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TopCat88

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TopCat88

434

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16

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#1  Edited By TopCat88

Thanks to all for your input so far, I'll have a look at Hardware Unboxed and the models mentioned by everybody so far. If I have any further questions, I'll add them to the thread. Enjoy your weekends :)

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TopCat88

434

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16

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1

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Reviews: 1

User Lists: 4

I had a search through the forums, but couldn't find a recent topic like this. Apologies if it's come up recently.

I need some advice.

My old 1080p 60z BENQ T2200HDA is starting to crap out on me. I doesn't display anything other than a grey mess the first few times I turn it on until it finally works at the 3rd to 5th attempt.

I have a fairly low budget of around £300 / $400 to spare for a new one.

I have a Nvidia 1070 from around the launch of the 10 series, and will not be upgrading for the foreseeable future. I've never had anything other than 1080p, and am happy with that resolution. Not interested in 4K at all. However 1440 could be a good upgrade for me, I'm pretty sure my 1070 can handle it.

I have a series S now, so the PC is likely to become secondary to that, so expect most new games to be played on the xbox. For gaming, it'll mainly be PC Gamepass games, and my backlog which I'm sure the 1070 can handle at 1440, maybe even at 4K, but like I said, I'd rather spend the 4K money on other features at 1440 or 1080p.

I also produce music, so the screen real estate of an ultrawide is tempting for that. I've heard that ultrawide can be a pain for games sometimes.

After all that preamble. I guess my questions are:

What are the budget/middle tier monitors of choice at the moment?

What features are worth prioritising?

Does the extra screen real estate of work applications at 1440p offset the gains from ultrawide?

*Also: I know people will be tempted to sell me on 4K. You can try, but I doubt you'll be able to. Consider it a challenge if you like :P

Thanks to anyone who takes the time to reply.

Happy New Year.

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TopCat88

434

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Reviews: 1

User Lists: 4

#3  Edited By TopCat88

GOTY 2020

1. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2The perfect remake. Blew away the Robomoto nonsense of a few years ago, and brought THPS back to where it should be. THPS 2 is in my Top 3 of all time, and this hit the nostalgia hard. It played and looked "as you remember it", the challenge system was great, and everything just worked. BONUS POINTS for not adding Micro Transactions post launch. Has Activision turned a moral corner - I doubt it, but here's hoping.
2. Doom EternalAfter completing, but not particularly enjoying Doom 2016 (I intend to give it another go in 2021), Doom Eternal was a huge improvement for me. The combat arenas were well crafted, the shooting never felt repetitive, the story was goofy, and the platforming was surprisingly enjoyable. Hoping the expansions come to Game Pass next year.
3. Ori and the Will of the WispsThe top three are light years ahead of anything else I played with a 2020 release. Ori is wonderful. It's beautiful, it's challenging, but rewarding. It has a moving narrative, and most of all is a blast to play. Tight controls and a rare game where I went for and got the 100% completion.
4. FIFA 21I feel that Fifa 21 is a huge improvement over 20. It plays much closer to 'real' football and I enjoyed it enough to buy it despite Fifa 20 being included in Game Pass. The next gen update looks great.
5. Watch Dogs: LegionI bought this to have something next-gen (ish) to play on my Series S. It's my first Watch Dogs, and not too bad at all. My first Ray Tracing game, and I loved the city and how alive it felt. Solid gameplay and a serviceable story without being a classic.
6. Microsoft Flight SimulatorA stunning game, beautiful, and the global map made it special. Flying around famous and personal locations was a really joy.
7. Destiny 2Annual inclusion of Destiny / Destiny 2. Beyond Light was a good update and played it with my buddy across the world - his first Destiny experience (Thank you, Game Pass). For that alone it deserves the No. 7 spot.
8. Streets of Rage 4Really enjoyed co-oping this with my wife (not much of a video game fan). I learned that she enjoys 2D beat em' ups, and I remembered how much I adore Streets of Rage.
9. Fall Guys: Ultimate KnockoutI fell off of Fall Guys, (:p) but it's a game that I enjoyed my somewhat brief time with. Great concept.
10. Mario Kart Live: Home CircuitThe only game on this list I have not played. But for sheer innovation, and for the only game of the year that made we want a Switch, it takes the No. 10 spot above some games I actually played.

*** 11-99: Game Pass:

Microsoft's service was the really GOTY in 2020. A wonderful service, at a competitive price. I played 60-70 games this year because of it (not all to completion). It helped me try a whole bunch of things I wouldn't normally, and limited my spending (especially on Steam) to almost $0. ( I finally bought the expansions to Jurassic World: Evolution because that game is amazing enough for me to buy DLC, which I never normally do.)

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TopCat88

434

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I played Red Candle's other game, Detention, which is 2D and smaller in scope than Devotion (I think). It was excellent. I was looking forward to finally playing Devotion as I live in Taiwan, and the game makers are Taiwanese. Oh well, maybe someday.

I found out (too late) that a rad collectors addition was released in Taiwan only a while ago, but it sold out before I had heard about it.

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TopCat88

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The only two of those I've played are the R* offerings, so I can't really help except to say, whilst they are both fantastic games in my opinion, maybe don't play them one after the other. Perhaps one at the beginning of your backlog order, and one at the end. I loved GTA V, but RDR2 is the slightly better game for me. Its slow, animation heavy gameplay is a little divisive, but I enjoyed it and felt it helped anchor the setting really well.

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TopCat88

434

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@failburn: Dead Rising 2 would be a joy for me if available. Been looking at it for ages. Had Dead Rising 1 back in the day, but not having an HD TV at the time made it a chore to read the text. I'd love to finally have a go at the sequel.

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TopCat88

434

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Took Witcher. Thank you @mlarrabee

Happy New Year :D

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TopCat88

434

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Reviews: 1

User Lists: 4

#8  Edited By TopCat88

@jstaunton: I guess that's true for average age of the group. I was thinking of the original crew :P

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TopCat88

434

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@htr10: They were about your age, but now they're not???

Are you a dog? :p

I've never been asked what Giant Bomb is, so I don't have an answer.

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TopCat88

434

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Reviews: 1

User Lists: 4

@imhungry: I just assumed the name without checking. eFootball is a bloody ridiculous title.