Gno Schitt

The guy in the article is trying to make some sort of compelling argument that people should upgrade their systems to Vista/DX10, and I think he fails pretty miserably.

First of all, he hasn't addressed the fact that not everybody is a game player, let alone a PC game player... and he does not factor in the Wii, PS3, and XBox360 which are probably going to take a pretty big chunk out of the PC gaming business.

The only reason the PC gaming business has been so strong recently, in my opinion, is because the machines available at the time (PS2, XBox, GameCube) were showing their age.

Secondly, the other 80% of computer users who aren't playing the latest iteration of World of Blizzardcraft, Neverenoughsystem Resources Nights, or Murderdeathkill Shootemup San Andreas aren't going to give two shits about upgrading to Vista. What does it do that XP does not? Nothing.

F*** em.

As an addendum to this, I've been playing my Wii, and well, PC gaming looks a lot less enticing to me now. I currently play FFXI with a controller on my PC, as it feels much more natural. Red Steel shows how the Wiimote and nunchuck work with FPS's, and I think it's way better than the mouse and keyboard combo. You have the pointer interface with the wiimote, and the movement comfort of an analog stick instead of wasd. Combine that with the consoles starting to get a really good online presense (XBox live, and Wiiconnect24) I am becoming less and less of a PC gamer. Consoles can now do everything PC's can do (even browse the web, and check email, and I hear PS3's can make a mean scrambled egg) but I am pretty much guarenteed to not need to buy upgrades for it, or go through some of the other headaches connected to PC's. (Waiting for the first XBox virus to come out...)

I think the only market PC's are going to continue doing well at are RTS, where you need the mouse interface, and a ton of hotkeys to accomplish anything, and MMO's just because of the social aspect which is pretty much requiring a keyboard (although a MMO with embedded viop would be reasonably killer...)

NWN2 Requirements

1. CPU Requirements

- 1.1 Recommended System Requirements -

Recommended:
- 3 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
- 1GB System Ram
- ATI Radeon X800 series, NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series or higher video card

- 1.2. Minimum System Requirements -

Keep in mind that the Minimum System Requirements of a game do not mean that the game will run smoothly. They are the minimum hardware that will enable the game to launch.

Minimum System Requirements:
- Windows XP
- 512MB System RAM
- 2 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
- 128MB Direct3D compatible video card with DirectX 9.0c compatible driver
- CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive
- 4.6GB free hard disk space
- DirectX 9.0c (included)
- DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card
- Microsoft .NET 2.0 Framework for toolset (included)
- Broadband connection for multiplayer online play
- Keyboard, Mouse

1.3. Supported Video Cards
- ATI Radeon X1900 series
- ATI Radeon X1800 series
- ATI Radeon X1600 series
- ATI Radeon X1300 series
- ATI Radeon X850 series
- ATI Radeon X800 series
- ATI Radeon X700 series
- ATI Radeon X600 series
- ATI Radeon X300 series
- ATI Radeon 9800 series
- ATI Radeon 9600 series
- ATI Radeon 9500 series
- NVIDIA GeForce 7900 series
- NVIDIA GeForce 7800 series
- NVIDIA GeForce 7600 series
- NVIDIA GeForce 7300 series
- NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series
- NVIDIA GeForce 6600 series
- NVIDIA GeForce 6500 series
- NVIDIA GeForce 6200 series
- NVIDIA GeForce 6100 series
- NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 series
- NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 series
- NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600 series
- NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500 series

I know, it's mental.

On a side note, Morgan and a friend of hers are now full steam ahead into T1-4 "The Temple of Elemental Evil" using 1st level D&D 3e characters.

It has been really fun watching them plod around the village of Hommlet talking to villagers and inquiring about the rumors that something may still lurk in the Gnarly Forest to the North East.

They have just this weekend discovered the abandoned moat house along the road toward Nulb and I can't wait for them to approach the sinister ruins of the temple proper, laid low by the forces of good almost a century ago.

Oh, I'm sorry... the point? I'm having so much fun playing pencil and paper again, that I almost forget about the computer sitting three feet away. The system requirements for D&D are that people show up with imaginations and strangely shaped dice. Since the dice can be had for less than $10.

That damn Wii has me ensorcelled though. I know I'm getting one, just a matter of when.

Addendum...

* Since the dice can be had for less than $10, it is cheap to play.