Video Games

[SteveLaura 0]

I used to love 'Elite' on my old Spectrum. So I bought 'Freelancer' a while back. I don't find I have the time to play it, tho. Any other games similar to that I might like?

[DeadPoolX 9]

If anyone is interested in playing their old DOS-based games, then I'd strongly recommend loading up DOSBox for most DOS games or ScummVM for any created by LucasFilms/LucasArts. Both emulators run DOS-based games almost perfectly (not all play, of course) and enable you to enjoy the classics all over again!

As for modern games, my fiancee and I are currently enjoying Guild Wars and playing that together a lot. I've been trying to get her into some other games, but she doesn't care for first-person shooters or action games, so we generally stick to role-playing games. We first met through our fondness for the adventure genre, but those games aren't multi-player.

In terms of modern single-player gaming, I've been enjoying games such as Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire: Special Edition, Full Spectrum Warrior, Call of Duty 2, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Battlefield 2 (although I think I preferred Battlefield 1942 a little better), Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, and Medieval: Total War. I'm fairly varied in my gaming choices.

We've also played on my Playstation 2 as well. My fiancee doesn't like sports (or sports games), so we don't play those; however, we have played other two-player games, such as Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Dead or Alive: Hardcore, Burnout 3, and Gauntlet: The Seven Sorrows.

[Ban Hammer 13,346]

I used to love 'Elite' on my old Spectrum. So I bought 'Freelancer' a while back. I don't find I have the time to play it, tho. Any other games similar to that I might like?

i remember those two. tried freelancer and got to a point where i couldn't go any further and gave up the game.

only ones that may be similar is the wing commander series.

[Amby 490]

neil is obsessed with resident evil 4 right now...he just finished bully last week

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I used to love 'Elite' on my old Spectrum. So I bought 'Freelancer' a while back. I don't find I have the time to play it, tho. Any other games similar to that I might like?

X-2: The Threat is the spiritual sequel to Elite. Came out in 2003 and you can get it for $10 in Walmart, or alternatively on ebay.

If you've got a PC with a 64mb graphics card it should run no problems.

[diana&alan 0]

We use second life and about 1 year we enjoy it building creating dancing and hugging ... it is a pic of our weeding in to wirtul word Second life.. chek out www.secondlife.com :-))) we will glad if you like it

Diana&Alan

[DeadPoolX 9]

I used to love 'Elite' on my old Spectrum. So I bought 'Freelancer' a while back. I don't find I have the time to play it, tho. Any other games similar to that I might like?

X-2: The Threat is the spiritual sequel to Elite. Came out in 2003 and you can get it for $10 in Walmart, or alternatively on ebay.

If you've got a PC with a 64mb graphics card it should run no problems.

A 64MB video card? How old is that computer?

My machine is a couple of years old and it's only got a 256MB video card. It's rapidly becoming the norm to have 512MB or even 768MB video cards. Then, of course, you need to decide on whether or not you want Nvidia or ATI (both have their pro's and con's) and to use SLI or Crossfire as well. Just remember that if you're planning on using two video cards in SLI or Crossfire mode, you'll need a heftier power supply.

On the other hand, unless you're actively playing first-person shooters (or perhaps real-time strategy games too), you probably don't need the "latest and greatest" video card available. Most games will scale to what the user has on their PC (at least to some degree) and depending on the genre, the "bottleneck" could be either the video card or the processor. Rarely is it system RAM, since that's exceptionally easy and relatively inexpensive to upgrade (although I'd recommend having at least 1GB minimum; preferably more).

One thing I just don't understand is why so many PC vendors are touting dual-core and quad-core processors for gaming. Productivity applications, sure -- it's useful there, especially in the audio/video and graphic design fields, but very few (if any) games have yet to take full advantage of more than one processor at a time. So I fail to see the advantage in having a dual-core or quad-core processor if what you're primarily interested in is gaming.

It just sounds impressive, I guess. After all, two or four must be better than one, right? This isn't necessarily the case, but to many who don't know any better, it certainly seems that way. I suppose the larger buffer helps, though.

As a side-note, if you're into PC gaming, I'd stay away from all versions of Windows Vista for the time being. It's not very compatible with many games (especially older ones) and the OS is having driver issues as well. I'm sure this will be fixed soon, but at the moment, it's not a great operating system. I'd stick with Windows XP or 2000. If anyone is still using Windows 98SE/ME/95, then it's definitely time to upgrade.

[~Nini~ 2]

Bee and I met playing World of Warcraft. Nowadays he's playing Oblivion, Halo 3 and Half Life 2 while I stick to Disgaea and Katamari Damacy on the PS2. We recently got an XBOX 360 as a wedding present and he's desperately waiting for Mass Effect to come out. I'm keen for Beautiful Katamari myself.

I've also been dropping hints that I'd like a Nintendo DS this Christmas/Hanukkah, so that I can hit the new Zelda and Sims 2: Castaway. And Brain Age 2, just to help my memory skills.

