Gaming Getting Into PC Gaming

[Intimidator88]

Ok so i got all the gaming systems and have been wanting to give pc gaming a try (mostly rpgs) but i have no idea what to buy to play modern games for a decent price never the less xD

This is where you guys come in im need some help on sites to buy (newegg,amazon?) and a good gaming pad to go with the system.

 

[keran22]

If you want some good bang for your buck, the obvious choice is older titles that still hold up. The 'Theme' series is excellent, specifically Hospital and Park World. You can't go wrong with more or less anything Maxis have put out, so check out The Sims 3, which must be cheap enough by now. Probably don't bother with the original, it's dated by its sequels.

Most important here is we need an idea of what your PC's specs are like. Because if you love RPGs then obviously games like Skyrim and Witcher 2 are gonna come up. But if your PC can't run them there's hardly any point in mentioning them.

 

[kevan]

Elder Scrolls Series
Dragon Age Series (Origins and 2)
Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines
Mass Effect Series
Diablo Series (you can skip number 1)
Baldurs gate
etc...

Edit: Silly me get a Steam account.

 

[qlum]

Half Life 2 (fps)
The S.T.A.L.K.E.R.series. (fps)
Crysis 1 (fps)
The Battlefield series minus battlefield 3 (fps)
Minecraft (sandbox game)
Starcraft 2 (rts)
Supreme Commander 1 (rts)
The Witcher 1 is also great (rpg)
The Command and conquer series minus C&C4 (rts)
Company of Heroes. (rts)
Portal (first person puzzle)
the total war series (the actual battles are rts but the overal map is turn based)
Age of Empires series (rts) (from the time Microsoft and second parties still made good games)


just to name a few things not named before also forgetting a lot of games here.

On the matter of buying games use steam when it has a sale, the same with other digital distributors like greenmangaming, gamersgate, and goodoldgames (for older games).
I would also recommend you to look on webshops for good deals but I can't recommend you specifics because I don't live in the US.

 

[moose3]

If you want suggestions on where to start to build a computer yourself, you can check out the system builder articles over at tomshardware.com. If you want to upgrade from any of the builds, they have articles for "best CPU for the money" and "best graphics card for the money" and I normally use newegg.com for comp parts. If you are looking to just buy a gaming PC 'off the shelf' I don't have any experience personally with any online builders, so all I can offer is googling 'custom gaming PC builders'.

As for gamepads to go along with the system, I believe you can just plug in a wired xbox360 controller and it will be recognized. For a wireless one, you need to buy a receiver. A PS3 controller can work but not something sony officially supports so you have to download software/drivers that others have created and configure it.

Another option is the Logitech F510. It has a lil switch on the underside that will have it recognized as either a standard logitech gamepad (allowing you to use the logitech software to remap buttons to keyboard/mouse buttons), or as an Xbox 360 gamepad for those 'games for windows' games that only support the 360 as a controller vs keyboard/mouse.

 

[Wizerzak]

If you want some good bang for your buck, the obvious choice is older titles that still hold up. The 'Theme' series is excellent, specifically Hospital and Park World. You can't go wrong with more or less anything Maxis have put out, so check out The Sims 3, which must be cheap enough by now. Probably don't bother with the original, it's dated by its sequels.

ummm.. what? I think if he's just come from consoles then that's going to put him right off PC gaming.

About the PC you want, it all depends on how much you want to spend. Until you specify what price range you're looking at we can't really help you.


Also

As for gamepads to go along with the system, I believe you can just plug in a wired xbox360 controller and it will be recognized. For a wireless one, you need to buy a receiver. A PS3 controller can work but not something sony officially supports so you have to download software/drivers that others have created and configure it.

Another option is the Logitech F510. It has a lil switch on the underside that will have it recognized as either a standard logitech gamepad (allowing you to use the logitech software to remap buttons to keyboard/mouse buttons), or as an Xbox 360 gamepad for those 'games for windows' games that only support the 360 as a controller vs keyboard/mouse.

Can't beat a keyboard + mouse

 

[keran22]

If you want some good bang for your buck, the obvious choice is older titles that still hold up. The 'Theme' series is excellent, specifically Hospital and Park World. You can't go wrong with more or less anything Maxis have put out, so check out The Sims 3, which must be cheap enough by now. Probably don't bother with the original, it's dated by its sequels.

ummm.. what? I think if he's just come from consoles then that's going to put him right off PC gaming.

About the PC you want, it all depends on how much you want to spend. Until you specify what price range you're looking at we can't really help you.

