Buying PC Games - Worth It?

[Showal]

I was wondering if buying computer games is really worth it anymore. A 100 dollar circuit city gift card recently came into my possession and I was wondering if it would be better spent on other things than a computer game. If people are downloading these games, where's a good reputable site to get them from and how difficult is it?

[crazymage]

eh i stopped dling games when i turned 18 but i dont buy them that often, WoW was my last purchase KoTR II before that

[Artha]

Before buying, unless it's multiplayer through the internet, I'd check on LimeWire or something like that. If it connects to the internet, it probably has pretty decent and tough to fool copy protection, and so buying it's probably your best bet.

[Landrion]

Originally posted by Showal
I was wondering if buying computer games is really worth it anymore. A 100 dollar circuit city gift card recently came into my possession and I was wondering if it would be better spent on other things than a computer game. If people are downloading these games, where's a good reputable site to get them from and how difficult is it?

I reccomend E-mule. It isnt a site, but a peer service. That being said, its annoying to steal cracked games. You cant patch. You have to deal with whatever crappy format they put the cd into. You're breaking the law. You risk trojans and other nasty surprises someone could put in.

So is it worth it to buy? I say always check the review sites. Read their reviews of a couple games you felt strongly bad about. If they BS'd on those then find a new site. Gamespot has a bad rep sometimes, but except for Black and White I almost always agree with them.

You could probably find a better use for 100 at CC tho.

[Wezas]

torrents (http://www.mininova.org/cat/3)

And download a good client like bitcomet.

[Showal]

i can't get any to download using bitcomet

[Rainy Day]

I'm cheap. So I read game reviews and see what interests me. Then a long time later when they hit the $10 bins I buy the games and play them. Makes me behind the times, but I still have fun playing the games.

RD

[Showal]

I can get the downloading portion to work for me, I just can't figure out how to convert the files into something useful.

[StrayRogue]

You'll have that problem with all dl'd games then. You'll need some kind of emulation program like Daemon.

[Showal]

The games I'm trying to get are Sid Meier's Pirates and Stronghold 2 ... does anyone know if they're any good? I'll probably just buy them.

[Alfster]

I stopped downloading shit last year when the cops took my computer for a couple of months.

I don't even download music anymore.

[Showal]

hahaha the cops took your computer? What for?

[Alfster]

From what I've gathered as I know nothing about computers and such, they took it because they thought I had written a virus that was causing a ruckus to their servers.

They had it for two months and gave it back to me completely wiped as they could tell I had a pirated version of XP.

I don't believe that's why they took it to be honest, I think they took it because I had a website up and running that was hosting pictures from a party that ultimately got both a fraternity and a sorority kicked out of the school.

It started out as a wet t-shirt contest that turned into far more.

[Showal]

That sucks but it's pretty funny. Someone wrote a virus for my college that took everyone's username and pin when they entered it on school computers. The best is when they kicked some kid out of the dorms because he had an account on the network he just named "porn" and Boston College, as a Jesuit institution, felt this went against their morals and gave him the boot. His network folder just had all sorts of porn.

[Alfster]

Yeah, I found it humorous for a couple of reasons.

The first being my random nerd of a roommate and his freakout afterwords. This kid spent half his time downloading startrek and the other half of his time he spent watching startrek. When the cops showed up with the search warrant he literally, broke down and started crying. I'm not sure why because it was obvious that the cops were after my computer. I do believe that this incident pushed that kid over the edge as a week later he called 911 and told the cops he was going to kill himself, which led to a week without a roommate. One of the best weeks of my life.

Another thing that I find funny was the cop that um, gave me a ride home in handcuffs the night before was one of the cops that issued the search warrant. I figured they were there for what was hidden under my bed, thankfully, I was wrong.

[Showal]

hahahaha sounds like my roommate freshman year ... except instead of startrek, it was willy wonka.

[Androidpk]

Originally posted by Alfster
It started out as a wet t-shirt contest that turned into far more.

More details please. :saint:

[Sean of the Thread]

I download to games that I want to try before I buy. All game developers should have a trial available for download especially since the next gen of console games are going to run 70USD.

[Showal]

<<70USD>> explain?

[Alfster]

70 bucks is what the games will cost on the new console, I think is what he meant

[Alfster]

Originally posted by Androidpk

Originally posted by Alfster
It started out as a wet t-shirt contest that turned into far more.

More details please. :saint:

http://www.stoutonia.uwstout.edu/2003-2004/stories/040318/ne_01.html

That's the full article, but the main points are below.

The University of Wisconsin-Stout's student government has called for an investigation of a November 2003 Phi Omega Beta (FOB) fraternity party at which pictures were taken of naked female students performing oral sex on other females.

The party was held at "what is referred to as the FOB house located in the North Campus residence hall area," according to a formal complaint from Bill Siedlecki, director of University Centers.

blah blah blah



Siedlecki wrote, "During the course of the evening, these women were invited to participate in a ‘wet T-shirt contest.' As the contest progressed, some of the female participants, at the urging of college men chanting ‘skin to win,' removed most of their clothing.

"Photos of this contest and associated activity were taken and have since been distributed to students living on north campus residence halls and have also been posted to at least one voyeur Web site on the World Wide Web."

The photos are too graphic to print, but the FOB flag is in the background of five of them.

blah blah blah

[Sean of the Thread]

WE DEMAND PHOTOS!

[Alfster]

hehe, gimme you email and i'll send you them

[Wezas]

Originally posted by Showal
I can get the downloading portion to work for me, I just can't figure out how to convert the files into something useful.

Most of the files are in compressed using "RAR". Download an evaluation copy of WinRAR to decompress and rejoin the files. You'll end with either a CD image(s) (bin, iso, etc) or an executable to run.

For a CD image, either burn it to CD, or download a copy of Daemon Tools. It acts as a CD-ROM emulator and tricks your PC into using an ISO file as an actual cd in a fake CD-ROM.

[HarmNone]

With the current cost of these games, I've always thought there should be some kind of try-out option so people can decide whether or not they want to plunk down that kind of cash for a game. I'd think it would be a selling point for the really good games, but would probably crash the profits on the marginal and truly sucky games.

[Artha]

Games in general are pretty hit and miss. The only real guide for an impromptu purchase is price and possibly the back of the box. Not the text, just the pictures. In this generation of consoles, if the UI or the graphics are sub-par, the game will not be very good. Also, the price - if it costs $15.00 and the rest of the games are $50.00, then it's a good bet that the game's bad enough that nobody'll buy it and the store's just trying not to take a loss on it.

[Neildo]

I'm an addict. I buy at least two games a month. :\

Dungeon Siege II and the Battlefield II expansion are on my list for this month.

- N