ltcoljaxson

There is something nice about video game that still lets you live out your inner-child. There are times where I've felt that I've almost lost it when I played uninspired video games, especially when I started playing COD. At first I really enjoyed the game, but as the series went on it became too 'polished' and lacked some element of imagination. Everything was rendered for you to see, and it made playing the game relatively boring.

I haven't played many video games as long as I did when I had been playing in my childhood. I would log so many hours into certain games on the N64 etc. and invite friends over and play split-screen. It was an integral part of my childhood in terms of entertainment, and a way to entertain friends. Today I feel that with so much online play, multiplayer doesn't feel the same anymore. There isn't that 'friend' connection you had when you played with your friend in split-screen. Plus the amount of exploring/glitches that occurred in those classic games such as Mario made it all the more fun. Back to what I was originally talking about... now games have put a sense of boredom into me. Especially shooters.

That is, until I got Skyrim. The fantasy world they laid out in the game reinspired some sort of inner-nerdiness and I have logged 94 hours into the game so far. I have not done this sort of play in a long time, if ever. I think about the game when I am not playing it and the things I will do when I go back to the game. They've created a world where so much is possible, and unlike GTA, it's full of exploration and the fantasy elements make for constant surprises. The fact I have played so much of the game makes me realize how important video games are for me, especially as a stress reliever during University. It lets you forget about a lot of issues in the real world, and you become immersed in a fantasy world for a period of time... sort of like repressive desublimation.

Good blog.. :)

@Robo said:

@FoxMulder said:

That and I would not want to play something like this with clicking a mouse. The console controller adds a lot to the feel of some games and especially non-shooters.

I use a 360 controller with Skyrim on the PC. Works great (without the update, which screws up remapping but is easily fixed).

I use a PS3 controller with the MotionJoy driver installed on my PC, it has an option to act as a 360 controller emulator. It maps it out perfectly. So there you go FoxMulder, you can use two separate console controllers or a mouse and keyboard on PC.

Hey there,

I already have a 5.1 sound system hooked up to my PC via the analogue inputs, but was going to get a new receiver soon that I'd like to hook up to my PC. Currently, my setup is just 5 creative speakers that are meant for PC. I was wondering if anyone would know if the HDMI output on the Radeon 6670 supports audio and if this would work for a surround setup on a PC?

Has anyone done this yet? I see in my playback devices there is listed, "AMD HDMI Output" and was just wanting to know if this is easy to setup and worthwhile before I get the receiver? I also have a Coax connection on the back of my PC but I'm not sure if it works, it's labelled SPDIF...

Also thanks to anyone beforehand who can answer this. :)

@Tetsuo said:

What do I think? Honestly, I don't give a shit. The trailer just looked like more of the same old GTA. Unless they show something new - other than pretty graphics - I'm out.

What do you expect? Them to change it from an open world to an closed world circuit racing game?

This looks pretty amazing, hopefully it features more ridiculous stunts like the older GTA games rather than the realistic focus of GTA4.

@patrickklepek said:

@OracleXIII said:

you're really trying to be this oh so professional, so pc, so down with the intellectual shit.. mr. big man journalist. but these, these are just ruining the quality of this once fine website.

I'm happy to hear how any of these additions to Giant Bomb are impacting the overall quality of the website, and I'm not being sarcastic whatsoever. If you have an actual grievance, feel fee to PM me with details. No one is forcing you to read every article on this website, and part of what I'm trying to do is expand the editorial coverage of the site overall.

This was a refreshing article to read, and brought up a good point that many other sites wouldn't dare to write about. It was well written, and argued so I can't complain about the quality. It's nice to see these types of articles on a gaming website, and it extends outside the borders of your argument to film reviews as well (among others.) People like Armond White come to mind when I think of controversial reviewers - it often brings to mind... should some reviewers even be entrusted to reviewing a product when their reviews are commonly controversial? Do some reviewers even have a standard to using a rating scale, or do they have enough knowledge of how to pick an accurate score based off their written review?

Things to think about. Interesting article, Patrick - thanks for writing it. Cheers.

Do I get a brick as a carrying case as well? It'd be about just as practical.

Thanks for your help guys, I decided to just purchase a new card so I got the radeon 6670. It's a bit better than the 9800GTX (which was the source of my problem), and includes Direct X11 support so Metro 2033 looks outstanding. Now I have much anticipation for BF3's DX11 support...ohh man.

Do you have these artifacts when you boot up your PC, before getting into Windows? And do they appear after a while or does it always look like that?

I just recently started up my PC which runs Windows 7 64bit on an Intel Quad 2.4 processor (asus P5q motherboard), with an Nvidia 9800GTX card... I started to get these weird artifacts and lines on the screen... flashing in and out and the computer sort of freezes up while this is occurring. I was wondering if someone could confirm if this is a graphics card issue, whether or not it should be replaced or if this is another sort of problem?  It also shows some fuzzy colours as the artifacts... I  can post more screens if needed but was wondering if I should just pick up a new graphics card?
 

Better take down all the violent movies and books too, oh wait - you went bankrupt?