Middle Gamer Crisis

BlueMak

I am not 100% sure if this fits better here or under off topic, but I had to choose one.

I am a active gamer since early 80s, playing and owning a variety of computers, but not any dedicated console of the time (nintendo etc). I am into games a lot, but at the same time I am getting tired of having to fiddle with my PC all the time, keep it up to date, software and hardware wise. Getting tired of having from BSOD to driver incompatibilities, to copy protection schemes that want to know how much you weigh.
I am into writing and video editing (both to increase over the next couple of years by a factor of gazillion) and the usual web browsing.

The idea of selling my current PC (specs below) is there, but, not a strong one since not only I bought it last December for a lot of money, but I have like a billion games or so and I guess I will want to play some of them in the future.

So, I am thinking of keeping it, stop buying new PC games and move to....Apple. Using a mac for work and getting a console, most likely candidate is the 360. The problem with the 360 is not so much the price for the machine (389 euros not too bad if I am going to keep it for another 5 years or so), but the price of the games. 64 euros for games are ouch. A further problem is that I do like my strategy games and the occassional sim, and as far as I know, none exist for consoles.

I would appreciate, comments, suggestions etc.

cadaveca

MY suggestion...Stick to pc. I've been gaming since Commodore64 days, and nothing compares to a pc. Then there's the extra contenet alot of games on the pc offer...mods my community members etc...

I'm running a very similar set-up to your, although i've gone x1900 crossfire, and i have no plans to change anything at least until Vista comes out and games start using it's features.


Now, here's the thing....A new Mac is no different form any pc...in fact, the only current difference is that the Mac uses FBDimms. So forget about going away from all your pc problems...because they just came to Mac.

The other option you have is to install Leopard or whatever to your pc...adn yes, it should work, although you may need to make sure your hardware is supported first.

BlueMak

Can a mod please move this under the gaming thread?

swimtech

Sure. The hardware is definitely involved, but your underlying focus is gaming implications so... Of course, the new Macs can all run Windows and therefore the games that run in Windows - and nicely at that.

BlueMak

Well, far less replies than expected. Thank you to those that did.
Last night I ordered an xbox360, which I will have by Monday. Also bought the game PGR3, was close to buying another game but decided to wait till next month when several good games will be released. (DeadRising, Test Drive etc)
I am just a bit worried for the bad things I have read about xbox failing after a while, and how the games will look on my 19" samsung tft non widescreen monitor.
Plus the games are very very very expensive.

So, it looks (if all go well) that I am moving off PC gaming. In fact the only games that I will be buying for PC are Sword of the Stars and Star Trek Legacy if it is MUCH better on the PC than the xbox. Plus I guess my totalgaming sub.




P.S. Why do I feel dirty? lol

g-a-m-e

You'll be back

Quitting pc gaming, i can only hope you thought long and hard about it before you bought that 360.

Don't get me wrong, consoles can be fun but (personal opinion) are more suited to play with other people

In other words, the games are just very different, you will not be playing
-First Person Shooters on the console (no matter what people say, it just sucks with a controller, and is very very slow)
-Also no simulation games (lock-on, Il2 sturmovik, Silent Hunter III etc..)

Instead you'll be playing racing games, or fighting games or sports games (also fun, but only with others)

Thing is, you gotta like hardware as well when pc gaming , otherwise it can be a pain i guess

p.s: im not saying you'll regret buying the 360, but im sure you'll be missing gaming on pc big time as well

Ubergrendle

You will never get the following quality of game on anything other than a PC:

- HalfLife 2 & Counterstrike
- Civlisation, or Sim City type games
- World of Warcraft
- Even cross port games ALWAYS play better on a PC: BF2 being the most recent example.