Games seem more bother than they're worth these days (PC)
Discussion
I've always had a gaming PC in the house somewhere and late last year, my desktop rig was getting virtually no use. The fact it's in what has now become my office, where I spend nearly 40 hours a week to start with doesn't help, and I just don't want to be there in my personal time. So late last year, hoping to resurrect my interest, I got a gaming laptop meaning I can play anywhere in the house and have no real excuses.
However, after yet another failed attempt to play a game, I think I'm just about ready to throw in the towel, I just don't see how anyone enjoys these things anymore.
The latest escapade was trying to play Half Life 2 Update, a game I class as one of the very best of all time. Fired it up today, and a massive target was in a corner of my screen, which is obviously very distracting. I work in IT so I'm quite able to fix these problems, but I don't mind admitting it took me quite a while to discover how to solve the issue, the usual troubleshooting didn't work, and other fixes seemed to apply to other brands of laptop, but I did eventually find the fix (a key combination to disable it). The point is though, this has never happened before, so clearly the computer decided to trigger an option without me knowing about it, either due to an update, or because these f
king things seem to have a mind of their own. By the end I was just too pissed off to be bothered to play it.
Other times, I will fire up a game I haven't played in a little while - I don't play every day - and there will be a massive multi-gigabyte update to download before I'm even allowed to play it. I can often be waiting half an hour or more for an update to complete, and I'll just end up sacking it off and doing something else.
Then there's some of my old games that now refuse to work at all on newer hardware and just crash. Project Cars being an example, I just cannot get it to run on this laptop, at all, other games run but have infuriating issues.
Finally, when I am lucky enough to get a game to actually work, half of them are too complicated or require far too much investment in time to make them worthwhile playing, or they are just too damn hard, with so many controls to remember I need an instruction manual to play it, and assuming I do get the hang of it, I'll invariably get stuck on a bit that I then have to Google it to get past; worst case scenario is that the game has bugged out and you can no longer get past this part because a switch that should be there isn't there, or doesn't actually function the way it's meant to.
I read about newer games such as Cyberpunk 2077 having lots of deal breaking issues so clearly things haven't changed much recently. That's assuming you're lucky enough to be able to run it at all. Then having to deal with the car crash that is Microsoft Windows is just the icing on the cake.
I thought computer games were meant to be fun? I think these days I'd find having my wisdom teeth pulled out to be more fun.
However, after yet another failed attempt to play a game, I think I'm just about ready to throw in the towel, I just don't see how anyone enjoys these things anymore.
The latest escapade was trying to play Half Life 2 Update, a game I class as one of the very best of all time. Fired it up today, and a massive target was in a corner of my screen, which is obviously very distracting. I work in IT so I'm quite able to fix these problems, but I don't mind admitting it took me quite a while to discover how to solve the issue, the usual troubleshooting didn't work, and other fixes seemed to apply to other brands of laptop, but I did eventually find the fix (a key combination to disable it). The point is though, this has never happened before, so clearly the computer decided to trigger an option without me knowing about it, either due to an update, or because these f
king things seem to have a mind of their own. By the end I was just too pissed off to be bothered to play it.Other times, I will fire up a game I haven't played in a little while - I don't play every day - and there will be a massive multi-gigabyte update to download before I'm even allowed to play it. I can often be waiting half an hour or more for an update to complete, and I'll just end up sacking it off and doing something else.
Then there's some of my old games that now refuse to work at all on newer hardware and just crash. Project Cars being an example, I just cannot get it to run on this laptop, at all, other games run but have infuriating issues.
Finally, when I am lucky enough to get a game to actually work, half of them are too complicated or require far too much investment in time to make them worthwhile playing, or they are just too damn hard, with so many controls to remember I need an instruction manual to play it, and assuming I do get the hang of it, I'll invariably get stuck on a bit that I then have to Google it to get past; worst case scenario is that the game has bugged out and you can no longer get past this part because a switch that should be there isn't there, or doesn't actually function the way it's meant to.
