You would expect this to be one of those usual PC gaming vs console gaming debates, but today’s debate is a little different, because I have a lot of moaning to do.
You see, here’s my story in a nutshell. Starcraft 2 is one of the biggest games to be released this decade, and I would quite like to play it. A review copy is on its way to us, but I wanted to find out if my laptop was good enough to review it so that I could either a:) do that or b:) send it on to another reviewer with a better PC.
It’s been a day since I first installed the full game with a trial code and after a lot of work and effort, I still haven’t been able to get it to work.
Let me clarify a few things first. Number one, I am a Mac user which means that the simple fact that I even get to play Starcraft 2 on my machine is already supposed to be a huge bonus. Number two, I currently use a 13″ Macbook Pro laptop, which while being great for work, is admittedly not exactly what you would call a gaming rig. This however, doesn’t actually all matter when you can’t even get the game to run in the first place due to something silly, like a patch update.
I managed to get myself a trial code, so that i could download the whole game so long, and then test it out for a few hours to see how it handles. I was already worried that my machine wouldn’t be able to handle the games requirements, even though the minimum specs really didn’t seem too bad.
The problem is that after downloading a 7GB installer, and then waiting half an hour to install the game, it already had a patch that needed to be downloaded, the day after its release. Patches happen, I have accepted that fact, so I didn’t really have a problem with that. The actual issue arose when my patch download, for no apparent reason, stopped at 66% and told me that it had multiple issues with saving data.
Now this is where my real issue with PC gaming begins. I did what any PC gamer does at this point, I hit up the official support forums, as well as googled my issue to see if anyone else had the problem.
I had to spend hours going through forum threads, support pages and whatnot trying to fix my issue, and the worst part is that with strange problems like this, we all know where it leads to next.
Before I knew it, I was deleting cached files, restarting my computer, trying the download again with the firewall off, trying to find places to manually download the patch and so on and so on. Heck, I even stumbled upon a major issue with the games installation that comes down to case sensitivity. yEs, CaSE seNsitivity is causing the game to not install for a lot of people with specific format types on their drives.
Once you start going through these support forums, you realise just how many different issues there are, and how many of them aren’t solved, and possibly will never be. Which means that somewhere out there, there is a die-hard Starcraft 2 fan that can’t play the game he just waited 12 years for and bought, and can’t just afford to go get another rig as a solution.
What I really don’t understand is what the beta was for, if the game was still going to release with so many problems. (I actually know for a fact that the “case sensitive” issue was reported by a beta tester, and Blizzard were aware of it but it still exists in the final release).
It’s at this point where I obviously want to play the console gaming card. With any of my consoles, when a new game comes out, I simply get home, pop the game into my drive, and play. No mess, no fuss.
It has now been an entire day since I installed Starcraft 2, and I still haven’t even seen the game. The problem is that when you develop a game for one or two consoles, you developer the game, you test it on those consoles, and when it works on one, it pretty much works on all of them. With PC gaming, developers have to develop code that will work not only on one type of machine, but an infinite ocean of configurations involving processors, graphics cards, motherboards and operating systems as well.
I don’t want to have to by a whole new machine as a solution, I don’t want to have to have an issue because the game doesn’t like my specific configuration, and I sure as hell don’t want to sit reading through countless support pages and forum threads to try and fix my problem.
I am a gamer dammit, I like playing games and I want as little as possible to get between me and actually playing those games. I don’t want to have to deal with files, folders and configuration doodads. When it comes to consoles, everything is set out in a specific way, and it works. If you play a Playstation 3 game and it needs a patch, it connects to PSN and downloads a patch the same way that every other game does.
The one shining beacon of light that the PC has at the moment is Steam. Steam is a platform that works just as well as Xbox Live or PSN. Everything is in one place, and uses the same systems to get things done and so far, I have had a really great experience with it. It does however, still not fix the issue of a having a bazillion different configurations that need to be catered to.
PC gaming is a bitch sometimes, and it’s something that I don’t want to deal with when things go sour.
