f13.net

Everyone loves this sort of thread.  I'll be buying some gaming shit post-haste, but of course I'm a hard-working corporate stooge with a family and a drinking problem and thusly cannot be trusted to spend my money wisely.  The list of purchaseable items is below.  Your task is to argue about which ones I should buy first/last/never/two of.

1. Approximately $800-worth of PC hardware for The Modernization
2. A Wii
3. A Xbox 360
4. Another PS3 controller
5. PSP
6. softwares

Number six is really asking for it.  I can't even narrow that shit down.  All bets are off.

To get things started, do I need to get the 360 on the way home and shove off the other stuff for a bit?  PSP instead?

I'd put the 360 first, followed by the Wii.

I'd put the PSP low on the list and the PS3 controller depends on your needs. If you only have one and like to have friends over then yeah, get one.

Modernizing the PC would be at the bottom of my list. There are few games worth getting on PC these days and the number shrinks every year it seems like. If you need it for other reasons, like video editing that is a different story. But if you use it for gaming and net surfing then I wouldn't bother.

So my order would be:

1. 360 (it has a ton of games and more goodness coming, and XBOX live and achievements rock.)
2. Wii (a billion people can't be wrong right?)
3. Another PS3 controller. (but honestly, this is what? $50? If you only have one get another anyway. No gaming system should have less than 2 controllers.)
4. PSP
5. Software
6. PC upgrade.

360.
Do you have a DS? I've got some things you should buy.
Used PSP.

Seriously, Yegolev, I know your gaming habits. Stay the fuck far away from the Wii.

I'd get a 360 if I were you. Thought you already had one though?

Wii AND a PSP could be tempting...

But....You don't like handhelds much, right? And, you already have one slightly game starved console in the PS3. Might want to wait a bit on the Wii.

What PC modernization are you implying exactly? One that's specced for Vista? Or just one that'll run games better? If the former: Wtf are you thinking? If the latter: What games exactly? PC gaming really worth it right now to you? I'd bet that the 360 has most of your desires covered at the moment.

I'm not sure why you'd buy a PSP unless you're really stoked about using it to play PS1 games.  IMO, there's still no killer app for it and the overall library is not up to snuff.  I recently pruned my PSP library to buy some other games.

I just got a larger-than-expected-yet-still-insulting-bonus today. Looks like I'm getting a 360.  The other two consoles to me just don't have libraries worthy of purchase. Hey, I still have a copy of Saints Row from that AGC shindig.

Of course, I still don't have an HD tv yet.  That will soon be corrected also. Somehow.

So..

3, 6, 4, with the other tieing for last position.  Do you have a particular game you're upgrading for?

Don't buy any of that crap.  Buy your wife three tiny white dogs and a mini trampoline.

I'm a huge fan of PC's and PC games and will be the first to tell you not to get either 1 or 6.  There's nothing worth playing on the PC anymore.  So...

I'd say: 360 and maybe a PSP for on the go.  The Wii looks fun, but I think people will bore of the novelty fast.

You know what's going on with me, so I'm not sure you can play.  You already know how it's going to go down.  I also, like the mythical cyclops, can see my doom but am unable to diverge from the path that destiny has laid before me.

DS, yes I have that.  My "list" there just consists of Portait of Ruin right now.  Wizard needs games badly.  The DS is just a tiny Wii.  I tire of saying a game is good "for a handheld".

Stray actually has a good handle on my situation, too.  I don't have a 360 for some reason, and I am not really a handheld gamer.  As for the PC upgrade, the main reason for this post is that I had second thoughts on my way to newegg.com and thought I'd see what the Peanut Gallery had to say.  My PC upgrade is just for performance (not Vista, I don't even really know what "specced for Vista" means), moving from an AMD XP3000+ to an Intel C2D (2.3GHz at most) and associated required subsystem updates.  I am also doing it for storage, since I have almost run out of disk space due to the IO limits of the A7N8X-Deluxe mobo.  Moving from a GF6800GT to -- most likely -- a GF7900GS due to PCI-E and Oblivion and HL2 expansions, plus some et cetera here and there.  There's no PC game that I am upgrading for, but it would be nice to turn up the sliders on the ones I already have.


I already have the mini trampoline (yes, really) and there's no chance of dogs.  Easier to juggle knives, anyway.  No more dependents that I cannot claim on my taxes.  Actually she's getting a miniature kiln, so I think she's taken care of between that and the Dell XPS laptop she got last October.  But feel free to make more suggestions, keeping in mind that this thread is for me and my filthy habits.

