your gamer friends at Psychsoftpc
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Mass Effect 3 release
Mass Effect 3 won't release until march 2012. To hold you over until then, here are a couple of pics of the REAL commander shepard!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Dragon Age 2: Why You should Postpone Buying This Game
Well, I had planned to write about how great Dragon Age 2 is and how everyone should experience it, but instead, I am writing about the problem with activation of the game through EA. Like many PC gamers, I cannot activate my legitimate, paid for PC copy of Dragon Age 2 because I cannot get past the activation log in screen. I am stuck in an endless loop of "check your Internet connection or please try to log in later".
I have spent many days with EA tech support, only to be rebuffed and still have no solution. Understand that this is NOT one of the usual glitches that we gamers all too often put up with. The game simply will not start without on line activation. I cannot play through the glitches while waiting weeks or months for a patch. I cannot launch the game at all. And I am not the only one! There are many people out there with the same issue, an issue that EA has been aware of for months. Why did they release a product relying on known buggy activation? Because they could.
We as gamers gave them the power to do this by accepting buggy gaming software at release as the norm. We lowered our expectations. We brought this on ourselves. We have met the enemy and he is us.
If this were any other industry, people would be up in arms and the press would be all over it. But it is the gaming industry, one I am a part of, so the press ignores this. Why? Because they have lowered their expectations, too (although I suspect that, unlike the rest of us, they do not have to go through the activation process with their review copies). You won't see people talking about this on XPlay. You won't see PC Gamer Magazine running a piece about this. "Glitchy games happen. Live with it." Sometimes a tipping point is reached. This should be one of those times.
As I said, this is beyond the normal glitch, this makes the game completely unusable. You cannot even create a character for your game. You cannot start the game at all. If you were to buy a toaster form the store and it would not turn on, you would demand a working one. If thousands of people bought the same toaster and all of these would not turn on, there would be press coverage, perhaps a recall and people would refuse to buy that toaster until the issue was addressed. This is the same thing. The game simply will not "turn on".
So let's be clear as to what I am advocating. I am NOT calling for a boycott of EA or Bioware or Dragon Age 2. I am NOT saying to never buy Dragon Age 2 (from what I've seen of the Demo, it looks really good). What I am saying is that you should wait until you know that you can actually play the game before you spend your money. To big companies like EA, $60 is nothing. To everyday working class people or teens, $60 is a lot of money. For some folks, it can, in fact, be a whole day's pay. Why spend it on something that does not work?
I am advocating common sense from a consumer perspective. Why loan $60 to a company and wait around weeks or months for them to fix their product. That $60 is better in your pocket or spent on something else that you can use right away, like a game that actually works or pizza (pizza always works right out of the box).
So, to get off the soap box here: if you are a PC Gamer, do not buy Dragon Age 2 until the activation issue is finally resolved. That is the only way that they will pay attention and fix the problem. That is the only way that we as consumers will ever get respect.
Good Luck and good gaming
the folks at Psychsoftpc
I have spent many days with EA tech support, only to be rebuffed and still have no solution. Understand that this is NOT one of the usual glitches that we gamers all too often put up with. The game simply will not start without on line activation. I cannot play through the glitches while waiting weeks or months for a patch. I cannot launch the game at all. And I am not the only one! There are many people out there with the same issue, an issue that EA has been aware of for months. Why did they release a product relying on known buggy activation? Because they could.
We as gamers gave them the power to do this by accepting buggy gaming software at release as the norm. We lowered our expectations. We brought this on ourselves. We have met the enemy and he is us.
If this were any other industry, people would be up in arms and the press would be all over it. But it is the gaming industry, one I am a part of, so the press ignores this. Why? Because they have lowered their expectations, too (although I suspect that, unlike the rest of us, they do not have to go through the activation process with their review copies). You won't see people talking about this on XPlay. You won't see PC Gamer Magazine running a piece about this. "Glitchy games happen. Live with it." Sometimes a tipping point is reached. This should be one of those times.
