By Jim Rossignol on May 30th, 2011 at 9:42 am.
Due to it being a lovely holiday day both here in Blighty and in the United States (and probably other places too) the RPS team are going to be having a bit of a quiet day. We’ll be around to post a few bits and pieces, but the site will be sleepier than usual. So let’s talk among ourselves for a bit. I’ve got two questions for you:
1. What’s your Game Of The Year so far? And do you expect that choice to last until End Of Year List season?
2. Have you recently upgraded your PC for gaming purposes? If you haven’t, and your PC is getting on a bit, what would make you do so?
To answer my own questions: The Witcher 2 is my game of the year so far, and that was what made me upgrade my PC, too. The side effect of everything else running like a dream is a bonus, too. What about you lot?
30/05/2011 at 09:47 jti says:
Witcher 2. Runs alright with my old 8800GTS 512 on low, so no upgrades.
30/05/2011 at 12:41 SuperNashwanPower says:
Ah thats how it is for me too, my rig is old and I do not have any cash, so my AGP HD3850 and rather ancient AMD X2 4800 are having to cope. Its minimum spec for most games at the mo, so not doing badly. Its one thing I have to thank consoles for :DWhat would make it change? MASSIVE cost reductions, or overcoming the illness that prevents me from working right now.
I guess my game of the year is Portal 2. I dont buy that many games, and mostly I am playing through old ones I got in steam sales. So right now I am loving Fallout: New Vegas. If I get Deus Ex, my GOTY might change
30/05/2011 at 21:31 daf says:
I have a 8800gt and I’m playing with high preset with AA and SSAO disabled. It doesn’t run fast but not much slower then with everything on low. Might want to try it considering how bad everything looks on low
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30/05/2011 at 09:48 dangermouse76 says:
Top Game : Thief the Dark Project ( I know not current ) also I.G.I 2 and Medal of Honour Allied Asault all a pound each in good old Blighty’s charity shops.
PC upgrade for finally being able to play fucking GTA.
I took my graphics card out to clean it and pulled the the interface off the board because I had forgot to unclip it..duh !
Do I go 64bit that’s the question ? I game and photoshop and video edit hmmm.
30/05/2011 at 09:50 Jim Rossignol says:
You seem to be commenting from seven years ago.
30/05/2011 at 09:51 dangermouse76 says:
Dam straight Quantum Leaps got nothing on me.
Additional has the Radeon HD5850 still got the nuts for Battlefield 3 do we think ?
Also Skyrim for GOTY.
30/05/2011 at 10:07 Kdansky says:
64bit gives you oodles and oodles of memory, which is dirt cheap. So definite yes.
30/05/2011 at 10:11 Navagon says:
You can only go up to 16GB with Home Premium though. Well, I say “only”… I think that much will still fall under way too damn much for the next four years or so at least.
30/05/2011 at 10:14 Alien426 says:
And I thought I was behind the curve. I went back to Dead Space since I’m kinda over Minecraft. Before those was Arx Fatalis, which I left unfinished for the time being.
I too wonder if going 64 bit with a new rig would make sense. Having a ton of RAM and stuff like the browser cache running in that seems to be a reasonable move.
The thing that would make me move to a new PC and OS (on XP still) would be if I could buy a house/appartment cheaply, cause I would want a 2 (or more) screen setup to go along with that purchase and currently that just takes up more space than I have.
30/05/2011 at 10:23 dangermouse76 says:
@ Alien426
Yeah the whole going 64bit has me thinking about all those programmes I have that are native 32bit ( time-lapse programs, Adobe etc ) and whether they will run ok on a 64bit system.
Also hoping that drivers are a lot more mature now – there still some debate about frequency and reliability of 64bit drivers for certain companies.
I also still use XP so it would be a move to windows seven. Plus I want the PC running through our projector as an option for some large screen kick ass gaming.
Also it means I can set my old PC up as a Minecraft server ( oh yeah ).
As for the old games yeah I am hitting the charity shops hard at the moment picking up lots of games past, it’s great fun…and cheap. I found Alien Breed for the Amiga for 50p.
30/05/2011 at 10:27 Cinek says:
32bit is too old for these days. Architecture supports only 3 gigs of RAM so I see no point at all in going 32bit these days. It was pointless already when Win7x64 was released, so it’s even more right now!
Besides that – there’s no problem with running anything on 64bit windows 7, so I don’t get what could hold you off from it.
30/05/2011 at 10:33 Cinek says:
@dangermouse76 – I work on 64 bit win 7 every day using Adobe software. Only issue is when you run CS2 or older soft – it disables hardware acceleration for windows UI making everything blink for a moment, but software itself runs with no problem. So it’s worth to have modern soft (CS4+ cause everyone moved to it anyway, so you’ll need update sooner or later)
Besides that – Win 7 in matter of easy of use, performance and intuitive interface is LIGHTYEARS ahead of XP. Seriously – use it and after a month you won’t want to see XP ever again. XP feels like win 3.1 comparing to Win 7, lol.
30/05/2011 at 10:35 dangermouse76 says:
@Cinek
That’s good to here mate, cheers for the advise.
30/05/2011 at 11:54 JonWood says:
I’m also somewhat out of date on this year’s games due to a lack of money for new ones. That’s actually made me very happy though since I’ve gone back to games I didn’t give a fair chance the first time round, and found some real gems. In order of preference:
1. Alpha Protocol: I’m not sure why but it seemed much, much harder last time I played it. This time it’s just massively fun, apart from the boss fights, which really have no right to be present in a game where sneaking about is a viable strategy the rest of the time.
2. Supreme Commander 2: Single player is a joke. Multiplayer with friends is fabulous. Stripping down the economy and research really opens up the game to allow you to focus on the fighting, rather then sheperding engineers. I’m yet to work up the guts to play random people though.
3. Bad Company 2: Again, single player is pointless, multiplayer makes it. It was a truly ridiculous idea to put your class’ special abilities behind an unlock though, making the first 30 games or so a slog through crappy weapons without the ability to get XP at a decent rate through helping your squad. Snipers also need to be restricted in some way as well to stop rush turning into a war of attrition between two teams of people who think it’s deathmatch.
As for upgrades, I built an entire new machine just before Christmas last year, so I think I’m safe from needing new hardware for a while, except for possibly getting an SSD.
31/05/2011 at 09:45 Burglar says:
If you use Photoshop and video edit then you’re gonna have to upgrade to 64bit sooner rather than later if you want upgrade/get any new software as everything is becoming 64bit only.
30/05/2011 at 09:49 icupnimpn2 says:
I’m mostly playing stuff that’s a few years old. Portal 2 is my only 2011 game. Default win.
30/05/2011 at 09:49 Ralud says:
Bought an ATI HD 5850 around this time last year, and my intel Q9550 along with some good old DDR2 memory is humming along just fine, so no hardware upgrades anytime soon.
As for GOTY, it’s a bit early in the year, but The Witcher 2 is on the list.
30/05/2011 at 09:50 Asskicker says:
1. The best game I’ve played so far this year is a tie between The Witcher II and Portal 2. I can’t decide which I like more. I don’t except it to last thought, seeing as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Battlefield 3 are getting released later this year.
2. I did upgrade my pc just a month ago, not a full on upgrade but I bought a new CPU and motherboard from a mate, who was selling his second hand (I had top dual core, he had a top quad core). All games seem to run smoother now. :) Oh, I also upgraded my ATI Radeon HD 5750 HD to a 5770 HD, for nothing. :P
30/05/2011 at 22:50 EOT says:
I’m assuming you just OC’d the card then?
30/05/2011 at 09:50 haowan says:
So far, Terraria.
Not upgrading for a while, maybe in the autumn, last upgrade was like a year or two ago, I’m still on a GeForce 8600 GTS. Oh no wait I LIED I bought 2 gigs of RAM recently.
30/05/2011 at 10:38 Meat Circus says:
Yes. Terraria.
YESYESYESYESYES.
30/05/2011 at 10:57 crosslink says:
Terraria’s been stealing an awful lot of my time too. Started out thinking, “meh…2D Minecraft” but after about 10 minutes I realized it was so much more.
Can’t wait to see where they take it.
30/05/2011 at 11:05 Clockwork Peanut says:
Terraria! No idea why, but in spite of its charm minecraft never gripped me, Terraria on the other hand stands at 8 hours play and I can only see that number climbing…
Other top games of the year: Portal 2, Gemini Rue, Bulletstorm, and probably Frozen Synapse.
Ain’t bought the latter yet, anybody know how long the discount lasts?
31/05/2011 at 00:27 Buttless Boy says:
Terraria for me too. Portal 2 was fun and all, but it wasn’t as good as its predecessor. The Witcher 2 is expensive and I’m sick of big budget action-RPGs. I’m fully expecting Skyrim to suck. Terraria though is wonderful, simple, cheap, and fun.
That said, I’d love for Dejobaan’s “1 2 3 Kick It! Drop That Beat Like an Ugly Baby” to become my GOTY. As is it’s still too unfinished, but I would love to have a really great music game that isn’t repetitive and works with lots of different styles of music.
30/05/2011 at 09:51 DevilSShadoW says:
So far I’d have to say portal 2. But i’m going to refrain from saying for certain till i get my hands on deus ex. I haven’t upgraded my pc (but i built it last winter with the latest parts at the time for the stupid purpose of being able to run crysis 2 at max settings (herp derp how dumb was that)). What would make me upgrade again? The recent article on SSD’s on RPS. I really want one of those now… NEED MONEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
30/05/2011 at 09:54 Dana says:
The top played game by me in this year would be League of Legends. The top game of this year would be Portal 2.
I haven’t upgraded my computer for about 5 years now. I will do that when majority of the games wont be playable even on the lowest setting (Witcher 2 is only one so far, Crysis 2 was a blast).
30/05/2011 at 22:57 Scorpi says:
Exactly the same for me. Portal 2 had me laughing more than any movie this year, even.
I’ve played far too much of LoL until recent computer troubles (though I don’t feel so badly about playing it after having tried out every other Moba-style game out there, and coming to the conclusion that it’s objectively better than the rest).
As for my PC, it’s a gaming laptop from Alienware that’s 6 months past the warranty. The last time I “upgraded” was when I bought a new hard drive after the last one died; I know my next upgrade will be something to do with fixing this computer’s utter inability to use a wireless internet connection (it used to do so fine, but for the past month it’s so slow I can’t play any online game competitively, let alone attach files to e-mails, use Dropbox, etc)
30/05/2011 at 09:54 Schaulustiger says:
The Witcher 2 was definitely great, but there were too many small issues for me to completely embrace it.
So my GOTY so far is – just like last year – Mineraft. I recently returned after I took a timeout for a few months and I’m again completely in love with it. It’s one of those were rare games that I will return to for quite some time, especially when some of the more extensive mods will come out once the source code is made available.
Besides that, Terraria has also been great fun, same goes for Frozen Synapse. But it’s too early to tell if they’ll be contenders for the GOTY title.
Regarding upgrades: I was actually thinking about it just recently. My rig starts to show its age (Quadcore 2,6 GHz, GeForce GTX 275), but I haven’t yet encountered a game where I say “Wow, I really need to lower settings to a level where everything looks ugly.” And while I have been browsing the web for prices etc. I’m still not convinced an upgrade is absolutely necessary. And to be honest, I don’t see a game this year that will be overly demanding, so I guess I’ll be fine for another year.
30/05/2011 at 09:55 Sinnorfin says:
I hoped it will be DX:HR but now i have stronger feelings for Skyrim..
As far as released go, its Portal2.
As far as the demo went, DA2 is in for the lemon..
30/05/2011 at 09:55 P4p3Rc1iP says:
So far Portal 2 and the Witcher 2 are up there, but I’m still awaiting Deus Ex 3, ARMA3, and probably some other games I’ve forgotten. Oh, and the EVE Online Incarnia expansion, but I’m not sure if that counts as GOTY.
As for my PC, I’ve actually bought a new one last week! Haven’t had a desktop in 3 years, my laptop ran everything fine and never had the money.
30/05/2011 at 09:56 KauhuK says:
1. The Witcher 2, at least for now.
2. I upgraded few months ago my graphics card for GTX 570. I’m still using DDR2 memory and my core 2 quad q9500 processor, while overclocked, is at its limit to keep up on newest games. So maybe I’ll upgrade processor, motherboard and memory. Maybe I’ll change to AMD chipset and processor because they’re cheaper. But I’ll wait for the bulldozer to come and see how it’ll fair.
30/05/2011 at 09:56 Dzamir says:
1) Portal 2. I think it will be my game of the year.
2) Haven’t upgraded recently, and I don’t think I will do it for 2 years.
30/05/2011 at 15:06 Tatourmi says:
Exactly the same darn thing. Spacechem isn not far down though.
30/05/2011 at 09:56 randomnine says:
Portal 2 and Witcher 2 are pretty good but neither of them quite worked for me, and they’re going up against Skyrim and Human Revolution before the year’s over. Reserving judgement for now.
I built a mid-range PC early last year and it’s still running everything on “high”. The hardware race isn’t what it used to be.
30/05/2011 at 09:57 kevmscotland says:
1) The Witcher 2 or Frozen Synapse
2) Ive literally just ordered a new PC last week and what made me do it was the upcoming BF3 and ES:Skyrim
30/05/2011 at 10:01 Meatloaf says:
More or less exactly what this man said.
30/05/2011 at 09:57 Valvarexart says:
The Witcher 2 is my pick for GOTY. The game runs perfectly smooth on my GTX 275, but I ordered a GTX480 and a 3D screen yesterday so that I shall be able to play it in stereoscopic 3D. Oh and forgot to say, I had to buy a new motherboard last year because my old one broke. The CPU broke, too, so I had to replace it with an identical quadcore.
30/05/2011 at 09:57 Skeletor68 says:
I recently returned to PC gaming with an M17 Alienware so hopefully no upgrades for a while! Any tips from the experienced pros here on keeping the thing cool to shut the damn fan up? It doesn’t make a peep while I play Freespace (Even with the FSO stuff) but as soon as I start up Portal 1 it decides to get noisy.
My game of the year so far is Freespace (I’ve been away from PCs leave me alone), followed by Witcher 1 Platinum edition when it arrives closely followed by Skyrim *drools*.
30/05/2011 at 10:16 Sudogamer says:
@skeletor68
- Open it up and clean (hoover) any dust in the fans / heatsink
- Go into BIOS and check any sort of speedstep / coolnquiet stuff is enabled & see if there are any fan ‘profiles’ – mine has silent / normal / turbo. I use silent.
- In windows (presume 7) check in power management it is allowed to decrease and increase CPU speed.
If it’s still a problem – DISABLE speedstep stuff, and download this : [Speedfan] http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php
Allows you to monitor CPU/GPU temps and manually set at what temperature the fans come on.
Edit: Oh bugger I just spotted, your Alienware is a laptop… That’s precisely why the fans are coming on. You can’t do gaming on a laptop! ;-)
30/05/2011 at 12:24 Kayran says:
Headphones. Get them cranked up and no more fan noise! That’s what I do with my m15x.
30/05/2011 at 09:58 Protagoras says:
I haven’t played some releases I’m excited for yet (total war, brink, some others), so with that in mind, GOTY 2011 so far is Magika (for the concept, for the game, and for arrowhead being so damn amazing I wanna hire them all as sidekicks/comic relief in my life). Portal 2 is my runner up.
Currently I’m sticking with my q6600 4870 combo, which is holding on pretty well. I may upgrade sometime in 2012, though as I currently can still play most games on high-enough res (witcher 2 on high settings with 30-35 fps average) and others I play require very low graphical requirements (DF, minecraft, browser games), I doubt I’ll be forced to upgrade any time soon.
30/05/2011 at 09:59 Lobotomist says:
1. Witcher 2 is my GOTY
2. I upgraded GFX card because my 8800 GT died. Now i run ATI 6850 and can run pretty much everything on highest (even Witcher 2)
30/05/2011 at 09:59 jon_hill987 says:
Portal 2 by default, not sure if it will last.
