pc gaming – Page 3 – Adam's Blog

October 20, 2014October 20, 2014

Upgrading old PC for The Evil Within challenge

What is The Evil Within Challenge you say? Its a challenge created to test how far can I push my 7 year old PC. True, I upgraded the graphics card sometime back but that was the only thing I did. I will be getting the game on Xbox One in the near future but a PC version is a must so why not have any fun while doing it? I have ordered the final upgrades for this rig as I will be building a new one soon. Bellow is what I got:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.40 GHz CPU, an upgrade over my Core 2 Due. Now I realize I could have gone with Core 2 Extreme but reading incompatibility stories as well as not a huge boost made me go with this. While many of you will lough, I manged to play Batman Arkham Origins with everything on high on a decent resolution. I will not be gaming on 4K or even 1080p so that’s no big deal. It did say it needs a 4 core CPU ;D

4 GB of DDR2 is a must. An upgrade over my 2 GB of current Ram. Nothing unusual here seeing as 4 GB is becoming the standard new days.

EVGA – GeForce GTX 750 Superclocked GPU. I have heard great things about this card despite being a budget card, an upgrade over my 250 GTX. The card supports direct X 11.1 and that should be more than enough for the time being. Keep in mind I will not be doing 4k so this should do its job fine. As a bonus, it will not be needing a additional power as its energy efficient. Lets see how far this baby can go.

Now while the above may seem like a joke, I assure you I am very serious in finding out how far I can push things, hence this test. I am not trying to pretend that I will be running the latest games just fine or sell that I can achieve the impossible. I like proving my point and test things out and with the news that The Evil Within’s specs were exaggerated, I took it upon myself to see how things really are. I will be doing a video play through on my YouTube channel as soon as the parts arrive so stay tuned.

October 17, 2014October 17, 2014

What can Capcom do next?

What was once an unstoppable leading force is a straggling company today. Who would have thought that Resident Evil would become absolute trash, Street Fighter a rerelease sellout and Megaman go extinct? What angers me the most is that nobody asked for this stupid change. Resident Evil was doing great, I remember waiting for part 3 and going crazy when a class mate brought it bragging. Why did Capcom completely ruin the highest selling horror game and keep insisting on going nowhere.

Why did Megaman go bye-bye when Megaman X was doing great? I ask myself what happened as I brows eBay for retro Capcom games? Would it hurt any one if Capcom released Final Fight 4 on 3DS or even Xbox live arcade?

Why do I have to replay Resident Evil Code Veronica instead of Resident Evil 6? I don’t know if anything can be done at this point but as they say; better late than never. Capcom should start making things right before its too late including and not limited to:

New Street Fighter
New 2D Megaman X style game
Port the Megaman X collection to arcade, PSN and Steam
Resident Evil 2 remake
Final Fight port or even new part

I must give credit where credit is due: Capcom is trying hard with PC gaming and is cross porting the games along with great optimization. I want Capcom to be successful as they are one of the last old school game makers that did great games. I know that we can not always control the destiny of the things or people we love but I really hope for the best.

October 11, 2014

So whats happening?

I apologies for not blogging much during the last two weeks. I had a few things going like finishing Resident Evil 6 and starting 4 on the Xbox 360, sorting my eBay purchases which are yet to arrive and some other things.

I was planing to get a PS4 and later Xbox One but decided to give it more time since no big games are coming out that are not available on the PC. I will be placing an Evil Within preorder on my Xbox 360 until I decide what to do next.

I have also placed an order for a replacement CPU for my brothers old rig which is yet to arrive.

Other than that, Crash Team racing also arrived which I think is the best vs racing game on any system including Mario Cart.

Im still searching eBay components for my new Rig but may grab a rare Saturn game or two in the process. So how is everyone? Keep Gaming and have fun.

October 5, 2014October 5, 2014

DirectX 12 coming to Windows 10

Unreal 4 Engine 4.4 Supports DirectX 12!

So as expected, the upcoming Windows 10 will have DX12. Technically, DX12 can make things better and smother on development side. Still not sure on the upgrade but things looking good on the gaming side. I’m waiting for more information and actual test before deciding on getting windows 10 but like I said, exiting PC gaming days are ahead of use if and only if developers started to use the full power of PC gaming instead of using the bench mark set by PS4 and Xbox One.