As I said, this is beyond the normal glitch, this makes the game completely unusable. You cannot even create a character for your game. You cannot start the game at all. If you were to buy a toaster form the store and it would not turn on, you would demand a working one. If thousands of people bought the same toaster and all of these would not turn on, there would be press coverage, perhaps a recall and people would refuse to buy that toaster until the issue was addressed. This is the same thing. The game simply will not "turn on".
So let's be clear as to what I am advocating. I am NOT calling for a boycott of EA or Bioware or Dragon Age 2. I am NOT saying to never buy Dragon Age 2 (from what I've seen of the Demo, it looks really good). What I am saying is that you should wait until you know that you can actually play the game before you spend your money. To big companies like EA, $60 is nothing. To everyday working class people or teens, $60 is a lot of money. For some folks, it can, in fact, be a whole day's pay. Why spend it on something that does not work?
I am advocating common sense from a consumer perspective. Why loan $60 to a company and wait around weeks or months for them to fix their product. That $60 is better in your pocket or spent on something else that you can use right away, like a game that actually works or pizza (pizza always works right out of the box).
So, to get off the soap box here: if you are a PC Gamer, do not buy Dragon Age 2 until the activation issue is finally resolved. That is the only way that they will pay attention and fix the problem. That is the only way that we as consumers will ever get respect.
Good Luck and good gaming
the folks at Psychsoftpc
Friday, February 18, 2011
Dead Island Trailer
Here is the Dead island Trailer that everyone is talking about.
If this is any indication, the game should be exceptional.
good luck and good gaming
the gaming pc folks at Psychsoftpc
Monday, January 31, 2011
Intel Product Recall
This in from Intel today "As part of ongoing quality assurance, Intel Corporation has discovered a design issue in a recently released support chip, the Intel® 6 Series, code-named Cougar Point, and has implemented a silicon fix. In some cases, the Serial-ATA (SATA) ports within the chipsets may degrade over time, potentially impacting the performance or functionality of SATA-linked devices such as hard disk drives and DVD-drives. The chipset is utilized in PCs with Intel's latest Second Generation Intel Core processors, code-named Sandy Bridge. Intel has stopped shipment of the affected support chip from its factories. Intel has corrected the design issue, and has begun manufacturing a new version of the support chip which will resolve the issue."
We, of course, do not use this chip set nor do we use the new Intel sandy bridge processor with the video processor on the CPU. This set up not only steals system RAM to run video, like some motherboards with the gpu chip on them, it also steals CPU threads. nice double whammy. Your 8 threaded CPU becomes 6 or 5 threaded and your 6 gig of RAM becomes 4 or 5.
good luck and good gaming
the folks at Psychsoftpc
We, of course, do not use this chip set nor do we use the new Intel sandy bridge processor with the video processor on the CPU. This set up not only steals system RAM to run video, like some motherboards with the gpu chip on them, it also steals CPU threads. nice double whammy. Your 8 threaded CPU becomes 6 or 5 threaded and your 6 gig of RAM becomes 4 or 5.
good luck and good gaming
the folks at Psychsoftpc
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Most anticipated PC games for 2011
So, PC World published their take on the most anticipated games of 2011. As usual, there are plenty of console only games in the mix, which we of course, will ignore. Hey, we're PC gamers. We don't care about non-pc games unless they're coming to a PC near us soon.
So, here's the list of PC games mentioned:
Dragon Age II:
They say: "Dragon Age II refreshes BioWare's dark-fantasy role-playing series with new areas, spells, and weapons, as well as a new visual style that looks vaguely cartoonish (in a good way), the series' first full-voiced protagonist, and, of course, more awkwardly written romantic trysts."
We say: yes, we're looking forward to it, but the whole vaguely cartoonish visual style thing sort of puts us off. That and the limiting of character customization. No elves, seriously?
Crysis 2:
They say: "Most of us still can't run Crytek's three-year-old alien-shooter Crysis at a decent frame rate with the bells and whistles maxed. Crysis 2, staged in New York three years after the events of its predecessor, promises to cripple a whole new generation of graphics cards."