I read about newer games such as Cyberpunk 2077 having lots of deal breaking issues so clearly things haven't changed much recently. That's assuming you're lucky enough to be able to run it at all. Then having to deal with the car crash that is Microsoft Windows is just the icing on the cake.
I thought computer games were meant to be fun? I think these days I'd find having my wisdom teeth pulled out to be more fun.
Does seem a lot of investment needed to get into the latest AAA titles. From 20 min unskippable intros, bloody credits (heck if the game is good I'll specifically look at who is responsible but forcing me to know who you are before I get to see if the game is worth playing, is a risky business) to unnecessary changes to standard control mappings that means the first thing I need to do is re-map the controls, makes the first time you play anything a lottery. If you have less than an hour to spare it can seem that a game isn't worth firing up.
I have a VR for the playstation and it is a faff to get up and running and given I can only play for an hour or so before the motion dizziness kicks in makes it hard to get into anything (I've had skyrim VR for ages and have only just visited the Jarl in Whiterun). So when I have a bit of time to kill I do go back to older games and sometime fire-up the emulators for some serious retro gaming (when you only had up/down/left/right and fire button to worry about).
I have a VR for the playstation and it is a faff to get up and running and given I can only play for an hour or so before the motion dizziness kicks in makes it hard to get into anything (I've had skyrim VR for ages and have only just visited the Jarl in Whiterun). So when I have a bit of time to kill I do go back to older games and sometime fire-up the emulators for some serious retro gaming (when you only had up/down/left/right and fire button to worry about).
Johnnytheboy said:
I really struggle to get in to new games now.
I'm sure it's an age thing.
I find it very easy to run back to something I already know.
I feel like it could be an age thing. The restless part of my brain thinks I need a hobby, an engaging one, but then it's just too much effort. I'm sure it's an age thing.
I find it very easy to run back to something I already know.
Jinx said:
Does seem a lot of investment needed to get into the latest AAA titles. From 20 min unskippable intros, bloody credits (heck if the game is good I'll specifically look at who is responsible but forcing me to know who you are before I get to see if the game is worth playing, is a risky business) to unnecessary changes to standard control mappings that means the first thing I need to do is re-map the controls, makes the first time you play anything a lottery. If you have less than an hour to spare it can seem that a game isn't worth firing up.
I have a VR for the playstation and it is a faff to get up and running and given I can only play for an hour or so before the motion dizziness kicks in makes it hard to get into anything (I've had skyrim VR for ages and have only just visited the Jarl in Whiterun). So when I have a bit of time to kill I do go back to older games and sometime fire-up the emulators for some serious retro gaming (when you only had up/down/left/right and fire button to worry about).
I have a VR for the playstation and it is a faff to get up and running and given I can only play for an hour or so before the motion dizziness kicks in makes it hard to get into anything (I've had skyrim VR for ages and have only just visited the Jarl in Whiterun). So when I have a bit of time to kill I do go back to older games and sometime fire-up the emulators for some serious retro gaming (when you only had up/down/left/right and fire button to worry about).
those intros get right on my wick. Also games that dont allow you to save wherever you want, forcing you to replay sections over and over. I had a steering wheel and pedals for my PC before I moved to the new house, and I thought being a petrolhead I'd want to play it all the time, but it's not the same as going for a drive and it just collected dust. Half the time the software used to forget what type of wheel was connected so I'd have the rigmarole of setting up the drivers again.
I yearn for the simpler days of directions/fire controls! Or light guns!
My favourite game at the minute is playing 8 Ball Pool against the Mrs on our iPads!
If you want to play old games just get an xbox, loads of cheap games that just work.
Project Cars not working will be an issue with your laptop or install. That game is not too old to run on current hardware.
I'm not even sure what you mean by a "target" on the screen, that is removed by a shortcut.