For now, I’m over it. I’m sick and tired of wasting my time trying to get something to work, when all I wanted to do was try and play what looks like a really great game. I guess I’ll go and play some more console games now, because the PC games don’t want to let me play with them.
———————————-
Ok, that’s my bitching done, so let’s get onto the debate question. What do you think of all this? Will PC gaming always have problems because they are not dedicated gaming systems? Am I just unlucky, or insane? Would you rather be sitting on a couch instead of at a desk?
This covers everything there is to cover between PC gaming and console gaming. So let us know what you think below.
Last Updated: July 30, 2010
Fred
July 30, 2010 at 10:39
You need to be a computer knowitall to get most pc games to run properly , that is a sad fact , and also why I prefer console gaming. The minimum spec sheet alone is enough to make you cry sometimes.
Dark
July 30, 2010 at 10:46
I think you were unlucky. Took me around 20 mins to install patch and play all while I was playing a game of HON in the background. Havnt had one crash or glitch. Give me PC gaming any day but then Im a fan boi. 🙂
nazcanlines
July 30, 2010 at 11:08
I had the exact same issue on my Mac!!! stopped at 66% over and over with the same error message. What i eventually did was delte all the files in the update folder, had to do it like 3 or 4 times over and eventually it worked. well actually it stopped on 66% and then i restarted it and left it for a while and eventually it ticked over to 67 then finished. But it took over a day, i feel your pain. Ironically, Steam I cannot get to work on my Mac. i tried to get it when they were offering free portal, but it tries to update and keeps getting stuck. oh well
Gabriel
July 30, 2010 at 11:12
Wait, so your reason for stopping playing PC games is because your MAC (not PC) is giving kak with SCII. MOAR LOLZ PLOX!!1!
But srsly, myself and everyone I know installed the game on PC, patched it, and logged into Battle.net without any issues. This game is amazing. I have not been as excited to get home and play a game in years.
Jan
July 30, 2010 at 11:19
Die hard PC gamer I may be but this game beats all the hassles i have ever had!
I have the same issue as you exact same warning…the patch stops at 16% and exactly 30.4MB to go.
I remember this prob with WoW and then they admitted it was a server issue.
Guess I will have to shelve this game until it gets sorted….shame I was looking forward to it too 🙁
eyss
July 30, 2010 at 11:23
I’m with Gabriel on this one.
Petrus
July 30, 2010 at 11:25
Installed, cracked, and played in 30 mins.
What a POS game. Uninstalled again.
AtomicZA
July 30, 2010 at 11:29
wait a minute.. How can you call STEAM a “shining beacon of light” – it’s a frikken virus! – I can NOT play any of the 6 steam games that I have purchased thanks to port forwarding & shaped ADSL. They wont even install!
Gavin Mannion
July 30, 2010 at 11:33
I personally blame the “Stupid Mac”… but that’s pretty much my answer for all Nick’s inabilities :ninja:
Steve Hofmeyr
July 30, 2010 at 11:46
Congrats, you’re a pirate. Thanks for sh!tting on the PC games industry.
Fox1
July 30, 2010 at 11:52
Too true :whistle:
Worm
July 30, 2010 at 12:07
we0we0we0we…
Hayted
July 30, 2010 at 12:10
I agree that the Mac can give issues. Friend has Mac and had issues with the game. My PC is running it fine :ninja:
Christopher Pitt
July 30, 2010 at 12:22
There are 2 things you aren’t considering; 1) How many millions of people have installed and played this game without issue since it war released only 3 days ago, and 2) how much load the servers must be under for said millions to be downloading/installing/connecting at once.
It doesn’t surprise me that some people will have issues – this is a statistical certainty. What does surprise me is that the issues you have with 1 game make you instantly want to write off – not only the successor to a 13 year reign of RTS – but PC as a platform. That’s hardly reasonable.
Nick de Bruyne
July 30, 2010 at 13:05
I understand what you mean completely, I really do. The point is that it still just really sucks that a certain percentage of the people who buy the game just don’t get to play it because it doesn’t feel like working. If you look at the commenter “Jan” above as well, the guy has been waiting to play the game like everyone else, but simply has to “shelve” it now until a solution is found.