We say: What are you talking about? We can run Crysis maxed just fine. Oh, wait, they must be using some other guy's PC. Any way, this is going to be awesome. Really looking forward to the graphics and the action.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution:
They say: "The original Deus Ex won a bunch of awards, but Deus Ex 2 was kind of a mess. Whither Deus Ex: Human Revolution? Who knows, but you can expect more body mods, transhuman abilities, and cyberpunk voguing from this action-role-playing Deus Ex prequel"
We say: Prequel, hmm? Don't know about this one. Maybe we'll check it out when we're not playing Dragon Age II.
Rage:
They say: "Id Software makes heart-stoppingly gorgeous technology demos that someone else usually has to turn into a decent game. There's no reason yet to think otherwise of the post-apocayptic first-person shooter Rage--but as they say, there's a first time for everything."
We say: yes, yes yes!!! we saw the trailor of this and it's unbelievably awesome. The visuals are stunning and the world is massive and varied. You won't run into the same tree twice. That's the new tech they were talking about. Yes, it does remind us of Fallout whatever, but we're really looking forward to seeing how this is on the PC.
Star Wars: Old Republic:
They say: "The guys behind Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic make an MMO sequel set 300 years after the Knights series with two factions (guess which two!) and eight instantly recognizable classes? What could possibly go wrong?"
We say: We're not that into mmo's around here ( I know, shocking), but even we are anticipating this release with baited breath. Hey, Knights of the Old Republic got us hooked right away. This may hook a whole new audience on MMO's.
Batman: Arkham City:
They say: "Batman breaks out of the asylum and roams around Gotham City in this sequel, doing more or less what he did in the last game: scanning for clues, untangling forensic mysteries, solving riddles, pounding villains, and looking oh-so-cool in gun-blue latex."
We say: We have to play this, if only for the modern industrial goth look. And, of course, getting to be Batman and pound folks. But we STILL don't get the whole Arkham City thing. Like we said before, it's a city now? since when?
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim:
They say: "What we wouldn't give for a few screens of Bethesda's fifth-in-the-series role-playing epic. All we know so far is that it uses a new 3D engine and that it's set in Skyrim, a northern province in the Elder Scrolls geography. Oh, and it'll have dragons"
We say: New Elder Scrolls? We are so there!! This should really give Dragon Age II a run for their money. Plus we know there will be elves, and none of that cartoonish graphics style. Around here, we like realism in our unreal realms. And elves.
Diablo III:
They say: "In late 2011, expect the action-role-playing game Diablo III to set the world of mouse-spamming games on fire--over a decade after Diablo II inspired critics to scribble stuff like "It's utterly mindless, but I can't stop playing it."
We say: Wait, a new Dragon Age, a new Elder Scrolls and a new Diablo? Is this the best year ever?
Mass Effect 3:
They say: "The Earth looks pretty much screwed, judging from the trailer that BioWare teased for Mass Effect 3 in early December. No doubt you'll have something to say about that in the concluding chapter of the sci-fi role-playing trilogy."
We say: They don't know Commander Shepard. We are anxiously awaiting Mass Effect 3, hoping for more DLC's for Mass Effect 2 than the announced one (didn't they say at least four?) and hoping for a sequel beyond this, even though it's supposed to be a trilogy. Best space RPG ever.
XCom:
They say: "The classic turn-based strategy game X-COM rebooted as a first-person shooter? We'd be holding our noses, too, if it weren't under development at 2K Marin, the same studio that gave us BioShock 2, one of 2010's very best."
We say: don't know about this one. we need to take a serious look at it before we decide.
Well that's it for this week. hope you all survived the New Year's holiday relatively in tact.
Good luck and good gaming.
the folks at Psychsoftpc
So, here's the list of PC games mentioned:
Dragon Age II:
They say: "Dragon Age II refreshes BioWare's dark-fantasy role-playing series with new areas, spells, and weapons, as well as a new visual style that looks vaguely cartoonish (in a good way), the series' first full-voiced protagonist, and, of course, more awkwardly written romantic trysts."