To be honest it does sound like PC games (possibly games in whole) are not your thing based on the language and impression you give.
If learning a game and investing time isnt a thing you want to do, maybe casual games are more your thing like Tetris Connected or some platform games like Little Nightmares or Ori.
Project Cars not working will be an issue with your laptop or install. That game is not too old to run on current hardware.
I'm not even sure what you mean by a "target" on the screen, that is removed by a shortcut.
To be honest it does sound like PC games (possibly games in whole) are not your thing based on the language and impression you give.
If learning a game and investing time isnt a thing you want to do, maybe casual games are more your thing like Tetris Connected or some platform games like Little Nightmares or Ori.
Same boat.
Either I’m working until 9-10pm, or I’m having to exercise, or cleaning up after the kids/wife/house, or out on the motorbike, or slumped in front of the TV exhausted.
Since covid took off I basically haven’t found a proper rhythm except for being slumped in front of the telly. Winter is the worst.
I probably get to play once a week at best - all I want is to relive bits of my youth.. not a steep learning curve or being annihilated by a 15 year old.
Either I’m working until 9-10pm, or I’m having to exercise, or cleaning up after the kids/wife/house, or out on the motorbike, or slumped in front of the TV exhausted.
Since covid took off I basically haven’t found a proper rhythm except for being slumped in front of the telly. Winter is the worst.
I probably get to play once a week at best - all I want is to relive bits of my youth.. not a steep learning curve or being annihilated by a 15 year old.
The_Jackal said:
If you want to play old games just get an xbox, loads of cheap games that just work.
Project Cars not working will be an issue with your laptop or install. That game is not too old to run on current hardware.
I'm not even sure what you mean by a "target" on the screen, that is removed by a shortcut.
To be honest it does sound like PC games (possibly games in whole) are not your thing based on the language and impression you give.
If learning a game and investing time isnt a thing you want to do, maybe casual games are more your thing like Tetris Connected or some platform games like Little Nightmares or Ori.
The laptop is because I need it to be portable, the idea was to play on the sofa rather than having to go to the room I already spend 37 hours cooked up in, so a console isn't really going to work, although I'd consider one as a 2 player TV toy. I've also grown up with computers so I'm not great at using a game pad.Project Cars not working will be an issue with your laptop or install. That game is not too old to run on current hardware.
I'm not even sure what you mean by a "target" on the screen, that is removed by a shortcut.
To be honest it does sound like PC games (possibly games in whole) are not your thing based on the language and impression you give.
If learning a game and investing time isnt a thing you want to do, maybe casual games are more your thing like Tetris Connected or some platform games like Little Nightmares or Ori.
Apparently the target was an overlay caused by some dolby setting it doesn't even have a GUI option to disable it, and from much googling the way to disable it was to press CTRL+SHIFT+O. No idea what it was or what purpose it served, but it was annoying.
https://steamcommunity.com/app/220/discussions/0/2...
For me a game should be a form of light relief, not something that demands too much from the user, I appreciate everyone is different. I'm probably just getting old.
Maybe I'm looking at this too simplistically as I've never been into PC gaming but would the answer not be just to have a games console instead?
I've always thought PC gaming seems too much hassle hence I've never done it but then my sole console currently is a Nintendo Switch having had the usual Xbox and PlayStation variants in the past.
I've always thought PC gaming seems too much hassle hence I've never done it but then my sole console currently is a Nintendo Switch having had the usual Xbox and PlayStation variants in the past.
TameRacingDriver said:
However, after yet another failed attempt to play a game, I think I'm just about ready to throw in the towel
All the stuff you mentioned is why am loving Stadia despite all the haters.Thanks to it I've played more games during my down time in the last 10 months compared to the last few years before.
This Easter I played through the demo level or Hitman 3 (will buy it when it goes on sale), and only about 1/5 through Assassins Creed Odyssey. Have Cyberpunk finish, completely FarCry 5 and 1 season of F1 2020. Also been dipping in and out of Fifa 2021 for quick 10 minutes matches.