So far this has been a surprisingly productive thread.  You can toss in other ideas (not things that shit on the floor) if I have been terribly oversightful.  Also remember "softwares" covers console games as well as PC.

I take back everything I said.

Buy a PSP and a 4GB memory card.

I'm sure there are good reasons for this, but I can't think of one.

I don't know how much you have to spend, but I'd suggest:

Get the PS3 controller (especially if you don't alreadt have at least 2)
Get the 360
Get the Wii
Then get softwares for the above. Everyone else seems to put softs at the bottom, but there's no point having a 360 with no games. Wii Sports might be enough to get you by on the Wii to start with, also your wife might enjoy playing it with you...

I didn't say how much I was going to spend, but the idea is that a sane person would not just go out and buy everything that he had skipped out on for the past year or so and that there should be some sort of hierarchy of what is bought first.  There are things that come before the entertainment purchases, such as an inline water heater and a metal doorframe, however that's not why we are here.

I'd go with the new PC myself but I also don't have any of the current gen consoles except the DS and I've always been more of a PC gamer than a console gamer.

So what softwares would you apply to the new hardwares?

I'm probably going to get a WRT54GL in the PC pile, too.

[EDIT] No wait, nevermind.


And dangit, somebody actually delete this post. I don't want to get shit for artificially boosting my postcount.  :-P

Too late for that now.

OMG NOTHING ON THE PC IT SUCKS LAWLERS

 :roll:

Well, do you and your gay RAM have any suggestions?  Don't say BF2142.

I'd suggest Medieval TW 2 and more Steam stuff, I guess.

And then tell you to wait for Crysis, Spore or some other thing in the future -- and just get Total War and more Steam titles then.

But gone are the days of great PC titles across all genres. Hell, many of those genres barely even exist anymore.

[edit] Hell, you could probably run TW right now anyways. And I doubt those Sam and Max titles are pushing your system. ;)

I don't know what you have.

I just got FEAR, which is a great shooter. MUA is a cool beat-em-upper. Haven't dipped into the other programs I've got, Gothic 3 should be splendid if it's as good as the last couple. Guild 2 seems interesting if quirky (but my old lady loves medieval stuff). I'm pissed Total War doesn't do proper widescreen, not sure if it'll even be playable. I also like EQ2 which I'm dabbling in a bit and Planetside (plus Burning Crusade when it gets a bit cheaper). X3 looks cool (DVD version sans Starforce plus expansion), very deep with lots of stuff to get into (but I need to have time to get into it, probably on vacation next month). Planning on getting 1701AD at some point, that's another fun series. I really like the European stuff.

Heroes V, I gotta play that one some more, too. GalCiv2 is on the plate to buy at some point, GalCiv was a great game. Civ4 if you don't have it, though I prefer Civ3. Stuff coming out soon: Jade Empire, Resident Evil 4, both should be good ports because I'm a graphics whore with a cordless gamepad. Coming out not-so-soon Bioshock and Spore. I'll be holding off on Crysis until I get Vista for dx10, so around SP1 time. GoW should be coming out for PC around then, too.

That's off the top of my head, I probably missed some stuff.

He already has a PS3, so he could save cash and buy MUA for it. FEAR is out on that platform this month too, I believe.

Jade sucks, and he already has an Xbox. RE4 rocks like few others, but it's already on PS2.

Guild 2 is trash, man. Trash. As is X3. Or any of the X's. -- YMMV. No offense. But I'm really ticked by those, because it's exactly the kind of flashback to old school PC gaming I'd want -- but it's shit in comparison.

There just aren't very many sim type games these days, or space shooters (or flight combat period). Adventure games are few and far between. Games in the spirit of X-Com and JA are basically dead. Or even the once popular TBS.

Some other good games you mention though. PC only to boot. PC's have a firm grip on RTS's (and the occassional TBS or pseudo TBS), and some RPG types. I'll give you that.

And MMO's. Which I'm not even going to touch.

PC FEAR >>>>> Console FEAR.

I'll take a PC version over a console version any day. I liked Jade but quit playing my xbox version when the PC version was announced. Why play an inferior low-res version if you don't have to? He already has a pc :) Not to mention that these days buying a console game adds about $20 to the price for each game. Even the Platinum Hits are $30 these days, $10 more than a reasonably aged pc game.

I guess a 360 wouldn't be horrible, for teh exclusives like Fight Night, isn't Guitar Hero coming out for 360, too? Crackdown sounds fun, but short. I try not to console hate, especially since graphics are better these days, but with a decent pc and a gamepad, I just don't see the need outside a couple exclusives.

