bob5820, you know that you can plug a computer into any HD TV and even use a gamepad on one. But that's probably not ideal for everyone.
The NERD edition comes in a metal box just like Metroid Prime Triology. It doesn't have as much stuff as The Witcher Enhanced, but I like the box and the tiny-little-incy-wincy cloth map.
I'm only in the first dungeon, but so far I'm really digging this game. There are LOTS of options, all very very VERY mouse happy. I'll be curious to see how they manage this on a gamepad. With pausing, that input should be a non-issue. The inventory system is WAY better than the abomination that was Mass Effect, it actually has categories, so that right there makes me happy.
I'm not sure if this game is going to have really large open areas yet, as the first part of the game has lead me down a path into a cave. The Witcher never seemed this closed off, unless I was in a house, so I'll just have to play to see how things pan out. DA seems to be a good mix of the old and new RPGs, so overhead and 3rd person. I'm finding myself more in 3rd person, since I played Mass Effect and started Jade Empire this way, but with the walls in this first dungeon and the spiders surrounding me, going to overhead has its advantages. The Witcher has an overhead feature also, but it never really seemed right playing it in that mode -- since the game was really tailored for up-close battle.
The combat is similar to a game like Diablo so far, where as you just click on what you want to attack, but the game can also be paused to do more advance tactics -- it seems somewhat similar to Mass Effect on the PC. There's the usual control over other characters, so how they'll behave when an enemy is on the screen and wait here, or move around.
Anyways, it's still too early, but everything feels right and it was easy to get into. I started on nightmare, so the EVIL spiders have already killed me twice -- I'm playing as a Dalish Elf, so I'm not sure if other characters start in the same area. I was kind of hoping for a Mass Effect intro though, where they walk Shepard through the Normandy. The intro for DA was good, but it just didn't have that grandeur that ME had the first time I played it with the music and so on and my character making an entrance.
Antares,
Did you not know that this game was multi-platform? Also, I'm pondering why you took my nerd-edition comment so literal I was just kidding, as paying more for a special edition of a game is generally something that a nerd will do.
cubby03,
I'm running on an actual PC -- i7 920
(Had a Core 2 9450, but gave it to a friend and his family.). I haven't actually dealt with Bootcamp on my Core 2 MacBook pro, but have considered trying it. It only has the 1600 -- I think XT, with 256 vram, so I'm not sure how well it would do with newer games.
A quad would be better for the long run, especially with games, but current games rarely need more than what 2 cores can handle -- at least from what I've observed. The GPU is much more important, but you still need to be able to feed it, which the Core 2 level procs can do nicely. I'm not sure about the current Mini's GPU(9400m), as it's more of a low-power GPU. If anything, it's at least above the minimum requirements for this game. I'm sure it will be able to run this game at 720p on lower settings fairly good. Most of the detail in this game is focused on the characters -- mostly their faces. The rest seems kind of light in comparison, so easier for for a wider variety of comps to handle.
