The Official "What Are You Playing Now?" Thread

[Danny Bateman]

Currently trying to decide if I want an Xbox One or PS4 when they launch. I think PS4 is more gamer friendly, but Xbox has a better launch lineup and wins all the non-gaming components hands down. But hell, the Wii U has a lot of great game titles coming out too... maybe I should get one of those. Might pick up a regular Wii for cheap now so I can still play some of the old Gamecube games I've got on the backlog.

 

Steam is PRETTY FRICKIN SWEET. I've just recently started my library. Bought the Grand Theft Auto pack-- III, Vice City, San Andreas, and IV- for ten bucks, as well as Left 4 Dead 2 (exclusively for multiplayer) and some old school Sega games. Got an Xbox 360 wireless USB adapter for $12 and I"m so ready to hit those.

 

Any advice on PS4 vs. Xbox?

[iowahuskers]

If any one needs a fun game to play on the computer when they're bored at work or school I would recommend Warzone tower defense. I play this game for hours, it's a tower defense game but so addicting. I feel nerdy but its a great time waster.

[strigori]

Currently trying to decide if I want an Xbox One or PS4 when they launch. I think PS4 is more gamer friendly, but Xbox has a better launch lineup and wins all the non-gaming components hands down. But hell, the Wii U has a lot of great game titles coming out too... maybe I should get one of those. Might pick up a regular Wii for cheap now so I can still play some of the old Gamecube games I've got on the backlog.

 

Steam is PRETTY FRICKIN SWEET. I've just recently started my library. Bought the Grand Theft Auto pack-- III, Vice City, San Andreas, and IV- for ten bucks, as well as Left 4 Dead 2 (exclusively for multiplayer) and some old school Sega games. Got an Xbox 360 wireless USB adapter for $12 and I"m so ready to hit those.

 

Any advice on PS4 vs. Xbox?

Depends on who's first party games you like best. That's the main factor. For me that's the PS4, Halo junkies will go for the XBone. The kinect is a kids toy really, with some scary possibilities down the road with it. If none of the first party games are what you are buying for, you are probably better off just building the Steam library. Also, free to play and MMO type games are not currently supported on XBone, or the 360 for that matter, due to red tape with XboxLive.

 

The hardware is similar on both, bu,t especially early on, the PS4 will probably have a slight edge on due to some of the differences, but it will remain that a good gaming rig will still out perform either of them. The XBone requires the Kinect, the PS4 has an optional camera. The XBone is supposed to allow some 'remote control' type features with a tablet. The PS4 will have crossplay on the Vita. Both require premiums for online gaming, though the PS4 is a little looser on what you can do without Playstation+, like free to play games not needing the subscription.

 

It basically gets back to my first point. Decide who's exclusive IPs you like more, and go with that.

[Enhance]

The new consoles are a wash for me. When I bought a 360 seven or eight years ago, it was cheaper than a PS3 and I couldn't afford to build a gaming PC. Now out of college and with a full time job, I'm going to drop about $700 bucks in the coming months and just put together a decent gaming PC. Like strigori mentioned, a good gaming rig will always outdo consoles because the hardware can be replaced and will continually get better. That's not the case on a stagnant console.

 

Something else to consider. I believe the PS4 is going to cost $400, and the Xbox One $500. You can already build a decent gaming PC for $500. Furthermore, I've had Steam for the last nine years and it has revolutionized gaming. They constantly have sales, have great older games for cheap and tons of great free-to-play games that don't require a month online charge outside of paying for your internet access.

 

If you're going to drop money on a console, I highly recommend just going the PC route. You're going to miss out on things like Halo, God of War and some cool exclusive titles, but it's a small sacrifice for an overall better experience.

[tschu]

The new consoles are a wash for me. When I bought a 360 seven or eight years ago, it was cheaper than a PS3 and I couldn't afford to build a gaming PC. Now out of college and with a full time job, I'm going to drop about $700 bucks in the coming months and just put together a decent gaming PC. Like strigori mentioned, a good gaming rig will always outdo consoles because the hardware can be replaced and will continually get better. That's not the case on a stagnant console.

 

Something else to consider. I believe the PS4 is going to cost $400, and the Xbox One $500. You can already build a decent gaming PC for $500. Furthermore, I've had Steam for the last nine years and it has revolutionized gaming. They constantly have sales, have great older games for cheap and tons of great free-to-play games that don't require a month online charge outside of paying for your internet access.

 

If you're going to drop money on a console, I highly recommend just going the PC route. You're going to miss out on things like Halo, God of War and some cool exclusive titles, but it's a small sacrifice for an overall better experience.

I agree with almost all of this.

 

PC gaming is almost MORE cost-efficient because many of the big games you can play (League of Legends, Starcraft, WoW, DOTA, etc etc etc) are either free to play or are a one-time investment for literally thousands of hours of entertainment. You aren't constantly buying $60 titles, expensive controllers and accessories, and so on. Of course, if the drawbacks (can't really sit down with your buddy and play Madden on the big screen) don't sit right with you or don't fit your style, then don't do it.