Best part of X3 (I just watched the intro)? The enemy race is the Kha'Ak. The cock. I was almost crying at the end of the intro with all the bad puns. We have to be vigilant against the cock. The cock can appear at any moment! The cock killed my family!

JA: try Silent Storm. Doesn't do widescreen properly so I set it aside, but it was fun while I was playing it.

You crack me up, Sky. If it's a good game, then enjoy yourself damnit!  :-P

I am reminded of Morgan Webb doing the review of X3 on G4.  Actually funny.  Normally I want to staple her mouth shut.

Sky, you reminded me that I am in sore need of a gamepad.  As for why I would play a game on a console rather than a PC, for me the top-ranking interface consideration is control rather than visual detail.  For example, RE4 -- not being a FPS -- may not be well-suited to m+k control; have not given it a try, though, so I can't really say.  Half-Life 2, even if I didn't already have that one, would be a PC game for me even if the 360 version looked better.  I'm willing to play games in the back of a Volkswagen if I get better controls.

I guess I will lay out what I have, although I was hoping for a more lively discussion of things if there was an open playfield.  You people are a bit too pragmatic.  I'll just list off my pertinent hardware, not the complete list:

Aged gaming PC
PS3
PS2
GameCube
Xbox
HDTV
DS Lite

In my own defense I tend to seperate games from software. When I hear software I think productivity programs and not a DVD you stick into your XBOX. I know, it's weird.

So sorry, man. I tried to be otherwise for a second there. Can't do it. I'm having fights all over the place lately. No energy to lay on a full assault of overly biased shittiness at the moment. Spreading it a bit thin.  :-D

That's why you need a gamepad! I recommend the logitech cordless rumblepad 2. Though I miss the triggers of my old firestorm, it lives forever on a couple AAs and is basically a PS2 controller. Plus, MUA was designed around it.

If you pick up a 360, get this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16874103054) as well if you need a gamepad for your PC.

I'd go with 2 and 3. You'll find the 360 easily, and the Wii will likely be a chore to find. If you happen on the Wii first, go ahead and get it, since there's no telling when you'll see one again with disposable income burning a hole in your pocket. If you pick up the 360, Gears of War and whatever else you think is a decent buy. For the Wii, Zelda of course, but I recommend Red Steel or Call of Duty 3.

When the logitech goes tits-up, that's what I'll be getting. Especially with the whole Games for Windows thang.

I want to let things proceed naturally in this thread, but I have to make a couple comments.  Firstly, World War II games are out.  I should not have to explain why.  I have Resistance, but I claim extenuating circumstances: I needed a PS3 game for the PS3, it has monsters and fantasy weapons, and Insomniac.  The Riddick-style health bar is something I like, too.

Secondly, Zelda.  I have nightmares about a right-handed Zelda.  I am completely torn here.  Half of me says I should have gotten the GC version long ago, while the other half says that is stupid.  Actually, it's not half anymore, but I'm going to skip any discussion of Zelda in any form here just on general principles.  Zelda is Chinatown, just let it be.

To be exact, if I had $800 to blow on games (and assuming I could find all of this), it'd be

Premium 360
Wireless Adaptor
Second Controller
Gears of War
Lost Planet

Would just a have little spare cash left after that.

Alternatively:

PSP
4GB stick
Lumines I/II
Size Matters
Wipeout
AC X

Wii/Wii Sports
Twilight Princess

Which would probably be just a bit over $800 -- But that's a shitload of stuff comparatively.

[EDIT] Heh, wait a second. That'd be well over $800.  :-D

WWII: Company of Heroes looks fucking splendid, and I dislike RTS. Anyone know if you can pause-and-issue-orders? If so, I'm all over that when it hits $20-30.

Also, thanks for the reminder on Riddick, been meaning to hunt that down on the cheap.

You can pause, but it's not entirely necessary. Have no fear! Like DoW, it's not a micro heavy RTS.

Note: I don't actually own it, just played a bit. Not sure if you can set up turn based/pause games in multiplayer either.

Atelier Iris 3 was just announced for PS2. Comes out in May.

It's going to be HOT. I've got details, but ya know. lazy.

Yup you can pause and give orders. CoH is also a more "deliberate" RTS compared to, say, Dawn of War. CoH encourages you to set up defenses, taking advantage of the buildings and terrain, before moving on to the next objective.

Edit: to not do

My favorite part about CoH is the fact your units seemingly act intelligently most of the time.  They dig in, take cover, attack appropriately, and generally follow commands better than in any other RTS I've ever played.  I'm still playing skirmishes pretty regularly and I bought it at release.

Riddick kicks the shit out of Resistance, or any other FPS that I can think of.  Maybe not Half-Life.  But we're not here to discuss that.  By the way... NO FUCKING IN THE COURTYARD.

