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Mac User #001 · Sep 11, 2008, 09:57 AM

I doubt I'm the only one to have noticed. There are a LOT of pretty exciting games coming out in the next 3 months or so, with a pretty good line-up for early next year as well.

So I figured we could help each other out. Instead of buying them all to try them out, I figured we could all input on which games are worth it and which aren't.

I can vouch for Spore. There were a few sour spots I didn't quite like, but overall, it was pretty much the game I thought it would be and more. I didn't pick up the Galactic Edition though, as $80 was just a little too much. Wrong choice?

I also bought Mercenaries 2 on the same day. I thought it was a huge letdown. But so did everyone else in the gaming world. Many model glitches, poor optimization (Very poor. I can do Crysis all Very High at 1680 x 1050 with 2xAA but only medium with Merc 2? Not to mention, it doesn't support my 22" widescreen res....) and it looks like crap. Voice acting was sub-par.

And thought its not new, I also picked up Mass Effect for the PC. Amazing game. This ones highly recommended.

Now I'm looking forward to The Force Unleashed and Crysis Warhead, both on the 16th! Thinking of getting STALKER: Clear Sky as well.

Oh, and I heard rumors of an HD 4850/4870 coming to Macs? True? If so, what are the possibilities of it being an X2? I don't have a Mac Pro, of course, but it's always nice to hear about Macs getting new GFX cards.

bearcatrp · Sep 11, 2008, 11:28 AM

I wish they would port command and conquor for the touch/phone. That and some games you can play against another pod user.

mduell · Sep 11, 2008, 11:36 AM

Originally Posted by Mac User #001

Oh, and I heard rumors of an HD 4850/4870 coming to Macs? True? If so, what are the possibilities of it being an X2? I don't have a Mac Pro, of course, but it's always nice to hear about Macs getting new GFX cards.

The Mac 4870 is here, but the 8800GT is a better gaming card; the 4870 is for the Apple pro apps crowd, since the Apple pro apps run poorly on the nVidia G8x/G9x architecture.

I'm looking for a good driving sim; GTR2 and GRiD are at the top of the list for demos to try, but I'm open to suggestions.

P · Sep 11, 2008, 11:52 AM

Originally Posted by mduell

The Mac 4870 is here, but the 8800GT is a better gaming card; the 4870 is for the Apple pro apps crowd, since the Apple pro apps run poorly on the nVidia G8x/G9x architecture.

Really - benches? Under Windows, the 4870 beats everything less than a GTX 280 (or some SLI combination) right now. The 8800GT is distanced by quite a margin.

Are you sure you didn't mean the 3870?

Mac User #001 · Sep 11, 2008, 12:08 PM

Originally Posted by bearcatrp

I wish they would port command and conquor for the touch/phone. That and some games you can play against another pod user.

It will be a long wait before we see an RTS on the iPhone/iTouch platform. The controls would have to be unlike anything before.

Also, from what I know there are games that have iPhone/iTouch to iPhone/iTouch multiplayer.

Originally Posted by mduell

The Mac 4870 is here, but the 8800GT is a better gaming card; the 4870 is for the Apple pro apps crowd, since the Apple pro apps run poorly on the nVidia G8x/G9x architecture.

I'm looking for a good driving sim; GTR2 and GRiD are at the top of the list for demos to try, but I'm open to suggestions.

You must be confusing the 4870 with the 3870. The 4870 blows the 8800GT away. And a 3870 was already released, so you're probably just thinking of that.

Between your two race sim options, I say GRID, as its quite a bit newer and technologically advanced. The physics to the crashes are extremely nice and the cars handle more realistically than any racing sim I've played.

Originally Posted by P

Really - benches? Under Windows, the 4870 beats everything less than a GTX 280 (or some SLI combination) right now. The 8800GT is distanced by quite a margin.

Are you sure you didn't mean the 3870?

Yea, I'm thinking he meant that too.

Cipher13 · Sep 11, 2008, 12:20 PM

To reiterate, the 4870 obliterates the 8800GT. They're not even in the same class. Even the 4850 does.

Anyway, when you say "Games, games, and more games", I'm sure you mean "ports, ports, and more ports", thus nullifying any excitement that could be generated (sadly).

Mac User #001 · Sep 11, 2008, 12:59 PM

I'm talking about gaming in general here. Not Mac gaming. Spore just happened to be one I mentioned.

Originally Posted by Cipher13

Even the 4850 does.

Yes it does

I'm loving it.

Cipher13 · Sep 11, 2008, 01:24 PM

Ah, in that case there are plenty of fantastic games.

I'm still torn between the 4850 and 4870. Either way I'll eventually crossfire (X48 DS4 mobo), but I don't know when that'll be.

