The Computer/Console Gaming Thread

[SharkyMcShark]

Went into EB's for the first time in a looong time today. Managed to pick up the new Doom for $23 which wasn't too bad (screw Bethesda and their "Australia Tax" US$79.99 on Steam - F- Off!)

I've always seen EB as a more expensive option than Steam, but I was really surprised at some if their prices. Might have to go back to buying my games on physical media.

Bad news is that now I have to find a new graphics card because my current one is under the minimum specs

I realised a few years ago that EB is actually cheaper for a lot of PC games that are more than ~6 months old. They tend to get their first price slash a lot quicker than Steam does.

[TAAUBlaster]

I realised a few years ago that EB is actually cheaper for a lot of PC games that are more than ~6 months old. They tend to get their first price slash a lot quicker than Steam does.

I'm definitely going to be keeping a closer eye on EB games from now on. I don't normally need games on release, so I can always wait until a decent price - which the Steam Sales used to have. But their sales are pretty worthless these days.

[DELTAprime]

The only problem with buying PC games from a physical retailer is if they don't include a Steam key most people are screwed as DVD and Blu-ray drives are getting very rare.

[kup]

If you wait for Steam sales, prices drop remarkably and well below EB. However I do agree, EB has been more competitive for PC games in recent times, probably because PC gaming is disappearing from retail as it's almost completely moved to online such as Steam.

Also as Deltaprime said, most PCs these days don't even bother with optical drives. You are most likely just buying a CD-key retail with a token disc that partially installs the game and downloads the rest.

[kup]

Curious what ps4 games you would have wanted to play had you got the system Kup?

As mentioned, none are system sellers and the list is very small - I even struggled to think of 3 games:

- Uncharted 4
- Bloodborne
- Last of Us Remastered (It is now very cheap, curiosity will make me buy it although I own the PS3 version).
- Maybe that Arkham game that was too glitchy to play properly on PC.

That's about it.

However yesterday I took a gamble and bought a 'faulty' PS4 for $100 with issues that I believe I can fix. For $100, it would make it worthwhile provided I can fix the issues which so far I am positive of being able to, just need to wait for the seller to ship it. That's how I got my PS3 originally.

I discussed this with other multi-platform gamer friends and the story seems to be consistent - Their PS4 ends up gathering dust or only used rarely due to lack of worthwhile exclusive games. Most 3P multiplatform games play better on PC and the fact that you can use any controller on Steam including PS4 Dualshock 4, gives you a superior gamer experience as '4K, HDR effects, etc' are standards in PC gaming and not premium features.

I'll say this much, despite its financial failure, the Wii U seems to offer more worthwhile games to play than the PS4. I even played it more than the PS3.

So my gaming basically ranks as such:

1 PC
2 Wii U
3 Vintage consoles.
D
I
S
T
A
N
T
4. PS3

PS4 would probably go as '5' on the list after PS3 as I have more games in mind to play just lower priority. If the $100 PS4 I bought turns out ok, then that is barely worth it as I cannot see a lot of use so far and it's already been a few years since release.

[kurdt_the_goat]

Cool I hope the PS4 repair works out for you. With HDR on PC though, isn't it a case of requiring a new monitor as most don't support it yet? And also most games will require patches to support it as well won't they?

I haven't seen HDR in person so I should reserve judgement but I don't think it's a feature i'd care much about anyway (rocking phat PS4 here :P)

Wii U was a decent machine (at least, every 3-6 months while it was getting "consistent" releases lol). It sucks it has to be killed off early really, especially when i think Switch will only offer marginally improved visuals (should wait for Friday before i say that!). Wii U will probably remain the best way to play Mario Maker though, and has a load of games that could be considered best in their franchises. I had a lot of fun with mine overall.

[kup]

HDR is largely software enabled. That's why the original PS4 can support it after a software update and similarly PC graphics cards can too after a driver update. You are right though that HDR will be only visible on newer TVs/Monitors.

However we've had color and lighting effects on PC games for years that are not dissimilar to HDR and that's what I mean by 'HDR type effects'. Also most games even as old as Unreal Tournament can be natively cranked up to 4K resolution if you have a display that supports it. A lot of graphics cards from years ago have been able to do so but as you mentioned, the displays to fully take advantage have only just become available.

For PC gamers, we have been playing at higher resolutions than HD 1080p (1920x1080). About 6 years ago, I bought a monitor that does 2560x1440 for example. Now that 4K has come along, most Graphics cards and games that have existed for a few years now (sometimes more) will allow for ramping up resolution. HDR as mentioned, is a software driven effect so as long as you have the display, chances are your Nvidia or ATI card can already do it after an update.

Thanks about the PS4, I hope so too I just received the message that it has been sent so I am waiting with high anticipation/suspense

[DELTAprime]

HDR is largely software enabled. That's why the original PS4 can support it after a software update and similarly PC graphics cards can too after a driver update. You are right though that HDR will be only visible on newer TVs/Monitors.

However we've had color and lighting effects on PC games for years that are not dissimilar to HDR and that's what I mean by 'HDR type effects'. Also most games even as old as Unreal Tournament can be natively cranked up to 4K resolution if you have a display that supports it. A lot of graphics cards from years ago have been able to do so but as you mentioned, the displays to fully take advantage have only just become available.

For PC gamers, we have been playing at higher resolutions than HD 1080p (1920x1080). About 6 years ago, I bought a monitor that does 2560x1440 for example. Now that 4K has come along, most Graphics cards and games that have existed for a few years now (sometimes more) will allow for ramping up resolution. HDR as mentioned, is a software driven effect so as long as you have the display, chances are your Nvidia or ATI card can already do it after an update.

Thanks about the PS4, I hope so too I just received the message that it has been sent so I am waiting with high anticipation/suspense

If a dev has used more modern techniques a PC game can scale to any resolution provided driver support is there, for example you can play Crysis 3 @ 8K today if you have the hardware. But unfortunately not every dev is that great and some games will have a cap, think the Diablo II Ex Pack only going up to 800x600 as an example, tho there are more modern games with the same issue, I just can't think of them off the top of my head.

We saw the first HDR consumer and gaming monitors at CES this year, it's a luxury at this point as there's nothing cheap. Also monitors seem to be far behind TVs as to how much of the Rec 2020 colour space they can reproduce so I wouldn't recommend buying a HDR monitor now especially since Nanosys the company that makes Quantum Dots says at next year's CES displays will be able to reproduce much closer to the full Rec 2020 space because they will have a new product in next year's displays. Also some "HDR" monitors are not even meeting the colour requirements of the 1080p HDTV standard which is over a decade old at this point.

I'm personally going to be holding out till next year before I look at TVs or monitors cause there's no point in paying thousands of dollars on TV or monitor that only can reproduce one or two parts of the three that make up the UHD spec.

[i_amtrunks]

The missus bought us a PS4 in July. I've currently played and finished Ratchet and Clank, Arkham Knight and played a chunk of Dragonball Xenoverse 2. I still have half a dozen games to start including uncharted, tomb raider 2 and shadows of Mordor. Just don't have the time or energy with the young one around.

However I did finally get my wiiu back after lending it to my brother in law and I didn't realise how much I missed the thing. Been back on mariokart and Hyrule warriors, games I can get 15 minutes on fairly quickly without having to wait for the PlayStation network ect to login. The wii u was an under rated machine with plenty of fantastic titles. I need to go and finish dimensions and lego city as well!

[kup]

No need for a HDR monitor when HDR TVs are going down in price. The flexibility of the pc is that you can nearly use any display. People make the assumption that PC game is about a desk with mouse and keyboard. That is an inprecise assumption.