I’m a slacker, I know. I’m also sick, which is awesome. And I’ve been reabsorbed into Company of Heroes since buying a shiny new 8800GT and helping Chuf assemble a new gaming monster (seriously, he’ll be putting up pictures soon, the thing is a beast). After the most hectic console holiday I think I’ve ever had in terms of things to play, it’s kind of a relief to fall into a very well made RTS that’s totally different than everything I’ve been playing over the last 3 months. And it’s good to get to know my PC again.

The thing is, the recent experiences with PC gaming (and facilitating PC gaming for myself and my roommate) has managed to both point out that things that I find great about it and the things that make me thank the gaming overlords that I have consoles to play. And reflecting on a purchase that cost me about as much as a new gaming system (although I was lucky enough to find a card at Frys that was actually going for suggested retail instead of the fucking outrageously marked up prices for 8800GTs on Newegg and everywhere else), I’m having the same kind of, well, not remorse per se. More like buyer’s melancholy maybe?

What I like: I am currently near the edge of PC gaming with my setup. I’m running a Core 2 Duo at 2.6Ghz, have more than a terabyte of HD space, have 2 gigs of PC-6400 RAM, and the aforementioned BFG 8800GT OC 512MB card, which means I crush most games well. And I can finally run Company of Heroes without it crashing.

What I dislike: I’ve been trying to think of amazing games to use to make myself feel better about the money I dropped, and I can’t really think of anything but what I’ve already used. I have no desire to play Crysis. Gears of War is actually inferior gameplay wise compared the the 360, and 60FPS makes the game look more like meat puppets than ever. In fact, I’m feeling the same kind of buyer’s trepidation that I imagine a PS3 owner felt after the newness of the console came out. I’m just wondering what I’m supposed to play.

The good news is, there are games on the horizon this year that I can now comfortably play that I am excited for. Starcraft 2 should be out soon (I hope), and I think a lot of people are going to be surprised by how system intensive Spore will be. Now I just need them to come out.

-Aegies

On Friday, Infinity Ward was kind enough to grace us with a singleplayer demo for Call of Duty 4, which is the next (and probably last) big shooter to drop this fall. Since my computer is in pretty good shape , I decided to download her and give it a whirl, as I was already privy to the delights and heartbreak of the Call of Duty 4 multiplayer beta last month.

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Gamestop will very likely be sold out almost completely of Bioshock by the time you read this. If you were planning on just picking it up, or you were going to pick it up in a couple of days, I suggest you call ahead prior to making a, er, Gamestop. Or you might try Circuit City, where it’s on sale for 50 dollars for the 360, and 40 dollars for the PC (and if you have a PC that can run it, I’d like to add that you can burn in hell). On that note, I’m off to Rapture. Hold my calls.

-Aegies