Maybe you should not upgrade to Vista

[Webslinger]

http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/94869

"Gabe Newell, president of Valve Software, said that Microsoft made a terrible mistake releasing DirectX 10 for Vista only and excluding Windows XP"

For what it's worth, I agree entirely with that statement--but only because I dislike Vista; and Directx 10 is the only reason I've installed Vista 64 bit Ultimate on my g/f's system.

 

[SamuriHL]

And, come on, tell me when you are playing UT and in a bad mood that hearing, "Headshot!" doesn't make ya smile and grin like a kid at Christmas [or whatever Holiday people celebrate at that time of year depending on their religion, etc].

Yes indeed. UT was always one of my favorite FPS games. My friends and I played the hell out of the original when it came out. I'm very much looking forward to UT3.

I've never wanted to hassle with Steam from all I've read and seen. However, now with the release of BioShock and F'ing insanity of the limitations of installation I'd contemplate purchasing it through Steam if I get more freedom.

Nein. You will not get more freedom on Steam. The IDIOTS allowed them to use their own authentication mechanism separate from Steam. So, no, you get all the same CRAP as on the disc version. MORONS.

 

[SamuriHL]

http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/94869

"Gabe Newell, president of Valve Software, said that Microsoft made a terrible mistake releasing DirectX 10 for Vista only and excluding Windows XP"

For what it's worth, I agree entirely with that statement--but only because I dislike Vista; and Directx 10 is the only reason I've installed Vista 64 bit Ultimate on my g/f's system.

Correct. He's not saying DX10 is bad...just that DX10 as Vista ONLY is bad. I fully agree with that.

 

[Webslinger]

Of course not. But it is a small slice of it. Think of it as a snapshot of a very big city. In this case you are simply taking a picture of one cafe.

Okay, so if your biggest games/sellers don't offer Directx 10 features, then why would PC Gamers with Directx 10 hardware be using Steam? It would be one thing if the majority of games being bought or sold on Steam supported Directx 10, but in all likelyhood the biggest sellers don't. The Lost Planet was not well received. Bioshock may change everything, but I would be willing to bet the biggest selling games on Steam do not currently support DirectX 10 (not to mention, some gamers, including myself, would rather have the physical media and the box with the manual).

That's a bit like offering a menu that mostly offers steak and claiming, "Well, we polled everyone that came to our restaurant. Most people ordered steak." Gee. Really?

However, now with the release of BioShock and F'ing insanity of the limitations of installation I'd contemplate purchasing it through Steam if I get more freedom.

Had I known about all of this nonsense, I would have probably avoided purchasing the game.

 

[Webslinger]

And, come on, tell me when you are playing UT and in a bad mood that hearing, "Headshot!" doesn't make ya smile and grin like a kid at Christmas [or whatever Holiday people celebrate at that time of year depending on their religion, etc].

A long time ago, I use to be a very big Tribes player (not all the crummy sequels, but the original Tribes). Then the cheating began . . .

I did enjoy F.E.A.R. and F.E.A.R. Extraction point (I like horror games with a half-decent story). But I didn't buy those games for the multiplayer.

I also own Star Wars Battlefront I and II (but they've been uninstalled).

I'm actually an old time adventure game player that has seen the genre fall apart (except in Europe). So my favourite games tend to be story driven adventure games and story-driven RPGs (especially the old ones from Black Isle, Bioware, and now Obsidian Entertainment). I really enjoy a good story.

 

[SamuriHL]

A long time ago, I use to be a very big Tribes player (not all the crummy sequels, but the original Tribes). Then the cheating began . . .

I did enjoy F.E.A.R. and F.E.A.R. Extraction point (I like horror games with a half-decent story). But I didn't buy those games for the multiplayer.

I also own Star Wars Battlefront I and II (but they've been uninstalled).

I'm actually an old time adventure game player that has seen the genre fall apart (except in Europe). So my favourite games tend to be story driven adventure games and story-driven RPGs (especially the old ones from Black Isle, Bioware, and now Obsidian Entertainment). I really enjoy a good story.

Cough cough Final Fantasy....