No faffing with hardware/software worries, 'buy' a game on the Stadia store and you are playing it 10 seconds later. Gqmes plays on anything that runs Chrome from my phone the 55inch OLED (via Chromecast), saves are cross device, my old Xbox controller work but so does a mouse + keyboard.
The tech is great, but am just not sure how Google is making any money out of it, as the back end hardware costs must be massive versus the £15 I paid for Fifa 2021, with no on going monthly cost.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Johnnytheboy said:
I really struggle to get in to new games now.
I'm sure it's an age thing.
I find it very easy to run back to something I already know.
I like to play a game, but some games are filled out with hours of pre-rendered uncontrollable cut scenes, Red Dead Redemption 2 has 18 hours of them. Just bores me, if I buy a game I want to play it. This is what bothers me with many games over the last few years,I'm sure it's an age thing.
I find it very easy to run back to something I already know.
TameRacingDriver said:
You make a good case for Stadia, although Google has a tendency to shut things down when they aren't going so well and you said yourself you're not sure if they make any money! The premise is good though, and seems convenient.
Games are pretty cheap on 'sale' though, so if it folds its not really end of the world. The tech works well, sure like YouTube, Spotify, Twitter they will find a way to monetise it.From the consumer point of view not having to faff with hardware or even software beyond a Chrome browser is great.
I have a similar issue, I think a large part of it is getting older and having more responsibilities. 20-25 years ago I would have regular marathon gaming sessions and rack up dozens of hours every week. These days I don’t have the free time.
It’s odd because I remember back in the day playing things like champ manager, wishing they had a load of extra features. A few years ago I tried the latest version and despite on paper having most of what I wished for, I really couldn’t be arsed with it and stuck it on “basic” mode, even then I got bored after half a season. Compared to playing 20+ seasons on cm back in the 90s.
My dilemma now is my laptop is nearly 5 years old, could probably do with a new one but can’t decide if it’s a waste of money.
I’ve also got an xbox and am slowly getting used to the controller, but can only play for an hour or so until I get bored. A prime example of how I have “evolved” is gta. GTA 3 and vice city I played to death, got almost 100% completion on both and would happily drive around the city for hours arsing about. Dan Andreas I did the main story but left it at that. GTA 4 didn’t ever complete as I lost my saved game and wasn’t bothered about replaying. GTA 5 still not completed, started about 5 years ago.
It’s odd because I remember back in the day playing things like champ manager, wishing they had a load of extra features. A few years ago I tried the latest version and despite on paper having most of what I wished for, I really couldn’t be arsed with it and stuck it on “basic” mode, even then I got bored after half a season. Compared to playing 20+ seasons on cm back in the 90s.
My dilemma now is my laptop is nearly 5 years old, could probably do with a new one but can’t decide if it’s a waste of money.
I’ve also got an xbox and am slowly getting used to the controller, but can only play for an hour or so until I get bored. A prime example of how I have “evolved” is gta. GTA 3 and vice city I played to death, got almost 100% completion on both and would happily drive around the city for hours arsing about. Dan Andreas I did the main story but left it at that. GTA 4 didn’t ever complete as I lost my saved game and wasn’t bothered about replaying. GTA 5 still not completed, started about 5 years ago.
I've been building and selling games PC's for over 20 years now and everything has changed. In 2010 you could blow £5k plus on a high end gaming rig.. and that was my market place for a while, building the best combinations and making a truly spectacular powerhouse. SLi, finely tuned components, overclocking etc.. Now you can blow £40k plus on a gaming PC (does not include peripherals that's just the PC!) if you have more money than sense.
