Whoever says Windows is for Gaming is on Crack.

[dotdotdot]

<RANT>Whoever said Windows is good for gaming is on crack.

I purchased Battlefield 1942 a while ago...

Anyway, I play it once in a while - its a really great game.

Well, all of a sudden, I cant connect to networks.

I download a patch.

Now I cant even access that screen.

I uninstall.

I reinstall.

I try to play.

I go and it crashes to the desktop.

I download the patch.

It crashes so much all I can do is press and hold power.

I have never had so much trouble with a single program in my life! All I want to do is PLAY A STUPID GAME!

Hey, maybe if we all smoke crack together and inject other drugs into our bloodstreem, Windows XP will be a goood OS.

EVERYONE WHO LIKES XP FOR GAMES: Go to rehab. Get off the stuff. You'll see that there is no possible way for a game to SUCK THIS MUCH.

</end rant>

Man! Its sooooo annoying (wow, I used like 5 o's)

[Daveway]

NO. Windows is for games. It's just that Windows sucks.

[clayj]

I guess I might be on crack... I just finished playing through Half-Life 2 a couple of weeks ago, and it's AWESOME... better than anything currently on a console.

Maybe you should blame the folks who wrote Battlefield 1942. :)

[snkTab]

You've never played solitare

[Phat_Pat]

HL2 is coming out for Xbox and not a second is cut out of it.

If anyone cares i read it in OXM. :rolleyes:

[snkTab]

I just want to note that with PC games, they are always ALWAYS going to be some computers that won't work with it no matter what. To many different hardware and software conflicts. OS X shares resources, Windows has to fight for them.

[dotdotdot]

I guess I might be on crack... I just finished playing through Half-Life 2 a couple of weeks ago, and it's AWESOME... better than anything currently on a console.

Maybe you should blame the folks who wrote Battlefield 1942. :)

No, EA Games is good. Its Microsoft and their crappy OS.

And worst of all, they brainwashed so many people. My dad thinks Mac is bad and he loves his current computer. If only I could convince him to switch.

Then, there are the extreme cases... (Ahem, Paul Thurrott, www.winsupersite.com)

[ham_man]

Nah, Windoze is for gaming - it has a whole lot more games for it ATM, plus the customizability allow you to perfect your system to your gaming needs. Sometimes games or other programs causes problems - on any OS...

[dotdotdot]

AHHH!!!

I need some sleep - In the morning I'll feel better...

[snkTab]

You have platform gaming and you have computer gaming. RPGs are better on a console, FPS are better on a computer, sports games are better on a console, strategy and building games are better on a computer, racing games are better on a console, Adventure games are better on a computer.

Even if you don't agree with my choices, I think it's clear that some games are better for console and some are better for a computer. That said, PS2, XBOX, even the Gamecube present wonderful gaming for console gaming. As for computer gaming...... Windows is tops. I'm going to say in large part to directx and microsofts willingness to expand game development.

[dotdotdot]

YEP, it was windows!

After my needed sleep and school and baseball game, I discovered - BF1942 was not working because:

Windows was fragmented ONLY in that folder
Registry files existed since 2003 on that game

After I deleted and defraged, it works 96%.

For some reason, NOW I get the damn BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH!

[Patmian212]

Windows has crashed on me before but Ive never gotten blue screen as Ive heard s many people say. What is the blue screen of death?

[feakbeak]

I believe BF1942 has problems. I had similar troubles with the game in the past. Often BF would crash and I'd get dumped out to the desktop, especially when trying to play online. Once after upgrading my nVidia drivers I started getting BSOD, but ONLY when playing BF1942. Aside from my driver/BF'42 issue I have not had WinXP BSOD on me once, nor have I had a system hang that required a reboot. I have been using Windows XP extensively for four years now. I've used my Mac mini for about two months and have had two system hangs that required hard reboots.

I have also played BF 'Nam a lot and have never had any issues with that game. Trust me, there is something funky with that game. I think it has problems with certain hardware configurations and perhaps certain elements of Windows. However, I honestly don't think it is "just" Windows because 95% of my Windows crashes over the past few years have involved BF 1942, coincidence... I don't think so.