The discussion about peripherals is a good one.  The 360 requires an additional investment if you don't want to run cable, and I don't.  On the other hand, the controller doubles as a PC gamepad... if I buy the dongle.  It also comes with a component cable, unlike any other machine I can think of.  What else can I expect to be nickel-and-dimed with in any of these scenarios?

A Gold subscription. Besides that, you're pretty set, I think.

[edit] Headset too. ;)

I have a Sennheiser headset already, despite my lack of participation in TS.  I mostly use it with my DS.  Also, the Big 360 comes with one.

360.
Games for the 360.
Wireless card for the 360.
Second controller for the 360.
Guitar Hero 2 (again) for the 360.
Gold subscription for the 360.
A good 4000-8000 marketplace points to catch up with everyone else... for the 360.

All told, the 360 is not a cheap investment...

Oy-vey caramba!

I'm not getting the HD-DVD unit.

I didn't say anything about the HD-DVD unit.

Yep. Didn't know you go buy points though.


Unrelated: I know people are gonna get pissed at me for saying this: But the PSP, the more I think about it, is looking like the 3rd most compelling system out there (after PS2 and DS). Not the 360. I'm torn (personally speaking....not suggesting anything to Yeg).

Eh.

Only from a "hack the planet" standpoint.

I didn't review one of the recent releases because no matter how much I tried to play the game (logged 30 hours), the PSP made it not fun. That fucking system was not made to be enjoyable. Everything played on it seems like less than it is. I don't know how that works either since the screen is amazazing.

My opinion is that it is centered on the controls (shocking).  The screen is unparalleled, but the ergonomics of it are Not For Me.

I need to borrow someone's for awhile, I guess. But I don't know anyone with many games. And there's actually quite a few titles I want to play on it (can't really say that about other things).

Not putting in full dual shock controls was a huge mistake. I've been tempted by the system (the screen, anyway) a couple times, but it just seems like not having the nub for camera control is a deal-breaker.

I'm thinking how cool it could have been to have tilt on a portable. Not for everything, mind you...But some titles would probably kick ass. Like Ace Combat. A Marble Madness type of game would be great too.

[EDIT]

Heh. Then again, that could be a problem. You'd be moving the screen along with everything else.  :-P

Meh, I don't want tilt. I'm an old guy who moves the controller suddenly when I'm hitting buttons. I'd be all over the place.

Then again, I always made those stupid pinball machines tilt.

Sure, but considering everything else on the list was gaming-related, I assumed it to be "bunch of gaming software across various platforms".

Also, Riddick is a good FPS? I saw that for the cheap the other day, but you know, movie tie-in and so forth. May have to go back and check it.

Yes it's quite good.

Yep, Riddick would be one of the few movie based games where the Hollywood side (just Vin Diesel, I think) liked games enough to want it to be something special. So there were good people working on it.

In fact, it was better than the movie. Heh.

It's actually a prequel to Pitch Black though, and has nothing to do with the Riddick film's storyline.


The same guys are working on the Darkness too, which should be out soon.

Don't buy a 360 now. There are all these rumours about imminent release of a new HDMI version with 120 GB HD. Even if those don't interest you, it will lower the cost of the current versions...

And no good PC games? All the interesting current and upcoming games are on PC: Spore, Civ 4, Medieval 2: Total War, Pirates of the Burning Sea. I mean, how many console shooters do you really want to own before your eyes glaze from the unremitting sameness of it all?

Those rumors are just that.

Besides, they wouldn't announce it at GDC (which would be "imminent"). It's not the place for that kind of consumer news, and Microsoft doesn't exactly have the biggest presence there this year anyways.

Agreed. But if you're on the fence about a 360, at this point it seems worth it to wait a few months. If you just have to have one, then sure, go ahead and buy it.

I'd agree with that. Though the shooters and action titles that are on it are very tempting.

Personally, I could hold out until Forza 2 and some of the upcoming rpg's.

Then again, it'd suck spending all that money in the following months catching up with the older games. It's not a bad idea to get one now just for that. :-P

I'm pretty well-stocked with console shooters.  Who isn't, really?  Lots of them are far less fun than Ratchet & Clank or Timesplitters or even Halo.  For the serious ones, I have the PC.

My TV does not have HDMI inputs, and is HDMI so much better that I would start using it or die a terrible pixelated death?  If I wait too long, my wife will spend the money on things for herself, my son or the family as a whole.

I also think I'm pretty covered in the RTS arena, as well.  Rise of Nations, Dawn of War, StarCraft... that should about cover it.