It’s not that I put the whole platform down because of one game, or one experiece… but that it’s something that just happens and gamers have allowed themselves to get used to the idea.
The fact of the matter simply comes back to the fact that when I get a new console game, not only does the game work because it’s been designed for just that console, but it also performs the same across the board.
Nick de Bruyne
July 30, 2010 at 13:06
Like I said above “It does however, still not fix the issue of a having a bazillion different configurations that need to be catered to.” – which is a shame, but what can you do…
Bobby Kotick is like that annoying hobo guy
July 30, 2010 at 13:39
I never buy a game on launch day, especially if it’s a PC game, because invariably you’re basically a paid beta tester. I rather wait a few weeks (as if I care if I’m the first one to finish the game, or particularly perturbed by the fact that the world has moved on to the next juicy tidbit), then I check what they patched, and proceed from there. This tactic has saved me from buying melons over the years, like Spore, C&C4 and many others (and no… I’m not saying Starcraft 2 is a melon… sheesh ;P).
But given that you need to review it, that’s pretty tough, mate.
sNaKe
July 30, 2010 at 13:43
Agreed with pretty much the entire article. My installation & patching took almost 2 hours, I eventually got to play after 3 hours (due to system tweaking post-installation) and to top it off, I’ve got an issue whereby my game lags insanely on connecting to BNet, but as soon as I go offline it’s perfect.
I’ve spent the entire week debugging this issue and reminds me again why the PC platform is not for me at all. I just want to play my damn games. If this is what PC gamers are used to, best of luck to you – you have far more patience and tolerance for rubbish than I do.
lans
July 30, 2010 at 14:08
i could of told you pc gaming sucks in 2002, its been a well known fact. pc gamers just dont want to admit that the games they get are an after thought and are not optimised for their pc specs
Milesh Bhana ZA
July 30, 2010 at 14:17
He just said he cracked it, not that he pirated it. I use No-CD (or not internet) cracks on most of my games, just because they make my life easier.
Bobby Kotick feels like having KFC tonight
July 30, 2010 at 15:03
As Milesh said, he probably used a no-CD crack which not only saves your disks but it keeps your disk drives happy.
Bobby Kotick approves of no-CD cracks! However, the powers-that-be sadly don’t. :cwy:
Aequitas
July 30, 2010 at 15:10
@Milesh, Bobby.
You don’t need a no-CD crack for Starcraft 2. It doesn’t require the disk to play. If you cracked it, you’re a pirate.
Die in a fire Petrus
Aequitas
July 30, 2010 at 15:12
Nick, the fact that you had issues sucks, but hey, I have issues everytime I buy a game for my xbox, cause my drive is busy failing, so I have to install everything to the HDD …. and I often have to try 9 or 10 times before the disk reads all the way.
Neither is failsafe, that doesn’t mean we write them off.
squirrely
July 30, 2010 at 15:17
@Aequitas You’re xbox is faulty – there’s nothing wrong with his Mac. That’s always been my #1 problem with PC gaming. The last PC game I bought was dawn of war 2, 2GB steam update – I’m halfway through the game and I HAVE to do another update, lost all my data after the update. I want to sit down, switch on and play. That’s where the PS3 kicks me in the nuts – OH YEAH a new game! Sit down, disc in, Pla… erm no Install first…
Bobbit
July 30, 2010 at 15:19
Yeah, using a mac laptop and bitching about installation issues and why it’s a justification for shunning computer games is like taking the bus and bitching about how long it takes you to get to work.
Macs are not designed for gaming, let alone macbooks. Dismissing an entire “platform” based on a horrible judgement call from the wrong platform (becaue macs are NOT windows PC platforms) is quite flawed reasoning.
Perhaps just give the review copy to your mate with the PC. He’ll most likely enjoy it a lot more than you ever could.
John
July 30, 2010 at 15:24
Steam sucks, I bought Napoleon, Total War. Steam installed fine, then started with its “updating steam” nonsense and then bombs out after 5 min so I cant even install the damn game. I googled the error and plenty of people are getting it (steam dll cannot be found). I downloaded 2 seperate dlls files but still no go. It would have been simpler to download a cracked version.