[virividox]

dont bash windows...it has its uses, and gaming is one of them.

basically thats all i use my box back home for now

[angelneo]

With all the new consoles coming in with networking capability, who needs a personal computer for gaming? so effectively, windows has become redundant...

[MontyZ]

Whoever said Windows is good for gaming is on crack.
Please don't give crack users a bad name like this. I don't know any crack users who recommend Windows, not even for gaming. In fact, I don't know any crack users that have a computer. But if they did, they'd have a Mac. Because Mac rhymes with Crack.

[feakbeak]

With all the new consoles coming in with networking capability, who needs a personal computer for gaming? so effectively, windows has become redundant...Really? I've never seen a gaming console that could run Active Directory with tens of thousands of nodes across dozens of sites in several continents.

I've said it once, I'll say it again. Microsoft focuses on the enterprise - the home market is just a pet project for them.

[angelneo]

Really? I've never seen a gaming console that could run Active Directory with tens of thousands of nodes across dozens of sites in several continents.

I've said it once, I'll say it again. Microsoft focuses on the enterprise - the home market is just a pet project for them.
If we are basing the reasoning that windows is only for gaming which many people buys a PC for. Of course, it have it uses for entreprise which they severely locked down on. However, on the consumer side, things might get slightly different.

EDIT: Sorry, I think I should have add this in. Just refer to the thread title "Whoever says Windows is for Gaming is on Crack."

[feakbeak]

If we are basing the reasoning that windows is only for gaming which many people buys a PC for. Of course, it have it uses for entreprise which they severely locked down on. However, on the consumer side, things might get slightly different.Agreed

[Soulstorm]

Well, crashing is what makes windows what it is!

Look, windows are faster in gaming, but noone said that they won't crash in games. We say that they are best for games because they are faster in that. But they crash all the time and if you do something weird with their preferences they will crash again!

After 100 crashes I believe you can enjoy your game.

[Cloudgazer]

No, EA Games is good. Its Microsoft and their crappy OS.


EA Games are not that great.

I purchased 007 Nightfire.
I was very excited to play a Jmaes Bond game. It started off well enough, but during he game things just didn't make sense. There were huge holes in the plot, and the game was very very short.
when EA ported the game to PC (and possibly Mac) they left out a number of levels, which completely broke the story, and they didn't bother to add any cutscenes to fill in the holes or explian what was going on.
I expect better from a company the size of EA.
The original console version had 12 levels, the PC version only 9.
That means they cut almost a third off the game and still had the cheek to charge full price.
I actually hate EA as a company, and will only purchase games they distribute, but none that they develop.

[Veldek]

A little horror story, I experienced on a LAN party with my brother's Windows PC. I installed a game by selecting the folder "Games". But this installer didn't create a new folder inside "Games", but wrote all the files directly into the folder. Great! So I started the installer again to uninstall and install again into a new folder, but after the uninstallation, the whole "Games" folder was deleted with all the games in it. Thank god, my brother had all of them on the original CDs, but the LAN party was almost over for me...

[Nermal]

The worst problem I've had at LAN parties is trying to get the Mac and Windows games to talk to each other. The Mac version has, say, version 1.2 on the DVD, and all the Windows users are still on 1.0. But they don't want to upgrade, because then they need to find new no-CD cracks for the games :eek: :rolleyes:

[Windoze_Fanboy]

With all the new consoles coming in with networking capability, who needs a personal computer for gaming? so effectively, windows has become redundant...

Do you mean to say that the console platform is better then the PC platform for games... I am quite astounded, why is this?

[iGary]

Hey, Mac has always had chess. It is the original gaming machine. :D

[MontyZ]

Hey, Mac has always had chess. It is the original gaming machine.
And Windows users just get Solitaire. How lonely.

[Dagless]

Windows 98 was for gaming. since getting XP ive lost out on Quake, Sim City 3000, Worms Armageddon. all my fave games dont work with XP. oh well! GBA is my gaming platform anyways.

[jayscheuerle]

Windows is the preferred platform for gaming geeks, yet here Microsoft is introducing a version of their Xbox that blows away anything that the PCs that run Windows can play.