Spore seems interesting but it's a crapshoot if you ask me.  Pirates of the Burning Sea might be my most-anticipated PC title right now, and Bioshock, but I am trying to keep my expectations low there.  That tactic worked great with Hellgate: London.

I'll be clear and say that I wasn't trying to get you all to help me decide if I should buy Office 2007, or update to the newest OpenOffice build, or if you found any bugs in PuTTY 0.59 that I should know about.  I wasn't intent on excluding non-game software from the discussion, either, but yeah.  Feel free to try to convince me to buy some non-game software, but it had better be entertaining.

HDMI isn't so much better than Component. And I frickin hate that it has audio running through it.

Only entertaining software applications I can think of need accompanying hardware. If you have a camera or a midi controller, I'll make suggestions :).

Games:

Screw it. Just save your cash, and buy a copy of Motorstorm next week.  :-)

Though I do think Gears, Lost Planet, Dead Rising, or Chromehounds are fresh enough to not play into your shooter apathy.

First, Butcher Bay was awesome because Starbreeze already had a super game before Diesel threw money and his face at it.  Better than the movies.

Second, time to lay out what I did.  Thanks to everyone for your help here.  The consensus was that Baby Jesus cried nightly knowing that I did not have a 360.

Have now:
Big 360
Gears
Dead Rising
Wii
Zelda

Coming soon:
Second Wiimote
Component cable
Mario Party 8
other assorted junk

I just walked into Target and picked up a Wii, which explains why I don't have all of the bits and pieces.  I think the 360 wireless is on the list, too.  As expected, my wife thinks the Wii is awesome.  Me, I'm impressed with how far the GameCube has come.  Still getting used to the controls, but since I had Zelda-dreams all last night, I think it must be a winner.  Holy crap, does it remind me of Okami, though.

The 360, it has some great games.  Dead Rising is much better than I had thought it would be.  Gears is growing on me; apparently grey is the new brown.  The Dashboard doesn't make the impression on me that XMB does.  I have decided that the idea-theft between these three consoles wasn't taken far enough.

Again, thanks for playing.  Feel free to keep arguing, though.

XMB is about to get better, I think.

But as it is now, I think it's a lot more elegant. Dashboard looks like something out of ESPN.


All that being said, Baby Jesus is still crying. I'm like the only one left on this site without a 360.

I don't got one.

What do you got, Cat Sandwich?  I think you have a PC.

PC, PS2, DS, GC, Xbox (on loan to a friend). I don't have any of the latest gen consoles, yet.

I don't have any of the new stuff either.  I'm saving my money for a face transplant.

I don't have any of the new consoles, and given my experience with the last round, I won't be buying any. I'd haul it out to play a new game, finish it and away it would go while I played pc games between interesting console launches. If my father hadn't given me over a dozen games (of which I've played two because he likes console shooters), I'd have a half-dozen xbox games. I think the Cube was worth buying, but barely. It was cheap, I didn't need any extra stuff with it, and the games were solid and exclusives (Zelda, RE remake and zero, mostly). But still, three games? Meh.

I waver with the 360 for stuff like fight night and dead rising, but it's still buying a dedicated non-upgradeable machine for a couple games. Just doesn't make sense. I'd rather miss out on a few titles now and again and spend the money on another guitar ;)

Eternal Darkness, but yes the Cube library is small.  As usual, I'm not coming down on your for not liking console games, but avoiding lots of good games because you have a problem with the hardware is silly.  But choices must be made and I cannot fault you, really.  Guitars last much longer than game platforms.


Can't you just put a bag over his head?

I'd be careful. Righ might have a gun.

He will never penetrate the Liechtenstein border.

I too don't have any of the new consoles, but that is not a permanent condition.

I almost bought the 360 after I posted that stuff above earlier, but pulled out at the last minute. Had the box in hand...Was just about to head to the line and everything. It was actually my 360 owning friend who talked some sense to me. I ended up just getting some controllers for the Wii and PS3, and another iPod (all of which I needed).

I'm happy for now. The Wii is a good compliment to the PS3, and the PS3 is slowly coming into it's own.

We'll see how I fare once Forza is released.

God how I hate you. I called my local EB Games yesterday to check out what's up. They say they're still in the mode where they get a shipment once a week and it's sold out within half an hour.

That's how I did it too, but at Toys R Us (though I did get one of the last ones). It seemed like more people there were fighting for the DS Lites. I was surprised.

Ok then, I hate you too!

Stop going to EBStop, you'll regret it... obviously.  If at all possible, go to Target or TRU or anywhere else.  I'm not going to suggest Wal*Mart.  I would have had one many, many weeks ago except that I wasn't applying myself.  The thing to do in the case of Target is to drop by after 2pm every day and see if they have any, or maybe call them but that's a crapshoot really since you won't always get someone on the phone.

