GreenMachine
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PC ftw
my God do PC's beat consoles!
- Thread starter Joeyboy
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- Status
You missed my point. Even if TS/Vent/Xfire aren't hard to setup, not everyone is going to do it. With the 360/PS3 the community experience is built right into console so everyone is able to communicate with everyone else regardless of what game they're playing, or whether they've downloaded some program or not.
Don't get me wrong; I still like PC gaming much more than I like playing on my 360.. I just wish that the was a single unified system for communicating across games. Sort of like Steam, but with support for all games.
That's what I mean about the simplicity of a console. You'll most probably find that the majority of people who play games just want to easily put a disk in, load it up and play. Maybe with a bit of multiplayer where you can communicate to each other - talking over a headset is obviously the easiest and most effective way. All this simple stuff is right there built-in to a console. Just like simonizor, i have nothing against PC gamers at all, i just prefer consoles
james.wired
Equator Gringo
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- 2,318
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I don't even have to load a disk into my PC to play a game, I double click an icon on the desktop. Games also load a lot faster on my PC than my PS3. Games are cheaper, graphics are better, and so is the experience. For me
PC gaming is far better than console imo. since a few people were talking about crysis I'd like to mention crysis 2 which is supposed to have better gfx than crysis1 but crysis 2 is also coming to consoles. So I don't know how they are going to pull that off.
When consoles first come out they are usually more powerful than pcs of that time but the consoles don't change in specs while computers keep on advancing. So when you play a game on 360 for instance since it came out in 2005 it is like you are playing all the modern games but on a computer from 2005.
When consoles first come out they are usually more powerful than pcs of that time but the consoles don't change in specs while computers keep on advancing. So when you play a game on 360 for instance since it came out in 2005 it is like you are playing all the modern games but on a computer from 2005.
This is true, but as time goes on developers learn tricks that help them take full advantage of the console's hardware, so games usually look better towards a few years after a console has been out.
They never keep up with PCs, though :nerd:
C0RR0SIVE
Golden Master
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- Lexington, KY
You need to remember, computers evolve quickly, a console, once built, doesn't change any other than a few internal improvements over a long period of time, sometimes upto ten years.
When xbox 360 and the ps3 where released, there games and graphics dominated the pc versions, but now that computer have better graphics cards and processors, the games on a computer can look far, far better.
When xbox 360 and the ps3 where released, there games and graphics dominated the pc versions, but now that computer have better graphics cards and processors, the games on a computer can look far, far better.
For me it'd be about even, save for the fact that I can't live without my keyboard/mouse setup. imo there's a lot more versatility there than there is in a controller.
Apart from that, while some people have been saying consoles don't have as good graphics as PC's, they don't exactly suck either.
I suppose I'd stick with my PC, if only because I love tinkering around with it and upgrading it with ever faster parts
Apart from that, while some people have been saying consoles don't have as good graphics as PC's, they don't exactly suck either.
I suppose I'd stick with my PC, if only because I love tinkering around with it and upgrading it with ever faster parts
overlord20
Fully Optimized
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100 Reasons to Love PC Gaming (No particular order)
(PC GAMER Magazine)
1. Alien Swarm
A super-tense (and free) mod for Unreal Tournament that lets you and three friends invade and then escape from a xeno-infested space colony. That it's a top-down shooter adds to the tension: a single slip of the mouse can see you blowing away your colleagues. Download it from: snipurl.com/cxr07.
2. Fall from Heaven
This mod adds dark fantasy to the historic armageddon of Civilization IV, and is easily as good as the base game. The Civ devs agree: the Fall from Heaven creators got to produce a scenario for Civ IV's Beyond the Stars expansion. Try Fall for yourself at snipurl.com/d816q.
3. Garry's Mod
A glorious mix of Lego playset and context-free Half-Life 2 insanity. Garry made a mod we didn't realise we needed to play. Then we attached a jet to a bath, and sat Dr Breen inside. And then we couldn't stop. For the best creations, visit: News - GarrysMod.com.
4. The headshot noise from counter-strike
The sound of melon death and victory.
5. Graphics card naming conventions
In which an nVidia 280 is faster than an 8800.
6. Will Wright
The world's most powerful developer, producing games for everyone. He's done more to expand gaming audiences than any other developer, and he's all about the PC. Our hero.
7. Desktop Tower Defence
Bring on the infinite waves: our heart has been stolen by the free web-version at Desktoptowerdefence.com. Creepy.
8. Cake
Om nom nom.
9. Not Appropriate!
Thank you, Spore.
10. Physics!
The rallying cry of an office entranced by a corpse sliding gently down a staircase.