OP mentioned that he wanted bang for his buck so I offered him specifically older titles that are still good. You're allowed your opinion but I think it's generally accepted that Theme Park World and Theme Hospital are pretty funky games. And for someone who likes RPGs, management games might be a nice change of pace as you can really only enjoy games like The Sims on the PC. Surely you'd recommend one of the best selling PC series of all time for someone who's looking to get into PC gaming?

 

[Wizerzak]

If you want some good bang for your buck, the obvious choice is older titles that still hold up. The 'Theme' series is excellent, specifically Hospital and Park World. You can't go wrong with more or less anything Maxis have put out, so check out The Sims 3, which must be cheap enough by now. Probably don't bother with the original, it's dated by its sequels.

ummm.. what? I think if he's just come from consoles then that's going to put him right off PC gaming.

About the PC you want, it all depends on how much you want to spend. Until you specify what price range you're looking at we can't really help you.

OP mentioned that he wanted bang for his buck so I offered him specifically older titles that are still good. You're allowed your opinion but I think it's generally accepted that Theme Park World and Theme Hospital are pretty funky games. And for someone who likes RPGs, management games might be a nice change of pace as you can really only enjoy games like The Sims on the PC. Surely you'd recommend one of the best selling PC series of all time for someone who's looking to get into PC gaming?

It may be one of the best selling but so is Call of Duty. I'm fairly certain that amongst real gamers The Sims 3 isn't considered a good game.

@OP I'm assuming that seeing as you've come from consoles you'll be into FPS. You're going to need a Steam account (nearly everyone on the internet has one, in fact i'd be surprised if you didn't already). And I'd recommend pretty much ANY Valve game, Portal is the best IMO but Half-Life 2 if you want a FPS. Also, a few other games; Minecraft, Civilization (IV or V), TeS (any), RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 (some prefer old style of 1/2 though) and VVVVVV.

 

[DarkStriker]

Hes after RPG. And let me tell you this guys. FPS is and will always be more popular on PC. They are all played more on PC than console.

Aion Online just went f2p. Great game i guess. Or i like it atleast
If you want offline rpgs, then a good choice will be...... Okey that was hard. To list a PC exclusive RPG.

 

[Satangel]

Hes after RPG. And let me tell you this guys. FPS is and will always be more popular on PC. They are all played more on PC than console.

Aion Online just went f2p. Great game i guess. Or i like it atleast
If you want offline rpgs, then a good choice will be...... Okey that was hard. To list a PC exclusive RPG.

The Witcher 2 like it's been said in this topic before. Fucking great game. Also Diablo series is PC exclusive I thought.

 

[DarkStriker]

The Witcher 2 like it's been said in this topic before. Fucking great game. Also Diablo series is PC exclusive I thought.

Diablo 1 was on PSX as far as i know.

 

[keran22]

If you want some good bang for your buck, the obvious choice is older titles that still hold up. The 'Theme' series is excellent, specifically Hospital and Park World. You can't go wrong with more or less anything Maxis have put out, so check out The Sims 3, which must be cheap enough by now. Probably don't bother with the original, it's dated by its sequels.

ummm.. what? I think if he's just come from consoles then that's going to put him right off PC gaming.

About the PC you want, it all depends on how much you want to spend. Until you specify what price range you're looking at we can't really help you.

OP mentioned that he wanted bang for his buck so I offered him specifically older titles that are still good. You're allowed your opinion but I think it's generally accepted that Theme Park World and Theme Hospital are pretty funky games. And for someone who likes RPGs, management games might be a nice change of pace as you can really only enjoy games like The Sims on the PC. Surely you'd recommend one of the best selling PC series of all time for someone who's looking to get into PC gaming?

It may be one of the best selling but so is Call of Duty. I'm fairly certain that amongst real gamers The Sims 3 isn't considered a good game.

@OP I'm assuming that seeing as you've come from consoles you'll be into FPS. You're going to need a Steam account (nearly everyone on the internet has one, in fact i'd be surprised if you didn't already). And I'd recommend pretty much ANY Valve game, Portal is the best IMO but Half-Life 2 if you want a FPS. Also, a few other games; Minecraft, Civilization (IV or V), TeS (any), RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 (some prefer old style of 1/2 though) and VVVVVV.

Aaaaand now I know enough about you to know that I shouldn't have bothered replying to you in the first place. I apologise for wasting your time.

I would still highly suggest that the original poster checks out The Sims franchise as it's excellent, and i'd even go against this fellow's suggestion that Call of Duty is rubbish. Because it's not. In fact, both Call of Duty 4 titles are bloody brilliant, if a little short. You can pick them up for fairly cheap and they're pretty decent on the PC too. If it's RPG you're after then Witcher 2 is still a good shout; if you're keen on a management-style RPG and you like football then there's no reason to miss the excellent Football Manager series of games. The latest can be picked up for cheap nowadays so it's definitely a good one to get.