The Wii is fun. Good choice, Yeg. The boy will have fun too. And you can join the Wii friend code thread (to which I still hafta post)! Having little cartoon Miis is hella fun.

I put mine in there.  Still not really sure how to make it actually -- you know -- work.

You work with AIX shit, and can't get a Wii to work? :evil:

I tried squeezing fun from a rock once...

My Mii has longish hair, but I just chopped a lot of mine off.^*



* Most useless post of the day.

Oh no, I can top that -

The Flyers beat the Devils in Overtime tonight.

AIX isn't normally fun, but it does have a lot of documentation.  Even if it did have a huge detailed manual, I don't think I should have to read it to enjoy something like the Wii.  It's supposed to be a cross between an iPod and those crap games inside a joystick that you just plug into your TV.

This is all moot, anyway, since I can talk to any of you via several other, better methods.  This includes the PS3.  My Wii is for fake bowling, not communicating with people.

Go the Vin Diesel. I hear he throws his face at things anyway.

Is it just me, or is this thread mostly a bunch of people telling Yeg to buy a 360, who later turn out not to even have one themselves?

They're using you as a Guinea Pig Yegolev, Guinea Pig I say.


Really? You know, I heard that all of Vin Diesel's toes are big toes. (http://4q.cc/index.php?pid=fact&person=vin) Yes. That website again.

Dont turn around - he's behind you....

Maybe I am a guinea pig, but the 360 has been out for at least 14 months.  Not having one was a crime against gaming.  The people who are using me as a test subject are, I feel, hopeless, since they are farther behind than me.

Today I picked up Wii Play, that batch of games what comes with an extry Wiimote.  And a component cable, the only one they had at Best Buy and the only one that I have ever seen on a shelf anywhere.

The machinations by which my PC will be upgraded have begun to move.  The real clincher was when I installed Oblivion on my wife's laptop today and was finally able to watch the intro movie.  It has a Go 7900 and TESIV was very nice.

I'm not using you as a guinea pig. There are already a dozen guinea pigs at this site alone.  :-P

I planned on getting all consoles, and just have the 360 to go. Probably would have snagged a 360 at first if my PS2 didn't die on me.

Just waiting for Forza now --- and accessorizing and enjoying the PS3 in the meantime. Also trying to do the same with the Wii (enjoying I mean.....which isn't really happening at the moment, tbh).

That being said, I don't think it's a crime against gaming to not have one. That would be the PS2.

 :roll:

Don't roll your eyes. It's pointless. There's over 4000 games on that thing worldwide. If only one percent were great games (and there are more than that), then it'd still be a system worth getting.

You (Stray) are right about the PS2, of course, but if someone doesn't have a PS2 by now it's pointless to discuss it with them.  Furthermore, trying to disuade someone from liking console games is futile; no matter how awesome your emoticons are, you can't make someone change their mind and think Ratchet & Clank sucks.  It is true that some game designs were poorly implemented on non-primary systems, but that is a huge discussion about Game Design.  More importantly, this thread is about me and my crap, and since I already have one-and-a-half PS2s, we don't have to worry about that.

I'm not against having a discussion of what makes a good game, however I thought we were covering this elsewhere.  Next up will be a lively discussion of my PC upgrade, so everyone get your notes in order.

Rather than keep people (you) in suspense, here's my latest misallocation of funds:

ASUS P5B Deluxe
Intel 2.13 GHz Conroe
XFX 7900GS, PCIE, 256MB
Crucial 1GB PC2 4200, x2
Seagate SATA2 250GB (ST3250820AS)

They sold out of the Gigabyte mainboard that I wanted.  Oh, well.

Looks fine.

After watching 4 Gigabyte boards systematically die after about 2 1/2 years of use I decided to never buy one again. 

That looks sexy though.

Needs faster memory.

And what Conroe is that, btw? I'm not familiar enough with the hertz to know off hand.

Also, Trippy, even if your mb has an 800 FSB, will memory speed matter if your CPU speed 'multiple' doesn't 'fit' with the ram speed?

Sure, though in real-world applications you may not see any noticable difference in performance. It's also probably not worth getting higher clock speed memory if the latencies increase as well. You can see benchmarks of how memory speed affects performance with the C2D here:

http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2878

I agree.  It is faster than what I have now, though, and can be upgraded should I feel the pinch.  Cost/benefit says this is adequate.  Also, I'm afeared of the 2.2V RAM in what amounts to a new build; I don't want to have to go back and buy a 1.8V stick due to lazy BIOS.  I am content to plan for a RAM upgrade in Q108.