11. No-CD Cracks
Because discs are a 1990s problem.
12. Bookworm Adventures deluxe
Defeating a hydra by spelling 'poo'. Still funny.
13. Free games
PC gaming doesn't have to cost a thing thanks to the steady stream of free independent games released online. We've compiled a small selection of our favourites on the DVD.
14. Satire as gaming
The pace of web game development means that it's a legitimate place for political reaction. Within a few days of Bush dodging a shoe, multiple 'sock and awe' games were playable on Flash sites.
15. Replay editors
Making ragdolls funny ever since ragdolls were invented. The best replay editor we've ever seen is in GTA IV - and you'll find the best movies we've created on PC Gamer's YouTube feed.
16. Youtube's Massive cutscene archive
Nowadays, we don't need to even complete games to find out what happens at the end: every cutscene ever has been faithfully uploaded to YouTube somewhere.
17. Steam
Hundreds of games ready to buy and download at a moment's notice, alongside all your favourite servers and friends list. An endless supply of free demos and game movies, and the best indie game portal on the planet. Amazing. Steam is PC gaming.
18. Messing around around with Deus Ex
"Oh yes! Oh yes! Oh yes!" This brilliant fan edit of the Deus Ex cutscenes will put you in stitches. See why we're laughing at snipurl.com/cxj98.
19. Creepy ragdolls
Our inner child still giggles when a goon dies with his hand on his friend's bottom. Sometimes we'll shoot them again and again and again, just so their face edges a little closer to their partner's crotch. Don't mock. We've all done it.
20. Old games on new hardware
The first thing you do when you buy a new graphics card? Install your old games to marvel at the frame-rates and resolution. That's why we still keep Far Cry and Crysis nearby.
21. Abandonware
Preserving the history of gaming, one ancient DOS strategy game at a time. If you've got an old game you can't get running, try DOSBox, a little gadget that works wonders for classic games, which is available on our DVD.
22. *Snipped*
23. Hello Kitty Torch Mod for Doom 3
A sweet cartoon projected onto ****'s nastiest monsters - why, they'd die of shame if it wasn't for the bullets getting there first.
24. Text Adventures
If you want a glimpse of the power of interactive fiction, try Anchorhead, a creepy, Lovecraft-inspired adventure. Try it online at snipurl.com/cxr3t.
25. The Independent Games Festival
This competition, run in parallel with the Game Developer Conference, provides a platform for bedroom coders to launch their latest projects. Previous winners include Darwinia (PCG 146, 90%), Gish (PCG 138, 85%) and Aquaria (PCG 198, 80%). We've got demos from this year's nominees on the DVD.
26. Mouse and Keyboard
Making possible headshots, /dance and the entire real-time strategy genre.
27. Backwards compatibility
Everything was fine until Vista came along. Boo to Bill Gates and technical progress.
28. The sniper dot
"You've got red on... oh."
29. Team Fortress 2 content updates
Because staying up all night waiting for a patch to download is big, clever and cool. Since launch Valve have added achievements, new weapons and the brilliant Payload game mode.
30. FEAR's Slow-mo
What the
31. Quickload
F9 is our second best friend.
32. Quicksave
F5 is our best friend.
33. Richard Burns Rally
Want to be a rally driver? Before you pinch the keys to your dad's Focus, try RBR, the most sensuously realistic rally game ever. Just because it's hard doesn't mean it's joyless; get your flow on and there's nothing like it. The truth is, RBR felt unfinished on release, with slightly borked tarmac stages and disappointing car models. A talented community has fixed that, allowing players to deluge the base game with gorgeously authentic cars, custom setups and homemade stages - all for free.
34. Audiosurf
Musicians are right. Playing music is fun.
35. Gaming photography
Because there is no better desktop wallpaper than the sun setting on the majestic savannah of Far Cry 2.
36. Talking to your mates while you play
Because IRC chat is almost as interesting as an extended European land war.
37. The '~' key
It's called a tilde, and it lets you turn the gravity off. Win.
38. Drawing boxes around tiny men
When all else fails, Select All and right click on your problems. If only this worked in real life too.
39. Naked pig slapping
MMO mechanics can occasionally lead to the most absurd results: particularly when players have to repeat a single action to level up a certain skill. Take for instance, Ryzom, in which players found a unique way to level their healing skill. High level characters would strip naked and drop their weapons (thus losing any bonuses their armour would give them), and get into a fight with the lowest level monsters in the game: in this case, pigs. Their friends would then heal the tiny amount of damage caused, each slap and resultant heal moving their healing skills one point higher.
