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Anandtech was nice enough to put out an article giving you the latest on running Major Release Windows games in Linux. The article goes into great detail about the various software packages you can use to run Windows games. It pits a monster Intel i7 overclocked to 3.97Ghz, 6GB of PC3 12800 ram, two 74GB Raptor hard drives in RAID and a NVIDIA 280GTX 1GB video card. Now I don’t want to split hairs here, but aren’t we running Linux for these games because Windows is so “expensive?” That’s a ridiculous machine even by today’s standards. An $800 PC from Best Buy is capable of playing the latest Major Release games very very well. But let’s move on.

So What’s My Beef?

Game selection for one. The writer chose Eve Online, Team Fortress 2, Trackmania, Unreal Tournament 3 and 3D Mark06. This article was written in December 2009. Some of these may have been major release games, but not in years.

That means the most recent one is three years old which is AGES by PC gaming standards.

The Results?

Windows decimated linux by a huge margin in all but one game. So now you are paying less of course, but for less performance. But let’s get real for a second.

Core i7-920 $288.99
6GB OCZ Ram $149.99
Motherboard ~$289.99 (They didn’t specify which board they used)
EVGA 280 GTX 1GB $349.99
Raptor Drive $185 x2

That’s $1500 with no case, power supply, optical drive, monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, fans, cooling, etc.

Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit for System Builders $104.99

Really?

I am not claiming to know the guy who built this system, or his motivations, but it seems pretty obvious the intent here was to play some games. So I am supposed to buy that someone would spend $2,000+ on a computer, and then run Linux on it to save $100?

I just don’t buy it, not for a minute. We are talking the guys that spend money water cooling cases to squeek out 5 more frames per second. These guys are enthusiasts here. They are really going to go all out on hardware to run an operating system that sucks 60% of their frame rate not to mention the hassle of keeping this fragile mess running?

Do you want to deal with sorting this out?

The problem with attempting that task was that each Wine project has different functionality with different games. For example where we could get a game to work in Wine, the game then in turn didn’t work with Cedega and vice versa. We were able to get newer releases like Dragon Age Origins and Far Cry 2 to work in some of the different Wine projects, but none of the new releases would work in all projects. This lead us to regress to some older but still actively used releases in order to provide a more detailed report across the three projects.

I sure don’t.

I totally get why a business would look at Linux servers for tasks like MySQL and Apache, and I even get why some big business like Oracle are using it as an alternative for Windows Server. Linux makes a super stable server, usually in an all command line environment.

What I will never understand, is why people will go out of their way, and spend the greatest asset they have, their time, to make something barely kinda maybe run a little bit. Is that sticking it to the man? That seems like sticking it to myself.

So this weekend I decided I wanted a game to play. Somehow I ended up with four. The regular grocery shopping trip to Fred-Meyer ended with a slick PS3 controller charger and Metal Gear Solid 4. Later that same evening Dawn and I “accidently” went to Best Buy and there were quite a few PS3 titles on price-drop. I picked up NBA 2K9, Legendary and Haze for $29, $29 and $39 respectively. On to the reviews:

Metal Gear Solid 4

This game is drop dead gorgeous. The graphics are unbelievable, the game itself is cinematic to say the least and it’s over all impact is just stunning. That being said, I prefer to play my games and Metal Gear Solid 4 is a whole lot of watching. Sometimes it makes you think you are going to play, only to be tossed into yet another cut scene.

Now to be fair I haven’t played it much, but I did get into it enough to know that the control scheme is a little cludgy and the game inturrupts you quite a bit to give you story. Now I like story, but give me a nice beginning cut scene, one at the beginning and end of each level if you have to, then leave me alone.

NBA 2K9

I didn’t think electronic basketball could be this fun again. I remember the old school days of Jordan vs. Bird. This game is unbelievable. The detail and graphics are top notch. The game play is fast and fluid and the animations and character actions are incredible. The voice over talent is your same TV announcers. I played a game of Cleveland vs. Boston, I lost. I didn’t take the time to learn the controls before hand so I am sure I will get better when I figure out the controls.

I can’t recommend this game enough and after seeing the Xbox 360 game in the store today, it looked even better.

Haze

I am probably going to get beat up for this one, but this game feels a whole lot like Halo for PS3. It’ has the same graphic style and controls. I like it quite a bit so far. I just feel like I have been there before.

Legendary

Don’t. No really, just leave it on the shelf, it’s bad.

I hear the sound of stomping feet, clapping hands, and roaring cheers of applause for the MVP of the FPS gaming world, and up in bright lights is the name “CRYSIS” shining like the sun. This must be what it’s like at the Crytek and EA all hands meetings, combined with the satisfied grins of success and awards of achievement being passed around like slices of a giant cake.

Crysis has set the bar high above the gaming baseline and this will be the PC game by which all others will be measured. That’s a pretty bold statement and I say that because its rare title that can claim such high marks on so many categories. Crysis is without a doubt a gaming triumph and I only hope we see more games of this caliber begin to compete for our almighty gaming dollar. With all that introductory praise out of the way, let’s get to it.