I'll probably go for a 512 4870.

Mac User #001 · 12:58 PM

Any in particular you're excited about?

When I was buying my graphics card, I was trying for the 4870 X2, but they were selling like hotcakes everywhere, so I never got my hand on one. Granted I didn't wait a whole lot, because I was without a computer for a couple months by that point, which is a long story. And why I have a Lenovo starter PC instead of a home-built one as usual.
So I went with the 4850. So far, it's been fine. I notice occasional lag in parts of Crysis, but this is on all very high, and then I just turn off anti-aligning and its fine. I hope it holds well to the future, because then I'll be plenty happy with it. Otherwise, I'll wish I had gone with the 4870 X2.

EDIT: Ohh, and maybe you might want an NVIDIA card? Just for the PhysX capabilities. And really only for UT3. This is my first ATI card since my X800 All-In-Wonder but I had to go with ATI, as they are so much better right now, and then NVIDIA goes and releases the PhysX pack...

Cipher13 · Sep 12, 2008, 04:47 AM

I think Fallout 3 looks pretty awesome at the moment, the website is worth checking out for comedic value alone. Warhammer online, of course, launches on the 18th, and I think that's gonna be pretty impressive. I haven't really kept too close an eye on the scene lately but I've seen quite a few just in passing that look great.

PhysX pack? I didn't realise they'd released that. How annoying - I'd basically decided on a 4870.

Thinking about it, I'll probably still go with the ATi, as there just isn't that much software that'll take advantage of PhysX just yet, and nVidia has had a lot of problems recently. Not to mention the 260 and 280 are much more expensive than the 4850/4870, and anything below the level of the 260 just gets smashed by the Radeons.

I wouldn't regret your decision too much - the Radeons seem like they'll suffice for quite a while, and even if the 4850 does become subpar relatively soon, it's not such a monetary investment that replacing it isn't feasible.

Mac User #001 · Sep 12, 2008, 01:02 PM

Fallout 3 indeed. I'd like to see what Ubisoft has done with Far Cry 2 as well. It actually looks pretty darn good.

I'd love to try Warhammer Online, but my Internet sucks... (That's continuously a reason I can't get certain games.. I mean, playing Spore offline? Not as cool as on.)
I'm keeping an eye out on Dawn of War II, Battle March, the 40K MMO (assuming I finally get high-speed by then), and the just rumor milled 40K: Space Marine FPS, because, well, I love Warhammer and Warhammer 40K.

I'm not really too jealous of the PhysX pack either. UT3 is it. And I'll admit, destructible UT3 maps would be amazing. But that's it. Oh well. I agree that there is no comparison right now. The new NVIDIA cards are pretty horrible.

I suppose you're right. When it starts slowing down a bit for a serious gamer like me, I'm sure I could sell it to a new gamer just getting around to playing Call of Duty 4 for a decent penny.

P · Sep 13, 2008, 08:35 AM

Originally Posted by Cipher13

Thinking about it, I'll probably still go with the ATi, as there just isn't that much software that'll take advantage of PhysX just yet, and nVidia has had a lot of problems recently. Not to mention the 260 and 280 are much more expensive than the 4850/4870, and anything below the level of the 260 just gets smashed by the Radeons.

I'm also in favor of a 4850 at the moment (although I want one with a better cooler... Or Apple's next iMac revision will have a good GPU as well, and I can downgrade the HTPC to a 4670. We'll see) but I have to correct you here - the 260 is not in stratospheric levels any more. I found it just now at newegg for $225 with the mail-in rebate dance compared to the $199 for a 4850, but the 260 had 896 MB of RAM compared to 512 MB on the 4850. nVidia seems to have reduced prices to compete.

Mac User #001 · Sep 20, 2008, 01:54 AM

In an attempt to resurrect this thread...

I bought Warhead, and love it, as I'd expected.

I don't think I'm going for The Force Unleashed, though. Reviews seem terrible.

Aussiemac · Sep 29, 2008, 02:03 PM

Yes I am waiting for Far Cry 2 on PS3, the previews look fantastic.

Mac User #001 · Sep 30, 2008, 10:11 PM

Yeah, I'll be picking up Far Cry 2 for my PC on release. Beyond excited.

Also, a patch for Mercenaries 2 was released that fixed almost every issue with the game, and there are DLC plans for November, with a "Payback" update coming October 13th, bringing cheats, new playable characters, better co-op, etc... As disappointed as I was at first with this game, I'm happy to say it now performs very well and I'm enjoying it. I'm definitely looking forward to future updates. My only suggestion is to keep Water Effects off, as that dips my frames down from 60+ to 8 or 9. Yeah, I know, pretty severe.