40. High definition Gaming
We call it 'using a monitor', and we've been doing it since 1992. Catch up, consoles.
41. Dual monitors
Because we can watch TV and play games at the same time.
42. Kane
Nice face. Nice head. Nice man.
43. 40-man raids
We need more dots.
44. No corporate overlords
If you want to make a game, Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo aren't going to tell you that you can't. And with 196 million games-capable PCs in the world, if it's good enough, you will find your audience. That's the clear power of the PC as a platform: anything is possible. And everything eventually finds an audience.
45. Dwarf Fortress
The most sophisticated, difficult, and absorbing management game we've played in a long, long time. You manage a small population of dwarves living inside a mountain. The awful text-graphics may put you off; don't let them. This is as complicated, and as rewarding, as any major PC game. You'll find the full game on our DVD.
46. 196 Million PC Gamers worldwide
We're not a hobby. We're a nation.
47. Laptops
We buy them for 'work' but then always end up installing Galactic Civilizations and Civ IV on them. All hail portable PC gaming.
48. DEATHWORM!
Play it at snipurl.com/ck3ea.
49. Peggle
The world's most hypnotic unicorn, and the one game you can definitely play drunk.
50. Speed runs
Did you realise that you can complete Deus Ex in 45 minutes? We never will, but we're happy to watch someone else do it. See the madness at snipurl.com/cxr5u.
51. Rigs of Rods
This brilliant free simulation lets you drive an astonishing breadth of vehicles, with a radically innovative physics system. It could only exist on the PC. Try it at snipurl.com/d89s3.
52. Voxels, texels, Megatextures, et al
The more buzzwords, the better the game. Fact.
53. £1,000 Wheels and Flightsticks
Once we've built our PC gaming shed, it will be filled with ridiculous controllers. First choice: the HOTAS Cougar, a £200+ flightstick modelled on the control block of an F-16. Do want.
54. Call of Duty 4's ending
Price! Noooo! Clearly, he'll be back. But, Nooooo!
55. Men in hats
Tricorns for Empire. Helmets for World War II. Every genre has a headpiece of choice.
56. Screensavers that save the world
Do you leave your PC on all night? Don't, you're killing the planet. But if you must, download Folding@Home, a screensaver that uses your PC's idle time to analyse the protein structures that may cause cancer. Hit snipurl.com/d8ae2.
57. Football Manager
Because nothing captures the magic of football better than a wall of spreadsheets.
58. Morals defined entirely by killing
Because "I was good person. I let Anna Navarre live" is a great way to get funny looks on the train. Also, she was kind of hot.
59. Doom
Still brilliant. For a 3D update, download jDoom from Doomsday HQ - New Doom Forums.
60. "You're a complete jerk"
Your brother, Paul Denton, after you kill the man you've been sent to interrogate in Deus Ex.
61. The end of A:/
Now our PCs begin at C. This amuses us.
62. The Supreme Commander trailer
Giant robots crawling from the sea. Now that's a PC game. See it again: snipurl.com/cxrh6.
63. The eternal hope of Duke Nukem Forever
Duke's perpetual delay means we've always got something to look forward to other than death.
64. Overclocking
Voiding your warranty for extra frames per second gets easier every year. It's almost like Intel want us to burn through our processors.
65. Maps
Exploration is an under-rated thrill. Getting lost inside a dungeon, navigating your way out, uncovering new areas, wandering off the beaten path: this is the heart of PC adventuring.
66. Grinding
Tired? Bored? Have a glass of wine and grind some mobs. Seriously. It's so relaxing. 300 dead tigers later, and all is well with the world.
67. Stalker's broken landscapes
Happy? Don't be. Play Stalker - the miserable Chernobyl-based FPS. Wandering alone through countryside full of gruesome mutations and psychic monstrosities is enough to unsettle any mood. We prefer the original, Shadow of Chernobyl, to the later and flawed Clear Sky. Play it with the realism patch (available on our DVD) for a slightly more forgiving game.
68. Tradeskills
We never knew that tailoring could be so addictive. Got any spare frostweave?
69. The BFG
Because nothing says "f you" like a giant bogey to the face.
70. Crab walking
Enable disguise. Crouch. Look up. Waltz.
71. MS Flight Simulation
It's testament to both the power and range of PC gaming that Microsoft invested and supported the flight sim community for so long. Even more inspiring was the mini-industry that the game produced - with expansion sets, scenery packs, and all manner of new planes being made available by commercial and amateur modders. We might not be getting a new Microsoft endorsed Flight Sim any time soon, but flight-simmers, and the community they've built, don't need Microsoft. They'll get by.
