PC Games of 2007

Apreche

Here is a list of every major PC game coming out in 2007. On the list there are only two games I am interested in. Those games are Supreme Commander and Spore.

How can I justify paying so much money for a new computer just to play two games? The DS cost me less than $200 and has provided nearly 10 games in a year. By the looks of it, the Wii will cost $250 or less and provide at least 5 games at launch.

Not only that, but the vast majority of PC games end up on the 360, which is much much cheaper than an equivalent computer. PC gamers, I ask you to defend yourselves yet again.

Hasbro

I personally would recommend (re)building your computer if you're trying to cut costs at all. For the most part, if you ask around and do some good research ahead of time, you can come out with a top of the line computer well under the average asking price. It doesn't hurt to have a hardware geek at your side, but the whole process is actually a lot easier than it sounds, if you don't mind reading lots of instructions.
An added plus is the fact you also get to insure the quality of comp parts that usually get skimped on big name manufacturers. Things like motherboards and cooling units usually get forgotten in the rush for faster processors and such, but for only a few bucks more you can manage a quiet PC with a nice quality board that won't kick out quite so easy.
After the initial build, it all gets easier from there. Changing video cards and even processors are worlds easier when you're the one that installed them in the first place.

Apreche

Yes, I am well aware of how easy it is to build a quality computer for very little money. I'm just suggesting that PC gaming is not as healthy as people make it out to be. Also, it isn't worth pimping out a PC for the sole purpose of gaming.

Hasbro

A worthy point, sir. I rebuilt my comp mainly for design work purposes, and the good friend that helped guide me in that rebuilt his mostly for working in audio (He does a lot of recording concerts, etc) and so the gaming was a nice bonus that came of it. I don't feel PC gaming, while not the stallion some people point to, still seems to hold at least as much fruit as some consoles, though I admitedly have more games I'm looking forward to in the coming year, such as Bioshock, Heavy Rain, Alan Wake, Project Offset, Savage 2, and Neverwinter Nights 2.

Hasbro

The whole point of the PC as a gaming machine is a good one though. For the most part PCs need much less of the firepower that people pump them up with to do anything but play games.
So on one hand it exists as a multifunctional machine that has a ( debatably) reasonable supply of games. On the other hand it is a dramatically overpriced gaming machine.
I had let my old comp slide for some time before I sprung for an extensive overhaul, managing well enough just replacing bits and peices as I needed. Though working with the crappy layout and configuration the rather cramped comp had gave me no end of migraines, I kept a pretty low-grade computer (E-machines *shudder*) game worthy for around 8 years.

Cremlian

Can you be a troll in your own forum? Scott, that's nosense: you're asking people to justify what they like according to your personal opinion. There were plenty of interesting games on that list!

Let's see... Just on the screen shot alone and the one sentence description on the "exclusive PC games" section:

Well World in conflict, Mythic Wars, Disciples III, Inhabited Island, Dragon Age,
Battle Lord, Afterfall, starfall to name a few.. but wait

There are actually Adventure games coming out! I mean Sam and max!

Fallout 3?

It's hard to judge all these games by their screenshots and a one sentence description. Like, a lot of those war FPSs could be good, but who knows. You'd have to see how they play first.

TheWhaleShark

I'm with Cremlian here; I see numerous games there that at least somewhat pique my curiosity.

Of course, that still isn't enough to justify buying a new computer or making a dedicated gaming rig, but there are definitely more than just a couple of interesting titles there.

Hasbro

What I was trying to point out before, though it may have been garbled in my half crazed, sleep deprived state is that if one is willing enough, most times they can replace just enough of their computer to keep it up to date for a minimum of cost.

Renshi Kakita

After taking a glance at that the first time through, C&C 3 looks the most interesting. Then again, I've always taken an interest in the Command and Conquer series.

kenjura

I'm very much interested in many of those games. Conversely, though I'd really like to play Tetris and possibly New SMB, I'm finding it hard justify buying a DS. You've admitted that you and Rym are Nintendo fanboys. I'm generally anti-console, but the Nintendo DS and Wii have been the most compelling systems I've seen since I basically stopped touching consoles after FFX.