Well I don’t mind shitting on an industry who wants to shit on you (Ubisoft, Activision etc).
And R500 for a standard edition Starcraft II, thats madness. And that constant internet connection nonsense. They should really come up with something better for countries without cheap internet options like the states.
sNaKe
July 30, 2010 at 15:30
Beat me to the punch – it’s one thing having failing hardware, but there’s nothing wrong with either Nick or my machines. THAT’S the frustrating bit – I could understand if something was packing up, but I have an otherwise perfect machine and the problem is that somehow, somewhere in my unique configuration, SC2 is having a hissy fit.
sNaKe
July 30, 2010 at 15:34
Eh, the game is advertised as being able to run on his machine, so I think he’s entitled to think it’s going to work. Maybe not @ 60FPS, but work nevertheless. Assuming his laptop meets all the minimum requirements, getting to the menu screen is hardly being overly optimistic on his part.
FreeStanler
July 30, 2010 at 16:01
I reckon, for a balanced and healthy lifestyle, you actually need both pc and console…a “on the fence” opinion (and expensive solution) but true for so many reasons…
Bobbit
July 30, 2010 at 16:12
I don’t deny his expectation to run the game. I deny his condemnation of an entire platform based on a ‘platform’, ie macbooks, which barely constitute a PC, let alone a PC capable of gaming.
Again, if you want to drive, get a car, don’t take the bus.
purpledragon
July 30, 2010 at 16:24
I used to be a big PC gamer, but it started costing too much to upgrade the PC every time a new brilliant game came out that needed higher specs.
It got to the point where I was like, “yes, brilliant new game out!”, but after checking the min specs wasn’t able to get it.
Thats why me luv consoles! You know its going to work, no need to even check out min specs. Just buy it and bang it in and you are away!!
Nick de Bruyne
July 30, 2010 at 16:42
@Bobbit
This has nothing to do with Macs and PC’s. I am only using a Mac in this instance, I owned many different PC rigs over my life, and again, what about all of the other PC gamers that are having issues.
A console is essentially a single setup of PC components, which makes it very simple to develop for, and that means that everyone who owns one, is guaranteed to play a game that they buy for it. PC developers will never have that luxury, and it’s the gamers that have to pay for it.
The issue being that for every game that is released, there are tons of people in the world who will have issues with it, almost every time, it just cannot be avoided.
Bobby Kotick wants to eat the chicken
July 30, 2010 at 17:45
In that case Steve Hofmeyr can die in a fire…
Aequitas
July 30, 2010 at 18:00
But see, your PC/Mac does so much *more* than gaming. If it doesn’t work for a game, then in that instance, it *is* faulty, even though it’s just a configuration issue. It’s still a case of your hardware not working with the given software.
The point that you are both missing is that ‘yes, stuff goes wrong’, but that doesn’t mean that ‘PC gaming isn’t worth it’
SteveJobsIsGay
July 30, 2010 at 18:03
That’s funny, because last I heard Macs weren’t PCs.
Aequitas
July 30, 2010 at 18:04
“The issue being that for every that is released, there are tons of people in the world who will have issues with it, almost every time, it just cannot be avoided.”
Just because the point of failure shifts, doesn’t mean that failure is any less frustrating.
Two sides of the same coin ‘shit goes wrong’.
Aequitas
July 30, 2010 at 18:06
dammit, guess using angle brackets broke that last bit. It’s meant to read:
“The issue being that for every *console* that is released, there are tons of people in the world who will have issues with it, almost every time, it just cannot be avoided.â€
PC
July 30, 2010 at 18:11
GET A MAAAAAAAAC… And put it in you *ss.
That’s your problem.. Buy a good PC and that’s all. :pirate: :pirate:
j mickk
July 30, 2010 at 18:12
me and my friends all got this game and it all worked flawlessly for us (in game within an hour of arriving back from the store). I have bad luck with direct downloads for some reason, so i stick to buying the hard copy and never have problems with those. i have a 360 but definitley prefer pc games, specially ones with an editor and promise for some fun truely “custom games” ( not just playing a set list of maps/levels and tweaking the settings). I just fill much more limited on a console. my 2 cents.