What compelling reason is there to buy Wintel if it isn't to play games or outfit accounting departments?

[calyxman]

What's the point of even being a PC Gamer when you've got to deal with the headaches of hardware upgrades, incompatability, and so forth? Ever since DOS gaming ended, it just didn't seem like it was worth it for me anymore. Just stick with a dedicated gaming console.

[AdamR01]

Windows 98 was for gaming. since getting XP ive lost out on Quake, Sim City 3000, Worms Armageddon. all my fave games dont work with XP. oh well! GBA is my gaming platform anyways.

I run Quake and Sim City 3000 fine on Windows XP so I don't know what thats about.

To the original poster, what version of Windows do you have? If you have 98 then of course its going to crash like mad. If you have XP and you're getting a bluescreen then you are either having hardware failure, have crappy drivers installed, or a grotesque ammount of spyware. There are lots of users in the world that are having absolutely no problems with XP.

[Abulia]

I'm a pretty hard-core gamer for a 35 yr old, but after switching to the Mac I've found all of my gaming to be serviced by my Mac (WoW) or my Xbox (modded and huge library). I haven't turned on my gaming PC for a couple of months, and that was only to dink around with Silent Hunter III.

As soon as I get a couple of days of spare time to fully port over all of my prior documents (I'm a writer) to the Mac there's a very good chance that my PC/Windows XP machine will be sold off forever.

Sure, there are games I'll miss, but I'm getting plenty out of the Mac and Xbox. Throw the Xbox 360 and PS3 into the picture and I don't see a need for gaming PC rig at all.

But that's just me. :)

[brap]

Maybe you should blame the folks who wrote Battlefield 1942. :)Yes, you really should; Dice put out a great online demo back in '02, and followed it up with a lacklustre, bug-ridden, rushed release. Even after 6.whatever patches, it's still buggy as ******. Try uninstalling/reinstalling, making full sure you reset the computer inbetween stages. That's a known fix for most game startup issues.

Stupidly addictive game, though - I've just got back into playing it.

[Dagless]

I run Quake and Sim City 3000 fine on Windows XP so I don't know what thats about.

To the original poster, what version of Windows do you have? If you have 98 then of course its going to crash like mad. If you have XP and you're getting a bluescreen then you are either having hardware failure, have crappy drivers installed, or a grotesque ammount of spyware. There are lots of users in the world that are having absolutely no problems with XP.

Windows XP home, SP2. auto updates on everything completely up to date. nothing works at all. and im using official Intel hardware all big brand hardware. no version of XP has worked for me and gaming. and no, i own the real games, and yes! its been formated ive tried everything to get these to work. even Max Payne 1 dosnt work which is the newest of the old games.
the only thing that does work for me is Doom Legacy. and the very new games (farcry, doom 3, HL2).

[Dippo]

Windows XP home, SP2. auto updates on everything completely up to date. nothing works at all. and im using official Intel hardware all big brand hardware. no version of XP has worked for me and gaming.


I use Windows Server 2003 SP1 for gaming and it works great.

Maybe you should try that. ;)

[AdamR01]

I use Windows Server 2003 SP1 for gaming and it works great.

Maybe you should try that. ;)

Agh, I never understood people that do stuff like that. I mean I'm assuming you pirated the os as who would spend mucho $$$ for that os to game on. I mean thats not to say you don't have it legally, but all the excess services just eating cpu cycles and ram just makes me cringe. And then if you do have it legally and you did turn off all the extra services then what is the point of having a server os?

[feakbeak]

Agh, I never understood people that do stuff like that. I mean I'm assuming you pirated the os as who would spend mucho $$$ for that os to game on. I mean thats not to say you don't have it legally, but all the excess services just eating cpu cycles and ram just makes me cringe. And then if you do have it legally and you did turn off all the extra services then what is the point of having a server os?What? You mean you don't game on a domain controller? Loser! :D

[7on]

Here's a patch (http://www.aspyr.com/games.php/mac/bf1942/) for your battlefield to work ;)

[javabear90]

HL2 is coming out for Xbox and not a second is cut out of it.

