Current Computer = FAIL

Well, it's been a while since my last post and a few interesting things have come up that I would consider blogworthy. First up, my computer stinks...let me explain.

My friends and I have been eagerly waiting for the past several years for the next great first-person shooter (FPS) to come out for the PC. Nothing was as fun as Battlefield 2 (BF2) back in 2005. That was the first multiplayer game where it combined traditional ground combat with air combat in the form of various helicopters and fighter jets. The maps were huge, the explosions were bigger, and the dominance by our crew, "Team Rambo" was bigger still. Unfortunately, too many people complained about the balance in the game so the developers nerfed (i.e., changed the game to reduce the desirability/effectiveness of a particular game element) a bunch of things in the game. Certain attack vehicles that used to be buff were reduced to mere transport vehicles. Instead of allowing great players to play great, the developers were more concerned with making everyone feel "okay". Lame.

Anyways, the people at Infinity Ward (IW) tried to create the next great FPS with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (or as my friends affectionately call it, Call of Dookie: Modern Failure 2). This game has been a commercial success and it might even be a great game, but I will never ever buy it. The makers have made numerous decisions which detract from its appeal to PC gamers. I don't care how niche of a market they think the PC game market is.  Buying their product only reaffirms their business practices and encourages future game developers to follow suit. The only way I can voice my displeasure is through my wallet so I refuse to buy this game and anything else from IW. I refuse to be a lemming.

Then came Battlefield: Bad Company 2. The developers of this game have appeared to take the opposite approach of IW and try to listen to the PC gaming community. It's a promising start. The game play trailers look amazing and brings me back to a happy place of blowing up baddies with the helicopters. My friends and I were anxiously awaiting its release. Trinhbo is back! Team Rambo lives again! And on top of that, there was a public multi-player beta this past Thursday. Yes!

Tary pre-ordered the game online for me earlier in the week so that I could get access to a beta key required to participate in the public beta. Thursday morning, I got the email with the key. I got home from work that night and started downloading the public beta client. I had to wait in a queue of about 258 people before I could start downloading the installer. It was about a half hour wait.

After I installed the game and put in my beta key, I fired up the game. I quickly set up my keys and changed a few display settings. Trinhbo was ready to start owning people again. I hopped on a random server and then I waited anxiously for the map to load. Then I waited. Then I waited some more. *yawn*

Finally, I appeared in the game and saw what looked to be a dumpster and a fence. My screen kept rotating so I figured that there was something wrong with how the game implemented my joystick controls. I unplugged my joystick from the USB port and the screen stopped rotating. Whew.

I tried to run to the fence but the game felt so "choppy". Ideally you'd like to have over 60 frames per second (FPS) for smooth game play. I was lucky if I even got 1 FPS. I quickly pulled up the setup menu and reduced the display settings to their lowest settings. I went back into the game. Still choppy. I somehow "chopped" my way over to a building (I think) and somehow killed 3 guys (or trees, I couldn't tell!). I saw a tank chop its way through the air and an enemy was following behind it to repair it. I shanked him (or at least where I thought he was) and then there was an explosion and I died. Worst gaming experience...ever.

It truly was a sad night. I finally realized that my computer just wasn't good enough to run this game. I should have looked at the minimum requirements. It's not even close. But, I've been hesitant to upgrade it for several reasons:

1. Gaming takes up a lot of time and I didn't want to rob my family of that time. And having a baby on the way won't make it any easier to find the time to play a lot.
2. Keeping a computer up-to-date with the latest hardware is an expensive hobby.
3. There weren't any games out that made me want to keep upgrading my PC.

Tary's been telling me for months to go ahead and buy a new computer and to reassure me that it would be okay. After this past Thursday night, I'm ready to take the plunge!