Useless gaming news & chatter

[K9]

I cannot recommend Sennheiser's highly enough; I have a pair of HD202s for work and they are ideally suited.

[ffc]

Saw this post about the "official" PS3 headset today.

A nice feature of the HD555 is it's open meaning you get a bigger sound stage so you can really pinpoint which directions sounds are coming from in contrast to closed headsets. Open headsets mean less sound isolation though so if you play in a noisy environment you will hear stuff going on around you and your environment will also hear you.  A bonus is these also make your ears less hot.

If playing on a console, you can add the Astro Mixamp for virtual surround sound and chat volume control or the Turtle Beach DSS with no chat volume control.

Coming from my AXPRO headset, which impressed me at first but now I hate for a variety of reasons, stay away from headsets touting multiple speakers in each ear.

[Ivanneth]

HD555 Sennheiser headphones - Superior quality at a great price. Great durability too. I once threw them onto the floor in a fit of rage last year and they still work perfectly. http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD555-Professional-Headphones-Channeling/dp/B0001FTVDQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1306510772&sr=8-1 I bought them for 169 but Im seeing them for 84.99 now. Fantastic product.

I have a pair of these. They're terrific - good quality, and most importantly they're comfortable. I can wear them for hours at a time and my ears don't hurt afterward. A lot of headphones are painful if you wear them for more than just a few minutes at a time.

[Ingmar]

Feel similarly about my Logitech G35 headset, very comfortable.

[Strazos]

That's an interesting idea. I have a decent pair of cheap Sennheisers (hd280) for monitoring my mixer, a clip-on mic would be great for those. On the other hand, I like to keep the headphones for voice and have the game sound through the speakers.

How do you even do that? I would be interested to know if it's even possible.

[Malakili]

Not really sure where to post it - so randomness goes here.   http://www.kongregate.com/games/VagaDragon/heal-a-mole

Faithful recreation imo.

[Sky]

How do you even do that? I would be interested to know if it's even possible.

USB headset and route voice comm app into that, game sounds through speakers/sound card.

[caladein]

Yes.  A USB headset is its own soundcard so any VOIP program can route its output/input to it.

You can do a similar thing with a normal headset if you've got a dedicated soundcard and onboard sound.  That's how I've got the TV set-up in my room.

[Strazos]

Interesting...is it easy to swap back-and-forth between routing everything to the USB headset, and routing only the voice to it? I think I would like to do this at time, but often I simply want everything to come through the headphones.

[Rendakor]

Probably depends on what software you're using; in Ventrilo it's a simple dropdown menu to change from one output device to another.

[Ard]

Welp, GoG just announced a publishing deal with EA.  They're going to be putting out a chunk of EA's old backlog, starting with Dungeon Keeper, Ultima Underworld, and Wing Commander:  Privateer, with Alpha Centauri coming down the pipe shortly also.  Looks like they've got their hooks into the old bullfrog, maxis, and origin stuff, so cross your fingers. 

http://www.gog.com/en/news/gog_com_s_catalog_gets_huge_with_addition_of_classic_ea_titles

[caladein]

Interesting...is it easy to swap back-and-forth between routing everything to the USB headset, and routing only the voice to it? I think I would like to do this at time, but often I simply want everything to come through the headphones.

Well, you won't be able to do it on the fly with games.  Most don't seem to like switching audio outputs midstream.  Aside from that it's pretty simple.

Have everything set to "Default Device" except for your VOIP program(s) which you've set specifically to go to the headset.  In Mumble, go to Configure -> Settings -> Audio Output, and that'll look like:


Then, you just need to change the default device in Windows whenever you want to swap everything else from the speakers to the headset or back.  In Windows 7, you can either get to it from Sound in the Control Panel or by right-clicking on the volume setting in the notification area and choosing Playback devices:


You could also get your AutoIt on, which I'm always on the verge of doing .

[Strazos]

So if I only use onboard sound, and added a USB headset...I could do this maybe?

[caladein]

Should be able to, yeah.  I haven't run into a USB headset that didn't also count as its own soundcard to Windows.