We say: yes, we're looking forward to it, but the whole vaguely cartoonish visual style thing sort of puts us off. That and the limiting of character customization. No elves, seriously?
Crysis 2:
They say: "Most of us still can't run Crytek's three-year-old alien-shooter Crysis at a decent frame rate with the bells and whistles maxed. Crysis 2, staged in New York three years after the events of its predecessor, promises to cripple a whole new generation of graphics cards."
We say: What are you talking about? We can run Crysis maxed just fine. Oh, wait, they must be using some other guy's PC. Any way, this is going to be awesome. Really looking forward to the graphics and the action.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution:
They say: "The original Deus Ex won a bunch of awards, but Deus Ex 2 was kind of a mess. Whither Deus Ex: Human Revolution? Who knows, but you can expect more body mods, transhuman abilities, and cyberpunk voguing from this action-role-playing Deus Ex prequel"
We say: Prequel, hmm? Don't know about this one. Maybe we'll check it out when we're not playing Dragon Age II.
Rage:
They say: "Id Software makes heart-stoppingly gorgeous technology demos that someone else usually has to turn into a decent game. There's no reason yet to think otherwise of the post-apocayptic first-person shooter Rage--but as they say, there's a first time for everything."
We say: yes, yes yes!!! we saw the trailor of this and it's unbelievably awesome. The visuals are stunning and the world is massive and varied. You won't run into the same tree twice. That's the new tech they were talking about. Yes, it does remind us of Fallout whatever, but we're really looking forward to seeing how this is on the PC.
Star Wars: Old Republic:
They say: "The guys behind Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic make an MMO sequel set 300 years after the Knights series with two factions (guess which two!) and eight instantly recognizable classes? What could possibly go wrong?"
We say: We're not that into mmo's around here ( I know, shocking), but even we are anticipating this release with baited breath. Hey, Knights of the Old Republic got us hooked right away. This may hook a whole new audience on MMO's.
Batman: Arkham City:
They say: "Batman breaks out of the asylum and roams around Gotham City in this sequel, doing more or less what he did in the last game: scanning for clues, untangling forensic mysteries, solving riddles, pounding villains, and looking oh-so-cool in gun-blue latex."
We say: We have to play this, if only for the modern industrial goth look. And, of course, getting to be Batman and pound folks. But we STILL don't get the whole Arkham City thing. Like we said before, it's a city now? since when?
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim:
They say: "What we wouldn't give for a few screens of Bethesda's fifth-in-the-series role-playing epic. All we know so far is that it uses a new 3D engine and that it's set in Skyrim, a northern province in the Elder Scrolls geography. Oh, and it'll have dragons"
We say: New Elder Scrolls? We are so there!! This should really give Dragon Age II a run for their money. Plus we know there will be elves, and none of that cartoonish graphics style. Around here, we like realism in our unreal realms. And elves.
Diablo III:
They say: "In late 2011, expect the action-role-playing game Diablo III to set the world of mouse-spamming games on fire--over a decade after Diablo II inspired critics to scribble stuff like "It's utterly mindless, but I can't stop playing it."
We say: Wait, a new Dragon Age, a new Elder Scrolls and a new Diablo? Is this the best year ever?
Mass Effect 3:
They say: "The Earth looks pretty much screwed, judging from the trailer that BioWare teased for Mass Effect 3 in early December. No doubt you'll have something to say about that in the concluding chapter of the sci-fi role-playing trilogy."
We say: They don't know Commander Shepard. We are anxiously awaiting Mass Effect 3, hoping for more DLC's for Mass Effect 2 than the announced one (didn't they say at least four?) and hoping for a sequel beyond this, even though it's supposed to be a trilogy. Best space RPG ever.
XCom:
They say: "The classic turn-based strategy game X-COM rebooted as a first-person shooter? We'd be holding our noses, too, if it weren't under development at 2K Marin, the same studio that gave us BioShock 2, one of 2010's very best."
We say: don't know about this one. we need to take a serious look at it before we decide.
Well that's it for this week. hope you all survived the New Year's holiday relatively in tact.
Good luck and good gaming.
the folks at Psychsoftpc
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