I have not found anything to stretch my i7 920 and GTX275 so I’m not considering an upgrade, nor have I upgraded in some time.
30/05/2011 at 09:59 ericks says:
I bought a new desktop this year because my laptop was dying on some older games I wanted to finish.
I haven’t played Witcher 2 or Portal 2 yet, going to rent Portal for 360 soon, and the only games I’ve played that came out this year were Dragon Age 2 and SpaceChem.
So SpaceChem wins! It is really a great little game.
30/05/2011 at 10:05 Cinek says:
Not really an achievement – almost everything released this year wins with DA2.
30/05/2011 at 10:00 Yehat says:
The Witcher 2. Upgraded to GTX560 to get the most of it.
30/05/2011 at 10:02 abhishek says:
The Witcher 2 was great but honestly, it hit an impossible high in chapter 1 and then kept going downhill from there. After finishing it, I’d say that I enjoyed Portal 2 (sp + co-op) and Assassins Creed Brotherhood more than it.
As for upgrades, I’m thinking of upgrading for Skyrim and BF3. I am at least 2 years behind the hardware curve but it hardly seems to matter in this age of console ports.
30/05/2011 at 10:03 The Codicier says:
1. So far Portal 2 is my game of 2011,but like a lot of of the other posters here I’ve been playing a lot of games which were released before then.
Steam sales combined with Amazon doing its best to price match means I have a big back log of games from the last couple of years to get through.
so in some ways The Witcher is my game of the year so far even though it’s obviously many years old.
2.The Witcher 2 has made me start considering my upgrade path.
My problem is that because a relatively low powered rig has been able to run most games in the past few years a partial upgrade won’t do it from me. I’m going to have to do a complete rebuild from top to bottom.
I probably would consider upgrading quicker if I didn’t have already a huge library of games to get through. After a quick count up I have 44 games on the steam alone that I want to play through.
Given that I have already spent money on these games it seems silly to spend more money to play another game until I’ve cleared my backlog a bit.
30/05/2011 at 10:03 Srekel says:
Best games this year: StarCraft 2 (though it came out last year) and Portal 2. And Frozen Synapse is also pretty damn good. I’m hoping that DX3 will make it onto this list as well. And maybe W2 if it goes on sale, I buy it, and it turns out to be as good as everyone thinks.
I’ll be upgrading my graphics card this year. 8600GT is starting to get a little bit old, and I want to play DX3.
30/05/2011 at 10:04 Beastbaron says:
So far my top game would be the 5 hours of Portal 2 I got to play before my computer decided to push its BIOS off a cliff and burn out the graphics card.
As for updating/rebuilding, I got myself a decent laptop since I was in the middle of some essays and needed a quick stopgap (thank god for email backups). Currently been dipping my toes into the world of indie gaming which I had never even considered previously and I am unsure now whether to rebuild. I am going to the states next August for 9 months so if i build this summer I will only get a years use out of it in 2 years of ownership. The alternative is to hold out till I get back from the states and rebuild then.
The Witcher 2, TES: Skyrim, Diablo 3, The Old Republic and Battlefield 3 are making that very unpalatable…
30/05/2011 at 10:04 Jonas says:
I was about to go with Witcher 2 but I think I love Portal 2 more. It’s damn hard to compare the two though, it’s almost hard to think of those two games as examples of the same medium – they’re so different in the way they’re played and the way they relate their respective narratives. I think Portal 2 was more masterful though, and evoked far more emotion in me, so I’ll go with that for game of the year (so far).
Who knows, though… Skyrim will be out this year, there’s a small but distinct possibility that’ll be more enjoyable, and at the very least its size and scope will probably cause it to consume me more than The Witcher 2 managed to. Also is Mass Effect 3 going to be out this year? I’m quite a fan of that series, so it could well turn out to be my game of the year (BioWare fanboy that I am).
Haven’t upgraded my PC since I bought a new graphics card 2 years ago, and I’m happy to say it ran The Witcher 2 splendidly on high (though not ultra) graphics settings. It looked superb, so I think I’m okay for now.
30/05/2011 at 10:04 Cinek says:
1. Witcher 2
2. Yes, I upgraded my PC recently, spent much more cash on it than I’d wish to but well… now it’s a monster that runs everything uber-smooth and holds my photo&websites archive without a problem. I didn’t upgraded it for any game though, it’s mostly a work cow. GPU I got is barely GTS260, though even this is enough to make Witcher 2 run smooth (ok, indoors I get 10fps, but I heard some patch will fix it)
30/05/2011 at 10:05 MadTinkerer says:
My GOTY so far: Portal 2, of course. I own, but have not found the time to play yet, The Witcher 2.
As for games that are neither of those, my sub-GOTY-so-far is DWARFS!? followed closely by HOARD. (If HOARD would stop crashing when I try to play my brother on Steam, it might have beat DWARFS!?)
30/05/2011 at 10:07 Brumisator says:
Adminning a valve fansite…I’m kind of morally obligated to say Portal 2 is my GOTY…but I think Witcher 2 would win my affection if I had full control of my free will. Frozen synapse is fun, but nothing even close to GOTY. Skyrim is the only GOTY contender I can think of, but it has a lot to live up to.
My desktop gaming PC is currently 500km away for a few more months, but my trusty late-2008 gaming lappy is keeping me afloat, even with the witcher 2.
30/05/2011 at 10:07 Saul says:
The same as you, Jimbo, although I’m still playing through (and loving) the co-op in Portal.
30/05/2011 at 10:07 Freemon says:
Darn you and your holidays. I’m stuck in French class till 11 am and then more classes till 1 pm.
So far my Game Of The Year is Portal 2. However, Battlefield 3 is yet to be released. And if they keep all the promises, It is going to be the game of the decade, not only the year!
I upgraded my pc last January in preparation for Portal 2 and Crysis 2 and especially Battlefield 3. Phenom II x6, 4gigs ddr3, radeon hd 6850… not high end but should be good enough for a couple years. And then GPU upgrade to carry me for a few more years.
30/05/2011 at 10:10 Scatterbrainpaul says:
My best game of the year is probably Stalker COP (I know its not this year, but I only got round to playing it recently) closely followed by the Witcher 2, third place goes to Portal 2.
As for PC Upgrade, I haven’t had to upgrade my PC in over 2 years, I think i’ll probably hold off until Arma 3 and Battlefield 3
30/05/2011 at 10:41 Nathan_G says:
Funny you should mention CoP, It’s getting the most play by myself at the moment too, on account of the Complete mod being released. In terms of playtime, I sunk hours into Fallout 3 earlier in the year.
As for games actually released this year, it’s gotta be Portal 2 so far. That game really is something… It won’t be usurped as my GOTY, but I think Skyrim will take over as most played when it comes out.
30/05/2011 at 10:11 The Promised Landt says:
Upgraded my PC a month. I figured if Witcher 2, Portal 2, Deus Ex 3 and Mass Effect 3 all came out, it would be a good year to upgrade.
Of course, I haven’t had time to play any of those so far. Curse you, adult life.
30/05/2011 at 10:13 coldvvvave says:
1. DoW 2 Retribution, only reson is beacuase the voices where pretty good. but thats it!( yes, its a reference to axman 13 review).
2. I built a new gaming PC mostly for Witcher 2 (phenom II 6-cores 3.2 ghz, 8 gb, 2gb Gigabyte Radeon HD 69-something) but it’s still not running smoothly even after 9gb patch., also I’m pleased with W2, but so far( early in 2-nd chapter) it’s not that GOTY-ish.
30/05/2011 at 10:22 Cinek says:
Lesson after 9GB patch: don’t buy big games on Steam.
Their update system is total crap.
30/05/2011 at 10:35 Edawan says:
“Their update system is total crap.”
They fuck up once and it’s immediately labeled “total crap” ?
I think overall it’s been a real blessing for everyone involved.
30/05/2011 at 10:41 Navagon says:
I think it depends on the publisher. Most patches I get through Steam are only a few MB. So I have to agree it’s a damn sight better than the alternatives in that regard.
I’d say it’s more his fault for buying it from a DD other than GOG. Now if you want a retail version, I can understand that. But there was no reason to get that game from any other DD than GOG. CDP made sure of that.
30/05/2011 at 11:55 Bob Moron says:
Axman13! Yes yes yes!
30/05/2011 at 12:04 Stellar Duck says:
@Edawan: It’s not the first time. I don’t know for sure, but I can’t imagine that you own Company of Heroes on Steam. That game has given me a *lot* of headaches when patching it.
At one point I ended up downloading 21 gigs for a 12 mb update. Granted, the DL bothced a couple of times. If everything had gone smooth it would just have been the game. But every time I closed Steam it restarted the DL. So in the end: 21 Gb.
30/05/2011 at 12:41 JayTee says:
The CoH patching process is bollocks regardless of Steam. I reinstalled it a while back and after I think it was 15 restarts of the game I was finally able to play it. Woo.
30/05/2011 at 10:14 Wunce says:
About a month ago I built my first computer to complete my migration from consoleland. It was nice to play gmod with over 300 frames a second instead of 15. It was also nice to play a game which consoles simply couldn’t handle (Crysis).
While this may be a slight divergence from the topic, I’d like to point out that I’ve noticed no real difference between console and PC gamers. Many play for “Individual victory” instead of for the team; they find winning fun, not just playing; and they both swear at you because you used a word beyond the scope of their vocabulary.
I believe that Battlefield 3 will be an excellent game if they really nail down balance and don’t surcome to gimmicks in order to get a quick buy from the public. (* cough* killstreaks)
30/05/2011 at 10:15 Sheng-ji says:
Good Question… My game purchases this year are:
Terraria – Found it to be disappointing, lacks the balance of Minecraft for me, sometimes I like to be left to enjoy the game in peace!
Portal 2 – Thoroughly enjoyed this game, but played through once and put it down.
Space Chem – Great game, too much effort to play at the stage I’ve got too!
Dirt 3 – Codemasters are going the wrong way in the racing genre, in my opinion… give me carmageddon or a Geoff Crammond Sim and I’m happy – Give me ken block, arcade controls in a serious game and an appalling console port and I’m not.
Total War: Shogun 2: As with every Total War game I’ve ever bought, I get a few years into the campaign, realise it’s just not for me and put it down. Wait six months, rinse and repeat.
Witcher 2 – Installed and ready to go, but I’m still on chapter 3 of the Witcher, so it’s probably going to be a few weeks till I get round to it.
So on that evidence, it’s not been a great start to the year for me, I’m mainly playing rFactor, The Witcher and Minecraft at the moment. My game of the year so far is Portal, but I fully expect the final GotY for me to be Skyrim, Witcher 2 or Deus Ex (I’m sure there’s another one I’m looking forward too – a good strategy in the vein of civilization would be nice)
I won’t upgrade my computer because I use a laptop, unless it dies, but it is only 12 months old, so hopefully it won’t!
30/05/2011 at 10:16 kyrieee says:
Witcher 2, which almost made me upgrade but I think that if I got a better GPU it would just be bottlebecked by the CPU anyway, so I’d need a new mobo for the new CPU architecture and new RAM and… you know.
I did however just get a high end keyboard, I guess that counts as an upgrade!
30/05/2011 at 10:16 Teronfel says:
Witcher 2 is my goty so far but i hope Risen 2 and Skyrim can claim the first place
30/05/2011 at 10:20 robitii says:
Witcher 2 so far, hope BF3 won’t dissapoint
30/05/2011 at 10:23 MaXimillion says:
Definitely Witcher 2 so far, although it might change with DX:HR or D3/TOR if those get released this year (which seems doubtful). And I haven’t played Frozen Synapse yet either.
Went from HD4890 to dual HD4850′s since the 4890 broke and I got the two cards quite cheap. Also doubled my RAM from 4 to 8 gb.
30/05/2011 at 10:23 Serenegoose says:
Portal 2 is my GOTY so far, followed by Witcher 2 – Shogun 2 also exceeded expectations in a mighty way. A good year for 2′s, I suppose.
my PC is about 3 years old (save the graphics card which is 1) and what will make me upgrade it is simply that it can’t run everything on ultra any more. I’ll be upgrading it shortly so that it can do that again.
30/05/2011 at 10:23 Toshley says:
The Witcher 2 is my GOTY thus far, and with STALKER 2 stated for a 2012 release, it’s most likely going to hold it’s position.
As for upgrades, I’ve still got my trusty 5770 which I’ve had for close to two years, but I’m rather tempted to OC it or downright upgrade to a GTX 560 Ti in order to run TW2 better and up the graphics slightly.
30/05/2011 at 10:26 Navagon says:
I’m still playing through the Witcher 2 at the moment. So I’ve yet to make my mind up on that one. Plus being a lefty (arrow keys) with a 16:10 monitor I felt more alienated by that game than one of its elves when I started playing it.
So I think I’ll leave my opinion forming on that one until the second playthrough. By which time they should have provided the promised patch. They’ve always gone beyond the call of duty with patching in the past, so I don’t doubt they’ll do me right here.
So right now it’s probably Portal 2. Immense amounts of fun. Loved the coop too. I don’t often do multiplayer, but that was just fantastic. Pretty damn far from being the usual tacked on crap that single player focussed games get.
Strong contenders to take Portal 2′s crown?
Shogun 2 – I love the Total War games but still haven’t got around to getting this one due to my backlog and lack of time. So I thought I’d wait for a lower price.
Witcher 2
Deus Ex 3 – original game one of my all time favs. Not sure why this is “3″ though. *spits*
Mass Effect 3 – 2 was last year’s GotY for me, but isn’t this a bit too quick? Especially after the rushed-looking Dragon Age 2.
30/05/2011 at 10:26 mlaskus says:
SpaceChem of course, how could anyone like anything else more? Silly people!
I’m playing most games on my 3 year old laptop, so far it was able to handle everything I threw at it.
I’m going to upgrade once the new wave of console hits the market and I will be able to get some decent gear packed into 14 or 15 inches of mobile goodness.
30/05/2011 at 17:41 DarkNoghri says:
Now get further so that I’m not alone on the scoreboard.
:P
30/05/2011 at 19:04 mlaskus says:
Hah! I need to play it more, I keep getting distracted by new games or work.
30/05/2011 at 10:27 Erucan says:
1. Currently a tie between Portal 2 and Frozen Synapase. Portal 2 for great level design and humour, and Frozen Synapse for the moment you see your plan against a human opponent goes exactly like you wanted to (cue evil laughter).
2. No, but thinking of doing it next year.
Will see if those two last til the end of the year, but i’m hopeful.
30/05/2011 at 10:27 Jonathan says:
1) Tactics Ogre on the PSP because I’m a heretic. Disappointingly, nothing from 2011 on PC has really grabbed me yet, not even Portal 2.
2) My PC is a bit long in the tooth, and is getting to the point where I don’t want to spend money on the latest games out of concern they’ll not run satisfactorily. I’m probably going to upgrade sometime in the next 6 months though, probably with a new computer, so I can enjoy Skyrim fully.
30/05/2011 at 12:22 8-bit says:
Tactics ogre is pretty brilliant though, I put something like a hundred hours into it on one playthrough and I reckon I could have put another hundred in without seeing everything. we need more games like that on PC I think, there was one last year but I heard it wasn’t that good.
30/05/2011 at 14:52 DrGonzo says:
You sir, have no soul!
30/05/2011 at 10:28 Decimae says:
Top Game: Portal 2
My HD4870 + Athlon 64 X2 still runs everything a throw at it, and most at max, at 1680×1050. I don’t need more. Once it doesn’t, I might consider upgrading.
30/05/2011 at 14:53 DrGonzo says:
In that case, try out The Witcher 2. I have similar specs to you and can’t get off low settings.
30/05/2011 at 10:30 Edawan says:
So far the only new games I bought this year were Portal 2 and Amnesia (blame WoW) and my favourite of these was Portal.
