The power of the Dark side

[houltmac]

Over the last few days I have been toying with PC gaming again. From the day I played the original Wolfenstein I was hooked, working my way through Duke Nukem to Unreal Tournament. I was a huge PC gamer when I grew up and it's really what got me involved in the computer industry (though I had loved gadgets and technology since I first layed eyes on an LED).

Anyway, last week I decided to go out on a limb and purchase two games. I chose Unreal Tournament 3 and Painkiller: Overdose. These are sequels to two of my favorite PC FPS (First Person Shooter) games ever. I was very excited. Since I didn't want to risk BootCamp following my trials with Leopards "full" version of BootCamp for clients I decided to use the copy of VMWare Fusion I had purchased "just in case".

I installed Fusion and then Windows XP SP2 in minutes using the disk image backup I had made a while back. All was well. Since I didn't need a network connection (this is for gaming only after-all) I decided to forgo the indecency of updating Windows and went straight for the jugular. I installed UT3 and ran the *.exe. Crash. Again. Crash. Research. Again. Crash. No CD crack to test. Crash. Uninstall. Re-install. Crash. More research. No sound, more game driver adjustment. Crash. Game updates. Windows updates. Crash. Forget it.

I install Painkiller... and it loads! Settings reasonably high (this is a 2.6GHz C2D with a 512MB 8600M GT and 2 allocated GB RAM after all). Time to play. It's just a jerky mess. I can't even bring myself to check the frame-rate - it's utterly unplayable (and not in a "I need 900FPS minimum!" kinda way either - genuinely unplayable). I restart the machine, the VM, adjust the game settings down. No change. I try everything I can think of, reinstalling the game, VMWare tools, allocating more RAM. No change.

Maybe VMWare isn't up to it like Parallels has been for friends I think to myself. I couldn't find my Parallels disk image and can't be bothered to download it, so I decide to try BootCamp, now determined it's not going to be a waste of time and money. I partition off 17GB of space - more than enough and leaving a nice round number for OS X. Insert the original XP SP2 full retail disk and the machine restarts. After what feels like forever the installer has loaded. I choose the BootCamp partition to install to and let it continue as Apple intended. The machine restarts... and crashes. I am not removing the EFI partition and re-creating the Windows partition like I have before: I am not risking the reliability of my brand new machine and the capacity of my lovely new hard drive.

I finally admit defeat.

After a whole weekend of messing around with the dark side, trying supposedly sound, full version iterations of technologies designed to run these retail games (of relatively low hardware requirements) I can't so much as complete a demo level. Even given the huge anticipation of these giants of the FPS world, and my adoring love of the genre, I cannot waste another frustrated second on the futile attempt at enjoyment. I will stick with OS X thank you and I will complete Doom3 for the 700th time. I don't hate Windows, I hate everything it's made of, and all that goes with it.

[Yuiichi]

That's really too bad Matt. I know Windows can be really darn finicky while installing (I've had it crash and BSOD XD) - definitely nothing like the smooth sailing that OS X brings with it. This is also why I've moved more into Console gaming. I just wish that Apple/developers would start getting behind the Mac again and bring great games to the platform

[Jugger Grimrodd]

yep - console is the way to go.

[Ginamos]

I think you really need to run BootCamp to get most games working, although I believe Parallels has some 3D graphics enhancements.

Personally I'd go console, but I tend to prefer Sim/Strategy games, to the FPS style.

[houltmac]

FPS just isn't possible for me with a controller. I can do racing, GTA, platform, puzzle, adventure etc. on a console, but for FPS I need a keyboard and mouse or it's a waste of time. I think I will stick with OS X and just keep emailing game companies every week until they break down.

[notabadname]

Consoles for me too. I think their greatest strength is uniformity for the developers. With PC games, there are so many variations in Software/Windows versions, and absolutely countless variations in hardware configurations between all the manufacturers. I'm surprised anything runs on them at all. With the consoles - there are essentially just 3 of them out there, and each of them is nearly a perfect clone of the other millions of its same brand. A developer's dream come true.

Aren't there some keyboard options for the xBox and its USB ports - it's really nothing more than a PC (its major flaw

[Yuiichi]

I don't know of any games that support a keyboard + mouse with the 360. However, a PS3 and Unreal Tournament 3 will give you the same joy as any PC would as it does support keyboard and mouse as an input method. That game really is pioneering new ground within the console space, having both that feature (which I think is killer) as well as the ability to have mods - a first (I believe) for consoles.

[soapyfish]

Even before I switched I was always a console gamer, with the odd PC game when I felt like it.

For mac based gaming I stick to Mame and Scumm. Before I switched my Windows PC was at the age where it needed to be upgraded if I wanted to play new games, either that or stick to the bargain bin. Since I switched I've got myself a 360 and I'm a happy chappy, no red ring for me yet.

Without spending a lot of money on a decent system I'd never be playing a pc game to the quality that the developer intended and what's the point in that?

[notabadname]

I've got 2 360's, one I have had since they released, and one is a newer Elite. No rings of death yet. I would think that have fixed the cause of that in newer hardware these days. The other nice thing about consoles, particularly the 360, is that Live gaming is so well integrated now. It is so easy to play with friends, as well as see what they are playing if they are not in the same game as you. And now you can chat with friends, even while playing live, or non-live games, and they can be dissimilar games. Very addictive and very seamlessly integrated.

[Perpetualskeptic]

Houltmac, have you tried Crossover? I've found it's the best solution to use windows software without windows. I'd suggest Crossover Games, but try it before you pay for it. It doesn't always work that well.