BertieWooster

@bybeach: Yeah, I've realized that a) that link is from the US site, ergo useless to me here in Canada, and b) I can probably find something better at a local specialty shop.

I suppose my main reluctance to buy parts is my lack of confidence in my skill to actually get it together properly. I understand the basics, but don't want to end up with $400 in junk if I try to build and fuck something up.

Hey GB Community,

Writing with a question, hopefully someone can help me out.

My wife and I have been a Mac-only household for probably 6 years now. I gave away my last Windows machine to a friend upon buying my current (aging) Macbook. I've been a 99% console gamer since.

Now, my wife is taking part in a game creation workshop/incubator thing and we're thinking of picking up a Windows machine since many of the game-building tools that it's best to learn on are Windows-only. To be clear, I'm not looking for a monster gaming PC here. I'm quite happy remaining a console-primary gaming household. But if there's something cheap and simple that I could augment us with, something that could run those building tools, and maybe play the occasional steam game (Telltale stuff well, Civ 4 or 5, Counter-Strike, Team Fortress), I would be happy.

Since we're also looking to supplement our aging Macbook and Mac Mini with a tablet (iPad) to take over couch-based web-surfing duties, I don't want to spend much on a Windows rig - let's say $500 tops. If we could hit a sub-$400 mark too, that'd be fantastic.

In 2 minutes of surfing Best Buy, I've found something like this.

Again, no monster, I know, and I'd probably add a graphics card. I do have some experience buliding machines, but mostly second-hand (I watched and learned while someone built my last 2 PCs, plus I've done whatever user-serviceable stuff you can do on a Mac - hard drive replacement, RAM, etc), so I don't exactly want to have to build from scratch.

Are there any pre-built rigs at any retailers that anyone can recommend? Can a basic one like I've linked above be improved meaningfully through video cards, etc?

Basically, what does the knowledgeable Giant Bomb community recommend?

@BBQBram: Dunno man, about the whole fire/water thing, my thoughts are far less nuanced than my thoughts on the evolution of Cole as a pretty purposely facile protagonist.

Nutshell: wall of water = yo, it was raining + storm sewer.

@gafasibm said:

@BertieWooster said:

Hey duders,

Just got a bunch of stuff off my chest via the list creation tool.

I'm sure we've all got them. Piles of shame, unfinished or unopened games sitting next to our TVs, mocking us.

I just helpfully itemized mine, making me realize that there is literally hundreds of dollars of guilt staring at me from my media shelves.

Also, doing the rough math of how many hours it would take to finish all of these, it's something like 8-10 full-time work-weeks.

Anyone else care to take part in the same exercise/dissect mine and help with a plan of attack?

You can find my (embarrassingly lengthy) list here.

Probably not a groundbreaking topic, I know, but cathartic.

no one gives a rats ass about your crap. learn.

Constructive conversation what what!

@BBQBram: Fantastically well said, sir. Agree with pretty much everything there.

Only disagree on the thoughts about the pace of Cole's death. I thought it was perfect. Cole wasn't the hero of this story - not even close. In true noir fashion, there barely was a hero, and in the end it was the guy who you hated most of the way through.

It was always pretty clear that Cole was a study in shades of grey, and in pushing against our typical idea of not only video game heroes, but modern heroes as a whole. We were supposed to THINK we were to identify with him by simple virtue of the fact that we made him walk and shoot his gun. But we weren't. It was clear he had his own mind, was living his own story. Never getting along with anyone, always distant, concerned more with the rules and in asserting his (arbitrary, through unearned titles) authority (making decisions that seem important, not even necessarily in a career-minded sense, a la Roy (Fucking) Earle).

And in that, he only did what he could to redeem himself, and to die valiantly, and as in most things Cole did, he only barely succeeded. Seeing him cut off so inelegantly ["I--"] by a wave of water when trying to say his last words was absolutely perfect.

I thought the ideas of following this guy, who only climbed the ladder because he was good at stepping on the guy behind him, and to see the consequences of not only his actions, but the system that allowed his actions to carry so much weight, was something I'd never see done this well by a video game.

People who expected that sort of 'blank canvas' experience that you bring up from things like Elder Scrolls or (to a lesser extent) Mass Effect, et al, needed to adjust their expectations, not crap on the game for not letting them tell their 'own' story, which could never, ever be as strong as the one they got.

I am literally still in awe of all this, and the more I talk about it and think about it, the more amazing it seems.

I kind of agree with whoever is saying that people not giving a shit about LA Noire's story aren't really trying hard enough (not that you really need to try at all).

I just finished the main story yesterday, and I kinda sat there, stonefaced through the credits, pretty much blown away by the whole thing.

Not to spoil, but the tying together of all those threads, the idea of the (in-the-end) single crystallizing decision (and the fascinatingly flawed characters) behind everything, the tragedy of seeing the dirtbags who skated just rubbing salt in the wound at the end (pre-credit scene, in the church) - amazing.

Not only was there an interesting and captivating story (plot, point A-point B-point C) being told, but these characters felt real, felt lived in.

This is becoming a sort of Overeaters Anonymous meeting, and I kinda dig it.

Let it all out everyone. It's going to be OK.

@Rekt_Hed: Totally aware of the karma thing. The only correction I'd make is that of the six you cited, I am technically finished the main game of half of them (Bioshock 2, Mass Effect 2, Borderlands), but they're on the list for DLC's (purchased but not played) sake.

Spent the rest of the afternoon with Darksiders. Forgot how much I really enjoyed that game. Probably 60% done now, hopefully it becomes #2 struck from the pile sooner than later.

@umdesch4: Dude, tell me about it. There are at least a good 8-10 on that list where I'm afraid of exactly the same thing.