My last upgrade was 6 months ago, so it’s still holding up well. It’s was mostly for WoW.
Yeah it’s kinda crazy that new games were running very well on my 3 years old rig, but 25-man raiding put it on its knees.
30/05/2011 at 10:31 hosndosn says:
I’m not a fantasy fan, so it’s still Portal 2.
I was happy to see I didn’t have to upgrade anything to run Portal 2. If anything, it seemed to run better(!?!) than Portal 1.
30/05/2011 at 13:21 Edawan says:
That’s not very surprising. Game engines get optimized. ;-)
On my PC, Mass Effect 2 ran a lot smoother than ME1 and it was a lot prettier too !
30/05/2011 at 10:31 Cinek says:
replay fail
30/05/2011 at 10:35 HermitUK says:
Portal 2 is my GOTY thus far. Funny and smart in equal measure, and the co-op was inspired genius. I expect Skyrim to find its way onto my GOTY shortlist in the winter, but for now Portal 2 is the king. Hearing a lot of good stuff about The Witcher 2, as well, but I want to finish the first game before buying it.
The pre-release ARG was brilliant fun to get involved in, too. Defence Grid was something I hadn’t played before the Potato Sack, and it’s also one of the best games I’ve discovered this year.
As for rig upgrades, I intend to build a new machine over the summer in preparation for Skyrim and BF3. My current rig isn’t half bad, but it’s getting on a bit. I had to replace the graphics card a couple of years ago, a year or so before that I did a fairly extensive upgrade, but parts of this machine (case, some of the fans, the soundcard, The HDD and both disc drives) are knocking on five years old, now.
Come to think of it, this current PC started life as a machine built in 2006 so that I could run Oblivion. Bethesda dictates my upgrade schedule.
30/05/2011 at 10:37 Meat Circus says:
Terraria, right now. But I suspect Frozen Synapse will displace it in about ten minutes. Honourable mentions to Portal 2 and The Witcher 2.
By the end of the year, I expect Dark Souls to be my game of the year, however.
30/05/2011 at 11:59 magnus says:
Terraria? Nice one!
30/05/2011 at 10:39 Doug says:
For me it’s Portal 2. But I still haven’t played The Witcher 2 yet, and if how I’m loving The Witcher 1 means anything, it will be pretty hard to decide after I played the sequel.
By the way, is anyone here having any success playing TW2 with a 9800/8800gt in 1440×900 or any resolution near that?
30/05/2011 at 10:39 Stranglove says:
For sheer amount of gameplay and replayability, MOWAS. You can race tractors in it, which just makes it my GOTY straight away. For Co-op I’d have to choose Magicka, which is insanely fun. I think Terraria should be up there as well for the most suprising release for me, I had no idea about it until 24hrs before release.
I have installed a new PSU for gaming purposes, but haven’t had the money to make use of it’s extra watts.
30/05/2011 at 10:40 Kdansky says:
Portal 2.
Terraria was a very fun distraction, but it probably won’t keep me interested for long.
Witcher 2 is also quite good (I’m not through yet), but it’s just so much more frustrating, with its bugs (a dozen crashs and counting), weird difficulty spikes and shaky performance on my HD 4870. I’ve gotten used to my rig running every game, and I don’t feel like shelling out a thousand gold coins for a single game.
And to top it off, Portal 2 is one of the best games ever. Period. It’s just so much ahead of the pack that most people have not yet understood what makes it such a mile-stone.
30/05/2011 at 10:40 Makariel says:
1.) Brink, closely followed by Magicka. I was sure Portal 2 would be a hot contender for my GOTY but I was a tad disappointed and found myself having way more fun with Brink and Magicka. I doubt it will stay my GOTY however, seeing Deus Ex 3, Skyrim, Arkham City, Battlefield 3 marching in this year, among others.
2.) Upgraded my RAM from 2 to 4 gb and got an extra HD so far. Later this year I plan to upgrade my graphics card and was thinking of a SSD. Unfortunately my mainboard is causing troubles since a couple of days, so I might have to replace that and since I’m already at it I might very well go for a new CPU.
30/05/2011 at 10:40 CMaster says:
If I’m being honest, my game of the year is SWAT4. Yes, it’s 6 years old, but it’s new to me and my crew and it’s brilliant.
The only stuff I’ve played which actually launched this year so far are Magicka (fun, but falls down in so many places it gets no awards); Cities in Motion (fun, but needs some tweaks still to stop it being equal parts frustrating and enthralling) and Frozen Synapse (solid, but a distraction not a GotY).
As for upgrading – I’m still running my (mostly) 4 year old rig with Core 2 Duo E6400, Radeon HD4850 and 4 gb of RAM and a Velociraptor 300GB. What would make me upgrade is 1:getting out of my current weird financial limbo situation; 2: Having a need to – finding a game that I couldn’t comfortably run at 1680 x 1050; 3: SSDs at reasonable price/size combos.
30/05/2011 at 10:41 Gnoupi says:
Magicka, and Portal 2
Brink was a nice entertainment, too.
30/05/2011 at 10:42 Meat Circus says:
Yeah, Magicka rather blotted its copybook with its terrible launch. Which is a shame, since it could have been a contender.
30/05/2011 at 10:44 apricotsoup says:
Between Brink and Portal 2. Still having great fun with brink and am disappointed that the early bugs and stupid marketing campaign that hampered its launch and party lead to bad reviews.
I want to get into the witcher 2 but I’ve held off because I just couldn’t find a single thing to like about the first one, I wasn’t able to get far into it to see where it apparently gets better.
What happened to fantasy being fantastical? I’m so sick of seeing the same elves, dwarfs and orcs in every fantasy world.
31/05/2011 at 08:59 Cinek says:
I also didn’t like Witcher 1 – it wasn’t any good RPG, especially in matter of combat which resembled constant QTE. But Witcher 2 is completely different game, almost everything what was wrong with old game got fixed.
30/05/2011 at 10:45 Phinor says:
GOTY so far is Portal 2 and there’s realistically only two games that can top that, Battlefield 3 or if for some reason the videos we’ve seen so far have given us the wrong impression and Deus Ex: HR is actually a good game. Witcher 2 and TDU2 are my disappointments of the year so far. Especially the latter is absolutely unplayable mess. Witcher 2 just lacks a bit of everything and is a computer-RPG with pretty bad combat mechanics. Magicka on the other hand was a hugely positive surprise although I had been following that game for quite some time before it’s release.
I upgraded everything that matters 5-6 months ago. That is, CPU, motherboard, memory, GPU, monitor and of course keyboard. Seeing how little games demand, I don’t think there’s an upgrade in sight in the next three years unless something breaks down. Probably my bios modified GPU is the first victim ;)
30/05/2011 at 10:46 Laurentius says:
1. Witcher 2 is great game but Portal 2 is just perfect gaming experience, i don’t care if it’s short or easy or anything it’s just that i have now two games that i can play whenever i want to relax and have good time : GTA IV and P2.
2. I bought myself Radeon 6850 as a last Christmas present so no upgrades in coming 2 years i think. ( unless GTA V force me to it.)
30/05/2011 at 10:46 Jonathan says:
3) I don’t have a holiday today :(
30/05/2011 at 12:48 JohnnyK says:
This. But I wish I had.
OTOH, my work week ends at noon on Wednesday (took the rest of the week off), so I can accept my fate.
As for GOTY – AssBro MP. It has some flaws, but I still play it extensively and it’s a lot of fun as it is so different from any other MP games I played. The jury’s still out on the SP, but it’s pretty much waht I expected. Although whoever decided having fixed camera angles during certain acrobatic scenes was a good idea should be fired on the spot.
Portal 2 was nice, but I enjoyed the Coop much more than the SP, really (due to some really unnecessary levels in SP that just seemed to serve as “make the game longer” levels)
30/05/2011 at 10:49 Jumwa says:
Would have to be Portal 2, a wonderful experience, the co-op especially. Absolutely adored it, a master piece. Though with Skyrim coming out this year I don’t expect that to last. I doubt much could triumph over the amazing fulfillment that a new Elder Scrolls game will give me.
Haven’t had to upgrade my PC in a while as it’s still devouring all new games at top settings even after a couple years. Definitely the best machine I’ve had put together in my time as a gamer. I might slap some more RAM in there eventually though, as I think that’s the only real deficiency it has right now. I only put in 4GB at the time of construction, but always planned to go back for more later. But since I’ve never had any issues or frustrations with slowness I never felt the urge to do so.
Oh yeah, and no holiday today in Canada. ) :
30/05/2011 at 10:51 Joe Duck says:
Up to now it is a tie between Portal 2 and SpaceChem. However, 2011′s best game is finally coming out in October… Yes, you all forgot Minecraft. Game of the year 2011…
My PC is 3,5 years old, chugging happily with maximum settings in all games except Crysis (yes, even Minecraft!). I play at a resolution of 1900*1200 in a 24″ monitor and my Radeon 4870HD 1Gb does a perfect, perfect job. I do not intend to upgrade unless BF3 makes me feel woefully inadequate and underpowered, but if I can lower the resolution and still play, I will hold on until 2012 at least.
30/05/2011 at 10:54 Oozo says:
The Witcher 2 got me a CPU and motherboard-upgrade just last week. Got me an Core i5 2500K, and I pray this was a good decision… (looks to be up-to-date right now, so I hope that I won’t have to change to a 6-core or anything similarly terryfing any time soon now that games have decided to use the power of the PC again…)
As for game of the year so far… well… looking back with the fondest memories so far on:
Cave Story (only played it now, so there’s that…)
Portal 2 (Coop)
Don’t Take It Personally, Babe
Magicka
And a bunch of other games that did not come out this year, but that were remarkable nevertheless (The Witcher, Deadly Premonition, Demon’s Souls).
30/05/2011 at 10:54 Phydaux says:
With all the great games that have been released this year I don’t think it would be fair to pick one. Magicka, Minecraft (It’s out this year and I’m playing it now so I think I can give it a goty ;) ), Portal 2, SpaceChem, and a whole bunch of others that I haven’t bought yet. There are a few that were out last year but I didn’t buy until this year so I’m including them too: SupCom2, Civ V (I like it), Super Meat Boy.
So there :P
Also, my wife and I spent around £900 on a new PC for her (we have one each), and she’s just discovered the wonders of Peggle. So that’s money well spent. :)
30/05/2011 at 10:54 gwathdring says:
The only 2011 games I’ve bought are Frozen Synapse and sort-of Minecraft. I suppose it’s technically not released yet and practically speaking a 2010 game … oh well.
I’m falling in love with Frozen Synapse very quickly. The game is enthralling. The music is spot on, the interface is slick and intuitive (some issues with registering clicks properly when zoomed out, but that’s mostly me stubbornly refusing to zoom in to anything less than full map view). I’ve died too many times because I thought I checked a certain combination only to discover that there IS line of sight from that hallway if he steps back a few paces before proceeding sideways … there’s a wonderful, terrible sense of dread when you realize everything you thought wouldn’t happen does.
I think one of my favorite gaming moments this year came out of Frozen Synapse: I was in a bad spot, no one dead, but completely surrounded with no great way to hold the central area I was claiming as my bunker until my lone shotgunner made his way down screen from where he was cowering behind a box. Every time I tried to move him, and so much as pointed a sniper or a nearby enemy shotgunner in his direction, he was doomed. Unable to afford the loss, I decided to leave him in place until I could bring him down safely. But the enemy shotgunner was in a perfect position for a rush, and had been moving like he was going for one … and every angle of attack on my box resulted in death. So I carefully counted seconds and tenths of seconds, running simulation after simulation. The end result left my crouching shotgunner bouncing his aim from one cover angle to the next ten times over the course of two seconds, each turn of his gun marking a simulation gone wrong, now made right.
The shotgunner instead tried to rush two of my machine gunners in their bunker and died. But the shotgun wielding vatborn dutifully spun back and forth. Ready for almost anything. It turned out to be utterly useless, but it was a useless job thoroughly done.
I will upgrade my PC when I collect a thousand dollars worth of pennies in parking lots. Or when I graduate. It’ll be my Happy Thesis gift to myself. I’ll be saving up.
30/05/2011 at 11:10 gwathdring says:
Oh yeah …. Magicka, I loved magicka for a while, until I realized it had very little respect or love for me. Our one-way relationship continued until I finally burnt out on the last level. Insta-kill spells and over-powered knock back effects simply made it not worth the effort. If I’d kept at it, I would have eventually pulled through. I collected all the trinkets in VVVVVV, and died far more times than seemed strictly reasonable … but that was FUN difficult. Magicka was just difficult. At times unintentionally difficult. That’s no good.
Co-Op is still pretty awesome though. I got my money’s worth out of it and loved the magic system. I also wished the order of adding components and the quantities of each component had more of an effect such that there was more variation in spells beyond the Magickas.
I also finally finished the main quest in Fallout 3. I knew they were going to ++++++++SPOILERS+++++++++ SPOlLERS+++++++++
SPOILERS+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
send the old bastard where the red fern grows the moment I found him again. I loved the whole sequence from post mortem to catching up with Fawkes outside of Raven Rock. Especially meeting Fawkes, meeting the president, and walking out of a flaming building to find a friendly meta-human with a gatling laser. A god-damn gatling laser. -happy sigh- The anti-communist Robot was entertaining, I suppose, but it was really hard to beat that moment outside of Raven Rock. I felt like a million bucks after using logic to convince a computer it was a terrible president. The ending was, relative to that, underwhelming. Especially since I was accused of being a coward and not a “true hero” for asking a guy IMMUNE TO RADIATION to suffer exposure instead of needlessly getting my stupid self killed just to feel good about it … er .. never. Reloading an earlier save out of curiosity, I also found it hilarious that with Brotherhood of Steel installed you wake up safe and sound even after dying from radiation exposure. Maybe there’s a maguffin to explain that later on in BOS.
30/05/2011 at 10:56 ForestOfMirrors says:
I recently upgraded from a dying GTX 295 (that couldn’t run any game past 2006 without crashing after 10 minutes) to a HD 6970 and am very pleased so far.
The Witcher 2 takes the cake for being the funnest (and prettiest) game I’ve gotten my hands on so far this year, but I am certain Dark Souls will be GOTYAY. Demon’s Souls was the most immersive video game I have ever played as well as being incredibly addicting and fun, and Dark Souls seems to be an improved version of that. It’s just a shame that From Software never bother releasing their games on PC.
30/05/2011 at 11:01 sexyresults says:
my 295 still runs as smoothly as ever
30/05/2011 at 10:58 Squirrelfanatic says:
What holiday?? I wants some too! :(
My game of the year so far is The Witcher 1. Ha! I need to finish it to start with The Witcher 2, whi(t)ch will then in turn become my game of the year. And for that purpose, I didn’t have to upgrade my machine. I had to build a new one. For the first time ever. And I did. Oh, those bitter tears pouring down from my cheeks onto the mainboard. But in the end, it all worked out and everything is running smoothly. So right now, I am plowing through Chapter 4 of the first title and hoping to finish the game later this week.
30/05/2011 at 20:25 Scandalon says:
That’s wot I was going to say. At least, it better be, since I just suffered through the end of chapter 1…otherwise Portal 2 maybe?
Not really an upgrade, more a sidegrade, but my amazingly performing and great value X1950 Pro seemed to start having issues, so now I have an HD4xxx. Doesn’t throw quite as many triangles around as before, but doesn’t need any external power and has DX10, so I can run Just Cause 2.
1.8Ghz C2D is starting to feel the pinch though…
30/05/2011 at 11:01 sexyresults says:
Haven’t had time for Witcher 2, so Portal 2 is still firmly my GOTY.
Also haven’t needed to upgrade my computer in awhile. If my computer starts to struggle to run current gen games I will look into upgrading/replacing.
30/05/2011 at 11:03 Ertard says:
Can’t decide between Portal 2 and The Witcher 2. Regardless, they will not last past Battlefield 3 and Batman: AC (almost wrote Bathman, what an awesome game that would be).
