The morning Inbox offers help on buying a new gaming PC, as one reader asks if Divinity: Original Sin II is a good choice for your first CRPG.
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First impressions
Has anyone else taken a chance on DayZ on Xbox? I know I shouldnt have but Id been wanting to try it for years. Since Im going to upgrade to an Xbox One X soon I took a chance. First impressions werent great. It took about half an hour to get onto a server. Then the connection dropped. Tried again and was going well. A bug then caused me to run around in a circle, unable to do anything, until I collapsed and died. Things improved after that though.
Managed a few hours over a couple of different servers and kept all my stuff between servers. I like the lack of handholding. No map and no idea where you are until you learn it, as you would in real life. Its definitely a work in progress but I would say its in a better state than PlayerUnknowns Battlegrounds was at launch.
TheRatman5469 (gamertag)
Comeback year
I enjoyed reading the Resident Evil 2 preview and remember thinking the same thing when I played Resident Evil 7, that I missed the Resident Evil voice over at the beginning.
Shame its not there as standard but if thats the only issue then we have a lot to look forward to, and I personally cant wait for this game.
Im tempted to get a play through of the GameCube version in before I play the remake to see the full extent of the improvements.
Next year is shaping up to be something special with Resident Evil 2 and Onimusha coming back, plus Shenmue III. I never could of imagined this would be the position wed be in
R1CH5TER
PS: I liked that you got a Dino Crisis mention in during the interview, hopefully that will make a comeback as well.
16K here we come!
We are currently enjoying 4K gaming and while I didnt honestly think we would see 8K TVs for a good long while it looks like Samsung has gone and unveiled an impressive 8K TV.
I do have some questions for GameCentral and the community if they could provide some answers on this as if it is possible for gaming PCs to go to 8K with two 4K capable GPUs crossfired or is this something that is not going to happen for a while? This TV could be used as a 8K monitor, although I am guessing that the specs needed to run a game in 8K would be high. However, for video and images Im sure that would be a different story and wouldnt require as much.
You can read the story here and see the 8K TV Samsung has made and plans to release.
It is due to hit the market in October but when it is released Im hoping some PC users will try to see if they can run 8K videos on it and possibly in the far future developers will develop 8K games for it. This might also make other manufacturers do their own 8K TVs and result in Sony and Microsoft releasing next-gen systems sooner.
gaz be rotten (gamertag)
GC: Our indifference to the prospect of 8K visuals is hard to measure. Especially when 60fps still isnt standard and theres no 8K content.
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All time high
I feel I have to reply to the letter from Toto.
As an avid Shenmue fanboy I feel getting to number two in the charts is a good accomplishment. Its a straight up port of a game thats 19 years old, that never sold well to begin with, on either Dreamcast or the original Xbox. I suspect it sold better now than it ever did when it was released originally here in the UK.
Shenmue fans are well aware its not a hugely popular game, but the fans it has are, in my opinion, the most passionate around. We are all just happy that we get to experience the games again on modern consoles and will have another game to finally play after a 20 year wait.
Matt
Accessibility options
My main concern with Spider-Man is whether or not it will have accessibility options, it has various QTE which requires repeatedly pressing a button. I would much rather have the option to simply Hold than Mash.
Tendonitis is a very real condition and affects me and a good many others. Id like to be able to play games without destroying my hands.
Ill give a shout out to Uncharted 4 which had this option from the outset. And its the thing I hate about the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm games which also dont have the option.
I dont like using social media like Twitter, but if yourselves GC or some other reader could bring this to all developers attention more often Id be grateful.
If Insomniac can respond to crazy puddle statements, then they can provide an answer to this concern of mine. It certainly wont detract from the gameplay in any way.
Oni-Samurai (PSN ID)
Currently playing: Shenmue, still a great experience even though its my fifth or sixth play through since 2003.
Back in the game
Well, Ive finally taken the plunge after all these years. 1996 to be precise since I completed my last full game, the original Resident Evil on the PlayStation 1. Ive actually bought myself The Last Of Us Remastered from eBay. I know Im very, very late to the party but having to take time off work due to personal reasons I need to take my mind off things a bit these days.