I'd also put some thought to Telltale's recent point-and-click games. There's some real gems in there and you can get hours of enjoyment out of them for cheap...they're hardly graphics intensive too, so even if you don't have an amazing computer you can still give them a go!

 

[Wizerzak]

It may be one of the best selling but so is Call of Duty. I'm fairly certain that amongst real gamers The Sims 3 isn't considered a good game.

@OP I'm assuming that seeing as you've come from consoles you'll be into FPS. You're going to need a Steam account (nearly everyone on the internet has one, in fact i'd be surprised if you didn't already). And I'd recommend pretty much ANY Valve game, Portal is the best IMO but Half-Life 2 if you want a FPS. Also, a few other games; Minecraft, Civilization (IV or V), TeS (any), RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 (some prefer old style of 1/2 though) and VVVVVV.

Aaaaand now I know enough about you to know that I shouldn't have bothered replying to you in the first place. I apologise for wasting your time.

I would still highly suggest that the original poster checks out The Sims franchise as it's excellent, and i'd even go against this fellow's suggestion that Call of Duty is rubbish. Because it's not. In fact, both Call of Duty 4 titles are bloody brilliant, if a little short. You can pick them up for fairly cheap and they're pretty decent on the PC too. If it's RPG you're after then Witcher 2 is still a good shout; if you're keen on a management-style RPG and you like football then there's no reason to miss the excellent Football Manager series of games. The latest can be picked up for cheap nowadays so it's definitely a good one to get.

I'd also put some thought to Telltale's recent point-and-click games. There's some real gems in there and you can get hours of enjoyment out of them for cheap...they're hardly graphics intensive too, so even if you don't have an amazing computer you can still give them a go!

What? Compared to the first couple it's generally considered not as good and you can hardly say 'bang for your buck' because the cheapest I can find it is £30 on Amazon - pretty expensive for a game 3 years old. Especially when you compare it to the likes of Portal 2 which is half the price, came out under a year ago and is a MUCH better game.

Did I ever say Call of Duty 4 was bad? The newer games are just as, in fact a lot more, popular but that doesn't make them better games - the point I was trying to make was that just because a game is popular it doesn't mean it's good.

@OP sorry, I didn't see (forgot) that you were looking for RPGs, I can't really say any more than what has already been said but I'd still advise you to try some of the other games for PC out there, there's loads of other games from RPGs and FPS on PC which are great games.

 

[Hells Malice]

I don't really care if what I list isn't exclusive or not, since they're better on PC regardless. Might deviate from the RPG theme a tad.

Kingdoms of Amalur (aRPG)
Gothic 3 or 4 (both are fun, I didn't like 1-2) (aRPG)
Fallout: New Vegas (don't bother with 3, it's the same game with less content) (FPS RPG)
Kings Bounty: Armored Princess (Strategy RPG)
Heroes of Might and Magic 3 (strategy)
Geneforge series (this game isn't for everyone, but if you can get past the rough exterior it's really fun) (RPG)
Dungeon Defenders (Tower def aRPG)
Skyrim (don't bother with previous titles...Skyrim or bust)
Two Worlds II (aRPG)
Recettear: An Item Shops Tale (really cute and funny. RPG)
Mount & Blade (dunno how I forgot this, this game rocks. aRPG with some strategy and fun as hell multiplayer)

Epic titles not RPGish:
Portal 1 and 2 (puzzle FPS)
Half-Life series (FPS)
Counter Strike Source (still the best FPS on PC, that or CS 1.6 anyway)
Alice: Madness Returns (action)
Terraria
Minecraft (well, it CAN be epic if you somehow find a good SMP server)
Killing Floor (FPS)
Katawa Shoujo (I just had to throw a Visual Novel into my list, and it was the first one I saw)
Beat Hazard (play your own music)
Audiosurf (also play your music)
Team Fortress 2 (FPS)
AaAaAA!!! - A Reckless Disregard For Gravity (I have no idea what to classify this as)


That's all I got off the top of my head.

EDIT: added a few titles

 

[moose3]

While we are on the topic of games, and the OP is interested in RPG's... I'd suggest checking out classics over at GOG.com Baldur's gate series, Icewind dale series, Neverwinter Nights, Planescape: Torment, Arcanum, Fallout 1, 2, BoS.

The Diablo clone Torchlight is also quite enjoyable.