 

[DrinkLyeAndDie]

Yes indeed. UT was always one of my favorite FPS games. My friends and I played the hell out of the original when it came out. I'm very much looking forward to UT3.

I'm not sure if I'll ever get UT3. Epic/Digital Extremes really really pissed me off. I got UT and then UT2003 and then the morons released UT2004. IMO what they did was spit in the face of all the people who bought UT2003 when it shipped. Back when it happened they should have allowed people to exchange UT2003 for UT2004 or offered a super-reduced upgrade price. Did they? Nope. They took my money and laughed. As much of a fan as I was I still remember that and I'm still angry about it.

I did, recently, due to the sweet price of it get the Unreal Anthology. I got it because the price was so nice and I got Unreal [with the Return to Na Pali Expansion Pack], Unreal Tournament (1999) GOTY, Unreal II - The Awakening and Unreal Tournament 2004 [Editors Choice Edition & Mega Bonus Pack] on a single DVD along with a music CD of Unreal music. I paid 12 USD. Pretty sweet deal in my book.

Nein. You will not get more freedom on Steam. The IDIOTS allowed them to use their own authentication mechanism separate from Steam. So, no, you get all the same CRAP as on the disc version. MORONS.

WTF. Ugh. Ah well, looks like I simply will never own that game. Looked nice, too.

Okay, so if your biggest games/sellers don't offer Directx 10 features, then why would PC Gamers with Directx 10 hardware be using Steam? It would be one thing if the majority of games being bought or sold on Steam supported Directx 10, but in all likelyhood the biggest sellers don't. The Lost Planet was not well received. Bioshock may change everything, but I would be willing to bet the biggest selling games on Steam do not currently support DirectX 10 (not to mention, some gamers, including myself, would rather have the physical media and the box with the manual).

That's a bit like offering a menu that mostly offers steak and claiming, "Well, we polled everyone that came to our restaurant. Most people ordered steak." Gee. Really?

I understand your point but my point is that just because I might own a DirectX 10 card doesn't mean I will no longer play games that don't use DirectX 10. And if in the past I had already purchased a DirectX 9 game through Steam then I'll still be playing it. Nonetheless, Steam is still seeing what kind of card the people have and with that information they can get an idea of how many people do actually have DirectX 10 cards that are playing games [not just DirectX 10 games].

 

[SamuriHL]

I'm not sure if I'll ever get UT3. Epic/Digital Extremes really really pissed me off. I got UT and then UT2003 and then the morons released UT2004. IMO what they did was spit in the face of all the people who bought UT2003 when it shipped. Back when it happened they should have allowed people to exchange UT2003 for UT2004 or offered a super-reduced upgrade price. Did they? Nope. They took my money and laughed. As much of a fan as I was I still remember that and I'm still angry about it.

Never bought UT2k4 cause I was in the same boat. And I was also pretty p!$$ed about it. So I just ignored it. UT2k3 is the last one I bought. Hence, I'm pretty stoked for this new one. I just hope the console experience is everything they claim it will be. IMO, it should be damn near PC like on the PS3 with a KB/M.

WTF. Ugh. Ah well, looks like I simply will never own that game. Looked nice, too.

Yea, I thought that'd not make you too happy. I still need to grab the demo on the 360 and check it out. I have too many games this fall I want. Tomorrow is Tiger Woods 2k8 day for me. That'll be so much fun. The next game MIGHT be Heavenly Sword for PS3. If not, it'll be UT3 in November. With my TV and PS3 purchases this year, I can't get too many more things past the home finance committee.

 

[DrinkLyeAndDie]

Never bought UT2k4 cause I was in the same boat. And I was also pretty p!$$ed about it. So I just ignored it. UT2k3 is the last one I bought. Hence, I'm pretty stoked for this new one. I just hope the console experience is everything they claim it will be. IMO, it should be damn near PC like on the PS3 with a KB/M.

Well, I recently updated my system so I am re-exploring the old games to see how much nicer they look. When I got into downloading updates for UT2003 it brought back my memories and anger over UT2004. And then I saw the great deal on the anthology set so I dropped so I bought it. I would never have purchased UT2004 by itself even this many years later. I'll have to check out the info on UT3.

