You seem to be missing something there… There’s no ‘you get’ here. I play PC titles too. Though curiously, none of the ones I play have dumbed down GUI or controls because they’re not on consoles.
I haven’t been over his place to check, but he says there’s some kind of program that checks driver information that was referred to here, on the Dope.
I’ll have to make a trip over there to see what exploded.
I’m a PC gamer who started as a console gamer (for the NES-PS1 era), and I’m still not at all sick of video games. In fact they’re better than ever.
What has changed, though, is that I grew out of the OCD impulse of 100%-ing everything, finding every little secret, getting all of the best items. I realized that what I love is being immersed in the world, getting drawn into (and hopefully affecting) the story, and just having fun with the gameplay. This means that I can no longer stand a lot of JRPGs, the ones in which the gameplay consists of spamming the Fight (or some other attack) command and Healing occasionally. I used to eat that shit up as I would walk from cutscene to cutscene, but then I realized that hey, this is not actually fun.
I’ve also become more appreciative (and thus more demanding) of how well they can construct an in-game universe. Games like Mass Effect 2 do such a great job of that, with all these little details thrown in to make the world breathe. Little conversations that happen in the background and are actually touching or funny. Exquisite attention paid to the immersiveness of the universe and art design. The interactivity isn’t as high as some other games, but it builds upon the cinematic style of Half-Life 2 and creates a standard that I will hold similar games to. As a result, I am tired of first- and second-generation FPS adventures, because most of them are just thoroughly outclassed now, with some notable exceptions (like Deus Ex).
But even with a game I love like Mass Effect 2, I won’t obsessively scan every planet for resources now, like I would have back in the day. Also, I probably would have been upset with how they did away with inventory management and loot in general, but now I LOVE that I don’t have to spend half the time mucking about with which weapons I should sell or save or equip (Mass Effect 1 was pretty notorious for this). Basically, aspects of games that seem like work and don’t really require any strategy, I am no longer attracted to.
And just as a random aside, anyone getting tired of video games should play something like Psychonauts. It’s a pure bundle of joy with its fluid and varied 3-D platform/adventure gameplay and really insane and creative world. If this doesn’t rekindle some love for gaming, you may be lost for good!
Well I’m definitely not done with PC gaming, been addicted to ARMA2 for the past few weeks. After the initial install problems the game has been rock solid and doesn’t perform badly on my aging but optimized system.
I just started playing Half Life 2 for the first time…its friggin’ great!
I’ve been a PC Gamer since the early '90s and right now the thing that’s annoying me most about PC Gaming is that the games I want to play aren’t getting PC releases. Red Dead Redemption and Dead Rising, I’m looking at you.
What’s interesting is that I’ve played the Wii version of Dead Rising and I found myself going “This looks like a PS1 game. Why the hell hasn’t it been given a PC release? A straight port of the 360 version but with mouse/keyboard controls would not only be completely doable, but also be very popular.”
(Yes, I know Dead Rising 2 is getting a PC release, and yes, I plan to get it).
Otherwise, I find that the number of PC games I want to play actually works out pretty well with the time I have available in which to play them. I just finished Mafia II (Which is brilliant if viewed as a genuinely interactive movie, but not really as good if you think you’re getting a 1950s Mafia-themed Grand Theft Auto) and the last game I got before that was Bioshock 2.
Of course, with Civilisation V, Dead Rising 2, and Fallout: New Vegas all slated for release in the next month or two, there’s a lot on my gaming calendar for the remainder of the year, but Fallout 3 and Civilisation IV have both kept me occupied for a long time. So I’ll stay a PC gamer for the foreseeable future, although as the number of “quality” releases that really interest me dwindle, I’ll doubtless either stay with the classics or put more time into another hobby.