I’m currently building a new PC and thinking of going 64 now that 4GB is becoming standard and newer games may require more soon. Will update you all once actual testing takes place. Hoping that Microsoft starts taking PC gaming seriouse again.

October 3, 2014

Why am I holding out on next gen

I never was amazed by the lunch of the so called next gen consoles. Not only were the graphical updates normal, the lack of good games made the case even worse. At times I wished I had atleast one of them but soon I realize that spending the money on a useless consoles with no real games is no wise choice considering all the good games are coming out on PC with better graphics or on Xbox 360/PS3 which I both own.

I apologies if I offended any one but for me, and please take that as an opinion is no reason to buy them yet. Not when PC gaming is still around. So let us start with PS4:

Believe it or not, I actually skipped PS3 even though I loved PS2 and PSone. Well I have a few games like Initial D but I did not give it a serious go. All that changed when PS4 was released. At first I was skeptical and with my problem of no user change or region change things didn’t look good on me going toward Sony again. After looking around more I started liking it to the point of almost getting one.

What happened?

Two things: Region and games. Where I live, Pal is dominated the market with no sign of NTSC. Now I know that I can continue doing the thing I already do which is getting my games from Amazon and eBay but having the option to buy cheap games is always a factor. The other problem is games. Apart from The last of us remastered which happens to be also on PS3, Rayman Legends and The Evil Within of which all of them aavailableon Xbox 360 and PC there are zero games that I care about. Well technically The Order is on my list but apart from that, nothing.

Xbox 360 was my main gaming console this gen -PC not included- so it was only natural to jump on the next Xbox. Sadly the same problem as the above; no games. Lower resolution aside, the Xbox One had nothing to offer. Forza 5 and what? I am patiently waiting for Gears of War 4 but until released, there is zero interest in it for me.

So what will I do?

Build a new PC for less. I triad upgrading my old rig which by the way plays Batman Arkham Origins fine with extra ram but things went horrible fast. Slow PC, not booting and so on. Yes PC gaming has its downs but until the next gen starts offering real games count me out.

September 26, 2014

Bethesda’s The Evil Within System Requirements reviled

Finally after months of speculating and guessing the system requirements for the upcoming horror game are live and they are NOT what everyone expected. Note that these are the only the recommended high requirements and anything lower is NOT supported.

64-bit Windows 7/Windows 8
i7 with four plus cores
4 GBs RAM
50 GB of hard drive space*
GeForce GTX 670 or equivalent with 4GBs of VRAM
High Speed Internet Connection
Steam account and activation

So not only will you need to upgrade, you will need to be a hardcore PC gamer upgraded with dedicated knowledge and budget to play this game. Now I know that so of you will say: PC gaming was always an expensive hobby. Im sorry but since when did PC gaming became a no choice platform? PC gaming was always about choice. You have a low hardware? No problem. You have high end hardware? Good for you.

Asking people to upgrade this insainly is an open door to hell. Suppose I sell my arm and leg to get this and the game still is having issues? The game should be optemized to the max and make you feel that it is using every bit out of the hard earned upgrade or otherwise whats the point? I can easily get the Xbox 360 version and call it day but I want to have the best experience and experience the best gam play and graphics aka PC version.

I have a feeling the game will be poorly optimized hence the reason for such a high upgrade like the many before it namely Watch Dogs and GTA 4. A 64 bit Windows 7 or 8 only? Really? Bethesda, you are asking people to spend allot of money on something, make us feel that the spending was worth it.

I may be wrong but so far this is the only game that is requiring such a powerful hardware with nothing else supported so I hope to God that Bethesda knows what its doing.

Waiting for more news and possibly a demo or a batch mark in order to confirm or disregard my fears.

September 10, 2014

WB client in works and why do I care

It is almost confirmed that WB will be entering the clients war. I don’t own a crystal ball nor do I use magic to read the future but this could go wrong, especial for Batman lovers.