The Unreal engine is nice but I'm also interested to see the recent updates to the Serious engine. As silly as they are I love the Serious Sam series of games.

All I can say is damn... I hated UT2003 when it first came out because my system at the time just wasn't up for it: Intel PIII 750 MHz, 768 MB RAM & an Nvidia Geforce 3. Years later on full settings it runs smooth as silk. I still prefer UT (1999), however.

Any game like Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, etc interests me. Gears of War is one game I really really really want to check out. I may buy an XBox 360 at some point to play that. LOL.

Yea, I thought that'd not make you too happy. I still need to grab the demo on the 360 and check it out. I have too many games this fall I want. Tomorrow is Tiger Woods 2k8 day for me. That'll be so much fun. The next game MIGHT be Heavenly Sword for PS3. If not, it'll be UT3 in November. With my TV and PS3 purchases this year, I can't get too many more things past the home finance committee.

Well, I did download the demo the first night. All 1+ gigs of it. I slept while it download but I have yet to install it. I'll now promptly delete it. Grrr. Idiots.

As for Tiger Woods... ever since I played that on the PS2 I love the game. I rarely play and it's usually a group of friends playing after a night out but it's an awesome game.

I'm saving my money for a new computer and an XBox 360 plus HD-DVD drive. I doubt I'll ever buy a PS3 but we'll see. Maybe if I found one at a super low price I could justify it but at present I will remain happy using a friend's PS2 that they never use so they essentially loaned it to me permanently.

 

[SamuriHL]

Well, I recently updated my system so I am re-exploring the old games to see how much nicer they look. When I got into downloading updates for UT2003 it brought back my memories and anger over UT2004. And then I saw the great deal on the anthology set so I dropped so I bought it. I would never have purchased UT2004 by itself even this many years later. I'll have to check out the info on UT3.

The Unreal engine is nice but I'm also interested to see the recent updates to the Serious engine. As silly as they are I love the Serious Sam series of games.

All I can say is damn... I hated UT2003 when it first came out because my system at the time just wasn't up for it: Intel PIII 750 MHz, 768 MB RAM & an Nvidia Geforce 3. Years later on full settings it runs smooth as silk. I still prefer UT (1999), however.

Any game like Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, etc interests me. Gears of War is one game I really really really want to check out. I may buy an XBox 360 at some point to play that. LOL.

Serious Sam brings back great memories. Coop in that ROCKED! UT2k3 does well on my laptop. I'm very excited for the new one. Gears of War...

http://www.microsoft.com/games/pc/gearsofwar.aspx

Well, I did download the demo the first night. All 1+ gigs of it. I slept while it download but I have yet to install it. I'll now promptly delete it. Grrr. Idiots.

As for Tiger Woods... ever since I played that on the PS2 I love the game. I rarely play and it's usually a group of friends playing after a night out but it's an awesome game.

I'm saving my money for a new computer and an XBox 360 plus HD-DVD drive. I doubt I'll ever buy a PS3 but we'll see. Maybe if I found one at a super low price I could justify it but at present I will remain happy using a friend's PS2 that they never use so they essentially loaned it to me permanently.

That sucks about the demo. I just don't understand that. Yea, I know the "official" reason why they did it, but, it's idiotic. Tiger Woods...great games. I was never into golf but a friend of mine brought it over for the PS2 one day and I got hooked. The first time I did the "drop a stroke" cheat she about flipped out and had a heart attack. It was funny. The 360 is a hell of a machine. I've had more fun on that thing than any other console I've ever owned. That's saying a lot cause I was a *HUGE* PS fan. I didn't buy a PS3 due to Sony's arrogance and stupidity. However, I wanted blu-ray so I just ended up buying one last month...yet I've still not bought a game for it. Not until Heavenly Sword and/or UT3. It plays all my PS2 games, though, so, that works out well.

 

[kizzarmy1]

I used vista for 2 weeks, took it out and went back to XP. Vista is a HOGG! Man my Dual Core screems with xp!!