That Conroe is the $222 one, in newegg dollars.  I think it's 3rd from the top.  Again, I decided on this speed based on the cost-to-power curve.  All together, I'm getting a much, much nicer machine for just under $850.  Coming from a XP 3000+ on a A7N8X Deluxe to this is a nice jump, and I no longer feel like I have to have the biggest e-peen across the net.

I considered sentiments against Gigabyte found elsewhere in deciding to go for the ASUS board.  It has fewer and smaller ports, but it's ASUS and cheaper.

I just realized that I forgot to buy a DVI-to-D-SUB converter.

If your card has dual DVIs it should come with a converter. Check the video card package contents.

Don't hate on Asus, please.

Not hating, I like ASUS.  Usually it's more pricey, though.  In this case I am paying less for fewer portholes, but it's a fair trade to get fewer holes if I get a stable ASUS board.  I didn't look at the two boards they make over $200, besides I think they have that wacky new Nvidia chipset that Tom's Hardware gave a hearty "if it works, it's super" to.

Oh alright.

Sorry, didn't mean to jump on ya. I'm just happy that my system now works, no matter what I do (it seems). Asus board is still trucking along like a champ, thanks to that new vid card and a proper PSU.

You will have to try a lot harder than that to offend me, so no apology necessary.  I am often cryptic due to my mismanglement of the American language.

Hey, Yeg, check out this week:

[PS2] Shining Force EXA
[PSP] Puzzle Quest: Challenge of WarLords (don't scoff, going to be awesome me thinks)
[360] Tetris Evolution
[360] TMNT (new one)
[360] Armored Core 4 (or PS3 if you're an achievement, online hating nazi)
[360] Virtua Tennis 3 (see Armored Core 4)
[360] Earth Defense Force 2017 (YES YES YES YES YES YES YES)
[PS3] Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (miss it the first time?)
[WII] Cooking Mama: Cook Off
[WII] Kororinpa: Marble Madness mania
[WII] Wing Island (if you're a fan of shitty games)

Did you know that Kororinpa is an anagram of Raki porno?   :-o

Wow.  Let's see how I can desecrate your list.

[PS2] Shining Force EXA
[PSP] Puzzle Quest: Challenge of WarLords (don't scoff, going to be awesome me thinks)
[360] Tetris Evolution
[360] TMNT (new one)
[360] Armored Core 4 (or PS3 if you're an achievement, online hating nazi)
[360] Virtua Tennis 3 (see Armored Core 4)
[360] Earth Defense Force 2017 (YES YES YES YES YES YES YES)
[PS3] Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (miss it the first time?)
[WII] Cooking Mama: Cook Off
[WII] Kororinpa: Marble Madness mania
[WII] Wing Island (if you're a fan of shitty games)

No more Tetris.  I'm serial.  You might as well try to sell me a Rubik's Cube or a Simon.  Also, I don't see a PSP on the horizon.  Sho shorry.  I'm going to put TMNT in the same basket as Tetris; you can call it chronism if you like, there's no law against it.  Also: no sports games, it's a policy that has served me well over the years.

The thing about Oblivion for PS3 (or 360 for that matter) is that my wife wants to play it but apparently WASD is "retarded" or maybe just "hard", plus she likes playing on the TV.  She pointed out to me that The Sims is almost-completely mouse-driven, to which I did not comment.  I'm not convinced that she will like it, but there it is.  She let me play GoWII all weekend, so I'm not going to say anything discouraging.

i am very much looking forward to Cooking Mama for the Wii.

Here is an update on the PC-building saga.  It's been down for quite a while, at first so I could cut a new hole in the case for that second PSU (pictures forthcoming, waiting on the machine to come alive).  I took care of that today and I started putting the pieces together.  Two things went wrong.  First, I installed the drive bay before plugging in the PSU to the mobo and I should have known that wasn't going to work.  Second, I noticed the mainboard has a 24-pin socket.  Someone snuck a power standard change by me.

Bought one of these (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817341002) just now.  I'll put that one in where the 480W is now and move the 480W up to where the 400W is sitting.  If it won't fit in the hole, well... might be some rage.

Are you sure your old power supply doesn't have a square 4 pin aux power connector on it?

Sorta does, a 12V AUX plug, but the square ones and the beveled ones don't line up, and I don't really feel like frying anything right now.  I stared at it for quite a bit before I decided against it.

You made me go look at the sockets again.  I verified they won't both fit without some "modification".  I have used up my "modification" points with the chassis, now I'm just going to throw money at the problem.  A man's got to know his limitations.