Windows has ruined the gaming experience with constant updates and spamming your software with Saga Crush and other bloatware crap. I use "Windows De-bloater" (google that) and this helps dramatically if you are confident enough in the registry. It strips out all of the stuff including bloatware, spying and nanny apps, and reduces your active handle count dramatically. Gaming laptops offer fantastic performance now although there is a trade off with thermals - they get hot and they need to be kept plugged in! The biggest issue with gaming laptops is the drivers are bespoke and are closely designed for Win10. They don't like custom Windows installs (I build gaming PC's with a fresh install of Windows and everything not needed disabled in Services.msc).
Regarding older program compatibility, If you want to run original Doom, Heretic, Half Life, Quake 2 or earlier, the only way to run these legacy games is from a VM running XP 32. Same goes with newer games that don't like Win10. Generally most (but not all) games run well in Win7 32/64, but the newest games making use of raytracing etc are purely Win10 64 and if you have this gear then running all the other stuff in a VM is the only way to go.
Lastly, I am mid 50's and my first person shooter experience has rapidly declined due to lack of muscle memory (mouse) and reaction time. When you arrive at this point, every game makes you question if its time to hang up your headphones and do something else
I am still very much into into my games and have to be to recommend the right PC to the odd customer I get these days, but you have to adapt if you want to have fun. My kill/death stats are woefull but my game win vs lose is double as that is the objective in Battlefield games - I have over 5,000 C4 kills and I am quite good at road kill too 
Don't take the games too seriously and just have a laugh is my recipe for keep on going
Stats provided for entertainment value
https://bf4db.com/player/343290758
Windows has ruined the gaming experience with constant updates and spamming your software with Saga Crush and other bloatware crap. I use "Windows De-bloater" (google that) and this helps dramatically if you are confident enough in the registry. It strips out all of the stuff including bloatware, spying and nanny apps, and reduces your active handle count dramatically. Gaming laptops offer fantastic performance now although there is a trade off with thermals - they get hot and they need to be kept plugged in! The biggest issue with gaming laptops is the drivers are bespoke and are closely designed for Win10. They don't like custom Windows installs (I build gaming PC's with a fresh install of Windows and everything not needed disabled in Services.msc).
Regarding older program compatibility, If you want to run original Doom, Heretic, Half Life, Quake 2 or earlier, the only way to run these legacy games is from a VM running XP 32. Same goes with newer games that don't like Win10. Generally most (but not all) games run well in Win7 32/64, but the newest games making use of raytracing etc are purely Win10 64 and if you have this gear then running all the other stuff in a VM is the only way to go.
Lastly, I am mid 50's and my first person shooter experience has rapidly declined due to lack of muscle memory (mouse) and reaction time. When you arrive at this point, every game makes you question if its time to hang up your headphones and do something else
I am still very much into into my games and have to be to recommend the right PC to the odd customer I get these days, but you have to adapt if you want to have fun. My kill/death stats are woefull but my game win vs lose is double as that is the objective in Battlefield games - I have over 5,000 C4 kills and I am quite good at road kill too Don't take the games too seriously and just have a laugh is my recipe for keep on going
Stats provided for entertainment value
https://bf4db.com/player/343290758
Edited by LordFlathead on Tuesday 6th April 00:14
LordFlathead said:
Windows has ruined the gaming experience with constant updates and spamming your software with Saga Crush and other bloatware crap. I use "Windows De-bloater" (google that) and this helps dramatically if you are confident enough in the registry. It strips out all of the stuff including bloatware, spying and nanny apps, and reduces your active handle count dramatically.
What software do you have that gets spammed by Microsoft bloatware. I never see anything like that and I wouldn't recommend registry cleaners to anyone.FourWheelDrift said:
LordFlathead said:
Windows has ruined the gaming experience with constant updates and spamming your software with Saga Crush and other bloatware crap. I use "Windows De-bloater" (google that) and this helps dramatically if you are confident enough in the registry. It strips out all of the stuff including bloatware, spying and nanny apps, and reduces your active handle count dramatically.