72. Minesweeper and Solitaire
Every PC in the world comes with games installed. Think about that: the most powerful productivity enhancer our culture has produced comes with a built-in way to waste time.
73. Being the last man alive
All eyes are on you. You know the spectators are cheering. Will you survive?
74. Building your own PC
For under £600, you can buy the bits for a PC that will handle any game available today, or the rest of the year. And putting it all together is stupidly simple. We've put a PDF file with a feature showing you how on Issue 200's DVD.
75. Autoexec.bat
Veterans of the old school will alternately scowl or smile at the ridiculous technical process we used to go through, so often, to get our favourite games working. Manually editing text files to free up enough memory to proceed? Emm386.sys? Shudder.
76. Case mods
Because every PC needs a blue LED.
77. Minsc
"Go for the eyes, Boo!"
78. Games that save the world
Foldit (fold.it/portal) lets you solve scientific puzzles that aid scientific understanding.
79. Daikatana
It's even worse than we remember. At least it's a joke that all PC gamers can share.
80. Syndicate
We still miss the glorious brutality and urban violence of Syndicate: machinegunning civilians because you could... Jacking up your characters' neuroses by controlling their biochemical balance... Genius. Sequel please.
81. Sky-hopping in Battlefield
Battlefield 2 might be a frantic and fearsome shooter, but it's also a hysterical sandbox, waiting to be exploited. If you ever tire of shooting, get a few mates together and try some jet-stunts. You can jump from a 'copter to a boat while jumping through a dam, or swap planes in mid-air, fly upside down under a bridge, or reach 150ft using just det-packs and try to hit a passing helicopter.
82. The gravity gun
Because a toilet hurled into the face is the new "hello".
83. The portal gun
An elaborate solution to an age-old problem: not being able to see your own bottom.
84. Splinter Cell's Booby Trapped Doors
Setting the whole scene up takes far longer than just shooting the guy in the face, but it's worth it. But still, attaching a miniature mine to a door-frame, alongside a remote camera (so you can watch the whole dread escapade) and then whistling remains one of the funniest ways to make an entrance. "I AM SAM FISHER. MASTER OF STEALTH." Try it for yourself in Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory.
85. Bejeweled
For turning your mum into a PC gamer. Also: fancy playing two great games at once? Try installing the excellent Bejeweled for World of Warcraft - available at snipurl.com/cxriz
86. Throwing chickens at helicopters
Crysis wasn't just a high-tech first-person shooter. It was a game about playing a superhero; about dashing up to oblivious soldiers, decloaking, and punching them into orbit. For more of that feeling, try the excellent Predator: Heat of the Jungle mod, available from PREDATOR - THE HEAT OF THE JUNGLE Mod for Crysis PREDATOR - THE HEAT OF THE JUNGLE download - Mod DB.
87. Rockstar
For pushing a few boundaries. For their gorgeous free-roaming cities that always look best on PC. And for all the ****ing swearing.
88. Kazap!
Best lasers ever? The dreadnought busters that slice your field of view in Freespace 2. That game is now available from GOG.com for just a few quid. Try it and its brilliant Battlestar Galactica mod, Beyond the Red Line.
89. In-game gramophones
For those long voyages back to base, the latest in the WWII submarine series, Silent Hunter, includes an in-game gramophone. Get packs of period music in mp3 format from snipurl.com/cr1qg. You can copy the files straight into Silent Hunter's gramophone folder.
90. Tim Curry
There was a time when Tim Curry ruled PC gaming - appearing in an endless parade of D-list interactive movies and puzzle games with pre-rendered graphics. Practically all of his work is on YouTube. You can even watch him age: Start at Wing Commander 3, check out Toon-Struck, then pay attention to his work in Gabriel Knight. End on the glorious silliness of Red Alert 3.
91. Pinball passions
PinMAME turns your PC into a functioning pinball table, right down to the multiball bonuses. PinMAME and its associated table designer enables gamers to recreate ancient favourites and modern classics. Beware: PinMAME might not infringe copyright, but downloading recreations of commercially available tables certainly does.
92. Massively co-op games
The fringes of PC gaming are home to truly incredible experiences: consider the Operation Flashpoint and Armed Assault communities - clans of which are regularly involved in 40+ player combined arms operations, inserting squads via helicopter, and fighting vast hordes of enemy infantry together. To see what's possible, view the videos at snipurl.com/creuj.
93. Anachronox's planet party-member
The insanely original and quirky sci-fi RPG Anachronox is a classic that's been cruelly forgotten. It's a game in which you save a planet. And then, because they had such a good time, that planet's inhabitants shrink their world and it joins your party as a beachball-like character with a face made out of satellites. That's not the best bit. You can still visit this planet, only now all its inhabitants have seen your adventures in the sky.