Im going to see how it goes when I receive the game and load her up and hopefully I will get stuck in and complete it to the very end! After seeing all the rave reviews and accolades its received Im hoping it will maybe get me back into gaming again after all these years, who knows?
If all works out well then next on my radar will definitely be God Of War and Uncharted 4. By then I will probably have to buy my own PlayStation 4 due to my sons always wanting to go on Fortnite!
JAH
Starting somewhere
RE: Divinity: Original Sin II. Having been a gamer for the last four decades I have to confess to never having played a hardcore role-playing game.
The thing that has put me off in the past is the apparent complexity of this type of game, numerous sub-menus, levelling up, etc. I find it a little overwhelming and that is just watching YouTube clips.
So my question is would this be a good place to start as a complete novice to this genre? Thanks in anticipation.
Outspoken Yeti
GC: We dont know if its necessarily the best place to start but its certainly not the worst. Maybe play it along with a friend for moral support?
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PC expert
RE: The enquiry about gaming PCs. I struggled a bit to pick the bones out of the spec sheet you provided but I think I just about got it worked out.
Im sure Zoostorm PCs are as good as most others but the one you are looking at seems cheap because its rather lightweight in my view.
If your son is expecting to game on it, Im afraid it will disappoint.
For comparison, I found one on ukgamingcomputers called a Morpheus. It cost £669 and had an i5 processor and a GTX 1050Ti graphics card. The important thing about this one though is that the graphics card is 4GB, whereas Im sure most of the systems you are looking at will quote a 2GB graphics card. This is an important factor (try and get a 4GB graphics card).
Its also got 8GB of system RAM, which is decent enough, if not the minimum for modern gaming.
I know the one Ive quoted is £250 more than the Zoostorm you have seen, but one is a good start-off gaming PC and the other isnt a gaming PC to be honest.
The only thing that confused me about your specs is that I thought it said it included a BenQ monitor, which if true seems unusually cheap for £429.
To summarise:
Try and get an i5 processor (or equivalent AMD). Get at least a 4GB dedicated graphics card (in addition to the integrated one already on the motherboard). Get at least 8GB system RAM. It will get him on to a good start with gaming, and he can still upgrade it further in the future.
For info I have bought a number of gaming PCs from Dell Euro Outlet over the years. I buy them refurbished, which come with a full on-site (home visit) warranty. The prices are always much cheaper than shelf prices.
My most recent purchase (an Alienware 17R4) was absolutely pristine, no marks, etc. They have never sold me anything which was anything less than shelf quality. Although they do also sell some stuff that is marked as scratch/dented which is priced down accordingly.
I just checked them again and theres not much available just now other than more expensive systems, but its a case of waiting to see what comes up. Something to think about anyway.
To complicate things further, I honestly dont think you can currently get more bang for your buck these days than buying an Xbox One X. But thats a console and PC gaming is different!
r-s-w (PC)
Inbox also-rans
RE: JAH. Personally I wouldnt even contemplate that Zoomstorm gaming PC, the spec is not great at all. I would try Scan.co.uk and they have the option to pay over 24 months interest free via PayPal, so you could exceed your budget a bit. Their specifications do cater for gaming PCs.
UnErVeD (gamertag)
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine on PC is free on Humble Bundle for the next 48 hours from time of writing (Thursday evening). You have to subscribe to their newsletter to get it and you get a Steam code. You probably can unsubscribe after you have got the game but I have not checked. Heres the link.
Andrew J.
This weeks Hot Topic
The subject for this weekends Inbox was suggested by reader Gannet, who asks what game have you beaten the greatest number of times?
It doesnt matter how old the game is or whether its exactly the same version every time (it can be the same game but on different formats) but which game have you beaten again and again (including New Game+) and still enjoyed? What makes it so replayable and are you still finding new things each time you play it?
Do you often replay games or is this one an anomaly amongst your collection? Do you consider replayability to be an important part of the gaming experience or do you generally only play them once to completion?
E-mail your comments to: [email protected]
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