What software do you have that gets spammed by Microsoft bloatware. I never see anything like that and I wouldn't recommend registry cleaners to anyone.Bloatware as in Candy Crush, voice assistant trash etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO30OnTsJhk&t=...
LordFlathead said:
I've been building and selling games PC's for over 20 years now and everything has changed. In 2010 you could blow £5k plus on a high end gaming rig.. and that was my market place for a while, building the best combinations and making a truly spectacular powerhouse. SLi, finely tuned components, overclocking etc.. Now you can blow £40k plus on a gaming PC (does not include peripherals that's just the PC!) if you have more money than sense.
Windows has ruined the gaming experience with constant updates and spamming your software with Saga Crush and other bloatware crap. I use "Windows De-bloater" (google that) and this helps dramatically if you are confident enough in the registry. It strips out all of the stuff including bloatware, spying and nanny apps, and reduces your active handle count dramatically. Gaming laptops offer fantastic performance now although there is a trade off with thermals - they get hot and they need to be kept plugged in! The biggest issue with gaming laptops is the drivers are bespoke and are closely designed for Win10. They don't like custom Windows installs (I build gaming PC's with a fresh install of Windows and everything not needed disabled in Services.msc).
Regarding older program compatibility, If you want to run original Doom, Heretic, Half Life, Quake 2 or earlier, the only way to run these legacy games is from a VM running XP 32. Same goes with newer games that don't like Win10. Generally most (but not all) games run well in Win7 32/64, but the newest games making use of raytracing etc are purely Win10 64 and if you have this gear then running all the other stuff in a VM is the only way to go.
Lastly, I am mid 50's and my first person shooter experience has rapidly declined due to lack of muscle memory (mouse) and reaction time. When you arrive at this point, every game makes you question if its time to hang up your headphones and do something else I am still very much into into my games and have to be to recommend the right PC to the odd customer I get these days, but you have to adapt if you want to have fun. My kill/death stats are woefull but my game win vs lose is double as that is the objective in Battlefield games - I have over 5,000 C4 kills and I am quite good at road kill too
Don't take the games too seriously and just have a laugh is my recipe for keep on going
Stats provided for entertainment value
https://bf4db.com/player/343290758
Hmm my K/D is pretty similar ( https://bf4db.com/player/308679620) though you have a few more hours than me Windows has ruined the gaming experience with constant updates and spamming your software with Saga Crush and other bloatware crap. I use "Windows De-bloater" (google that) and this helps dramatically if you are confident enough in the registry. It strips out all of the stuff including bloatware, spying and nanny apps, and reduces your active handle count dramatically. Gaming laptops offer fantastic performance now although there is a trade off with thermals - they get hot and they need to be kept plugged in! The biggest issue with gaming laptops is the drivers are bespoke and are closely designed for Win10. They don't like custom Windows installs (I build gaming PC's with a fresh install of Windows and everything not needed disabled in Services.msc).
Regarding older program compatibility, If you want to run original Doom, Heretic, Half Life, Quake 2 or earlier, the only way to run these legacy games is from a VM running XP 32. Same goes with newer games that don't like Win10. Generally most (but not all) games run well in Win7 32/64, but the newest games making use of raytracing etc are purely Win10 64 and if you have this gear then running all the other stuff in a VM is the only way to go.
Lastly, I am mid 50's and my first person shooter experience has rapidly declined due to lack of muscle memory (mouse) and reaction time. When you arrive at this point, every game makes you question if its time to hang up your headphones and do something else
I am still very much into into my games and have to be to recommend the right PC to the odd customer I get these days, but you have to adapt if you want to have fun. My kill/death stats are woefull but my game win vs lose is double as that is the objective in Battlefield games - I have over 5,000 C4 kills and I am quite good at road kill too Don't take the games too seriously and just have a laugh is my recipe for keep on going
Stats provided for entertainment value
https://bf4db.com/player/343290758
Edited by LordFlathead on Tuesday 6th April 00:14
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