Steam did something right and revolutionized the digital era, what followed by the industry was not so great. Sure, EA Origin is catching up but nothing beats Steam in terms of flexibility, reliability and the ease of use. The uPlay was a disaster and although I do have a choice of not using anything else, that window is closing very soon. The problem arises when games become exclusive to a platform. Origin did it and now WB might too.

batman_arkham_knight Batman Arkham Knight coming out next year, by this time the WB client will most likely be out. If and that’s a big if, the game requires it many problems could arise and even make people buy the console versions instead. Early applications tend to be buggy, just go back and count the years it took steam to be where it is now. Batman will be a demanding game, anything else slowing it down like eating system resources by supposedly this clinet will have a negative impact.

Everything I said is not confirmed so I may be jumping the gun but fears are fears. I am looking forward to this game and will end up buying it on more than a system like I did on the previous Arkham games so this is a big deal to me. Once again, anticipating the future and hoping for the best.

September 3, 2014September 3, 2014

Adam plays Sonic 4 Episode II

I‘m on fire; after completing episode I, I started and completed Episode II in one go and boy, was I surprised. This game is what episode I should have been. Everything is improved, definitely a better episode.

Graphics

The graphics are improved with better textures and colors. The options now allow for higher resolution as well. Not to say this is running on another engine but things has improved.

More 3D objects in the backgrounds, jumping back and fourth inside the picture makes the game feel more 3D while keeping the 2D game play intact. Once again, not a game changer but a welcome addition to an already improved game.

Score 5/5

Gameplay

The picture above is something I wanted ever since Sonic the Hedgehog 2, finally introduced in Episode II. You can now tag along with Tails “controlled by the game or player 2” and preform combined moves like flaying and destroying enemies.

The stages look better and smother as well as the whole game. Each stage looks unique and well designed and unlikely episode I, interesting. Sonic now runs in a much believable way unlike the first episode. New type of enemies and stage obstacles were one of the welcomed additions as well. There is one annoying part however, just like episode I; some parts of the stage are very hard. Don’t get me wrong, I love challenging games but these parts feel over powered and annoying. Rest assure, they are in small number and rare.

Apart from that, the game looks good and plays good.

Score 5/5

Sound

The game sounds did not change, however the music is better and have Sega feel to it like the nights into dreams alike stage above. Nothing significant to report here.

Score 4/5

Conclusion

A much better Episode than the first. A must play for any Sega Sonic fan. Unlikely Episode I, this game looks and feels like a new chapter and not a mega drive Sonic remake. Get it dirt cheap on any platform including the IOS which I will review sometime in the feature.

September 2, 2014September 2, 2014

Preorder The Evil Within now on Steam

The preorder on Steam is live; secure your digital special edition for $59.99 as well as the season pass for $19.99 and get the Fighting Chance pack for free.

The game should be out on 14 Oct 2014. Personally, I will preorder mine but not sure about the season pack yet.

August 22, 2014August 22, 2014

My first GTA expirance

So as promised earlier on twitter, I will be starting my GTA experience from 3 and onward. Last night, I managed to install and play GTA 3 on PC of which I bought earlier on steam. To start off I set everything to high and maxed out the resolution for the best possible outcome. Setting up Xbox 360 controller with this game takes allot of work and downloading so I used mouse and keyboard.

I noticed that something funny is going on with the screen with broken edges (aliasing) but the frame rate was stable. I got used to the sensitivity of the camera movement and hijacked my first car. As I progressed and learned the game I realized that was missing on great games. Now my brother kept on saying that this is arguably the worst GTA and that the later titles are way better I insisted on finishing this game as I like the character and the settings.

I am yet to use a skin but I like the way they set it up, just like every PC game should be; customizable.

Doing missions is kinda repetitive but that’s GTA 3 for ya. So far I hijacked a few cars and enjoyed the physics. Im still working on my aim but I guess you cant get used to everything within 30 minutes. I am looking forward to continue playing and trying San Andreas as I already own it on the original Xbox.

The graphics look kinda old but playable and to be honest, I am very late to the party so cant complain. All in all, the game is enjoyable and I am sure things will get interesting along the way. I recommend it as its very cheap and fun.

PS: The comments are still broken, I receive and see them but for some reason they do not appear on the blog for everyone else. Never the less, thank you very much for the support guys. I am working to resolve this issue as soon as possible.