I currently have an i5 750 @ 3.8ghz, 4GB of RAM and a 460. I was planning on upgrading the whole shebang, but I’m more leaning towards just smacking in an extra 4GB of RAM and a 570/670 before BF3. Sadly I reckon GeForce 6 won’t be coming out this year.
30/05/2011 at 11:03 Vandelay says:
Game of the Year so far is Portal 2, but I’m still only a little ways into Chapter 1 of The Witcher 2, which is looking like it could potentially usurp it. I reckon it will be one of those two at the end of the year too. Deus Ex 3 seems like the only one that could better them, if done right, but my hopes are currently set towards it being very good, rathr than the best thing this year. Skyrim doesn’t have much hold on me and I expect BF3 will just be more BF, which I was never that interested in.
I built a new computer at the start of the year. It’s an I5 2500k, Radeon HD6950 and 4gb RAM, which I might upgrade with another 4 at some point. It maxes out The Witcher 2, excluding ubersampling and AA, so I’m happy with it.
30/05/2011 at 11:04 Icarus says:
Game of the year so far has to be Portal 2, but I’m expecting Deus Ex Human Revolution and/or Space Marine to trump it for me. I did recently get a new desktop and I am intending to stick a bit more RAM in there, but otherwise it’s working well enough.
30/05/2011 at 11:04 Zarx says:
Personal game of the year so far would have to be The Witcher 2, despite it’s many UI issues, bugs and a rather abruptly short 3rd chapter it is still the best RPG I have played since the first and 2 has better all round voice work and I would argue an even better handling of choice as it has an even grater impact on how the game plays out.
The last upgrade I made was a new 24in monitor, I turned to the dark side and went 16:9
30/05/2011 at 11:05 fastcar83 says:
So far I’ve played Dead Space 2, Portal 2, Brink and Witcher 2. So far my game of the year is Dead Space 2 but only cos I haven’t played nearly anything of Witcher 2 cos I need a new graphix card to complete my monster rig (called Normandy). I’ll get a GTX570 as soon as I can.
30/05/2011 at 11:05 nabeel says:
Portal 2 is easily my GOTY so far, and I haven’t even had a chance to play co-op yet. But this series is my feelgood place, and everything about the sequel just did it for me. I do expect my pick to stay by the end of the year but I’m still looking forward to a few more games like Human Revolution and Arkham City. Frozen Synapse is a close second in the meantime.
I did upgrade my PC a little, though not out of my own choice. My video card, a Geforce 9600 GSO 384MB died on me a week or so back, and so I had to make an emergency purchase of a 460 GTX 1GB, which isn’t high-end or anything but is within my running budget and now the fastest thing in my whole aging rig.
30/05/2011 at 11:06 Synchrony says:
My GOTY so far is Portal 2
I have also upgraded my pc, well, I say upgrade, the only part I didn’t replace was the case. Replaced my ageing Athlon x2 4000 with a Athlon II X3 450 and my 9600gt with a HD 5830 Extreme, as well as increasing my ram from 1gb to 4gb and my hard disk from 300gb to 1.5tb
30/05/2011 at 11:07 squirrel says:
Unfortunately currently no “Game of the Year” for me. There doesn’t seem to be any good game around after Battlefield Bad Company 2, which is the only game I am still playing. Witcher 2 may be an exception, but I’ve waited for a legit DRM remover to be released…… till now. Will go to shop for it this coming weekend to see how great it is.
Besides, haven’t upgrade my machine for 2 years. With my HD 4870 still being powerful for most of the currently popular games, may not be in need for an upgrade as there is still no games that would look substantially more beautiful under DX11.
Used to seriously considering buying a game console, Playstation or Xbox. Not to quit PC gaming altogether but with more and more games being ported to game consoles, isn’t it making perfect economic sense to switched to console gaming once one’s PC becomes obsolete for PC gaming? Recent news of new generation of game consoles really holds me back though.
Days after BC2 were sad for me to witness creativity being replaced by marketing effort. How can we allow craps like Medal of Honor and Homefront to be selling like hell under aggressive marketing campaigns? But thank you RPS for feeding me with information of good games from idle developers. Keep it on, mates!!
30/05/2011 at 12:39 Squirrelfanatic says:
What DRM?
30/05/2011 at 20:36 Lilliput King says:
The retail came with online activation DRM attached, two activations max. All gone now, though.
31/05/2011 at 09:02 Cinek says:
It used to have 5 activations, not 2.
30/05/2011 at 11:08 Spiny says:
1: Portal for me. Still playing witcher 1.
2: Battlefield 3 will probably have me upgrade my cpu from a core 2 duo. To what depends on whether an i5 bundle is anywhere near the price of a core 2 quad. Think I’ll be OK with a radeon 5850 still.
30/05/2011 at 11:08 Symitri says:
Best game of 2011 is a toss-up between Witcher 2and Portal 2. Somewhat curious how Skyrim will pan out at the end of the year as that’s the game most likely to change anything.
My computer is around two years old and the only thing that’s kept me from upgrading is that it runs everything ‘ok’ still. I can’t pump out ultra graphics on Witcher 2, sure, but it looks better than most games even on low to medium and runs well enough I don’t notice any real hiccups. I might be planning a move to a different country and if that’s the case, I’d probably get a new one over there rather than pay shipping but that’s just me :p
Again, Skyrim will probably force me to upgrade regardless, not least of all because it’s Bethesda and we all know their track record with how laggy their games can run due to bugs even on good machines T_T
30/05/2011 at 11:09 WarpRattler says:
1. Portal 2 by default. I did just buy the most recent AI War expansion, though, so maybe that’ll grab me?
2. Not really an upgrade per se, but I did spend several hours working on getting a DVD-ROM drive working in this computer so I could reinstall BioShock. Before that I had been making disc images whenever I needed to install a DVD game; this worked fine for my retail copy of Portal 2, but not for a game bogged down with SecuROM.
I’m to the point where I basically need to start over with a new computer (my machine was never a gaming rig to start, and it’s six years old now), but at the moment I have no money to do so due to tuition. :(
30/05/2011 at 11:54 squirrel says:
Haha, women in my city, who think they can outsmart every other one in the world, consider disc drive as a cherry on the top for a PC, be it desktop or laptop. Therefore, a kind of laptop called “netbook” is quite popular here. I dont know if netbook sell well in Europe or America, but it sells extremely well here in East Asia. A Netbook is run by some very weak processor with minimum ram and is so “primitive” that one is often without any disc or floppy drive, as users are often assumed to be satisfied with very basic pieces of software factory-installed. Any damn, those stupid machines can’t even run a speedsheet with several hundred thousands of rows (those working in finance / trading business would realize how common it is to come across with those files). And without a disc drive I ran into trouble while trying to install a newer version of MS Office. Damn MS for introducing new file format with Office 2007, and who the hell produces netbooks with obsolete Office 2003 installed?!
The truth is, women here take it for granted to have men helping them to sort out all computer problems the women would come across, and most of them wouldnt bother to learn what we take to solve the problem. If we need to install new soft through disc drive, we do it without informing those “smart” women. So, is disc drive an essential component for a PC?
30/05/2011 at 17:24 Nick says:
yes netbooks are quite common here too.
30/05/2011 at 11:11 Auspex says:
1. Portal 2
2. Last upgraded in 2008 (graphics card).
“What would make me upgrade?”: Employment :(
30/05/2011 at 11:15 Vexing Vision says:
GOTY this year will be a tough match between Batman Arkham City and Skyrim. So far, Witcher 2 beats Portal 2 (barely), which beats the fun I’m still having in Rift.
There’s a likelihood that Deus Ex 3 will sneak away with the prize, though, and I’m still very eager to look at Secret World, whenever that is out. Probably not this year.
I’m still using my five year old computer, which runs Witcher 2 at a reasonable 25 FPS on medium. That makes me happy enough, I play games for their story and mechanics, not the graphics.
30/05/2011 at 11:17 tameimpala says:
My GotY so far is Shogun TW (I’ve had uni exams and so wisely haven’t bought Portal or The Witcher yet). I built my own rig 12 months ago so no upgrades needed. Question for anyone thats got it, do you think I’ll be able to run The Witcher on ultra settings? I have an i5 processor, a 5850 HD and 4 Gb of DDR 3 RAM. peace
30/05/2011 at 11:21 Inglourious Badger says:
Agreeing with you here, Jim. Witcher 2 just pips Portal 2 to the post. That said, I finally got Frozen Synapse this weekend and it is brilliant in so many ways I did not expect, I’ve been totally blown away by it. But it’s impossible to say how it compares after only a couple of days play.
I’m not sure either of those can hope to be GOTY in a year when Skyrim, Deus Ex:HR, Mass Effect 3 and Battlefield 3 come out. Which will win? I think Deus Ex actually, with Skyrim being the one I’m still playing in 2012 and in hindsight wistfully look back on as perhaps the one that should have won.
And on the upgrade front the Witcher 2 is the first game I’ve played on this (2.5 year old) PC that I’ve had to run on ‘Low’ settings to run smoothly, so that upgrade need is slowly creeping into the back of my mind. It’s a real eye-opener as to how much console specs are holding back graphics, the good news being as long as games are being made for Xbox and PS3 I know this rig will run them. I’ll probably hold off until next year and get a whole new rig then. This one needs upgrading in every department.
Anyway, I can run Frozen Synapse on full resolution so thats all I care about right now! Speaking of which, got to go….
30/05/2011 at 11:21 Velvetmeds says:
1 – My goty is Dragon age 2. Both Witcher 2 and Portal 2 are some of the worse games i’ve played in recent years.
2 – I upgraded my gpu from 4870 to 5850 because the previous one heated up too much.
30/05/2011 at 16:20 Paul says:
Get out of here, Trollker!
30/05/2011 at 17:24 Nick says:
He’s visiting from bizzaro world.
30/05/2011 at 21:41 Velvetmeds says:
It’s truly my opinion. Deal with it?
31/05/2011 at 09:04 Cinek says:
Care to explain why DA2 is better than P2 and W2?
30/05/2011 at 11:22 Carra says:
Portal 2. Although Spacechem has really impressed me too. I thought Portal 2 had some clever puzzles but once I started playing Spacechem they seem ridiculously easy.
Still got to play the Witcher 2.
And no, my PC is 3 years old so it’s about time for an upgrade. When the first games come out that I can’t play anymore on medium settings I’ll go and buy a new PC.
30/05/2011 at 11:22 rozpocet1 says:
1) My game of the year so far is Portal 2. I hope it will be replaced by Deus Ex: Human Revolution later this year.
2) Do not remind me… I always need to upgrade…
30/05/2011 at 11:22 Turin Turambar says:
1. Witcher 2. I think it will be the GOTY at the end of the year.
2. No, i still have a somewhat powerful computer. Maybe in 2012.
30/05/2011 at 11:25 Fistulator says:
My GOTY so far is Spacechem. I don’t know if it will hold up after I’ve played The Witcher and Deus Ex, but it’s an awesome game nonetheless.
I recently bought a new monitor because my old one died. The last real hardware upgrade was about a year ago, when I bought an Nvidia 285GT, but my computer runs everything rather smoothly so I doubt I’ll be upgrading soon.
30/05/2011 at 11:27 hellboy says:
Portal 2 is my favorite so far, but I’m only on chapter 1 of Witcher 2 at the moment, so that may change soon enough.
I got a whole new PC a few months back.. It kicks serious ass. Having said that my old PC (which was top of the line 3 years ago) still manages to play most games, though on increasingly lower settings. The fact my highest resolution monitor is only 1680×1050 probably helps…
30/05/2011 at 11:30 Man Raised by Puffins says:
Game of the year so far is Portal 2.
Upgrade-wise, the beating heart of my machine is still a bit of a beast. Problem is I kind of skimped on the graphics card and it seems to have a bit of an overheating problem when faced with certain games. The monitor is a bit wanky too, and if more games are, like The Witcher 2, madly going to insist on supporting only one widescreen resolution it has got to go. But I think both of those can wait until next year, because cash.
31/05/2011 at 09:05 Cinek says:
In next month they plan to release patch fixing it :)
30/05/2011 at 11:40 Lewie Procter says:
I got a new PC last month, and I adore it.
The SSD is wonderful. So many things are faster with an SSD. I’ve got my old 1tb drive in there for data.
2×5870 has ran everything I’ve thrown at it at max on a 1920×1080 resolution.
I’m making plans to overclock my i7 this week.
30/05/2011 at 11:41 deadstoned says:
My favourite game of the year so far is Portal 2, followed very closely behind by Shogun 2: Total War (Its certainly my most played game this year). I still need to play Witcher 2 though.
I have plans to upgrade this year, I’m just setting some cash a side for a new graphics card prior to the release of Battlefield 3. I plan to upgrade by ageing socket 775 mobo + Q6600 on release of Ivy Bridge I expect.
30/05/2011 at 11:45 Frye2k11 says:
Upgraded my gfx card from a 9800gtx to a 480gtx on sale for 240 euros to bring it in line with the rest of my hardware (i7 920 @ 3.6ghz). I always buy ‘old’ top end cards but broke my usual rule not to spend over 200 euros for once to celebrate having time for gaming again. I hope and expect this to be my last upgrade for at least 3 years. I can live with lower than maximum settings, but it sure is great to keep everything maxed for a while.
30/05/2011 at 11:46 Symbul says:
Witcher 2. Portal 2 was excellent but W2 takes the cake.
I’ve not upgraded lately. My ~3 year old box is still doing everything I need it to.
30/05/2011 at 11:48 cairbre says:
Best game so far this year for me is the Witcher 2.
I upgraded very recently to a core i7 and it was mainly for BF3 but glad I did with the Witcher looking so good.
Oh and in Ireland there is no bank holiday this week so I am at work but next Monday we have our bank holiday while all you suckers will be at work!
30/05/2011 at 11:51 bill says:
Haven’t played any games from 2011, as far as i can remember.
If i had played any games from 2011 then i’m pretty darn sure that Portal 2 would be my game of the year, and I doubt anything would change that. Infact, it’s the only game from 2011 that i’m cosidering buying….
i just wish it had a demo so i could tell if it’d work on my laptop. I hear it’s well optimised so i guess it would, but i’d like to be sure.
Which should tell you the answer to question 2.
I have a 2-3 year old laptop that already has the max memory for vista 32bit. So I have no plans or way to upgrade. I have no real desire to upgrade either, as i still have a big backlog of games to play. I might consider a cheap upgrade for Portal2 if one was possible, but frankly I’m well past the days of enjoying upgrading PCs every few months.
I’ll keep this laptop for a few more years, and then probably get a new low-priced one.
I am considering spending a fair amount of cash on a smartphone though, which will replace the PC for a lot of functions, so it’s going to be harder to justify spending lots on a laptop if the ONLY reason is games, and if i have to keep the smartphone up to date too.
I did try sticking in a 4gb sd card as some people said Readyboost was cool, but i haven’t noticed any difference. I might consider upgrading to Win7 64 bit, but the price is offputting for the minimum changes.
(of the games i’ve actually played this year, I guess Jade Empire is my GOTY.. but it wasn’t mindblowing. )
30/05/2011 at 11:55 D3xter says:
Witcher 2… no competition (although i’m not quite to the end yet).
Portal 2 was very good and fun and all but it was somehow missing that *spark* that the first had (might be the deliberate design by statistics), which Witcher 2 now has instead.
30/05/2011 at 11:57 Tomcat says:
Most Played here is HoN and Minecraft. been getting into a indie EvE-Style robot MMO (Perpetuum) my GOTY may be Deusex or Skyrim. though the storyline to portal 2 was a exercise in laughing muscles and asphyxia especially Cave Johnson’s quotes
my gaming pc is a beater these days. running a 1gb 8800gt and a e6750C2D 5 years of BTTW overclocks and voltmods have knackered it to the point i have to underclock to stay stable. when will i upgrade? when i get my lazy arse a job.
i know i can run Deus ex, Skyrim and maybe Bf3 on this machine. all on “8bit graphics settings” my next upgrade will be a total overhaul. maybe keeping only my DVD drive and PSU
30/05/2011 at 11:58 airtekh says:
As always, I’m perpetually behind with current releases. As such I’ve only played a handful of 2011 games.