Chris
July 30, 2010 at 18:21
Your Mac doesn’t work properly, and that’s why you stopped playing PC games?
Problems may happen from time to time on certain systems, but that’s not unheard of in the console world (red ring of death anyone?)
The last time I’ve had trouble getting a PC game to work was back in the times of MS-DOS when you had to free up some of that weird 640 KB memory.
Nowadays, games just work. I open Steam. I click Install Game. I click Play Game. That’s it.
Richard
July 30, 2010 at 18:26
It’s not JUST based on a single game. It’s a general recurring issue with gaming on the PC as a platform, and has been a recurring issue for decades. PC in general is simply a lot buggier and requires a lot more troubleshooting than consoles when it comes to using it for gaming.
Yes, a “statistical percentage” of people having problems with any given PC game is a “certainty”… but you make it sound like it’s a small, insignifcant statistic. Even if it were only 10% of people who buy StarCraft II (or ANY given PC game for that matter), that’s still a HUGE defect rate (at least in comparison to any given console game), and 10% is just a modest guesstimation.
MAC is not a PC
July 30, 2010 at 18:27
hahaha you cracked it? so you pirated it anus man. SC2 doesn’t require a cd to play because of battlenet.
and your mac sucks…you complain because you:
1) pirated the game
2) crappy mac with shietty specs
just go get a emachine from best buy for 350 and get yourself a decent video card for 60 bucks and you can play this game with no problems.
Richard
July 30, 2010 at 18:31
You act like craploads of PC users won’t have problems running and installing this game.
Blame it all on the Mac, why don’t you.
ak
July 30, 2010 at 18:32
lol got to love this, since when are MACs considered to be PCs?
There is this aura of “can not go wrong” around apple products and if something does go wrong the apple fans never dare to think that steve jobs gifts to humankind can NEVER be at fault. MACs fail at gaming and many other things, throw it.
So far i havent experienced any problems or the 6 friends of mine who started playing the game on the launch date (of which 1 is a mac user)
Richard
July 30, 2010 at 18:34
@Aequitas: Isn’t it more logical to say that it’s the GAME that’s faulty, not his Mac? Because his system is probably fully functional for everything else he’s used it for; it’s just StarCraft II that refuses to work well with his particular configuration.
wut
July 30, 2010 at 18:34
Seriously, using a Mac and complaining about games. Why not just go be trendy at Starbucks with all the other Macfags.
Your Brother :)
July 30, 2010 at 18:36
Its not that the game “just doesnt feel like working,” its more along the lines that Mac users cry about not having any games, so developers try giving them games which, given all the statistics, just shouldnt happen. Millions of Windows users can download/install/patch without a single problem. I suggest that since you are a game reviewer, you destroy your shitty Macbook and get a decent laptop with Windows 7 on it. PC games are developed for Windows, so you should probably use it for reviewing games. Then you’ll be able to enjoy glorious Starcraft 2!
Your Brother :)
July 30, 2010 at 18:38
It couldnt possibly be that your connection sucks.
Rockme
July 30, 2010 at 19:11
lol, Mac and games
DonVito
July 30, 2010 at 19:31
Oyea. I feel you brudda. I had the same issue when the first time I played this game ‘Myst’ on my old PC… back in 1990. Yes, I’m that dinosaur. But enough to keep me away from PC games since a long long time.
Pcgamer
July 30, 2010 at 19:47
I have both the 360 and ps3 as well as a high end pc gaming rig that I just built. I prefer playing games on the pc. If you can afford to build a high end gaming pc, the pc will trounce the consoles in almost every area. The pc controls more precisely, you get higher quality graphics at framerates far and above what is possible on the consoles. I’ll take the extra headache occasionally to experience these games on a pc.
bi-computeral
July 30, 2010 at 20:33
just putting in my two cents. I bought this the day it was released and installed it on my 15 inch macbook pro AND my custom pc dektop rig. Both installations went flawlessly and the game plays on both of my platforms without any issue.