Hehe.... It'll look really bad compared to my 6800gt and amd 64. For ultra-high end games hl2, doom3 etc... the xbox can't handle them, especially at high resoultions. I was running hl2 at two thousand something x 1700 somthing. 16x antiscropic filtering and 6x anti, aliasing... everything highest.... o my gosh... Drool drool. It was AMAZING. the xbox can't compare. now the 'box 360 is another story.
/rant

anyways... got anonther alternative for gaming? Macs.. Ha, I don't think so.. Linux... um, no... um.....
Sorry man. Windows is the best platform for gaming. It sucks otherwise.

[The_Shocker]

I think Windows is strickly for business and gaming. It is cheap for business and it has most game titles on the Windows PC. Hopefully the market share of Mac users will rise and come out with some games for the Mac.

[AdamR01]

What? You mean you don't game on a domain controller? Loser! :D


I guess I'm not cool enough to use Active Directory to authenticate my lan party guests... :rolleyes:

[Foniks Munkee]

Windows XP home, SP2. auto updates on everything completely up to date. nothing works at all. and im using official Intel hardware all big brand hardware. no version of XP has worked for me and gaming. and no, i own the real games, and yes! its been formated ive tried everything to get these to work. even Max Payne 1 dosnt work which is the newest of the old games.
the only thing that does work for me is Doom Legacy. and the very new games (farcry, doom 3, HL2).
It is almost definitely your hardware or a bad driver, not the OS - check your memory sticks, they can have damage caused by static that doesn't show up under normal circumstances (even under some memory testing programs or the standard boot check). The other thing is drivers - especially graphics drivers, make sure you have the latest, if they aren't working read some forums and find out if others are having the same problems. You may have to roll back to an earlier version. If it is still blue screening, read the message, it will give you a clue to the problem. If it mentions VxD's its a driver issue.

Look - windows isn't 100%, but seriously, it is a miracle it works at all considering the number of different hardware configurations out there (literaly hundreds of millions of possible combinations). Mac is stable because the number of platforms they have to write for is limited - this is a good thing - but also a weakness from an expansion point of view.

Now - if more games were written for Mac - something that wont happen until the market share grows somewhat, we could have the best of both worlds, but until then PC's provide the best platform for games that don't translate well to consoles. There are just some games that do not work on consoles end of story.

If you have bought your PC from a manufacturer, try taking it back - it shouldn't be like that, even with windows - my two PC's operate 18 hours a day and have been for 12 months with only one blue screen and that was because I poked a driver I shouldn't have with a bit of bad code. Windows may not be great - but what you are describing is not typical.

[thomastsui]

Well.

The problems of crash may not because of the windows, If you are using Win9X or ME, they are sucks, you better upgrade it to XP.

XP and 2000 are a relatviely solid OS on PC, they won't give you a blue screen usually.

My experiences for game crash are mainly not because of Windows, they are mainly because of:

1. Out-dated Display card Diver
2. crashed Registry

These two problems can be easily fixed, and games run without problem on the same machine.

But sometimes, games crash on the same machine even with a flash install of windows.

and I discoved that is mainly becuase of hardware conflict.

1. Bad memory, or fautly Memory.
Once the windows (XP/2000) can not access a single data of the pysical memory, they give you blue screen.

2. In-Compatibility of the whole DIY system, Poor compatibiliy causes unstability. Mainly because of cheap components.

3. Over-heat.

4. Old, faulty HDD

Coz I am from HK, Most of the PC are DIY in HONG KONG. So, many people experieced unstablilty. And because they like to buy cheap components to upgrade the computer and keep some out-dated components like HDD and memory.

MOst of the time you find that the computer run very well even with those problems. However, once you tried to do some intensive job on the PC, the computer crash.

[Yvan256]

With all the new consoles coming in with networking capability, who needs a personal computer for gaming? so effectively, windows has become redundant...

I'd agree, except for the controls. Playing Doom 3 (or similar) is great with a keyboard/keypad and a mouse, but sucks with a gamepad.

I sincerely hope the Nintendo Revolution will really have great controllers (not even going to say "gamepad").

Metroid Prime is great, but there was times I wished I could play it with my n50 (http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=&Section_Id=2071&pcount=&Product_Id=107727) and mouse combo.