Of the ones I have played, the few that have impressed me have been Portal 2, SpaceChem and the Streets of Rage Remake.
30/05/2011 at 11:58 MD says:
SpaceChem! I reckon it’ll remain my GOTY unless Deus Ex 3 is unexpectedly brilliant, or Amanita pull out something Machinarium-esque.
Regarding upgrades — I bought a new monitor last year, if that counts, and did a pretty comprehensive upgrade of the innards (motherboard, graphics card, CPU, RAM) earlier in 2010(?), just to drag it into the modern era. I have no money at the moment, so what it would take for an upgrade now is the whole thing going up in smoke, I guess.
30/05/2011 at 11:58 magnus says:
An upgrade? Well hopefully it’ll be a quad CPU and motherboard and maybe even a new fan as my 9800GX2 has been getting rather ‘hot’ recently. All ready for Rage!
30/05/2011 at 12:03 Scroll says:
The Witcher 2 made my pc cry last week so now I’m fully invested in a complete upgrade.
30/05/2011 at 12:08 Anton says:
My GOTY so far is also Portal 2, but I am eager to see how Witcher 2 plays out. I already have it installed but im still currently finishing up Witcher 1. I’m also waiting for Deus Ex, Rage, & Skyrim. =P
I upgraded my vidcard late last year to a GTX 460 coming from an ATI HD4830. I read reviews about its price for it’s buck thing and was sold. Also, I was really looking to upgrade to a good card to play Starcraft 2
Already on win 7 x64 since mid 2010, and never looked back since. =D I also had the same reservations about moving from XP x86 to win 7 x64. So I waited for my officemate to go first, hehehe. He told me about his good experiences, so I upgraded right away. =D
30/05/2011 at 12:11 KillahMate says:
Portal 2 by default, ’cause I’m still catching up on a lot of stuff from last year.
30/05/2011 at 12:12 Shakermaker says:
1. Either Portal 2 or LA Noire. Not sure yet.
2. I bought a completely new rig earlier this year, so no upgrades.
30/05/2011 at 12:16 squirrel says:
I too heard that LA Noire is a great game. Any news if it would be ported to PC?
30/05/2011 at 12:51 skinlo says:
I’m pretty sure it won’t be, after the GTA 4 fiasco, I think Rockstar has been put off making stuff for the PC. Which is a shame, because their open world games are ideal for the PC because it has the power.
30/05/2011 at 15:27 Henke says:
Can’t believe it took 3 pages of comments before anyone mentioned LA Noire. (Though I guess it was sortof implied that we’re talking PC-only games here)
But yeah, LA Noire for me as well. Honorable mention goes to Dead Space 2. Portal 2 and Magicka are still on my to-play list.
30/05/2011 at 12:17 World One Two says:
Well my favourite game so far has been, predictably, Portal 2 — it played much more to my particular appetites than Witcher 2, which I enjoyed less than other people. To be fair I’ve not finished Geralt’s journey yet, having gone way over my download allowance with the original 17GB download and weeping when I saw the 9GB patch.
I upgraded my PC just before Christmas, six-core Phenom II, 8GB RAM, ATI numbernumbernumbernumber graphics card (6870 maaaaybe), and my games looked beautiful and I did rejoice. Then I tried to play Witcher 2 with uber-sampling and the framerate dropped considerably so I cursed and wailed at the unfairness of my life.
Will Portal 2 stay my game of the year? Deus Ex looks very good but perhaps not superlative. I didn’t get on with Oblivion but will of course give Skyrim a fair go. And when’s The Witness out? Late this year, yes? Exciting times.
30/05/2011 at 12:18 8-bit says:
I haven’t really played many new games this year, especially not on pc where most of my gaming time is dedicated to old stuff, I did like don’t take it personally so there is that for PC. From what I have played though my favourite so far is a DS game called ghost trick, because Missile is just so damned adorable and the game itself is very inventive and funny. I just finished the witcher last night though (bloody brilliant game) and I am installing the second game right now. Most of the other big games this year don’t really interest me (am I the only one who just doesn’t find portal funny?) and I expect TW2 or dark souls to take the crown by years end.
I was thinking of upgrading recently but I decided to put it off since my PC isn’t really having many problems with anything. I was thinking of possibly upgrading the RAM (currently 4GB), but I would only really need 2 GB and I cant find anywhere that sells a single stick of that size for cheaps, also the gpu (XFX 4870 1GB), but again its not exactly struggling with anything. If the witcher 2 doesn’t give me any problems I am going to leave it until the new year, we might know more about the new lot of consoles so that will give me an idea of what I should expect to move up to.
30/05/2011 at 12:18 Plivesey says:
Goty: Ghost Trick on the DS, brilliant game. PC-wise it would be The Witcher 2, shame the ending seems a bit sudden and it’s pretty disappointing, but overall superb game.
I’m hoping Skyrim is the GotY, as I’m sure a lot of people are.
Recently got myself an SSD (OCZ Agility 3), the loading times of EVERYTHING are damned impressive.
30/05/2011 at 12:20 kergguz says:
1. Frozen Synapse. Prob won’t be my favourite by the end of the year because I haven’t played The Witcher 2 or Skyrim yet.
2. No upgrades for 18 months- it was a new build then. I don’t expect to upgrade it this year- I have heard that Witcher 2 looks mighty fine even at medium settings. It’s the story I’ll be playing it for not the eye candy.
30/05/2011 at 12:21 Rinox says:
1. Witcher 2 – even more so after a second runthrough.
2. I upgraded my graphics card with the Witcher 2 in mind.
So basically, just a carbon copy of you Jim.
30/05/2011 at 12:28 Inarborat says:
The Witcher 2 and unless Skyrim has a competent story, it’ll stay there.
30/05/2011 at 12:30 drewski says:
I’m desperate for a new gaming PC, as this one dates to the mid 00s, but unfortunately I have no money and because this rig is so, so, so old I’d need to buy a whole new system.
Which I can’t afford, no matter how cheap they are these days.
30/05/2011 at 12:34 Wizlah says:
Despite having purchased Cliffs of Dover and Witcher 2, I’ve only really had time to play one game this year: Frozen Synapse. Enjoying it, and think I’ll enjoy it even more when my best mate from school gets up to speed and the two of us can relive former laser squad days.
In light of both cliffs of dover and witcher 2, reckon I’ll at least need to dump a new cpu into my ageing am2+ mobo, although I’m not looking forward to doing the bios flash on that. May need to get some new memory too, as I’m only bumping along on 4 gb (bumping, hah!). I think with those improvements, I can probably scrape by until next january before getting a new card. Not like I’ve got a choice, as funds are tight, and other things have greater priority.
30/05/2011 at 12:36 daphne says:
The Witcher 2 — closely followed by Frozen Synapse, it would seem!
30/05/2011 at 12:36 Solivagant says:
Waiting on Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
30/05/2011 at 12:38 Recidivist says:
Top game: Portal 2
What would make me upgrade: AMD Bulldozer finally seeing the light of day. Me wants (preferably before BF3 too)!
30/05/2011 at 12:40 TormDK says:
The game I’ve been spending the most time on so far this year is Dawn of War 2 – Retribution.
I haven’t upgraded my machine just yet since it’s not that old by comparison with some of the other posters here, but I am saving for a larger upgrade once we see some Ivybridge solutions released from Intel. My CPU will have survived three chipset evolutions by then, so it’s time for retirement for it!
30/05/2011 at 12:42 eldwl says:
Spacechem continues to absorb vast amounts of my time. Portal2 was brilliant, but I just can’t stop trying to improve my (relatively rubbish) solutions. It shouldn’t be fun, being a busman’s holiday.
Completely replaced my whole PC in January. It couldn’t handle any more upgrades, it was turning into Trigger’s broom! I think I did quite well to keep Windows 2000 going for so long.
30/05/2011 at 12:43 Cradlejoe says:
Witcher 2 is my GOTY so far, and it’s why I last upgraded my PC (Not disappointed either, spent about £100 on upgrades and can play it on high settings smoothly!).
I’ll be interested to see what becomes of Skyrim, but I reckon it’ll be a powerful contender.
30/05/2011 at 12:43 Nameless1 says:
- TW2, hoping they will give us full 16:10 support *soon* (half of the players use a 16:10 resolution, see steam HW survey) and correct the part of the game they didn’t get right (inventory ui-functionality)
- Will do for battlefield 3.
30/05/2011 at 12:45 ata says:
The Witcher 2 is my GOTY so far, Portal 2 is a very close second, really looking forward to BF3 & Skyrim.
Also upgraded my system to an i5, GTX570, 8GB RAM and a 128GB SSD (so impressed with the SSD) about a month ago in anticipation of The Witcher 2.
30/05/2011 at 12:45 JayTee says:
GotY so far is SpaceChem. Brilliantly simple in design but one of the best puzzlers I’ve played in a long time.
Haven’t yet played Portal 2 or Witcher 2, but based on how much I loved Portal 1, I imagine the sequel will nudge out SpaceChem once I finally get around to buying it.
The only thing that is clunky on my PC is the ageing e6400 CPU I’ve got in it, which is badly due for an upgrade. It’s overclocked by ~65% so isn’t actually too shabby, but I’m noticing more and more that I’m CPU limited. I’ll upgrade at some point, though at this stage it’s either pick up something like a q9450 off Ebay or replace the whole motherboard, CPU and RAM.
30/05/2011 at 12:50 skinlo says:
Portal 2 is my GoTY so far, we’ll see what happens with Skyrim and BF3.
I haven’t upgraded anything for a while now, my 2007 computer still runs everything.
30/05/2011 at 12:54 westyfield says:
1) I can’t think of many games from this year that I’ve bought other than Portal 2 and Dragon Age 2. So Portal 2 wins there. I don’t think it’ll last as BF3 will likely be my new GoTY.
2) I’m on my 2-3 year old PC, I’ve been slowly upgrading parts of it but I haven’t changed anything since January 2010. Probably going to upgrade once exams are over in order to play Deus Ex 3 and Battlefield 3, as well as being able to run ArmA2 well.
30/05/2011 at 12:59 JFS says:
I’m don’t have a high-end gaming machine but play on my laptop, so The Witcher and stuff doesn’t work with me. So here are the results of the Tübingen vote:
1.) Terraria. I don’t know whether it’ll last, but as L.A. Noire doesn’t come out on PC…
2.) No. I have my laptop, that’s enough for a lot of games, at least for most of those I’d like to play (barring The Witcher, for example).
30/05/2011 at 12:59 chokoladenudlen says:
1. Portal 2.
I doubt it will be my GOTY come News Year’s eve (see why 2 lines below).
2. Recently upgraded my video card to a nVidia GTX 470.
Stuff that would make me spend more $$$ on hardware: RAAAAAAAGE!
30/05/2011 at 13:02 Kolchak says:
My GOTY so far is Witcher 2 as well. It was a tie between Witcher and Shogun 2 but then Shogun 2 unveiled pricey DLC and who likes DLC?
30/05/2011 at 13:02 MikoSquiz says:
I was hoping my GOTY would be Fable III, but turns out that’s quite a lot weaker than my beloved Fable I in many respects and ends up landing around the same area as Two Worlds 2: “Nice try, but..”
For about one evening my answer would have been Terraria, but the start and the endgame are troubled and in hindsight the middle part is more compulsive than enjoyable as well, the combat is actually mostly quite awkward and the mining is tedious. I loved it, briefly, but it’s awful. We’ll see where it develops from here, but as it is, it’s like a thing with tentacles and Objectivist ideas which you wake up next to after a fun night.
I think it’ll have to be Portal 2 for me as well, so far, although I did not love it. Not quite my thing, but lovely craftsmanship. Look at those seams. What seams? Well, exactly. And you could use your reflection in the polish to shave.
30/05/2011 at 13:03 Unaco says:
Game of the Year so far = The Witcher 2. And I haven’t even finished my first playthrough. The only issues I’ve encountered thus far have been minor… nothing game breaking or show stopping, just small annoyances mainly, like having to edit the .ini to get inverse mouse before the patch.
On the other hand, what the game does is fantastic! It looks phenomenally beautiful, it runs smooth as butter on my system at almost max settings (good but not that good, Quad i5, 4GB ram, 1GB HD5770), the story is engaging, it’s cinematic, the music is brilliant, the gameplay is engrossing, varied and involving, and the combat is great fun! I can’t take peoples complaints about the combat seriously… I had very little difficulty on the prologue, and have found the only time I’m getting my arse handed to me is when I do something stupid, like trying to attack 1 Nekker in a large group, and ending up in the middle of the large group of Nekkers. I learned from that though… the lesson of not getting stuck in the middle of large groups. Geralt might be a killer, but a sword/claw/pincer in the back is going to be just as fatal to him as it would be to me or you. Instead, I find the combat makes you fight like a Witcher likely would… using your knowledge to find weaknesses, preparing before a fight, fighting smart, using the terrain to split up mobs, isolating one or two enemies and striking at them, using all the tricks in your arsenal (signs, potions, bombs, oils, traps). Combat in this game reminds me of something like Zangband or NetHack… every fight I have to take seriously and think about.
As for TW2 staying GOTY for me… I think Deus Ex is going to be a contender, but I can’t say if it’s going to come out on top or not. If DX is anywere approaching the brilliance of TW2 though, I know I’m going to be having a lot of fun at the end of August. I think the only other contender on the horizon would be SkyRim, but, unfortunately, although it is looking fantastic, and some of whats been said has been quite encouraging, I’m still not convinced that it’ll be the game for me on release. Rather, like Oblivion before it, I think it’ll be 6 – 12 months of modding before SkyRim is the game it could be for me.
30/05/2011 at 13:05 BobsLawnService says:
1. Drakensang : The River of Time
It’s a wonderful throwback to a different era. It’s utterly charnming and I wish one of the bright minds at RPS would do a Wot I Think since there really are no decent reviews of it out there and it deserves some love.
2. I haven’t upgraded my Q9400/Nvidia 9600GT combo in about 2 years.
3. A lack of disposable income and time for gaming means I can’t justify upgrading for a while.
30/05/2011 at 13:10 Quaft says:
GOTY so far? Witcher 2 hands down. I think my GOTY will be Skyrim however for obvious reasons. Also I would like to mention Portal 2 here since it’s so awesome but it didn’t blow me away as much as Witcher 2 did.
As for my PC I bought a new one with i5 and hd5850 1,5 years ago so I think it will last for quite a while without upgrading.
30/05/2011 at 13:14 phenom_x8 says:
I’ve been busy with my trading bussiness lately, so I dont have many time to spend in front of my PC! But, The witcher 2 attracts my attention and I’ ve spend some money to buy the 1st Witcher at GOG (so, I wont be very surprised when playing the sequel later), unfortunately I dont have any 2 or 3 hours to download it yet!
About my PC, I’ve upgrade my onboard HD 3200 to hefty Radeon HD 6850 recently (6 months ago actually). I just hope that my old Athlon64 x2 4800+ still be able to handle some future title(Although some of them will be bottlenecked by it) until my full upgrade next year. The reason I was upgrading were not because of certain game, it is due to my 2 yr old HD3200 onboard was totally suck in many games released in 2010 (and a few games in 08 and 09)! I’m totally excited when replaying my old collection ( crysis warhead, bioshock, STALKER SOC, R6 vegas 2,GRID,etc) with this new card! And it’s one of many reasons (including cash problem) I’ m not buying any new game recently .
30/05/2011 at 13:14 gganate says:
Like about everyone else, I’m going with the Witcher 2 for GOTY, but I haven’t played Portal 2 yet. As for upgrading, the Witcher 2 beats the hell out of my nearly 4 year old computer. I’m running an AMD 6000+ X2 with 2 gigs of ram and a 250 GTS. This is the first game I’ve been unable to run really well.