I installed off the cd though. Maybe there is an issue with the digital download and macs…
Scooby
July 30, 2010 at 21:01
Console Gamer, except for these games.
There is a small amount of games I still play on the computer. These days it’s Starcraft 2, and a little WOW when it’s not boring.
I use the 27 inch quad core i5 from Apple, and this game works beautifully on it. The game downloaded quick, and works flawlessly playing on high graphics. So far I have not had an issue with this game on my mac, so not all hope is lost. However, the reason I don’t play computer games much is what everyone stated above, it’s a risk, computers always have that “risk” that something will go wrong. And the risk is greater than on a console, and that’s why I stick with console gaming more often, less hassle. So I hope that Starcraft 2 continues to run smoothly and work great on here, but we’ll see…
Bobbit
July 30, 2010 at 22:06
It has everything to do with Macs and PC’s. The odds are, and I suspect you know this as well, if you had a semi-decent PC with a semi-decent Graphics card you wouldn’t be writing such an idiotic post bemoaning the state of the PC platform. Repeat after me, “a macbook is not for games. A macbook is not for games.” and so on.
The reality is that most PC games run fine and you only really run into issues if they’re shit console ports (GTA 4), pirated and cracked, or user-error.
Sure, there will always be people who can’t get it running, but then again, most of those people are normally able to source a fix quite easily online, because shit, as you say, there are TONS of them (hyperbole anyone?) That you struggled so much to get it working is testament to your naivety in expecting SC2 to work on a shit macbook, not to the complexity in making PC games work.
And as an aside, since this is fast becoming a console vs PC thing, even though it shouldn’t be, at least with a PC, if something breaks you can normally fix it. On a mac or console you’re fucked. You have to take it back and get it fixed at a premium.
You’re courting disaster by using crap hardware to run a PC game. A 13″ macbook barely constitutes a “PC” and you know it (or you should know it.) Writing a god-awful, mispelled disasterpiece article bitching about PC platforms based off this is just a glaring indication at your own inability to get a little perspective on your “problem” installing SC2, not a damning indictment on the PC.
Alaris
July 30, 2010 at 23:16
I agree that PC game developers could do a lot more to stabilize games with just a little more effort; however I still think your article deserves a call to the waaambulance. You start by acknowledging that you’re attempting to play a state of the art PC game on a less than state of the art Mac. Waaa
illidari
July 30, 2010 at 23:56
Sooo your reviewing a game that you think you can barely pull off minimum specs on to review how the game handles? Isn’t that like an oximoron
taco
July 30, 2010 at 23:59
you have no cock and tiny balls mac user
Nick de Bruyne
July 31, 2010 at 00:00
I see a lot of people complaining that I’m trying to run the game on a Mac. The issue here is that I didn’t even get past the patching process to get into the game.
I have gotten the game to run on one of the other MacBook pros now, and it worked fine and runs well, proving that it’s just a random result sometimes. I still can’t get it to run on the other one though
Nick de Bruyne
July 31, 2010 at 00:04
No I said I was installing a trial to see if it handles well enough to review
Jman
July 31, 2010 at 00:23
Honestly take some time to learn some computer literacy before you bash things. My 3 year old computer run by my 4 year old son can install and play this game. Your sorry.
Gavin Mannion
July 31, 2010 at 00:34
lol intelligent response FTW :w00t:
Axe99
July 31, 2010 at 01:06
While this is just one instance of the issue, it’s indicative of a general theme in PC gaming. I started as a PC gamer, was happy editing my config.sys files, playing with autoexec.bats (yup, that’s how long ago it was!), and tinkering to make games work, but as things got more complex, it got harder and harder just to play the game. About half-way through the life of the original Playstation I gave up, and haven’t looked back (other than for the occasional turn-based strategy game). I reckon I could have played through the campaign of 3+ games in the combined amount of time I spent between the late 80s and late 90s trying to get games to work on PC. When I looked at it that way, it was a clear choice.
deusofnull
July 31, 2010 at 03:52
How about you learn to use the computer?
dethgar
July 31, 2010 at 05:02
Your problem is possibly a combination of ISP and patch server issues. Battle.net uses Bit Torrent P2P for patches, and if you don’t have all your ports forwarded properly you will have issues, along with the fact that some ISP’s restrict Bit Torrent traffic and even set limited amounts of transfer per x days using it. There are work arounds, but you might want to pick up the phone and call Blizzard, sometimes that is simpler than searching through the piles of related bugs and usually has a faster response time.
jabroney
July 31, 2010 at 06:26
Dude, I’m with you..I using a laptop I got about 6 months ago, no probs!