Edited November 1, 2007 by Nini & Bee

[DeadPoolX 9]

Bee and I met playing World of Warcraft. Nowadays he's playing Oblivion, Halo 3 and Half Life 2 while I stick to Disgaea and Katamari Damacy on the PS2. We recently got an XBOX 360 as a wedding present and he's desperately waiting for Mass Effect to come out. I'm keen for Beautiful Katamari myself.

I've also been dropping hints that I'd like a Nintendo DS this Christmas/Hanukkah, so that I can hit the new Zelda and Sims 2: Castaway. And Brain Age 2, just to help my memory skills.

How is Katamari Damacy? I've never played it, but it looks fun. I'm wondering if my fiancee might like it, since she's generally not too interested in the so-called "normal" PS2 games. I've also been looking at Okami as well, but I haven't gotten around to purchasing it.

[kim&james 0]

We also met via "the older gamers" (for adults over 25 years, whose hobby is online games) playing SWG. Currently we play WOW, EVE and are beta testing a couple of others.

MMORPG's are my favs however I also play the BF series for first person shooters. Have not got into the clan games since moving here to the US.

Also have several Tycoon, sims, civilisation, age of empires etc that I play solo.

[~Nini~ 2]

How is Katamari Damacy? I've never played it, but it looks fun. I'm wondering if my fiancee might like it, since she's generally not too interested in the so-called "normal" PS2 games. I've also been looking at Okami as well, but I haven't gotten around to purchasing it.

Katamari Damacy is very silly and seriously addictive. The premise is really simple, the game is extremely easy to play, and the dialogue is hysterical.

[Welshcookie 17]

I play WORLD OF WARCRAFT but am thinking about giving HELLGATE:LONDON a look soon. Hubby is not into MMORPG's and prefers HALO, FEAR etc...

We play PS2 together...mostly fighting games like Fight Club and Tekken

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I used to love 'Elite' on my old Spectrum. So I bought 'Freelancer' a while back. I don't find I have the time to play it, tho. Any other games similar to that I might like?

X-2: The Threat is the spiritual sequel to Elite. Came out in 2003 and you can get it for $10 in Walmart, or alternatively on ebay.

If you've got a PC with a 64mb graphics card it should run no problems.

A 64MB video card? How old is that computer?

My machine is a couple of years old and it's only got a 256MB video card. It's rapidly becoming the norm to have 512MB or even 768MB video cards. Then, of course, you need to decide on whether or not you want Nvidia or ATI (both have their pro's and con's) and to use SLI or Crossfire as well. Just remember that if you're planning on using two video cards in SLI or Crossfire mode, you'll need a heftier power supply.

On the other hand, unless you're actively playing first-person shooters (or perhaps real-time strategy games too), you probably don't need the "latest and greatest" video card available. Most games will scale to what the user has on their PC (at least to some degree) and depending on the genre, the "bottleneck" could be either the video card or the processor. Rarely is it system RAM, since that's exceptionally easy and relatively inexpensive to upgrade (although I'd recommend having at least 1GB minimum; preferably more).

One thing I just don't understand is why so many PC vendors are touting dual-core and quad-core processors for gaming. Productivity applications, sure -- it's useful there, especially in the audio/video and graphic design fields, but very few (if any) games have yet to take full advantage of more than one processor at a time. So I fail to see the advantage in having a dual-core or quad-core processor if what you're primarily interested in is gaming.

It just sounds impressive, I guess. After all, two or four must be better than one, right? This isn't necessarily the case, but to many who don't know any better, it certainly seems that way. I suppose the larger buffer helps, though.

As a side-note, if you're into PC gaming, I'd stay away from all versions of Windows Vista for the time being. It's not very compatible with many games (especially older ones) and the OS is having driver issues as well. I'm sure this will be fixed soon, but at the moment, it's not a great operating system. I'd stick with Windows XP or 2000. If anyone is still using Windows 98SE/ME/95, then it's definitely time to upgrade.

Up until recently I was using a P4 Laptop with a 64mb nVidia card that I bought in 2004. Just bought a new desktop with a 256mb nVidia 8600 card for about $1200. I know you can get graphics cards up to 768mb but none of the major retailers use them except on machines that cost between $2000-$5000 - the HP Blackbird for instance, high-end Dell XPS systems or Alienware machines. Even if you build the PC yourself - a graphics card that kick-### is going to cost you several hundred bucks.

I've heard Vista had issues when it first came out - but so far I've not had any problems. Every game I own has installed - except for Silent Hunter III, but that was notoriously dodgy even on XP - because the manufacturers only offered support on a very limited range of specific graphics cards.

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Im gonna be swappin out some pieces in the next month or so. Need a new mobo,ram,vid card.

These new vid cards suck the power, so gotta make sure you have a big enough power supply. Also the next gen DX 10 games will look like ####### on the older vid cards.

I got my eye on this card, its a freakin monster!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814150204

[~Nini~ 2]

Im gonna be swappin out some pieces in the next month or so. Need a new mobo,ram,vid card.

These new vid cards suck the power, so gotta make sure you have a big enough power supply. Also the next gen DX 10 games will look like ####### on the older vid cards.

I got my eye on this card, its a freakin monster!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814150204

Talk about the Starship Enterprise!