94. Vice City's incredible soundtrack
Atomic, frankly.
95. Epic manuals
Remember the doorstops that came with elderly simulators such as Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe? Or the amazing training manual-***-short story that came with TIE Fighter? Today's special editions are about plastic figures and soundtracks. Rubbish. You can't take a pewter Big Daddy to bed.
96. The new
There is a thrill in sheer potential - in looking at the first screenshots and movies of a game, of reading previews and impressions, imagining what it's going to feel like to play, to be engrossed in that world. These are breakthrough moments for PC games: remember the first shots of Rome: Total War, Far Cry, or even Quake?
97. One healthkit per crate
It seems like you could maybe package healthkits in something smaller. Like a shoebox.
98. The Shire
Lord of the Rings Online does one thing absolutely right: it nails the feel of Tolkien's world. Its recreation of the Shire is perfect - from the silly little hobbit houses, to strange men attacking local farms. A ten-day trial for this excellent MMO is available from snipurl.com/cxri8 - we suggest you take a look.
99. Mod stacking
One mod is never enough. Try Unreal Tournament: add slow-motion, and big-head mode, and insta-gib, and more, and you'll have a game that looks and plays very differently from when you started.
100. De_Dust
We know every nook and cranny of this perfect Counter-Strike map, and find routes to the bombsites with our eyes closed. We love it so much we hired the designer, Dave Johnston, to make a PC Gamer themed version of it.
(No particular order) (PC GAMER Magazine)
1. Alien Swarm
A super-tense (and free) mod for Unreal Tournament that lets you and three friends invade and then escape from a xeno-infested space colony. That it's a top-down shooter adds to the tension: a single slip of the mouse can see you blowing away your colleagues. Download it from: snipurl.com/cxr07.
2. Fall from Heaven
This mod adds dark fantasy to the historic armageddon of Civilization IV, and is easily as good as the base game. The Civ devs agree: the Fall from Heaven creators got to produce a scenario for Civ IV's Beyond the Stars expansion. Try Fall for yourself at snipurl.com/d816q.
3. Garry's Mod
A glorious mix of Lego playset and context-free Half-Life 2 insanity. Garry made a mod we didn't realise we needed to play. Then we attached a jet to a bath, and sat Dr Breen inside. And then we couldn't stop. For the best creations, visit: News - GarrysMod.com.
4. The headshot noise from counter-strike
The sound of melon death and victory.
5. Graphics card naming conventions
In which an nVidia 280 is faster than an 8800.
6. Will Wright
The world's most powerful developer, producing games for everyone. He's done more to expand gaming audiences than any other developer, and he's all about the PC. Our hero.
7. Desktop Tower Defence
Bring on the infinite waves: our heart has been stolen by the free web-version at Desktoptowerdefence.com. Creepy.
8. Cake
Om nom nom.
9. Not Appropriate!
Thank you, Spore.
10. Physics!
The rallying cry of an office entranced by a corpse sliding gently down a staircase.
11. No-CD Cracks
Because discs are a 1990s problem.
12. Bookworm Adventures deluxe
Defeating a hydra by spelling 'poo'. Still funny.
13. Free games
PC gaming doesn't have to cost a thing thanks to the steady stream of free independent games released online. We've compiled a small selection of our favourites on the DVD.
14. Satire as gaming
The pace of web game development means that it's a legitimate place for political reaction. Within a few days of Bush dodging a shoe, multiple 'sock and awe' games were playable on Flash sites.
15. Replay editors
Making ragdolls funny ever since ragdolls were invented. The best replay editor we've ever seen is in GTA IV - and you'll find the best movies we've created on PC Gamer's YouTube feed.
16. Youtube's Massive cutscene archive
Nowadays, we don't need to even complete games to find out what happens at the end: every cutscene ever has been faithfully uploaded to YouTube somewhere.
17. Steam
Hundreds of games ready to buy and download at a moment's notice, alongside all your favourite servers and friends list. An endless supply of free demos and game movies, and the best indie game portal on the planet. Amazing. Steam is PC gaming.
18. Messing around around with Deus Ex
"Oh yes! Oh yes! Oh yes!" This brilliant fan edit of the Deus Ex cutscenes will put you in stitches. See why we're laughing at snipurl.com/cxj98.
19. Creepy ragdolls
Our inner child still giggles when a goon dies with his hand on his friend's bottom. Sometimes we'll shoot them again and again and again, just so their face edges a little closer to their partner's crotch. Don't mock. We've all done it.