Jan
July 31, 2010 at 06:41
Can you help me with posting how to check my ports. I strongly suspect that the torrent thing is why I am having trouble when I have no trouble with the umpteen other games I have.
Would the fact that my torrents have been configured to open in Limewire be anything to do with this? The fact that I start but always fail at 16% through the patch is wierd…..it’s the same same spot every time after four goes at installing.
I have a PC with Windows 7, relatively new hardware, tried it on several different hard drives….LAN connection is unchecked etc. Nothing has ever had issues before.
I am not slagging anything off at all….I like consoles and PC I think some games have advantages in each arena….ALL I WANT is some help to play this freaking game on my PC!
Googling this there are a shed load of users out there having this problem RIGHT NOW but no answer is coming forth as yet.
Someone out here MUST be able to help me….
Xaero
July 31, 2010 at 12:27
That’s just what you get for:
A. Trying to play games on a Mac (lol)
and
B. Playing it on a machine you admit isn’t even designed for gaming…
I mean come on, how stupid are you? If you want to play games you buy a PC or the parts (if you’re knowledgeable enough to build it yourself) of a piece of hardware that’s going to play games well and is going to last. I for one put together a pc well over a year or two ago now and it’s running Starcraft 2 perfectly and defaulted to ultra settings in the options menu.
Plus, running it on a laptop isn’t even a fair comparison to consoles anyway because I’d love to see you carry around a console with a screen slapped on it nowadays, the last time that was practical at all was in the ps2 slim days and even that was a third party add-on and wasn’t very popular.
I grow tired of people like you that expect pc gaming to stand still and not push boundaries like console games, how would we ever make progress if we left gaming to the Bobby Koticks of this world?
theimpaler
July 31, 2010 at 12:28
I got it running in under half an hour, i normally play games on my ps3 but theres not way i was missing out on this since i grew up with pc gaming. its rad, all tho if i still lived in mid outskits canberra where i couldnt get adsl and it might not be as user firendly.
But i can run it and it so much flippin fun
theimpaler
July 31, 2010 at 12:29
i left canbera to join the real world in syd by the way
Xaero
July 31, 2010 at 12:35
100% Agree with this, again as said it’s an expensive option but not so expensive if you spread the purchases out over a couple of years.
I own all the major consoles as well as a high spec gaming pc and if given the option I would do it all again because I’m a true gamer, one who doesn’t care what format it’s on as long as I enjoy it.
Tom
July 31, 2010 at 13:37
That’s not true at all. I wasn’t a compute know-it-all when I was in middle school, and yet I was able to install plenty of PC games as well as fix TONS of issues. Considering I can still run today’s games on a computer that’s over 4 years old means spec sheets aren’t always a problem.
As for the article, I think you just got unlucky. This isn’t a typical problem with most PC games so I don’t see how this stopped you from playing PC Games. What I find interesting is that you were able to solve the issue, and yeh, it took some effort, but you did. If there is a glitch in a console game, it could be weeks before its able to be fixed, whereas PC games and gamers will come up with nonofficial fixes (if needed) almost immediately.
truthhurts
July 31, 2010 at 16:34
What kind of retard has problems installing a game nowdays? Im no computer geek, and i had no problems installing and playing it.
Adam
July 31, 2010 at 17:04
Tough titties.
Nick de Bruyne
August 1, 2010 at 05:28
The point you guys really seem to have missed, is that I have not, in any way, complained about the game running badly on a laptop. The game didn’t install because of a patching problem. In this case specifically, it has absolutely nothing to do with the specs at all. It’s just one of those random issues that tend to happen in PC gaming.