 

With respect to the PS4 vs XBox one discussion, in addition to the first-party titles, my advice would be to wait at least 6 months post-launch to buy. Several reasons - 1) there will be plenty of information about the strengths and weaknesses of each console by then... 2) the game library will be larger... 3) you won't have to deal with the hassle of trying to get one at launch or shortly after launch...(and the accompanying patches and headaches that have been known to accompany launches).

[tschu]

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[strigori]

Yeah, there is the sports game issue with PC, as EA refuses to release any sports title for the PC, and they have most of the exclusive licences.

 

A couple more points for the PC.

 

Never needing to worry about backwards compatibility, I have PS2 era games that run on PC. Sometimes you might have to look around for an unofficial patch to get some things (like high res settings) to work, but games are pretty much forever.

 

Steam sales rule. Up to 80% off on games...

 

There are more 'exclusives' for PC than any of the consoles put together.

[Danny Bateman]

Not bad suggestions guys, thanks. I might look into building a PC now...

 

One question though. Been trying to configure controls on GTA III to work with my Xbox 360 controller. Got the wireless USB receiver, synced up controller no problem. However it doesn't recognize the triggers (b/c they're not analog...?). Anybody have any experience mapping out controls with a separate program (Xpadder, Joy2key, Pinnacle, etc) that could help me out?

[strigori]

If you are going to go PC, do some research before buying. Decide if you want to build one yourself, or buy one. I have done both, and been happy with both. Depends on what you want to spend, and what you want to get. if you decide to buy, don't Just wander into a Best Buy or something and ask advice, those jokers know next to nothing about PCs, I have stopped to help people before in a Best Buy because I overheard the bad info the sales guy was giving. There are a mountain of options, just starting with are you planning on using a PC monitor, or just wiring it into the HDTV and playing from the recliner.

 

I can't help with the mapping programs. If I cant get the controller to work on default, I end up sticking with the mouse and keyboard.

[Danny Bateman]

I ended up figuring out the mapping. Thanks for the advice man.

 

I'm thinking of building one. Buying stock is a lot more cheaper but if I'm building one for the long term spending more doesn't bother me. You get what you pay for.

 

What did you pay to build yours though? I'm trying to get a good feel for appropriate price range. I'm going into my senior year of college this fall so being broke is familiar to me, unfortunately.

[strigori]

Buying a pre-built one is only cheaper for a non-game rig PC. Vid cards can cost more than many lower priced PCs. When building or buying a game rig, pick a price point first, Titan range cards can run over $1000 alone, but 99% of gamers have no business looking into those. Prices can range from $400 to over $4000 depending on what you are doing. Once you have a ballpark, then its best to price out the parts on a site like newegg or zipzoomfly and compare it with a pre-built pricing from one of the 'boutique' rig makers.

 

I ended up going with a prebuilt my last go around, because the pricing was about $100 more for it, and it came in a small form factor so I could sit it on my entertainment center. I came in around $1000 for what I'm running now.

[Enhance]

A buddy of mine says you can build a decent one for $500, but I've found that the best quality for the cheapest price (and this include buying Windows 7, stay the hell away from Windows 8) is going to be about $700 before a monitor purchase.

 

But seriously, no matter what, don't buy Windows 8. It's very dysfunctional with video games.

[tschu]

Yep, Windows 8 is a big no-no. Found that out the hard way.

 

Still playing SC2 and also Pikmin. Thinking about starting up another playthough of Ocarina of Time, but that might wait until winter when outdoor activities are more limited.

[strigori]

A buddy of mine says you can build a decent one for $500, but I've found that the best quality for the cheapest price (and this include buying Windows 7, stay the hell away from Windows 8) is going to be about $700 before a monitor purchase.

 

But seriously, no matter what, don't buy Windows 8. It's very dysfunctional with video games.

Yeah, under about $700 you are going to be in need of an upgrade in the near future, or just have to live with lower graphics and resolutions (which really look bad if you are dropping under the monitor/TVs native res) A good CPU and GPU will run half of the $500.

[scarletNcream]

A buddy of mine says you can build a decent one for $500, but I've found that the best quality for the cheapest price (and this include buying Windows 7, stay the hell away from Windows 8) is going to be about $700 before a monitor purchase.

 

But seriously, no matter what, don't buy Windows 8. It's very dysfunctional with video games.

Yeah, under about $700 you are going to be in need of an upgrade in the near future, or just have to live with lower graphics and resolutions (which really look bad if you are dropping under the monitor/TVs native res) A good CPU and GPU will run half of the $500.

Haven't been part of this conversation but, AMD over Intel (processor). Gaming, AMD cheap no graphic support, Intel, expensive with graphic support. That's where your money is, graphic support and memory. You can build a unit for under $1000 that will last as a gaming CPU for 5 years with AMD. $700, 2 to 3 years and anything less is a waste of time. If you decide to build cheap, research the parts and make sure they will meet today's ultimate numbers so you can upgrade for at least the smallest amount of cash. AMD and a good graphics card. I built an AMD 6 core for my son and it crushes all frame rates, and I built this in 2011.