Computer Games 1998-2000

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jon
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Computer Games 1998-2000

Postby jon » July 8th, 2018, 11:56 pm

In 2000, I had a roommate who played computer games. They were really nice looking too. I was into video games at the time, as I had stopped playing computer games. But I had noticed that around mid 2000, computer games were way more advanced than video games, especially because the PS2 hadn't come out yet. So there was a really interesting time from about 1998 until 2000, when computer games looked really cool. Back then I remember thinking that I'd get around to playing some of them, but it's never too late. I found videos of FPS computer games as they evolved, and it reaffirms my suspicion that around 2000, computer games were ahead of video games. The graphics looked way better.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFZJi7SgIvA

mbd36
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Re: Computer Games 1998-2000

Postby mbd36 » July 9th, 2018, 1:08 pm

First of all, better graphics doesn't necessarily mean better games. You seem to judge everything in terms of graphics quality. I guess I should throw away my NES and buy a PS4.

Also, the Dreamcast came out in 1999 and its graphics were much better than PSX and N64, and rivaled PC games.

Sut
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Re: Computer Games 1998-2000

Postby Sut » July 9th, 2018, 3:24 pm

I had a powerful PC at this time which cost a lot of money about 6 months in, I realised I had made a bad decision.
Compatibility issues, constantly faffing with setting having to sit at a desk with a monitor.

I went back into console gaming with the PS3 and glad I did. There’s a lot to be said for under the TV console which you can kick back in a sofa after a hard days work and unwind.

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DrLitch
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Re: Computer Games 1998-2000

Postby DrLitch » July 10th, 2018, 8:58 pm

It is never too late to play those old PC games, GOG have many of them and they have made sure they are compatible with Windows 10 via Dosbox ;)

I built my first PC late in 1998 at the tender age of 17yo with help from my father. Back then it was pretty much on the higher end - a build featuring the Pentium 2 and 3DFX Voodoo 2 card. Yes, it absolutely destroyed the 5th gen consoles in graphics back then, PS1/N64 were no match. On the other hand, comparing a 1998 PC with a console that came out in 1994 is unfair. At the time of the PS1 release a PC was more like the Atari Jaguar in graphics.

In terms of hardware, consoles historically matched or exceeded typical contemporary gaming PC's. My grand PC build in 1998 was usurped by the Dreamcast also released in 1998 in terms of graphics, I remember seeing Soul Calibur and I knew right then "no way will my PC be able to render that game at that fps". The same happened when the Xbox360 released and PC owners knew their grand contemporary hardware was matched or exceeded by the console. The only generation where a new console released and was a notable step down in terms of hardware is this generation. When the PS4 released, PC's with hardware able to produce 1080p @ 30fps were fairly common. It will be even worse when the PS5 releases in 2021 - it will target 4K @ 60fps and one of my PC build's with an i7-7820x/32gb/Titan XP combo gets close to that on high/ultra settings. Three years from now, 4K/60fps will be mid range gaming PC territory and 8K gaming will be the next fad.

Herschie
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Re: Computer Games 1998-2000

Postby Herschie » July 11th, 2018, 4:35 am

I remember the days of PC games, though for me they were mostly the mid-90s. But as others have said, it gets quite tiresome always having to do installs and mess with settings and sound cards. The only computer game I'd be interested in now is Microsoft Flight Simulator, which is interesting because in the old days, a computer was said to be 100% IBM compatible if it could run Microsoft Flight Simulator.

mbd36
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Re: Computer Games 1998-2000

Postby mbd36 » July 11th, 2018, 10:49 am

DrLitch wrote: In terms of hardware, consoles historically matched or exceeded typical contemporary gaming PC's.


Consoles may have historically rivaled computers in terms of graphics, but computers usually had the edge in terms of genres that are more CPU and memory intensive, and play better with a keyboard/mouse. Computers could do stuff like simulation, strategy, adventure, complex role playing games, etc. better than consoles. But if you were mostly into action games then consoles were the better and more economical choice.
Last edited by mbd36 on July 20th, 2018, 3:01 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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txsizzler
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Re: Computer Games 1998-2000

Postby txsizzler » July 12th, 2018, 6:08 pm

DrLitch wrote:\ ...The same happened when the Xbox360 released and PC owners knew their grand contemporary hardware was matched or exceeded by the console. The only generation where a new console released and was a notable step down in terms of hardware is this generation.