I’m starting to wonder if anyone read more than 5 paragraphs before commenting.
james
August 2, 2010 at 01:15
WOW, as someone above already said. PC GAMING sucks because your MAC Cant install the game??
Epic fail article
Nick de Bruyne
August 2, 2010 at 02:27
Was someone charging you by the word when you read the article? :ninja:
sNaKe
August 2, 2010 at 08:53
No, tardboy, because I tested it on other machines on the same line 🙂
sNaKe
August 2, 2010 at 12:55
Dude, don’t bother. Your point is being fantastically missed by 90% of the posters here.
Bobbit
August 2, 2010 at 22:49
Oh no, we get his point, but it’s a stupid point. The REAL point, which Nick seems to have ironically missed, is that his entire view of a platform is coloured in some part by the use of a shitty macbook. If he had used a proper Windows PC and had a completely clean install, he wouldn’t even be writing this drivel.
No, he was courting disaster by using a 13″ macbook, and then admitting it in a rant condemning the PC platform. We get your point that installation issues are a bitch. But you fail to concede that your installation issues are highly likely to occur when using terribly obsolete hardware. You’re not being nuanced, you’re being stubborn.
Nick de Bruyne
August 3, 2010 at 00:53
@Bobbit
How is a less than one year old Macbook Pro “terribly obsolete” exactly? You also seem to completely forget that for one, Starcraft 2 is a fully supported Mac release and two, how does that have anything to do with a simple patching process?
How is it that “installation issues are highly likely to occur”? The point is that there are many configurations that have to be catered for, and many people will randomly run into issues for no reason. Tons of people have installed Starcraft 2 on their Macs as well as PC’s without issues, but at the same time there are a lot of people who ran into problems for no good reason.
That’s why this post has nothing to do with Starcraft 2 or Macs, my recent experience was nothing but a single example.
Bobbit
August 3, 2010 at 07:17
Because it’s a one year old MAC book, running a shitty mac OS. That makes ALL the difference. If you had even the slightest clue about PCs you would know that.
So it was a single example, and you dismissed an entire platform based on a single example? Please never go into real journalism. You fail at this.
Gavin Mannion
August 3, 2010 at 07:27
As much as I like mocking Nick about his Mac usage is it really fair to call a one year old computer obsolete?
Blizzard also state the game works on Macs and really playing a game on a Mac or PC is really the same thing in the end. It’s like giving up your PS3 or Xbox 360 as you have had enough of console gaming. It doesn’t matter which one you used as the principle applies to both
Wesley Hopson
August 3, 2010 at 09:59
Geez no surprise you hate pc gaming. Mac is not a operating system for gamers pure and simple.
0xacdc
August 30, 2010 at 23:00
PC is by definition “Personal Computer”. It’s not MS, it’s not Apple Mac, it’s not Linux, Unix. It’s not Via, Intel or AMD. It’s Personal Computer.
On the other hands, any game console is propietary hardware with guaranted propietary software, making someone happy to play “some” games. It’s good bussines (mainly people just like it). This could seem as “the” console is “the” winner. But. There is one BIG issue. Developers, testers and advanced users use PC (at least, as well). Moreover, I want to emphesize (expert) one simple BIG fact that is not, unfortunately, in fact, realized. NOT ONLY PC SOFTWARE IS ALWAYS, FAR FAR AWAY, ANOTHER GALAXY (cause it is almost widely know fact) IN COMPARARISION TO “GAME” DEVICES (consoles) but, and remember it please, HARDWARE. Please look at, e.g. nvidia gtx 480 or even 460. Please look at AMD/ATI 5870 (without mentioning e.g. Asus news – acually and frankly means countless companies). You’re not convienced please look at DX11, AMD(ati) STREAM and Nvidia CUDA. MS Silverlight, OpenGL, OpenCL, and hole USB, WiFi, IP stuff etc etc.. If you definitely, don’t like and/or don’t care it means you don’t care. Accept it. And if so why you’re wasting your time to read this, maybe even writing your opinions, here, there and everywhere (regarding this subject, of course).
No offence, please.