Graphics: STELLER!!! Absolutely unparallel visuals with mind blowing detail. When I first started, I kept running around in circles like a dog chasing its tail just to watch the leaves of the bushes I was in react to my movement. The light and shadow effects are top notch and the color is so vibrant it just feels good to look at. Even the skin and the facial features on your human friends and foes put most games to shame and the detail in the scenery is breathtaking.

Environment: This is a game that brings the richness of the environment to a new level. It’s entirely destructible, so firing off your machine gun will mow down trees, fences, or chickens in your path. Though you don’t often find the need, you may have the inclination to pick something up and throw it, and you certainly can. From bottles to newspapers to giant crates, it’s all movable and hurling something at a baddie just might help you out in a pinch.

Physics: The physics of a game are often taken for granted until you play one that really gets it right. When they are missing, it’s not blazingly obvious, but when you can feel that your actions in the game have a realistic consequence, your experience is greatly enhanced. Crysis will give you that experience from the way the baddies fall and die, to the way the environment reacts around you, the effects are brilliant.  Even jumping off a cliff and diving into a river offers the fluid grace of that movement but adds a little spastic free fall to give you a hint of fear; that tiny gut wrench that makes you hope you don’t hit a rock. 

Story: The story of a game is the frosting when the game play rocks and it’s the saving grace when it sucks. Here in Crysis it’s just about perfect. You’re a US special forces Op dropped in hot zone of hostile North Koreans to find and rescue a lost archeological team in the islands. You quickly come to learn that the dig was researching an alien invasion and that’s where the story really starts to spread its sci fi wings. The first level reminded me a lot of the original Predator movie with Arnold running through the jungle, with your kick ass nanosuit giving you similar cloaking abilities. Your cut scenes are character based and just detailed enough to deliver the next part of the tale without drudging you through superfluous narratives.

Senses: The sound is right on, with some awesome sound effects, particularly action effects, like bullets hitting the dirt versus the tree trunks, the richness of the waterfalls , footfalls, and machinery. Mixed in are well timed creep sounds and aural startle effects that all add up to a great soundtrack. Rumble is subtle, and well used to enhance your experience not dominate it with constant vibrating hands.

Gameplay: The suit is really genius and gives you different powers to use, like super speed or cloaking abilities. The faster you move the faster the “energy” that feeds the power runs out, but you fill up rather fast and can re-engage your powers quickly. Your shooting feels solid and realistic in FPS gaming comparison, and your given a pistol, a shotgun, and a rifle, and can switch them around with laser sighted shotguns, grenade or rocket launchers throughout the game. You continually pick ammo from dead baddies or enemy camps. Your weapons have variable attachments like silencers or sights that add welcomed complexity, and your fists even come in handy for a bit a melee combat. There are fun vehicle combats and you can speed run which removes any drudge of having to travel to far away rally points. You can run fast and jump well, and while that seems like it should be assumed, so many games have yet to get this right. The jumping is truly awesome; if it looks like you can jump it, you can jump it! My only real game play gripe is that reload and pick up ammo are both the X button, so if you try to pick up real quick and are not right on, you will start reloading and it can cost you some damage in a battle.

That’s a whole lotta lovin and I spread it on real thick for one game. So before I start to sound like a Crysis fangrrl, I will tell you that the rumors are true. This game is a gluttonous resource leech, trying to suck the life out of your system. I played on a brand new 2.66 core duo, 4 gig of ram, Vista 64bit with an XFX nividia GeForce 8800 GT with 512 at 1920*1200 and on medium it still chops under heavy fire. You can certainly play it with all the settings on high but don’t expect your sound to synch with your visuals and while it may be super stunning to run through, your high action fighting and battles are almost unplayable. But damn it’s pretty!

All my thumbs, fingers and toes are up on Crysis and even though it’s a spoiled brat and needs all of a good PC’s attention, it’s worth it…entirely.

Kiss Kiss,

Dawngrrl Gametart

This morning I was up as soon as my body would allow and on my way to Fry’s. I had decided that my newly purchased PC would bring me back into the realm of PC gaming a bit. That being said it was a little anemic in the Video department and I couldn’t exactly be running around with a laptop that has more ram than my desktop!

I picked up a 512 MB nVidia GeForce 8600 GT to replace the 256MB 8400 GS and I also picked up 4GB of DDR2 Ram to beef it up a bit. A nice set of Logitech surround speakers and a battery backup completed the trip and I was on my way home again.

The video card went without a hitch, the Ram was another story. I installed, all was good, but Vista only reported 3GB of available RAM. Doing a little research, I found out SP1 fixed this issue and having access to it, I tried it. I am happy to report that Windows Vista Service Pack 1 does solve the 4GB RAM issue.

On a related note, 4GB of RAM was $79. Are you kidding me!?? If I ever switch this box over to the 64-bit version of Vista you can guarantee I’ll be back for another 4 to give it a whopping 8GB.