20. Old games on new hardware
The first thing you do when you buy a new graphics card? Install your old games to marvel at the frame-rates and resolution. That's why we still keep Far Cry and Crysis nearby.
21. Abandonware
Preserving the history of gaming, one ancient DOS strategy game at a time. If you've got an old game you can't get running, try DOSBox, a little gadget that works wonders for classic games, which is available on our DVD.
22. *Snipped*
23. Hello Kitty Torch Mod for Doom 3
A sweet cartoon projected onto ****'s nastiest monsters - why, they'd die of shame if it wasn't for the bullets getting there first.
24. Text Adventures
If you want a glimpse of the power of interactive fiction, try Anchorhead, a creepy, Lovecraft-inspired adventure. Try it online at snipurl.com/cxr3t.
25. The Independent Games Festival
This competition, run in parallel with the Game Developer Conference, provides a platform for bedroom coders to launch their latest projects. Previous winners include Darwinia (PCG 146, 90%), Gish (PCG 138, 85%) and Aquaria (PCG 198, 80%). We've got demos from this year's nominees on the DVD.
26. Mouse and Keyboard
Making possible headshots, /dance and the entire real-time strategy genre.
27. Backwards compatibility
Everything was fine until Vista came along. Boo to Bill Gates and technical progress.
28. The sniper dot
"You've got red on... oh."
29. Team Fortress 2 content updates
Because staying up all night waiting for a patch to download is big, clever and cool. Since launch Valve have added achievements, new weapons and the brilliant Payload game mode.
30. FEAR's Slow-mo
What the
31. Quickload
F9 is our second best friend.
32. Quicksave
F5 is our best friend.
33. Richard Burns Rally
Want to be a rally driver? Before you pinch the keys to your dad's Focus, try RBR, the most sensuously realistic rally game ever. Just because it's hard doesn't mean it's joyless; get your flow on and there's nothing like it. The truth is, RBR felt unfinished on release, with slightly borked tarmac stages and disappointing car models. A talented community has fixed that, allowing players to deluge the base game with gorgeously authentic cars, custom setups and homemade stages - all for free.
34. Audiosurf
Musicians are right. Playing music is fun.
35. Gaming photography
Because there is no better desktop wallpaper than the sun setting on the majestic savannah of Far Cry 2.
36. Talking to your mates while you play
Because IRC chat is almost as interesting as an extended European land war.
37. The '~' key
It's called a tilde, and it lets you turn the gravity off. Win.
38. Drawing boxes around tiny men
When all else fails, Select All and right click on your problems. If only this worked in real life too.
39. Naked pig slapping
MMO mechanics can occasionally lead to the most absurd results: particularly when players have to repeat a single action to level up a certain skill. Take for instance, Ryzom, in which players found a unique way to level their healing skill. High level characters would strip naked and drop their weapons (thus losing any bonuses their armour would give them), and get into a fight with the lowest level monsters in the game: in this case, pigs. Their friends would then heal the tiny amount of damage caused, each slap and resultant heal moving their healing skills one point higher.
40. High definition Gaming
We call it 'using a monitor', and we've been doing it since 1992. Catch up, consoles.
41. Dual monitors
Because we can watch TV and play games at the same time.
42. Kane
Nice face. Nice head. Nice man.
43. 40-man raids
We need more dots.
44. No corporate overlords
If you want to make a game, Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo aren't going to tell you that you can't. And with 196 million games-capable PCs in the world, if it's good enough, you will find your audience. That's the clear power of the PC as a platform: anything is possible. And everything eventually finds an audience.
45. Dwarf Fortress
The most sophisticated, difficult, and absorbing management game we've played in a long, long time. You manage a small population of dwarves living inside a mountain. The awful text-graphics may put you off; don't let them. This is as complicated, and as rewarding, as any major PC game. You'll find the full game on our DVD.
46. 196 Million PC Gamers worldwide
We're not a hobby. We're a nation.
47. Laptops
We buy them for 'work' but then always end up installing Galactic Civilizations and Civ IV on them. All hail portable PC gaming.
48. DEATHWORM!
Play it at snipurl.com/ck3ea.
49. Peggle
The world's most hypnotic unicorn, and the one game you can definitely play drunk.
50. Speed runs
Did you realise that you can complete Deus Ex in 45 minutes? We never will, but we're happy to watch someone else do it. See the madness at snipurl.com/cxr5u.
51. Rigs of Rods
This brilliant free simulation lets you drive an astonishing breadth of vehicles, with a radically innovative physics system. It could only exist on the PC. Try it at snipurl.com/d89s3.