I work in an apple orchard, so my employment is seasonal. Come July, I might finally upgrade, although I’d like to put it off even further, since I don’t see anything approaching the Witcher 2 in system requirements.
Actually, the latest Stalker game didn’t run very well on my system, there was a lot of stuttering while the game loaded textures, which is what I experience with the Witcher at at anything other than low settings.
30/05/2011 at 13:26 Jim Rossignol says:
CoP needs loads of memory to run well, I think, far more than it recommends. It didn’t run really well on mine until I got a 3D card with 2GB onboard.
30/05/2011 at 13:19 DigitalSignalX says:
Probably the only person who thinks so, but my GOTY so far would be Dragon Age 2. While I did indeed greatly enjoy Portal 2 and Witcher 2, they were far too short by comparison, and I measure my overall enjoyment of a game by how much I want to just start over again when I complete it. I have no urge to replay them, and yet I’m on my 4th run through of DA:2 now. I’m hoping Skyrim knocks everyone off the table because I must have played Elder Scrolls like a dozen times through.
30/05/2011 at 13:46 jaheira says:
You’re not the only one mon frere. DA2 is my GOTY so far, with Portal 2 a close second.
Recently bought a new comp: i5-2500, 8GB, Nvid 560. Kicks ass.
30/05/2011 at 13:20 McDan says:
It’s a holiday here? Although to be fair I’ve finished uni but still on campus so no idea what goes on in the real world. Game of the year, hmmmm, I haven’t bought many so far this year but for me it would be portal 2.
And I haven’t upgraded my pc yet but when I have money I jolly well shall. Doing so because I’d quite like to play this “witcher 2″ people go on about, and would like to see it in as much prettyfullness as possible.
30/05/2011 at 13:26 Horza says:
Top game: probably The Witcher 2. Wouldn’t be surprised if it was my GOTY in december also. Although there’s lots of potentially excellent stuff coming out in the near future.
As for PC updates, I’m actually considering upgrading my graphics card so Witcher 2 runs smoother on my second playthrough. Unless that patch really gives me +30% fps.
Tho right at the moment I’m looking at buying a new keyboard/mouse and a second monitor. Those are easier to justify since they’re useful for serious stuff too.
30/05/2011 at 13:26 goldrunout says:
My goty so far to Portal 2. Simply the best. I don’t think any other game will beat it this year. At least this is MHO
30/05/2011 at 13:27 Ephaelon says:
Old PC: Core2Duo E4400 (2.0GHz), 2GB DDR2 RAM, GTX260 (216SP, upgrade from an old 8800GTS which I gave to my sis)
Earlier this year, my good ole desktop was slowly dying. More like, if I shut it down then turned it back on, 50% of the time the HDD would fail to initialize. So I decided I needed a new HDD. At the same time, I figured I may as well upgrade to Win7(from WinXP). But in doing so, I’d definitely need more RAM. But if I were to upgrade my RAM on the current setup, it’d be the old DDR2, and definitely not a long-term solution. So a-shoppin’ I did go(late Feb.).
Now got an i5 2500k, 8GB DDR3 RAM, and a new HDD of course. The video card is still more than good for the majority of games (thank you, consoles) but I’m tempted to upgrade just because I can’t slap on everything in the Witcher 2 and play smoothly. I probably won’t tho. This setup should see me through for most of what’s coming out the forseeable future, barring PS4 and X720 (or whatever) suddenly releasing.
Portal 2 and Witcher 2 definitely in the list of current GOTY games released. Tho I’d be more inclined to really want their babies when:
1. Portal 2 gets its challenge maps and that summer DLC, and
2. Witcher 2 gets more bug fixin’.
Most looking forward to Arkham City, Deus Ex and Skyrim (if it lives up to expectations. I somewhat enjoyed but didn’t love games like Oblivion and Fallout3) as possible upcoming GOTY contenders.
30/05/2011 at 13:28 Hatsworth says:
1. Portal 2. I expect its status to be usurped by Super Street Fighter IV AE simply because of its nature as a competitive multiplayer game. If talking about singleplayer only, maybe not. I think comparing games cross genre is pretty silly to begin with.
2. Yes, though what brought it on in the first place was trouble with my old computer.
30/05/2011 at 13:28 Tei says:
A lot of very good games this year, and some brilliant ones, like Portal 2, and probably Witcher 2.
But these are flawed gems. I don’t feel like can make then GOTY…. I don’t have a GOTY game, but I have a lot of potential GOTY’s.
edit:
Oops… I forgot that Fallout New Vegas. was released this year. My GOTY is Fallout New Vegas.
30/05/2011 at 13:28 UncleLou says:
1. So far: Portal 2.
I expect Dark Souls* to better it, if the predecessor is anything to go by.
2. Yes, just recently. Went from a C2D/GTX 260 to an i5 with a 560Ti GTX. Just pulling all sliders to the right in the graphics options at the moment, it’s nice while it lasts.
*I’d put Diablo 3 in there, if only…
30/05/2011 at 13:30 oldestgregg says:
Got a good deal on a pair of gtx 580`s last week so i don`t plan on having to touch my beast for quite a while.CPU is only 12 mth old as well so i`m at that nice place now where i can pop a game in and turn everything all the way up.
30/05/2011 at 13:34 Lars Westergren says:
Fallout: NV or Portal 2 for me so far. I’m just one hour into Witcher 2, but it looks like it may be a new winner, I suspect it will be between that and Batman: Arkham City at the end of the year. Deus Ex: Human Revolution or Skyrim look like they might be strong contenders too. Wildcards: Dungeon Siege 3, Age of Decadence.
I may get a new computer this year to experience Witcher 2 in it’s full glory, the only problem is where to put it. I want to be able to use it as a HTPC and for TV gaming, as well as for programming, web surfing etc. But I don’t want it where I can see it or hear it.
30/05/2011 at 13:35 Xanadu says:
Spacechem, Fate of the World and Magicka are my only 2011 games(as opposed to the 30 odd older games I’ve bought in sales. haven’t bought anything full price since dragon age), so I’ll throw my vote in for Spacechem, for being bastard hard and fun, as opposed to FOTWs bastard hard and depressing. Come end of year, I’ll doubtless pick up Portal and Witcher sequels in sales, and Portal 2 will from what I’ve heard end up as my GOTY
As for upgrades, nothing planned this year – my 3 year old rig manages fine with what I throw at it. Rather than upgrade I tend to get a new mid range system every 5 years or so, so will probably hold on till 2012 or later. Unless I succumb to a little portable netbook or the like for travel.
30/05/2011 at 13:44 Robert says:
1: Dragon Age II would be my pick for the best game.
2: No, but in dire need. But for a new computer you’d need excess moneys, which I don’t have.
30/05/2011 at 13:45 Flameberge says:
Game of the Year so far for me:
Dirt 3. Unlikely to remain there, as I plan to buy Space Marine, Skyrim and Witcher 2 before the end of the year, the latter of which sounds fantastic, the second of which probably will be fantastic and the former of which I desperately hope will be fantastic. Not to mention Deus Ex Human Revolution.
As for upgrades: Skyrim and Battlefield 3 may finally force my hand. This box has served me well since early 2008 with no upgrades – the only thing it can’t max out that I’ve played being Crysis. However this year I’ve noticed developers are finally starting to take advantage of the latent potential power in PC hardware, and so are starting to push the envelope again. Have to be honest, although some call it a stagnation, the last few years of being ‘held back’ by the consoles has actually made PC gaming financially viable, which is the positive flip-side.
30/05/2011 at 13:48 Betamax says:
1) Oddly enough it is currently Dragon Age2. Now before anyone makes off with my head and looks for a suitable spike to place it upon for having the sheer gall to mention that game as a GOTY contender I don’t actually think it is, not even for me (someone who loves BioWare games to death despite any flaws that are present). Rather it has a lot more to do with me not having PLAYED many of the big hitters yet this year – my time so far has been taken up either with DA2 or (and this in particular) replaying old games or completed ones from past years I never got around to (RDR, AC:B to name but two).
What can I say, life is busy at the moment!
My mind would be blown if Skyrim isn’t my GOTY when it comes to it anyway.
2) Yes! I am in the process of doing just that, in fact it’s the only reason I haven’t tucked into TW2 yet. I actually have the game, so confident am I of actually building this thing (okay, so I know a guy who’ll help :P). It’s quite exciting to be honest, never built one from scratch before now.
With this years line up of games though it seemed the perfect time to upgrade: Deus Ex, Skyrim, TW2, and a host of others all should (and in some cases can only) be played on the PC.
30/05/2011 at 14:05 noodlecake says:
The game I’ve had the most fun with this year is either Portal 2, Terraria or Dragon Age 2. Dragon Age 2 gave me the most hours of enjoyment and I felt more passionate about it because everyone unjustifiably pulled apart for some very petty reasons and it really annoyed me. Luckily it sold tons and got generally good press from magazines and sites (people who, by the looks of things, know what a good game is more than generally whiny internet nerds) so it doesn’t matter anyway.
so yeah.
1. Dragon Age 2
2. Winning the lottery… Or at least not being a student any more and having a proper job. I’ve never had a kick ass computer. All I have is my £600 laptop I got last year and I bought that because I wanted something reasonably decent with a dedicated graphics card so I could do my art and also play games of a reasonable quality on the move. I want to play Witcher 2 though and it almost but not quite works on the absolute minimum graphics settings and lowest resolution. It kinda does but it’s stoppy and I can’t read the text because it’s too small. :S
30/05/2011 at 14:13 jaheira says:
Yes, DA2 reviewed well. PC gamer gave it 94 and said it had the best combat in an RPG ever, which was pretty much spot on. It’d be great if Mass Effect 3 had fights with the same level of pace and responsiveness.
30/05/2011 at 14:29 UncleLou says:
I thought DA2 sold quite poorly, at least compared to DA:O? I didn’t like it, but I did contribute to the sales. ;)
30/05/2011 at 17:30 BwenGun says:
It sold relatively poorly. Most indications are that it just about covered it’s budget and made a small profit but that it was a dismal failure when compared to the sales the DA:O managed, and compared to ME2 it sold an almost laughably small amount. A fact that seems to have sunk in at Bioware given that last week the lead writer posted what amounted to a fairly grudging, almost hissed through his teeth if I’m honest, apology for doing such a half-arsed and rushed job.
As for DA2 being a good game or not… eh. It was a reasonable game. From any other developer it would have got mid to low 80s from the press and most people would have either enjoyed it or stayed quiet about their problems with it. The problem was that it’s a Bioware game, which means that the game acted like a magnet for disaffected fans and irate fans wanting to defend them. The game itself had problems partly because it was rushed, and partly because they made some bad design choices early on and didn’t have time to flesh them out properly. The biggest example of which is Kirkwall which as a place felt dead and lifeless, especially when compared to cities in other games. (The cities of Assassin’s Creed springs to mind, along with the Witcher 1 & 2 and even Mass Effect 2 – for all that it’s hubs are fairly linear things the back-drop and atmosphere they create allow for a suspension of disbelief so that you actually buy the fantasy that they’re living breathing places filled with thousands of people just out of eyesight living their lives oblivious to your quest to save them all. Kirkwall was just a lot of running around between set-pieces.) Past that the lack of meaningful choice, and any impact on the game of your choices aside from purely cosmetic things just let it all feel like a big let-down. Especially the ending which from a narrative point of view felt rushed, ill-thought out and entirely unsatisfying. A bit like the Witcher 2.
30/05/2011 at 18:44 Carra says:
Dragon Age 2 was a fun game. But it’s not what I expect from a Bioware game, I expect much more. As the poster above mentions, the city design is bland and has been done much better in other games. That’s a big issue considering that 80% of the game plays in a single city. And the outside environments are recycled time after time.
It’s a 75-85 game to me.
30/05/2011 at 21:44 Velvetmeds says:
DA2 was a great game that sadly fell victim to the “big name syndrome”. Not only have Bioware become too big and popular, plus the fact that the EA name is attached to it, people will tear them apart no matter how good their products.
As for sales, it actually sold more then DA:O at first (1st week, maybe second too) but then it declined more rapidly than DA:O and because of that will probably end up with lower sales overall. Shame, this might make Bioware make their games more like Witcher, something that makes me shudder of fear and sadness.
30/05/2011 at 14:13 Oneironaut says:
Witcher 2 is also my GOTY so far. I bought a HD 6850 in preparation for it’s release. I wasn’t able to run it at full settings but it was still a beautiful game, and now just about everything else runs at 60 FPS which is a nice bonus. The only game that I think has a chance of beating The Witcher 2 is Skyrim, but as I’m more interested in a well-crafted linear story than an open-world game, I think the Witcher 2 wins this year.
30/05/2011 at 14:15 mcwizardry says:
GOTY: Portal 2, although I’ve only completed half of the co-op missions so far.
Replacement Candidates: Deus Ex HR, Rage, Arkham City
Hardware Upgrade: 5770 struggles with Witcher 2, Crysis 2 and Brink so that will propably go first, maybe a SSD further down the line.
30/05/2011 at 14:15 katinkabot says:
1. Portal 2 – so far. That will probably change once I can find time to play The Witcher 2 or Arkham City comes out.
2. I need to buy a new computer. Desktops are relatively cheap nowadays, so once I’m done moving I’ll probably look into getting the pieces/parts to build a new one.
30/05/2011 at 14:18 Adriaan says:
Portal 2 and / or Frozen Synapse here. Haven’t played The Witcher 2, so I can’t comment on that myself, unfortunately…
30/05/2011 at 14:25 JohnnyMaverik says:
1. Portal 2, but yes I do expect it to change when Deus Ex Human Revolution rolls around.
2. No, it’s ok, runs anything at medium settings +, when I can no longer do that it’ll be time to upgrade.
30/05/2011 at 14:51 GreatUncleBaal says:
1 Haven’t picked up too many games new this year, as I’m catching up on some older titles since upgrading my PC.
Have only just picked up Frozen Synapse but I think that’s going to be keeping me coming back for a while, and will likely be one of my games of the year. Portal 2 will also be up there. Picked up Section 8 Prejudice on a whim a couple of days ago and have been really enjoying it too.
2 My Xbox died last summer, and remains unrepaired, as I turned my full attention back to my PC – I upgraded my graphics card to a Radeon HD5750 (from an NVIDIA 8500GT) and doubled my RAM to 4GB, my processor is a fairly sturdy Q6600 which still runs nicely after a good few years (although I’ve got an itch to upgrade it anyway, as I quite like tinkering about and get a bit addicted to bolting new things on).
Oddly I’ve been playing a lot more strategy games, which isn’t making the most of the new graphics card, but it’s been great to pick up recent titles and be able to run them in high res and decent frame rates.
30/05/2011 at 15:08 TheCheese33 says:
Portal 2! The perfect game. It might have been The Witcher 2 if the ending wasn’t garbage.
30/05/2011 at 15:16 yhalothar says:
I upgraded in March to an i5 2500k and a 570GTX. Ironically, the game I play the most is Spacechem. ;)
30/05/2011 at 15:21 gou says:
Right now for me it has to be Brink, but I firmly expect that to change if Guild Wars 2 hits this year.
Oh and there is the promise of guaranteed co-op hilarity of the third Saints Row at christmas. Heroes of Might and Magic VI, because I am a total sucker for that whole series and everyone needs something to exercise their inner megalomaniac.
Lastly I will mention Deus Ex 3 only in passing because I’m cautiously skeptic about that one and my vision isn’t augmented.
In response to the second question, I built this computer to coincide with UT3, Quad core based, the only two things I upgraded so far was last year: the OS to win7 and the graphics card to a hd5770. The old vista and 8800gt are still working just fine in the computer I built for my parents. Though I am starting to feel 4Gb of ram isn’t quite enough these days…
31/05/2011 at 10:15 mashakos says:
4GB is not enough? Hmm.