 

[Charlie]

I personally have been on Vista since Febuary and I have never looked back so I am Vistafied as zebadee would say.

 

[kizzarmy1]

Vista has a beautiful interface! and the widgets are very cool (i got some for xp). I just didn't like how i had to get permission from the computer everytime I wanted to change something

 

[DetroitBaseball]

Vista has a beautiful interface! and the widgets are very cool (i got some for xp). I just didn't like how i had to get permission from the computer everytime I wanted to change something

You can turn that off if you want.

 

[Webslinger]

I personally have been on Vista since Febuary and I have never looked back so I am Vistafied as zebadee would say.

Traitor!

Just kidding. I have Vista 64 bit Ultimate edition in my household as well (although, it's on my girlfriend's system).

"Hey!!!?? Why do I need Vista 64 bit Ultimate edition? And why do you have me dual booting XP?"

"Well, you see, sweety, there are these directx 10 games that are coming out that I want to play--and I don't want Vista on my system, so . . ."

 

[Charlie]

Traitor!

Just kidding. I have Vista 64 bit Ultimate edition in my household as well (although, it's on my girlfriend's system).

"Hey!!!?? Why do I need Vista 64 bit Ultimate edition? And why do you have me dual booting XP?"

"Well, you see, sweety, there are these directx 10 games that are coming out that I want to play--and I don't want Vista on my system, so . . ."

I love the sarcasm there. I can always go back to XP but not sure. I have thought about getting another HDD and installing XP there and then just tweak the registry gotta love vista on this so I can dual boot.

 

[Webslinger]

I love the sarcasm there. I can always go back to XP but not sure. I have thought about getting another HDD and installing XP there and then just tweak the registry gotta love vista on this so I can dual boot.

Actually, that's exactly what I did on my g/f's system. I have Vista 64 bit ultimate running on a raid 0 configuration (2x 500 gb hard drives). On the third hard drive, her old Windows XP pro is installed. When she wants to boot into xp, she just changes the hard drive boot order shortly after her computer posts.

 

[SamuriHL]

I think we all know where I stand on Vista. However, in the last 2 months I've threatened more than once to go back to XP because I just think Vista drivers *SUCK*. Nonetheless, the patches they put out last month helped and I'm hearing that SP1 does MAJOR work on the video sub-system so there's hope. I should be able to grab the beta of SP1 in a few weeks. I may back up my machine and check it out.

 

[DrinkLyeAndDie]

I think we all know where I stand on Vista. However, in the last 2 months I've threatened more than once to go back to XP because I just think Vista drivers *SUCK*. Nonetheless, the patches they put out last month helped and I'm hearing that SP1 does MAJOR work on the video sub-system so there's hope. I should be able to grab the beta of SP1 in a few weeks. I may back up my machine and check it out.

Just out of curiosity what is the speed of your processor. I've contemplated checking out Vista but I'm just not sure how well it'll run. Theoretically it should work fine but I'm sure the overhead in resources is more than XP Pro. One of the things I've been waiting for was the SP1 to be released. I really don't plan on not using XP for a long time to come but I do expect some software updates to be specifically tailored for Vista over XP.

 

[SamuriHL]

Just out of curiosity what is the speed of your processor. I've contemplated checking out Vista but I'm just not sure how well it'll run. Theoretically it should work fine but I'm sure the overhead in resources is more than XP Pro. One of the things I've been waiting for was the SP1 to be released. I really don't plan on not using XP for a long time to come but I do expect some software updates to be specifically tailored for Vista over XP.

My laptop is SEVERELY underpowered by today's standards. It's only a 1.7ghz single core machine. I'm going to replace it next year with a dual or possibly quad core laptop that has both BD and HD DVD support. Nonetheless, even with my lowly 1.7ghz and 2 gigs of ram Vista performs quite well for me. Of course, I'm one of those sick OS tweakers you read tales about. I've tuned this thing about as well as it'll get. No complaints even in games...surprisingly. Of course, with this hardware I'm not running anything higher than HL2 and Doom3 on this thing. My kids both have desktops that bury my machines. sigh. Like I said...next year.