52. Voxels, texels, Megatextures, et al
The more buzzwords, the better the game. Fact.
53. £1,000 Wheels and Flightsticks
Once we've built our PC gaming shed, it will be filled with ridiculous controllers. First choice: the HOTAS Cougar, a £200+ flightstick modelled on the control block of an F-16. Do want.
54. Call of Duty 4's ending
Price! Noooo! Clearly, he'll be back. But, Nooooo!
55. Men in hats
Tricorns for Empire. Helmets for World War II. Every genre has a headpiece of choice.
56. Screensavers that save the world
Do you leave your PC on all night? Don't, you're killing the planet. But if you must, download Folding@Home, a screensaver that uses your PC's idle time to analyse the protein structures that may cause cancer. Hit snipurl.com/d8ae2.
57. Football Manager
Because nothing captures the magic of football better than a wall of spreadsheets.
58. Morals defined entirely by killing
Because "I was good person. I let Anna Navarre live" is a great way to get funny looks on the train. Also, she was kind of hot.
59. Doom
Still brilliant. For a 3D update, download jDoom from Doomsday HQ - New Doom Forums.
60. "You're a complete jerk"
Your brother, Paul Denton, after you kill the man you've been sent to interrogate in Deus Ex.
61. The end of A:/
Now our PCs begin at C. This amuses us.
62. The Supreme Commander trailer
Giant robots crawling from the sea. Now that's a PC game. See it again: snipurl.com/cxrh6.
63. The eternal hope of Duke Nukem Forever
Duke's perpetual delay means we've always got something to look forward to other than death.
64. Overclocking
Voiding your warranty for extra frames per second gets easier every year. It's almost like Intel want us to burn through our processors.
65. Maps
Exploration is an under-rated thrill. Getting lost inside a dungeon, navigating your way out, uncovering new areas, wandering off the beaten path: this is the heart of PC adventuring.
66. Grinding
Tired? Bored? Have a glass of wine and grind some mobs. Seriously. It's so relaxing. 300 dead tigers later, and all is well with the world.
67. Stalker's broken landscapes
Happy? Don't be. Play Stalker - the miserable Chernobyl-based FPS. Wandering alone through countryside full of gruesome mutations and psychic monstrosities is enough to unsettle any mood. We prefer the original, Shadow of Chernobyl, to the later and flawed Clear Sky. Play it with the realism patch (available on our DVD) for a slightly more forgiving game.
68. Tradeskills
We never knew that tailoring could be so addictive. Got any spare frostweave?
69. The BFG
Because nothing says "f you" like a giant bogey to the face.
70. Crab walking
Enable disguise. Crouch. Look up. Waltz.
71. MS Flight Simulation
It's testament to both the power and range of PC gaming that Microsoft invested and supported the flight sim community for so long. Even more inspiring was the mini-industry that the game produced - with expansion sets, scenery packs, and all manner of new planes being made available by commercial and amateur modders. We might not be getting a new Microsoft endorsed Flight Sim any time soon, but flight-simmers, and the community they've built, don't need Microsoft. They'll get by.
72. Minesweeper and Solitaire
Every PC in the world comes with games installed. Think about that: the most powerful productivity enhancer our culture has produced comes with a built-in way to waste time.
73. Being the last man alive
All eyes are on you. You know the spectators are cheering. Will you survive?
74. Building your own PC
For under £600, you can buy the bits for a PC that will handle any game available today, or the rest of the year. And putting it all together is stupidly simple. We've put a PDF file with a feature showing you how on Issue 200's DVD.
75. Autoexec.bat
Veterans of the old school will alternately scowl or smile at the ridiculous technical process we used to go through, so often, to get our favourite games working. Manually editing text files to free up enough memory to proceed? Emm386.sys? Shudder.
76. Case mods
Because every PC needs a blue LED.
77. Minsc
"Go for the eyes, Boo!"
78. Games that save the world
Foldit (fold.it/portal) lets you solve scientific puzzles that aid scientific understanding.
79. Daikatana
It's even worse than we remember. At least it's a joke that all PC gamers can share.
80. Syndicate
We still miss the glorious brutality and urban violence of Syndicate: machinegunning civilians because you could... Jacking up your characters' neuroses by controlling their biochemical balance... Genius. Sequel please.
81. Sky-hopping in Battlefield
Battlefield 2 might be a frantic and fearsome shooter, but it's also a hysterical sandbox, waiting to be exploited. If you ever tire of shooting, get a few mates together and try some jet-stunts. You can jump from a 'copter to a boat while jumping through a dam, or swap planes in mid-air, fly upside down under a bridge, or reach 150ft using just det-packs and try to hit a passing helicopter.