Not the case for games, so what else do you use your pc for?
30/05/2011 at 15:26 ChaosSmurf says:
Bulletstorm by a few hundred miles. Not sure if it’ll last until end of year what with ME3, having not played the Witcher 2, Duke, etc.
Haven’t upgraded in a few years, don’t have the money. A job is what’s most likely to get me to upgrade :P
30/05/2011 at 15:28 Dreamhacker says:
GOTY’s thus far:
Magicka (in the overall category)
Total War: Shogun 2 (in the TBS pleasant surprise category)
Crap thus far:
Homefront (on the lower scale)
Brink (on the higher scale)
Potential to knock everything else outta the list:
Battlefield 3
30/05/2011 at 15:44 pipkins says:
Game of the year: Portal 2. Might upgrade for Skyrim.
30/05/2011 at 15:52 NotQuiteAllHere says:
For all its flaws, World of Tanks is my game of the year to date. And given the rate at which I buy PC games (and even then about a year behind the curve come sale time), it’s likely to be in my Top 3 when the year ends.
I did upgrade recently, though not strictly for gaming purposes – it was more a ‘have a working computer’ type of upgrade. That said, it has made my current collection look impossibly pretty, but the new rig isn’t breaking a sweat on games like RIFT (which most definitely is not on my game of the year list, by the way).
30/05/2011 at 16:00 kubaduba_pvp says:
My favorite game of this year thus far is Terraria, and to run it I upgraded from GTX9800+ to a radeon 5970. WICKED
Crysis 2 comes as a close second. Just validating my reason for the upgrade.
30/05/2011 at 16:07 K. says:
1. At the moment: Fate of the World. Probably not in /played time, but because I absolutely like the concept.
If it can last… depends on my ability to move through my gaming backlog.
2. Mostly playing on a second-hand Dell Laptop that will get an upgrade when it cannot run WoW anymore.
30/05/2011 at 16:07 Oak says:
1. Brink, comfortably. Might change, since I’ve yet to play many other games this year, but I really do think it’s something special.
2. I’ve been putting off a needed upgrade for months, since research requires effort and effort is anathema to a man of cultivated laziness.
30/05/2011 at 16:09 Tom says:
1 – haven’t bought a single 2011 game yet… wierd.
2 – doubled my ram to 4GB. stuck a corsair h50 on my q6600 for OCing. got my eyes on a geforce 570 – which should be quite an upgrade from my ol’ 8800gtx.
titanium hd’s looking nice, but that’s an optional extra.
liking the long upgrade cycles.
30/05/2011 at 16:09 Paul says:
GOTY belongs to The Witcher 2. I did upgrade my PC 3 months ago, it was because of TW2 and many other games (DX3, TDU2, Skyrim..).
I doubt anything will be better than TW2 this year. That game is just amazing.
30/05/2011 at 16:22 Korsi says:
I did just build a new PC and have been catching up on what I missed, it may be late but I really enjoyed Mass Effect 2. I’m still working through the massive Steam Sale backlog I accumulated, excited for Divinity 2, King’s Bounty and Amnesia. Will probably pick up Witcher 2 at the end of the year in another Steam Sale :) the best part of being behind on gaming!
I did interrupt my backlog to pick up and play Portal 2 though, damn good game.
30/05/2011 at 16:25 Iscannon says:
I’m surprised I haven’t seen anyone mentioned Bloodline Champions yet. Even if Pvp moba games aren’t your thing you have to be impressed by the quality of the game(If not by the advertising, or lack thereof). The whole setup of the game, the fact that people can play for free or spend as much as they like on it and not get stat advantages and the balance of 20-odd classes just shows how much work has gone into this game.
And then you have the replay system they’ve just added, which would be a fantastic addition to any competitive game, but when you have such a skill-based game like this being able to watch your games again can really help you along. The tournament system is fully automated and fantastic, I think it was TotalBiscuit that said it should be in any game with a competitive element.
I cannot reccomend this game highly enough, and the only issue is that the player base is quite small, but because it’s free to play I’m hoping word of mouth will do the advertising for them.
30/05/2011 at 16:35 DeathGOD1235 says:
1. What’s your Game Of The Year so far? SKYRIM and Project Zomboid
2. Have you recently upgraded your PC for gaming purposes? If you haven’t, and your PC is getting on a bit, what would make you do so? SKYRIM and BF3
30/05/2011 at 16:42 EOT says:
I’m not sure what my current GOTY is. I seem to be in somewhat of a gaming rut at the moment, struck by an awful lethargic malaise of video game ennui. I blame this on an attention span ruined by years of console gaming and Modern Warfare, or maybe I’m just giving up on games. Who knows?
What I do know is that it has left me unable to really enjoy any single player experience. Fallout New Vegas lasted but a scant few hours before I was skipping dialogue in search of mindless instant and bloody gratification and The Witcher 2 sits uninstalled as I seem to lack the patience to deal with the original’s awkward combat.
Portal 2 though, that was something else. I got through that, and it’s co-op in 2 sittings of flinging myself through the air with the use of an aerial faith place and painting the town…er…blue with repulsion gel. So I suppose the title of GOTY for me, must by extension, go to the only game that has managed to get me to sit down at my computer for a period of time that did not involve mindless internet browsing in between bouts of self pity. Bravo Gabe you magnificent fat bastard.
On the subject of PCs. My current machine is only around 6 month old. A £500-ish budget self build with a Phenom II 955, 4GB 1600Mhz RAM and an HD 5770. I think this should last another little while, but I’m prepared to see it crippled and made lame by BF3, or possibly Skyrim. Who knows. Given current form I probably won’t bloody play them.
30/05/2011 at 16:57 LaunchJC says:
I have almost the exact same PC, such good value.
30/05/2011 at 18:07 EOT says:
It is. But unfortunately I use a 36” TV as my monitor and the poor 5770 sometimes struggles to run some things well at native 1920×1080 resolution. But, such is life. I’m not really doing enough gaming to justify an upgrade for at least another year.
30/05/2011 at 16:56 LaunchJC says:
GOTY: Portal 2 (LA Noire and Frozen Synapse may have taken this spot in a few weeks)
Ok for upgrading (got a 5770) but may upgrade for BF3
30/05/2011 at 17:04 thesundaybest says:
1. Haven’t played a game released in 2011 yet, so my game of the year so far is Far Cry 2. Although I do have The Witcher 2 installed and waiting.
2. When I buy my next iMac. And no, that’s not a joke.
30/05/2011 at 17:05 Vinraith says:
1. SpaceChem, both becuase it’s brilliant and because it’s the only game released this year I’ve actually played yet. The likeliest replacement is SotS 2.
2. No, see above.
At the moment I’m playing Close Combat: Wacht am Rhein, Brothers in Arms, Rainbow Six 3, and Men of War while trying to get the REFUELED mod working for FUEL while the Witcher 2 waits on a (digital) shelf for me to get around to it. Who has time for new games when there are so many great old ones?
30/05/2011 at 17:06 draknahr says:
My favourite game so far would have to be the Witcher 2 as well…and it also made me upgrade my pc. :D
DoW2 + Shogun 2 running perfect is nice too though.
30/05/2011 at 17:23 thegooseking says:
My game of the year so far is Dragon Age 2 (followed closely by Portal 2). I’m hoping Skyrim, Deus Ex and Arkham City will be good, though. Any good games that aren’t sequels? Oh, I want to try L.A. Noire, yes.
I built a new computer from scratch about a year ago. I’m already thinking about upgrading; my nvidia 240 is a bit old. Also 4GB of RAM seems a bit slight now, but I suspect that reinstalling Windows and using a browser other than Firefox would help with that (or even continuing to use Firefox but having better browsing habits, such as not keeping about 100 tabs open at a time). Perhaps another hard disk as well. That’s generally only because I’m too lazy to go through and decide what to delete, but also because I’ve learned my lesson about disk failure and want to keep a backup on another disk.
30/05/2011 at 17:24 Kadayi says:
Top game: Portal 2. Likely to be my GOTY? Maybe*
Hardware wise: No real plans to upgrade until probably next year at the earliest.
*Presently on a gaming hiatus for a month or so (just playing not news) until my gaming mojo returns and putting my time into working my way through my sizeable book backlog. I’m expecting GOTY on PC will probably be a toss up between Portal 2, DE:HR & TW2, which although bought I haven’t yet gotten into.
30/05/2011 at 17:26 suibhne says:
The Witcher 2 and Portal 2. I guess TW2 edges out Portal 2, but I’m nearing the end and it’s getting a lot messier – it’s a lot easier to think “If only CDPR had done this bit slightly differently” in Act 3 than in Act 1. Portal 2, on the other hand, was a delight but never quite lived up to its promise.
Haven’t upgraded since I built this rig almost two years ago. It still handles current games without skipping a beat (so to speak).
30/05/2011 at 17:45 PeteC says:
As far as games are concerned I’m a bit behind the curve. I like to wait until games are patched before I play them. That has the nice knock on effect that they’re also a lot cheaper. Thinking about getting Shogun 2 though so maybe that will be it. Who knows.
As for what I have played this year, Mass Effect 2 is by far the best I’ve played. It’s been over a decade but I’ve finally played something to rival Deus Ex and the original Half Life. Great game.
I upgraded my PC just over a year ago. Barely any idea what any of this means. It runs everything maxed out and super smooth and that’s all I care about. (although I’m yet to play The Witcher 2)
CPU – i7 960 (320GHz)
GPU – ATI XFX 5870 1GB
RAM – 6GB DDR3
I don’t intend to upgrade that for a good few years yet apart from an SSD at some point.
30/05/2011 at 17:47 DarkNoghri says:
I think the only games from this year that I’ve purchased are Spacechem and Portal 2. Wait, Magicka, and maybe MNC. I’m not sure when those last two released though.
Out of those, I’d say Portal 2. Magicka was hilarious (still is), but really needs extra players for good times. Spacechem, I can drop hours on when I start playing (especially when friends are beating my times), but it’s not something that I really get the urge to go play.
Portal 2, I really, really liked. To the point where I actually beat it twice in the first two weeks. Good funsies. As to whether it’ll be my GOTY, that rather depends on if I buy something else this year that’s new. I’m fighting the urge to pick up TW2 rather hard right now.
Upgrades? Either I see a really good deal that I have to have (unlikely), or a part dies on me. Short of a GPU upgrade or an SSD, upgrading would require a full overhaul (mobo, cpu, ram). So, yeah, not for a while.
30/05/2011 at 18:06 er910 says:
My GOTY is Revenge of the Titans since my laptop is not powerful enough to play anything else this year. I guess it’s time to update.
30/05/2011 at 18:26 Acorino says:
Dunno about GOTY, played only Portal 2 of this year so far.
BUT: Started playing Gothic 2 over the weekend. What a great game! It’s all I ever wanted from an RPG, minus the tedium I usually associate with most of them. It fulfills my need for exploration, the game world is so well realized…not exactly one of the most polished games, but it has a lot of soul. Pity you have to grind a lot to have a chance later on.
Witcher 2 shows me that I’m in need of a hardware upgrade. It’s very needy.
30/05/2011 at 18:36 Sorbicol says:
GotY so far for me is easily The witcher 2. I’ve not upgraded my PC yet, although this game is probably going to make me do so!
I’ve not played Portal 2 yet though.
30/05/2011 at 18:49 The Innocent says:
1. My PC game of the year has to be divided into categories. Indie: Atom Zombie Smasher. AAA singeplayer: Witcher 2. AAA multiplayer: Section 8 Prejudice.
2. I did upgrade my video card from one ATI to another, just a modest upgrade to get me out of the 4xxx HD series that was giving me tons of trouble with Brink. I’m thinking of doing a move over to a SSD this summer as well.
30/05/2011 at 18:50 TychoCelchuuu says:
Game of the year is… hm… given that Assault Squad and Alpha Protocol are from years past (AS is oldish, right?), I’d have to say Frozen Synapse. That might change if Deus Ex 3 is amazing (and if it comes out this year, I can’t remember what the release date is).
My PC is an E6700 and a 8800 GTX. I’m going to upgrade when Battlefield 3 comes out, I think. Performance in games is still fine but I want my video encoding to go much, much faster, which Sandy Bridge will get me, and Battlefield 3 is probably going to eat my computer for breakfast just like Battlefield 2 ate my old computer for breakfast.
30/05/2011 at 18:53 RagingLion says:
Portal 2 is the best so far and could easily stay that way till the end. Not sure what other 2011 games I’ll buy as soon as they come out. The Witness has a chance actually assuming that doesn’t get delayed.
Still rocking a 8800GTS. If that can still play The Witcher 2 which I will play at some point then it’ll simply take some games I really want to play being unplayable on my machine. Also a job.
30/05/2011 at 19:18 passingstranger says:
I hate to have made such a boring pick, but Portal 2 is still firmly in my top spot.
The Aperture universe is one that I could live in forever. The humor is so dark and pitch perfect that I can pretend it was written just for me. I revel in the confusion of stepping into a new, complex puzzle and devour each chamber I’m dropped into. It’s a reminder of how nice it can be when a came truly respects its players, both in writing and design.
And, for something completely different, Terraria has rocketed into my top few. Though pretty markedly different from Minecraft, the additions it made improved upon the “Dig, Explore, Fight” mechanics so much that it’s hard to go back to Minecraft without feeling bored. It’s not often that I can have this much fun with a few friends online.
30/05/2011 at 19:24 voxn says:
Dungeon Fighter Online! its comically generic name belies a unique game the likes of which you can’t really find anymore, and in mmo format to boot. To my eternal sadness its run by Nexon, but thems the breaks.
My computer is going on ~4 years old, and I’ve started eyeballing new parts (especially ssds (and hex-core processors; for no better reason then that sounds like some serious future shit)) but probably wont commit till we discover Skyrim’s mettle
30/05/2011 at 19:28 Cosmo Dium says:
Obama’s Game of The Year?
30/05/2011 at 19:28 Brittfire says:
Again, Portal 2.
sharing the experiance and being able to talk about it with lots of people at work gave the game even more icing on top.
computer wise, just ditched the core2 duo e6750 and have a shiny i5 2500k @4.5g trundling along happily. the grx may need updating, but cant seem to kill my 5770 yet.
30/05/2011 at 19:43 Teddy Leach says:
1, Frozen Synapse. Hopefully until Human Revolution comes out (the day before my 26th).
2, My PC desperately needs replacing. What would make me do so is money. I need it.
30/05/2011 at 19:47 propjoe says:
Portal 2 is my GOTY so far, and I’m don’t see anything that I think will surpass it (except maybe Skyrim). Most of my rig is a year or two old, but a few months ago I picked up a 30-inch Dell Monitor, and man do I love it.
30/05/2011 at 19:57 dethgar says:
My GotY right now is L.A. Noire for the console toys. My PC GotY is Portal 2 at the moment, once I dig into The Witcher 2 it could change.
I am preparing to upgrade my gaming box machine around the time BF3 comes out. It’s a good PC at the moment, my 5770 is solid but has trouble with more than 2x AA, and as is the case with most ATI cards, it hates shadows. I’m considering an Nvidia card as an upgrade, my motherboard supports SLI so even at the higher price it could end up being the better choice for future upgrades.
I’m not sure what to do with my processor. I have a Phenom II 9950 BE(2.6ghz x4), and have been thinking about getting a hexcore but I’m not sure how well they work with games. Anyone know?
31/05/2011 at 01:40 EOT says:
The Phenom II Hexacores are apparently not that hot. You’d be best off either OC’ing what you have or Getting the 955 BE which is at 3.2Ghz but will OC to 3.7Ghz on stock cooling easily.
Anything other than that would require a new mobo…in which case as you’re replacing the GPU at some point to means basically just a whole new machine.
I think, I don’t know. I may well be talking shit and thus I open myself up for corrections.
30/05/2011 at 19:59 Spinks says:
Rift is probably my favourite so far, I keep finding more things to like about it. I enjoyed DA2 but it’s not going to be a GotY.