I am not so sure about this. I remember when the 360 was released, and Oblivion came out in 2006. While it certainly looked the role of the "next gen" console, its frame rate at times would struggle, load times were HORRENDOUS (think of going into the cities), mods were non-existant, and screen draws were noticeably worse than the "contemporary PC's" (with dedicated GPU's) at the time. Since I owned both at the time, and my PC was from 2004 (with a GPU from that point), I can attest to that. Then I saw Far Cry released for the 360, which looked and played arguably worse than the PC version which was released in 2004. And, of course as the years went on by, the 360/PS3 could not keep up with the newest and latest being released for the higher end PC's (although games were/are still quite playable).

As far as I can tell, the PC's always had the advantage, if you were willing to spend the money to keep your PC up to date. I think the thing to take away from this argument, is that the consoles offer (and still do) a far better bang for the buck, but if you spend the money, the PC will triumph. That being said, my PC from 2009 (with its ancient x1366 mobo, Xeon 5650 overclocked CPU, 8GB ram, and a relatively recent GTX 980 GPU), still plays games with the best of them!

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DrLitch
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Re: Computer Games 1998-2000

Postby DrLitch » July 14th, 2018, 10:26 am

txsizzler wrote:I am not so sure about this. I remember when the 360 was released, and Oblivion came out in 2006. While it certainly looked the role of the "next gen" console, its frame rate at times would struggle, load times were HORRENDOUS (think of going into the cities), mods were non-existant, and screen draws were noticeably worse than the "contemporary PC's" (with dedicated GPU's) at the time. Since I owned both at the time, and my PC was from 2004 (with a GPU from that point), I can attest to that. Then I saw Far Cry released for the 360, which looked and played arguably worse than the PC version which was released in 2004. And, of course as the years went on by, the 360/PS3 could not keep up with the newest and latest being released for the higher end PC's (although games were/are still quite playable).


Good point, I fashioned an opinion from magazines and online sources back then that stuck the XB360 specs against contemporary hardware at the time. Of course, any new console release is not going to max out the hardware while developers get used to it. It takes a few years before a console shows it's best. My own PC I built at the time was relatively decent, if slightly middling in specs (7800gt and Athlon 64 3500+). I think it held its own but I did not console game much in the 7th generation outside of the Wii - got my XB360 late in 2009 and PS3 a year later still used.

txsizzler wrote:
DrLitch wrote:That being said, my PC from 2009 (with its ancient x1366 mobo, Xeon 5650 overclocked CPU, 8GB ram, and a relatively recent GTX 980 GPU), still plays games with the best of them!


That is awesome, you got quite some mileage with this one :)

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C64_Critic
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Re: Computer Games 1998-2000

Postby C64_Critic » July 14th, 2018, 4:53 pm

DrLitch wrote:In terms of hardware, consoles historically matched or exceeded typical contemporary gaming PC's.



I'm going to have to vehemently disagree with this statement, unless it's a typo and you meant literally the exact opposite :P

jon
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Re: Computer Games 1998-2000

Postby jon » July 16th, 2018, 3:42 pm

By 1993 I was playing football, racing, and baseball simulations with such sophistication and depth that it made those games on a certain early 90's Nintendo system look ridiculous, the Genesis is a different story obviously because it held its own with sports games. I played NHLPA 93' for the computer, and it was the same game as NHL 94 for the Genesis and SNES. However the computer game (this was late '93) had a feature where you could play a full 82 game regular season and playoffs which its console counterpart, NHL '94, couldn't. I think '95 added a season mode for consoles. The sports simulations absolutely smoked anything on consoles as far as depth. There were a million options like dynasty mode which in 1993-1994 it must have been the first football game ever to do that. So as far as depth, and that's just sports games, computers absolutely had the upper hand. I always say that back then it was amazing because there was something for everyone. Simulations for the computer, simple action games for 16 bitters, and the arcades.


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