[Yvan256]

Here's a patch (http://www.aspyr.com/games.php/mac/bf1942/) for your battlefield to work ;)

System Requirements:
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.2.8 or later
CPU Processor: PowerPC G4 or later
CPU Speed: 867MHz or faster
Memory: 256 MB or higher
Hard Disk Space: 1.6GB free disk space
Video Card (ATI): Radeon 7500 or better
Video Card (NVidia): GeForce2 MX or better
Video Memory (VRam): 32 MB or higher
Media Required: DVD Drive

Wow, the Mac mini is way better than the minimum specs (aside from RAM and VRAM, on which it's on par). Who said the Mac mini wasn't good enough for gaming? ;-)

[Archmagination]

Hmm Window's sucks... exspecially Registry!!! Anyway get an xbox or an xbox 360 for games afterall almost every Window's game is also an xbox game now. I plan on getting an xbox(or a xbox 360 if i have enough money for it) for the games. I will also be getting a PS3.. I wonder if you will be able to use a Bluetooth keyboard to play games on the PS3? Afterall it is going to be using Bluetooth controllers.

[nagromme]

This is exactly why I find Windows unacceptable for gaming.

Different people have different needs. Some need more games than the Mac has (more than I could ever buy or play). Some people don't mind troubleshooting Windows.

Some people don't even need a mouse for aiming, and so consoles are fine.

For me, a Mac is the no-brainer choice for gaming.

Now back to UT2004...

[blogo]

What patches did you apply dotdotdot?

[takao]

looks like i'm doing something wrong.. with my xp being the same install like 2 years ago ;)

i stil fire it up daily for gaming .. it still destroys my mac mini completely in that department

[iindigo]

Windows DOES have a couple uses. The CDs make great frisbees or coasters and a pile of Windows boxes make for an excellent bonfire :D

I don't game tons (I'm not a "game geek" as many are) but when I do game it's on a console or on my Mac, mostly on the Mac. The way I see it is if we don't support Mac gaming, then the Mac game world will never develop - If we'll just take a year or two of suffering with few games but heaavily support those few games, it will give the companies a little more incentive to port/create their games for Macs.

Totally unrelated note: DirectX sucks because its games an ass to port to OpenGL. Damn M$ and their self-defined "standards" :mad:

[dubbz]

You have platform gaming and you have computer gaming. RPGs are better on a console, FPS are better on a computer, sports games are better on a console, strategy and building games are better on a computer, racing games are better on a console, Adventure games are better on a computer.

Defintively don't agree with that one. My favorite RPGs are all PC games. ;) But I do agree that some type of games are better suited to consoles and some works better on a computer.

/Mostly a PC gamer (when I actually have a PC), but also own 1 GameCube and 2 Xboxes (yay!)

[Mav451]

Defintively don't agree with that one. My favorite RPGs are all PC games. ;) But I do agree that some type of games are better suited to consoles and some works better on a computer.

/Mostly a PC gamer (when I actually have a PC), but also own 1 GameCube and 2 Xboxes (yay!)

Since the advent of "PS1/N64" or similar converters, that go through the USB, the PC experience is basically the same, if not a sharper experience as the console version. Now, if you have a 15" CRT, obviously using a TV will be better. However, if you have the money to build a gaming PC you should have enough for at least a 19 or 20" LCD and widescreen LCDs by Dell are extremely affordable for their size.

E.g. I play EA NBA Live 2k5 on my PC all the time with my brother. Now, my brother also has a PS2, but that's for games like GT3 or 4, or SSX 3. Those are console or PS-exclusive anyway though.

Now I bring up the LCD size cuz we have a 20" Philips Magnavox here at the dorm...and that old thing has the curves of a woman haha. So you can imagine, a 19" LCD, being flat, may be better than the TV. On the flip-side, if you already have a family (got a career, etc.), then you probably got a 30-40"+ TV (or HDTV)...so then the tables turn. I still find its the exclusive titles that you would buy on the console, and likewise the exclusive titles on the PC. It's not that ones better or worse, but more of an issue of whether the specific game you want is there on your platform.