30/05/2011 at 20:10 Arodin says:
At the moment, Portal 2 is my GOTY, but I expect The Old Republic or Skyrim will beat it out in the end.
30/05/2011 at 20:38 roethle says:
After the patch spaz is by far the best thing I have played this year.
30/05/2011 at 21:59 Metonymy says:
It sounds crass, but there really has been nothing worth pirating, much less paying money for.
I tried most of the series listed in these comments for 5 minutes or so, but there’s nothing about them that would make me play the sequels. Fallout was an exception: it had a control method that wasn’t an abomination, but of course, that didn’t come out this year.
30/05/2011 at 22:22 Meat Circus says:
Maybe you don’t like games, and should take up knitting instead?
31/05/2011 at 10:06 UncleLou says:
Perfect illustration of why I generally think the opinions of pirates are entirely worthless.
30/05/2011 at 22:01 Sepulchrave76 says:
I haven’t played any games this year which are actually from this year, so that first question will have to remain unanswered for now.
As for whether I’ve upgraded my PC, that’s a resounding YES. Until today, I was running a laptop which was 5 years old and couldn’t even run the first call of duty game. I loved it, and it served me well for 5 long years, but I think it’s time to throw it in a skip (especially as I get messages when I boot up telling me the hard drive is dying). My new PC, which me and a couple of mates put together, is an Intel i5, with 4gig of ram and a Radeon 6950. It cost a fucking fortune, but should hopefully put me in a position to decide on which game I like most this year.
It’s also the reason I missed the Manchester meet-up. I wasn’t playing it, I was sweating like a bastard putting it together and praying that it worked. It does! :)
30/05/2011 at 23:20 Angel Dust says:
1. Portal 2 but like a few people that’s by default at the moment, although it does have a good shot at staying number one though. Possibly contenders are Deus Ex, Witcher 2 and probably some indie/foreign game that I haven’t heard of yet.
2. I’m currently in the process of upgrading my PC (for the Witcher 2 in fact). Got to be pretty careful with what I get but I’m finally going to make the jump to 64 bit and Windows 7 (which I use at work and love). The rest of the specs will be an i5 processor, Nvidia 560ti, at least 4GB RAM.
30/05/2011 at 23:43 Soon says:
The Witcher 2 jumps from best to worst depending on whether it just made me quit in frustration from suddenly not being able to control the camera or attack then promptly dying near the end of the hardest battle so far. Again.
31/05/2011 at 00:22 tonka_92 says:
My Game Of The Year (so far) is without doubt, a game released on the 1st of January
Zachtronics Industries’ Spacechem
You know why, you know why :)
I am currently in the “save up money” phase of getting a new desktop, this was triggered by those fantastically beautiful teasers for BF3, knowing that my current one won’t quite do, and the consolified versions won’t come close, and the fact that I came into a position whereupon I can save up money to gets me a new desktop
31/05/2011 at 00:45 Grey says:
1. There are seven blockbuster games I played so far: Dragon Age 2 which is pissing me off, Dead Space 2 which is pretty decent, Shogun 2 Total War which is brilliant, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood which is graphically outdated, Crysis 2 which is, I dunno, but where the hell is Nomad(?) I don’t need another Gordon Freeman, Portal 2 which is overrated, and The Witcher 2 which I love. And as far as I know, CD Projekt Red and Creative Assembly are the few developers who fight the good fight. So Game of The Year so far is Shogun 2 and The Witcher 2, for strategy and RPG.
2. The advantage living in Southeast Asian country is you can get pretty cheap computer parts here. I’m living in Indonesia and I just bought myself a pretty decent rig two weeks ago. Here is the spec: A Gigabyte Motherboard GA-890GPA (is Taiwan-based main supplier of Alienware, and I dunno why here is pretty cheap), AMD Phenom II X6 1090T, Geforce GTX 570 Sonic Platinum, 12 GB RAM Team Elite (Taiwan also), Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB, A 700 W FSP Aurum PSU, and I love the variety of PC casing here, I chose the Venom RX Habu Neurotoxin Red because it got four heatsink fan and one huge 20-25 cm fan. If you guys come to Jakarta, I will gladly take you guys to this city’s cheap electronic market.
31/05/2011 at 06:00 Scandalon says:
Grey, my wife and I currently live in the states, but are looking at visiting, if not living there. (Probably Borneo though…) if we’re able to visit soon, I’ll take you up on the offer. ;)
31/05/2011 at 06:48 Midboss says:
I … am inclined to disagree about Creative Assembly fighting the good fight.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the hell out of Shogun 2, having logged over 120 hours in it. But the bugs are inexcusable. I am only in it for the coop campaign, and every campaign after around 20 turns, we end up having to swap our ( ~50 MB ) saves every 5-10 turns.
I can understand there being bugs .. but what irks me is that the save game corruption bug was already in Napoleon: TW’s cooperational campaign. Hundreds of players complained, yet it never got adressed .. and now it even plagues the sequel.
Then … their tendency of making promises which they consistently not meet, their patches which arguably cause more issues than they solve…( The DX11 patch doubled the allready lenghty loading times for me, and my system is arguably one of the fastest you can build atm ) I know that development is difficult, having worked on some smaller game projects myself, but I truly truly wish that CA would be granted more time to refine their games, seeing as they actually have a reputation for releasing games that are almost unplayable at launch. ( Yet somehow still manage to get 9/10 from reviewers? )
Other than the CA thing – I agree with everything else ( except i can’t rate Witcher 2 – have not played it yet. )
31/05/2011 at 01:32 trjp says:
This is weird, 5 months down and NOTHING in my GoTY list so far…
Dirt3 is great but it’s just not QUITE leapt-out as a new game, it’s really more Dirt2+
Portal2 – might come into the frame when I get into co-op, the solo was just a BIT too easy for my tastes…
Upcoming? Nothing really leaping at me thusfar – have my eyes on Dungeon Siege III and Confetti Carnival – oh and the new Beat Hazard (a strong runner-up last year).
Hell it might end up being Terraria if I could just find some time for it…
31/05/2011 at 02:39 Junch says:
Absolutely! Just got a new PC because I couldn’t run Witcher 2 in all its glory T_T And upcoming titles like Rage, Deus Ex: HR, and BF3.
So I got this (:
Intel i7-2600 3.4Ghz
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD6950 2GB
Seasonic 660W Power
8GB DDR5
1TB HDD
23″ LCD monitor
Hope it’ll last awhile. And boy, does Dirt 3 look gorgeous on it.
31/05/2011 at 03:40 Bureaucrat says:
When I get the promotion that my bosses have said I’ll get just as soon as the uppity-ups release the entity-wide hold on promotions, I’m planning an upgrade on the (relatively unchanged) rig I assembled in 2007. I have adequate savings to do so now, but don’t really feel comfortable (read: able to justify to the wife) with such a large luxury purchase until after the promotion & raise is official.
Unless DLC count, I haven’t yet played any major titles that were released in 2011. I want to get Shogun (but I’ve played TW games as minimum specs before and would rather wait for the new system), Witcher 2 (sub-minimum specs), and Portal 2 (eventual discount buy, as the first one was fun but gave me motion sickness if played for more than 45 minutes in a sitting). Been biding my time with New Vegas, Civ 5, and various older titles that I never got around to or felt like replaying. I played the DA2 demo, which was quite enough of that for me. I guess that makes my GotY for 2011 Fallout: New Vegas: Dead Money. A lovely bit of Chris Avellonosity. Although if I ever get around to multiplayer Magicka, that could easily take the cake.
31/05/2011 at 03:56 MattM says:
1. Best game so far is Portal 2, but it isn’t really goty material. I tend to play games 6 months to 2 years after they come out so my favorite game payed this year was STALKER: CoP: Complete.
2. Bought 2x GTX 570′s and a Silverstone Raven RV02w-e to keep them cool. I got them so I could play Metro 2033, STALKER, and Crysis with higher graphics settings.
31/05/2011 at 04:56 Adam says:
Crysis 2 so far from what I’ve played GOTY 2011. Just upgraded from 4 Gigs of DDR3 RAM to 10 Gigs, things (not necessarily games) are smother now for sure.
31/05/2011 at 05:19 Blackseraph says:
Witcher 2 is definitely my GOTY for now.
Also I just bought new computer. Should be good enough for years.
31/05/2011 at 05:23 Stormbane says:
I’ve played the witcher 2 and portal 2 and terraria but I can’t help but feel the best game I’ve played all year is AC2:Brotherhood.
That was a great game.
31/05/2011 at 06:35 Midboss says:
My current game of the year would be Frozen Synapse – I have unending love for indie games that are deep and smart. I still can’t get over how great AI War is either and Frozen Synapse gives me the same “this game is soooo awesome” feeling.
Do I expect it to last for the entire year ? Probably not. I tend to change my game of choice fairly fast ( get obsessed with a game for 1-2 weeks, get a bit tired of it, get obsessed with the next game … )
The game that I expect might topple Frozen Synapse would be Deus Ex: HR. I considered Terraria, but frankly, I don’t like the building mechanics too much. The blocks just feel too small, so even with good tools, progress seems too .. slow. I like that it has more “game” in it, but after playing it for about 12 hours I have attained almost all gear, all items and feel like I have seen the majority of what the game has to offer.
I recently upgraded my computer with a GTX 580. Not so much because I needed more power, but rather because I felt my dual 295′s were running too hot, especially with summer coming up.
31/05/2011 at 07:31 Big Murray says:
Quite honestly, I don’t understand how anyone could choose The Witcher 2 in a year which has produced the kind of quality game that Portal 2 is. TW2 has a list of serious flaws the length of my arm, while Portal 2 is (I don’t think I’m wrong in saying) the most polished video game experience we’ve ever had.
And this is really, really annoying me, because I’m a long-time RPG fan, and everything about what people say about The Witcher suggests that I should want to make sweet sweet love to it … but I just don’t get it. They’re abominations of gaming and narrative design in my eyes, that as much as I’ve tried I can’t extract any enjoyment out of, from storyline nor gameplay. And everyone acts like I’m a leper for believing these things. Madness.
31/05/2011 at 09:13 Bungle says:
Shogun 2 is my favorite game so far. I normally hate strategy games because they force me to keep track of 50 different things at a time. That feels more like work than gaming. Shogun 2 has a good interface though. I don’t have to remember every detail because the interface is intelligent enough to let me sort through all my units the way I want. Hard to explain, but it works. And I feel like I’m better at Shogun 2 than I’ve ever been at an RTS or TBS game before.
31/05/2011 at 09:16 mashakos says:
2007 was the year I started getting a really good income, I spent that year and 2008 experimening HEAVILY to build an overclocked watercooled HTPC that can take full hardware. After a custom metal cutting mod, an unusual water loop design, 3 motherboard changes (one burnt out), 4 sets of ram changes and 3 cpu changes I finally came upon the perfect configuration.
4.00Ghz Core 2 Duo E8400, 4GB ram overclocked to 1Ghz, Asus Maximus Formula, full watercooling kit – all in a tiny HTPC case.
So proud of it :D
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/1921/angleshot2.jpg
http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/8796/homear.jpg
I upgraded the graphics card from a gtx280 to a gtx580 out of curiosity (wanted to see what Metro 2033 looked like in all it’s glory), and got an SSD because of all the hoopla (for good reason, it made a huge difference), but other than that I was already getting absolutely ridiculous performance on a design that I actually like in contrast to the bunker sized PC’s that are popular nowadays. A quad SLI (4 graphics cards) dual cpu core i7 double-headed dragon computer system would yield higher performance than my system, but past the standard 60fps performance level I don’t really care. Especially when that performance level is maintained on my system even at my monitor’s full 2560×1600 resolution.
Except for Crysis ;)
31/05/2011 at 09:32 MerseyMal says:
1) The Witcher 2 – though Portal 2 comes a close second. I suspect Arkham Asylum and Human Revolution with give TW2 a run for its money though.
2) No, but I only got a new PC in September last year, which should be satisfactory for now.
31/05/2011 at 10:45 Tom Camfield says:
1. Oh, of course, DIE2NITE; I led a whole settlement, got us to build everything in the right order, survived for ages… in the end we couldn’t find enough nuts and bolts to get enough defense for the next raid…
Blight of the Immortals was also good, but they were still messing around with the difficulty at the time, so it was incredibly easy… DOW Dark Crusade taught me how to Rush in RTSs but that might be from before Christmas… I’d guess that ME2 might be my GOTY if it’s cheap in the sales…
2. Nope. I have a Mac, so the next upgrade won’t be until after all the new consoles are released. Until then you can’t guarantee that your purchase will be future proof over the next (usually stable) console life cycle.
31/05/2011 at 11:52 mashakos says:
“the next upgrade won’t be until after all the new consoles are released. Until then you can’t guarantee that your purchase will be future proof over the next (usually stable) console life cycle.”
Agreed. My configuration from 2006 is still viable today, but anything before that would have been instantly obsolete with the release of the xbox360/ps3.
To contrast:
My 2006 upgrade: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, 2GB ddr2 ram, nvidia geforce 8800gtx
highest end 2005 machine: Intel Pentium 4 EE ($1000) or Athlon64 FX ($2000), xxGB ddr2 ram, nvidia geforce 7900 GX2
If you look at my 2006 config, it’s directx 10 capable with a decent multi core processor while the 2005 config is only dx9 with half the performance of an Intel Conroe processor.
31/05/2011 at 12:48 akeripper says:
ill prepare to die in a fire…….. but my goty so far is pc wise is dragon age 2, but then i have not played portal 2….
upgrade wise: from ati 4670 to ati 6850 and phII 550 to ph II 955
31/05/2011 at 16:32 Big Murray says:
DA2 as GOTY … now that’s controversy.
31/05/2011 at 15:43 gengus88 says:
What say you about gaming on a Mac running Bootcamp and Windows 7? My now 3 year old MBP with a 8200M has been running it beautifully though the most I’ve taxed it is with Mass Effect 2, which seemed to run fineish… Any thoughts. Especially with the new ones coming out with the i7 and much better graphics cards. I actually think that Apple took notice when Valve started treating it as a tier one platform and are working to get into that market.
Blah blah blah they aren’t easily upgradable, which isn’t really true, I’ve replaced both the HD and the RAM in my Macbook Pro, no sweat really. Plus the perform brilliantly.
Thoughts?
31/05/2011 at 17:04 mashakos says:
wow, I have a 2010 17″ macbook pro running Windows 7 on bootcamp and I never had the impression that it ran games beautifully. It’s a 2.9ghz with 4GB ram, a 128GB ssd and the nvidia 9600mgt chip.
It runs Left 4 Dead well enough at 1080p on the highest settings, but a lot of the graphics intensive games have to be bumped down to medium in order to run. NFS Shift is a good example, to run the game well I either had to settle for 720p resolution (and keep the high gfx settings) or set everything to medium in order to play at 1080p.
I might be spoiled by my HTPC gaming rig, but I don’t enjoy gaming on the MBP. I bought it for mobile Objective-C development anyway.
31/05/2011 at 23:50 Gvaz says:
Witcher 2. I haven’t played Portal 2 and thought Portal 2 “alright”.
If DXHR is good, maybe that might dethrone it, but Skyrim will be typical bethdesia shit, and diablo 3 will be Torchlight 2, and BF3 wont play on my pc prolly (never did like teamwork shooters anyways) and TOR will be an awful boring WoW clone with a ME dialogue wheel that will make no difference on anything because Bioware.
You heard it here first.
01/06/2011 at 14:42 stilzchen says:
Game of the year is Spacechem for me in terms of enjoyment if not hours played. I fully expect Skyrim to unseat it.
Due to most games being multiplatform and undemanding these days I haven’t felt the need to upgrade for a few years. The Witcher 2 is the first game that has really pushed my system, will move across from my 5 year old C2D to a i5 2500k just in time for Skryim if the funds are there. Keen on getting a SSD too.