If it's a 4x1 Molex connector instead of a 2x2 square connector you don't want to plug that next to the 20-pin connector even if you had some sort of adapter for it.

It is a 2x2 with square and beveled plugs just like the 2x10 main.  Really, if the plugs matched up then I'd have probably given it a shot.  You're talking to the guy who filed the notch in some DDR RAM and tried to use it in a DDR2 slot; I think I have learned my lesson.  Maybe.

I feel much, much better now that I am looking at a BIOS screen.  I want a quick opinion: what is the minimum size for a C: partition when using WinXP?  I have both 64 and 32 but the adult in me likes working drivers, so I'll be installing 32-bit XP.

From experience, 10.7GB is too small, but I put all my drivers, firewalls, and other system tools in that partition as well. I would say 15GB should be plenty when you account for the added size of SP2 and the other downloaded fixes.

The one I am replacing was 4GB.  I had to relocate the directory that My Documents pointed to.  I'm thinking 20GB should be plenty.

I went with the 20GB C: partition, with the remaining 220(?) into another.  I started to reinstall shit, but put the brakes on since I really need to reorganize my data.  Two developments.

A: My monitor is starting to crap out, or has some problem with the new card.  I know it is the monitor since I tried adjusting color paramters and it still looks like dog shit, then I plugged in a 15" monitor from Ye Olde Days and it looked great... other than the monitor had some issues with the resolution but, you know.  Looked sharp and colors weren't nasty.
2: Something that I was actually surprised to discover is that an ATX power supply will not spin up when not plugged into a mainboard.  This is the 480W that I had used just prior to the upgrade, so I am very sure it is in working order.  Good thing I sprung for the 700W OCZ.  I am currently pondering a solution.

I love my consoles.

It will spin up if you short out a couple of pins. Forget which two you have to jumper.

Well - here you go.... http://www.frozencpu.com/products/3223/psu-173/FrozenCPU_20-pin_Power_Supply_Jump_Start_Connector.html?tl=g11 (http://www.frozencpu.com/products/3223/psu-173/FrozenCPU_20-pin_Power_Supply_Jump_Start_Connector.html?tl=g11)

I still don't know why you have 2 PSUs in the box...

His old one doesn't work with his new motherboard.

Actually I was going to run two PSU so that I would not have to buy a new one.  I have several laying around, and the idea was to run the PCBs off of the 480W and at least some of the media drives and fans off of a 400W.  The change in pinouts for the main connector dashed that hope, but of course I have already done a stellar job of modifying my case to fit two PSU so I might as well use it.  Or: Because I can.

@Furiously: I owe you some booze.

Now that I have spent money on a new PSU, I'm even more reluctant to drop change on a new monitor even though the SyncMaster 700p appears to be on its last legs.  I have not ruled out lack-of-voltage as the root cause, but I don't know how I would go about fixing that.  I figure about eight years is a good run for a monitor, but I'll miss the CRT.

In other news, I have "fixed" my unannounced sound issues.  BIOS flip from "HD" to AC97 fixed it, saving me from buying a separate sound card.

Lastly, I have reinstalled AIM but I don't remember my password.  I used the forgot-my-password thingy but it apparently sends the reset to some email address to which I don't have access, which is weird since I only really use two of the four I have.

Really lastly, my rig now has lots of blue glow.  The mobo has blue/purple and the OCZ PSU is very blue.  At least it matches my blue Razer mouse, but I can't criticize other people for having metrosexual computers without being a hypocrite.

I like that my case is totally opaque. You can't see my metrosexual components. They're safely in the closet!

My case is wide open, but even so the PSU lights up out its ass like a 700W firefly.  Actually it helps me find my chair without turning on the overheads, but still makes me feel like George Plimpton in an Intellivision commercial.

I'm wearing a glow-in-the-dark SpongeBob bandage. And I just turned 37 today.

My wife cut her finger last night and I put a Hot Wheels bandage on it.

For Furiously:

(http://www.ohgizmo.com/images/bacon.jpg)

Yum!

Sorry for anyone who read my previous version...

Those bacon strips are splendid.

I'd probably just gnaw on my finger, though.

HAppy Birthday, Sky!

 :-D

That means your life is like statistically 1/2 over! Happy birthday...

Hippo Berated Bird-day to Sky! 

Here is a picture of the hat I imagine myself giving you for your birthday:

(http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/image-files/birthday-cake.jpg)

I would totally wear that splendid chapeau.

My mother actually put 37 candles on the damn cake. Luckily I'm lungy.

I'd be afraid to do that if I had an enormous beard.