it and 13 games to a friend for what I paid for the console a little over a year later, but I digress. The fact is that I am not a Sony fanboy, PSP aside, (I had a Saturn and N64 instead of a PS One, too) so they system has a lot to do in order to convince me to shell out at least £425 for a console alone. It needs to be able to store movies for me to watch and it needs to be able to play games that look great and are good to play, as it has to prevent me from wanting to build the monster PC that I keep threatening my fiancee I am going to. If it can do enough to convince me I don't need a high-end gaming PC to get my entertainment fix, then it will be worth the money. I can stick with my trusty Vaio Core Duo and save myself about £1000. So, the big question is "does it manage to do it?"