Besides, you of all people should know that there are more reasons than just gaming to get a computer. To say "well, I have to buy a new computer because my old one is too old for games, but does everything else just fine" is pretty much identical to saying "all I have is a PSX and an N64, so I guess I need a modern console of some kind". Either way, you need to spend a few hundred bucks. If you have an old computer that can't do games, odds are it has an AGP slot which supports a GeForce 7xxxGS. Yes, PCI-express came on a little too fast, and it's a shame how quickly the computer world shunned AGP, but that's the only major break in the ability to use older hardware to play newer games.

I for one appreciate the innovation of Nintendo's games and gaming platforms, but that in no way detracts from computer games. Computers have always had a better interface than consoles in certain genres (shooter, rts, rpg, sim, which are the only genres still alive on the computer), so they don't really need a new controller. They already automatically have access to the best hardware. All that remains is for someone to write decent software.

Bioware made Baldur's Gate II, famously the most loved and successful computer RPG of its kind. That fame gave them the momentum to produce Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empires, and some of the games on that list. But their computer games haven't been so good lately? Why? Because they secure exclusive deals to the Xbox and only release their games on the computer 2 years later, totally un-upgraded for the platform and the time difference. Then they wonder why the computer counterparts don't do as well. It's the same with Oblivion. Soon, the only RPG's that will survive on the computer will be MMO's.

So in this example, you see that it is not the hardware, not the software, but the business practices that are siphoning games and gamers away from computers into the console market. I for one never want to totally give up the freedom of PC gaming for the convenience of consoles. I don't even use Steam. I shun MMO's (after I try them). I was raised on computers, not Nintendo, and computers have me for life.

trogdor9

To me, the keyboard and mouse pwn the controller in FPS games, except maybe on the Wii.

deaf-mute

There are games that are designed for consoles, then ported Badly over to the PC, like the recent example, X2: Wolverines revenge. I picked this up in a $5 bin, while the XBox and PS2 versions are still up in expensive land. At the time, I was thinking, "Yay, cheap PC game". Then when I went to play it, the controls were absolutely awesome, because its designed entirely for console. Moving and camera control was a nightmare, though would be fine with console. Another example is the old "Tomb Raider" series. She controls like a cow on all systems, but I thought it just got worse on the PC.

It makes me so sad when games are ported to the PC so badly, because I think the PC is by far the best of the lot. The PC doesn't even need to be upgraded that much, if you can stand putting the graphical settings on low. I only recently upgraded from a Duron 1300MHz, 512MB, GeForce MX400 256MB. It may look like nothing (and it really is :D), but it could play pretty much anything I threw at it as long as I dropped the settings. It was only when FEAR came out that I decided to upgrade.

The thing that makes PC games superior is when they need a GUI, or mouse control (Or both). This is Some RPGs, RTS's, and FPSs. I've played some console FPSs, and RTSs, and I hated the makers of these blasphemies.
Some RPGs are designed in such a way that they are actually better to play on a console than on the PC. I'll list some if you want me to.

Sorry about repeating everything other people (and myself) have said, but when I woke up, I had to post a reply, so parts may be the half-asleep rantings of and insane ranter.

EDIT, Most of a day later; Another reason I get pissed off at console games is because half the time the games don't even get released down here, and if they do, it takes ages. Grandia III is a game I wanna play, and It doesn't seem like its going to even get here, Kingdoms hearts 2 isn't going to arrive until christmas, and there are an absolute shit ton of games that I just can't play because of this. The PC games don't need to be changed in any way, like the console games do, so they come pretty much straight over. At least with the PSP, it doesn't matter where the game is from, so if I have to, I can just get someone to ship it overseas if it isn't released here.