The point of all of this is just to mention what I had conveniently forgotten about PC gaming. While the games I have picked up to play around on are awesome… Crysis, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 and Lord of the Rings Online.. I had not realized how spoiled I had become in the world of console gaming.

It’s been a long time since I maniacally changed resolutions, texture details, terrain distances…..just to find the perfect match for the game and the PC’s capabilities.

I am happy to say that on medium settings Crysis performs quite admirably and with the addition of a wired Xbox 360 controller, it’s quite a bit of fun to play.

GRAW2 is just awesome, it picks up right where I left off with Rainbow 6 Vegas on the Xbox 360 and I can’t wait to play it more.

The jury is still out on LOTR Online. I wasn’t overly impressed with it the first time but as I refuse to get sucked back into WoW, it’s going to have to be my MMORPG fix.

That being said I am quite happy with this new computer. The new monitor is just jawdropping. 24 glorious inches at 1920×1200 resolution makes for one sweet gaming monitor. Tack onto that full 5.1 surround sound and pack it all in nice sleek black components and you have the makings of one sweet mid-range gaming rig.

The final tally is:

• 2.66Ghz Core 2 Duo processor
• 4 GB of PC2-5300 RAM
• 400GB SATA Hard Disk
• Dual Layer Lightscribe DVD+/- RW
• TV Tuner with Media Center Remote
• Full compliment of USB/Firewire ports
• wireless keyboard and mouse
• Windows Vista Home Premium Service Pack 1
• 24" 1920×1200 Widescreen LCD Monitor
• Logitech 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers
• Xbox 360 Controller

With the total investment coming in at around $1,500, I am quite pleased and the machine is just fast. It runs Vista incredibly well. When I feel a bit better I will dive into the Microsoft included media applications and compare/contrast them with the OS X/iLife counterparts.

I haven’t blogged for a few days and honestly I was kind of at a loss as of what to post. I usually don’t go this long, but the biggest news in my life right now resolves around Microsoft and I am hesitant to blog too much until I have been formally educated on the ways of blogging as a Microsoft employee.

I thought this would be a great time to talk about what I have been doing in my spare time since the big news. Playstation 3 has been in heavy rotation in my household. Dawngrrl has been specifically using the Xbox 360 to get herself through Assassin’s Creed, and I have just finished Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune after a short distraction, and completion, of Guitar Hero III on PS3.

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune for Playstation 3

I think I might be nearly at a loss for words on how to describe this game. Ok, that’s a flat out lie, I have plenty of words and all of them are synonyms for <expletive deleted> awesome! Of course, your first impression revolves around graphics. This Tomb Raider like game is something that really shows off what the PS3 can do. Unlike the Totally Rad Show’s review, I won’t say that the entire game is this beautiful, many parts are just very good, but when this game does take it to the edge, it throws you off and you are immersed. I remember one moment when I had just found a German U-Boat at the top of a waterfall in the middle of the jungle. I climbed my way around to the top, then I walked out to the bow and looked over the valley below. It nearly could have been a photograph. The scene was given incredible ambiance from the flare and color of a setting sun over the blanket of trees and I called for Dawngrrl to come look. It was beyond belief for game graphics. I was temporarily stunned.

The game play is somewhat awkward at first. It may take you a little time to get used to it. Once you get used to it, it’s really not that bad. Switching weapons is pretty easy and the mechanics are ok. Running while aiming a gun is almost impossible, so that can be frustrating, but other than that it’s ok. Hand to hand combat is pretty simple and rarely became a factor for me.

This game is stricken with one thing I don’t care for. Those Dragon Slayer like cut scenes where you have to pay attention and press the button they tell you to press right when it says so. The end fight is almost entirely this and was definitely a let down.

Over all, if you have a Playstation 3 I would say this is a must have game. I thoroughly enjoyed it and even with the small setbacks, is more than worth the time to play. The story is fantastic, the score is as good as anything you will get from Hollywood and the voice acting is better than 90% of games out there. Five Stars!

Guitar Hero III for Playstation 3

I had so many reservations with this game. Let me start by saying I am a guitar player. I had thought that as a guitar player, this game just wouldn’t be any fun. It wasn’t until Andy got me to try Guitar Hero on Playstation 2 that I changed my tune. I though it was pretty easy, and afterwards kind of dismissed it. When I got the MS gig, I decided to give myself a present, so while we were at Wal-Mart, I picked up Guitar Hero III for PS3. I would have gotten it for Xbox 360 but the copies there did not have wireless guitars and the PS3 ones did.

This game really is a blast. The graphics are good, but really a non factor, your eyes stay trained on the fret board and it’s a lot of fun to work through. The gigs are fun, the guitar battles are hard but really fun, and the sound is awesome. Th

is is the only game I have ever turned up!

I love how you have to really get into it to win. Especially in the guitar battles, rocking out is not only encouraged, it’s required to survive. Air guitarists rejoice with this one, it’s just too much fun.

I am sorely tempted to pick up Rock Band next!