82. The gravity gun
Because a toilet hurled into the face is the new "hello".
83. The portal gun
An elaborate solution to an age-old problem: not being able to see your own bottom.
84. Splinter Cell's Booby Trapped Doors
Setting the whole scene up takes far longer than just shooting the guy in the face, but it's worth it. But still, attaching a miniature mine to a door-frame, alongside a remote camera (so you can watch the whole dread escapade) and then whistling remains one of the funniest ways to make an entrance. "I AM SAM FISHER. MASTER OF STEALTH." Try it for yourself in Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory.
85. Bejeweled
For turning your mum into a PC gamer. Also: fancy playing two great games at once? Try installing the excellent Bejeweled for World of Warcraft - available at snipurl.com/cxriz
86. Throwing chickens at helicopters
Crysis wasn't just a high-tech first-person shooter. It was a game about playing a superhero; about dashing up to oblivious soldiers, decloaking, and punching them into orbit. For more of that feeling, try the excellent Predator: Heat of the Jungle mod, available from PREDATOR - THE HEAT OF THE JUNGLE Mod for Crysis PREDATOR - THE HEAT OF THE JUNGLE download - Mod DB.
87. Rockstar
For pushing a few boundaries. For their gorgeous free-roaming cities that always look best on PC. And for all the ****ing swearing.
88. Kazap!
Best lasers ever? The dreadnought busters that slice your field of view in Freespace 2. That game is now available from GOG.com for just a few quid. Try it and its brilliant Battlestar Galactica mod, Beyond the Red Line.
89. In-game gramophones
For those long voyages back to base, the latest in the WWII submarine series, Silent Hunter, includes an in-game gramophone. Get packs of period music in mp3 format from snipurl.com/cr1qg. You can copy the files straight into Silent Hunter's gramophone folder.
90. Tim Curry
There was a time when Tim Curry ruled PC gaming - appearing in an endless parade of D-list interactive movies and puzzle games with pre-rendered graphics. Practically all of his work is on YouTube. You can even watch him age: Start at Wing Commander 3, check out Toon-Struck, then pay attention to his work in Gabriel Knight. End on the glorious silliness of Red Alert 3.
91. Pinball passions
PinMAME turns your PC into a functioning pinball table, right down to the multiball bonuses. PinMAME and its associated table designer enables gamers to recreate ancient favourites and modern classics. Beware: PinMAME might not infringe copyright, but downloading recreations of commercially available tables certainly does.
92. Massively co-op games
The fringes of PC gaming are home to truly incredible experiences: consider the Operation Flashpoint and Armed Assault communities - clans of which are regularly involved in 40+ player combined arms operations, inserting squads via helicopter, and fighting vast hordes of enemy infantry together. To see what's possible, view the videos at snipurl.com/creuj.
93. Anachronox's planet party-member
The insanely original and quirky sci-fi RPG Anachronox is a classic that's been cruelly forgotten. It's a game in which you save a planet. And then, because they had such a good time, that planet's inhabitants shrink their world and it joins your party as a beachball-like character with a face made out of satellites. That's not the best bit. You can still visit this planet, only now all its inhabitants have seen your adventures in the sky.
94. Vice City's incredible soundtrack
Atomic, frankly.
95. Epic manuals
Remember the doorstops that came with elderly simulators such as Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe? Or the amazing training manual-***-short story that came with TIE Fighter? Today's special editions are about plastic figures and soundtracks. Rubbish. You can't take a pewter Big Daddy to bed.
96. The new
There is a thrill in sheer potential - in looking at the first screenshots and movies of a game, of reading previews and impressions, imagining what it's going to feel like to play, to be engrossed in that world. These are breakthrough moments for PC games: remember the first shots of Rome: Total War, Far Cry, or even Quake?
97. One healthkit per crate
It seems like you could maybe package healthkits in something smaller. Like a shoebox.
98. The Shire
Lord of the Rings Online does one thing absolutely right: it nails the feel of Tolkien's world. Its recreation of the Shire is perfect - from the silly little hobbit houses, to strange men attacking local farms. A ten-day trial for this excellent MMO is available from snipurl.com/cxri8 - we suggest you take a look.
99. Mod stacking
One mod is never enough. Try Unreal Tournament: add slow-motion, and big-head mode, and insta-gib, and more, and you'll have a game that looks and plays very differently from when you started.
100. De_Dust
We know every nook and cranny of this perfect Counter-Strike map, and find routes to the bombsites with our eyes closed. We love it so much we hired the designer, Dave Johnston, to make a PC Gamer themed version of it.
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