[Strazos]

Totally off-topic, but for whatever reason today I had the thought that it was unfortunate that neither GOG nor Steam have either of the NOLF games - they were great.

[Azazel]

Anyone have any advice on a nice gaming headset?  I think mine is starting to die, so I want to shop around a bit before they bite it completely.  I've heard good things about Steel Series, but it might be more than I want/need.

I keep hearing about how wonderful Turtle Beach ones are supposed to be. I don't use headphones at all though, so I can't vouch either way.

[lamaros]

Just on headphones again: I have a paid of Sennheiser HD570s that I have had since about 2003-2003. They are still great and I use them nearly every day. Great computer/gaming headphones.

[Yegolev]

11 Million player deaths in Just Cause 2 mapped.

[Ingmar]

Dominions 3 demo, I want to like you, but you make it so very very hard.

[Yegolev]

Speaking of shit demos, I can't even get the Dungeon Siege III demo to start up.  Oh, Obsidian!  Why do you keep getting work?

While I was away on vacation, I learned that sometimes save glitches in Daggerdale will eat your equipment and skill points.  If anyone was entertaining the idea of trying this, avoid instead.

[Mosesandstick]

Didn't enjoy the Dungeon Siege 3 demo at all. It's basically a console style ARPG. Awful to play with kb+m.

[Velorath]

From what I've read, Dungeon Siege 3's multiplayer is also kinda crappy.  You can't have two people playing the same character, and all the loot and xp is only saved in the host's game.  So unless you always play with the same group, your character won't get anything from playing multi.  So it sounds like it's a good game to play on a console with a set group of friends, but that's about it.

[Yegolev]

all the loot and xp is only saved in the host's game.

[Merusk]

Didn't enjoy the Dungeon Siege 3 demo at all. It's basically a console style ARPG. Awful to play with kb+m.

I just tried the demo and I think Moses was underselling just how awful the controls were.   Imagine a game meant to be played with a thumbstick. Now make it so half the controls are on your mouse and half are on your keyboard.  Now give it a software mouse that is so floaty you move your mouse across your entire pad and it only goes 3/4 of the screen at best. This mouse also can't be disabled to use your OS settings and has no sensitivity controls.

Yeah.. if you're going to buy this game do not do it for PC. You do so at your own peril.

[Sky]

Did you try it with a gamepad?

[Merusk]

No, because I own consoles.  If I didn't I'd be inclined to own a PC Gamepad, but I don't so I didn't.

[Malakili]

No, because I own consoles.  If I didn't I'd be inclined to own a PC Gamepad, but I don't so I didn't.

Don't Xbox pads work with PCs? 

[Ingmar]

No, because I own consoles.  If I didn't I'd be inclined to own a PC Gamepad, but I don't so I didn't.

Don't Xbox pads work with PCs? 

If you only have wireless ones, like most people these days, you have to go buy extra hardware to make it work I believe.

[Yegolev]

Dungeon Siege III is shit on PS3 as well.  Sorry to say that a gamepad isn't going to make this amalgam of KotOR and Daggerdale into something awesome.

[Hawkbit]

It has a miracle patch, just you wait and see.   

[Yegolev]

Oh, I am. I'll download it right after that Anarchy Online miracle patch.  Those guys sure are taking their time.

[Rendakor]

PS3 wireless controllers work on PC if you plug them in with the USB charging cable and download the appropriate drivers.

[Rasix]

I've tried doing that.  Mapping the controls for a certain game was an exercise in futility.

[ffc]

Besides Dungeon Siege's snooze demo it's the online multiplayer approach that bugs me.  Even Dungeon Hunter: Alliance, a PSN cell phone game port for $15 lets you keep your loot / gold / xp on your character.  Same with Hunted: The Demon's Forge.  

I think the excuse is Dungeon Siege tries to have a narrative focus so players can't keep goodies across different games.  Maybe the narrative focus can be patched out and fun be patched in.

For PS3 controllers on a PC, this clip lays out how to get them connected and on bluetooth.  Going to try it with Witcher 2.

[Merusk]

I've tried doing that.  Mapping the controls for a certain game was an exercise in futility.

The wife tried the same thing with DCUO and her attempts made me decide it wasn't worth it for any game.