Rookie Gamester Needs Advice

Braggadocio

I’m about to upgrade my game plan and have some questions I need answered by folks who really know their stuff.
I’ve had a flight sim game for a few years with a Saitek joystick, but I now really want to explore the world of action computer games (XBox / PS3) and am unsure about which route to take.
To make things easy for you - the experts - I’m including a list of what I already have in terms of specs. This should make it easy for you to tell me what I will NEED and what I should AVOID.
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Laptop Specs: Graphics Card 256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 8600M GT
Core 2 Duo / 2.40GHz, 800, 3M
Blu Ray drive (incl SW)
Bluetooth Module
Hard Drive: 320GB / SATA (5400rpm)
Windows Vista Premium
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I’m not ready just yet to get into Xbox or PS3, but after buying my first real PC game “DEAD SPACE” , I get the distinct impression that I’m gonna need more than a keyboard or joystick if want to have any chance of surviving any level of this game.

Do I need a wired or wireless gamepad/controller? I don’t expect to be playing any games on big flat-screen TV just yet, so I’d have no problem with a wired device.

Many thanx in advance.

Glico Man

I'd like to be able to help but I've absolutely no idea what you're asking...

For PC gaming, a mouse and keyboard is pretty much all you need. A gaming pad would be handy/helpful if you're more used to console gaming.

RangeR

Braggadocio wrote: »

I get the distinct impression that I’m gonna need more than a keyboard or joystick if want to have any chance of surviving any level of this game.

To be perfectly honest, if you aren't using a keyboard and mouse for and FPS on PC, you aren't playing it properly.

Get a mouse and get a good one. Dump the joystick.

Lab_Mouse

RangeR wrote: »

To be perfectly honest, if you aren't using a keyboard and mouse for and FPS on PC, you aren't playing it properly.

Get a mouse and get a good one. Dump the joystick.

Pads are good for platformers and maybe driving games but for fps on the the PC,thats a big no-no.

My son plays black ops on the pc with the pad and there is a noticeable delay in response between the keyboard/mouse and the pad

Braggadocio

...I already have a Lidl SilverCrest 8-button mouse which should be adequate. I guess it comes down to learning the keys and mouse coordination. I notice that the game control keys are primarily situated to the left of the keyboard (ex: "Move" - W/A/S/D) so I've go to get used to left hand activation:rolleyes:

Thanks again one and all for the invaluable info. I may just borrow a gamepad controller from a neighbour just for the hell of it anyway:)

The Gretsch Country Gentleman:o

Lab_Mouse

it will take a while to get use to the the wasd set up,but it will be worth it in the end.

Dont forget to re-configure the settings for going prone lobbibg grenades etc till you find a set up that suits ye

Krusader

Desktop rig is the way to go for PC Gaming

johnny_ultimate

Wait a second, how'd we miss this :pac:

This has absolutely nothing to do with Playstation. You'd be better off over in the games forum, where it will now magically appear.

Fanny Cradock

Braggadocio wrote: »

...I already have a Lidl SilverCrest 8-button mouse which should be adequate.

I think I might have the same mouse. It's horrid.

There are exceptions of course. But for the most part, a simple mouse/ keyboard combo is the best for playing most games on the PC.

Grumpypants

You can get a Xbox 360 controller for the PC just look for the "for Windows" sticker. Its the simplist way to get a good controller working on a laptop.

I did this for Left 4 dead and it works great. Some people prefer the mouse and keyboard but its just not for me i find it a very unnatural way of gaming in anything other than point and click or sim games.

Fanny Cradock

Grumpypants wrote: »

I did this for Left 4 dead and it works great. Some people prefer the mouse and keyboard but its just not for me i find it a very unnatural way of gaming in anything other than point and click or sim games.

It's a matter of preference but I would think that most people would find that the mouse/ combo is considerably more accurate for FPS games.

Magill

Alot of people will tell ya that k/m is the only way to play fps etc. Its definitely superior but most of the people that slam console shooters are a little niave when it comes to it and don't have a clue what they're talking about (They play PC 99% of the time and try playing on the xbox for 10 mins, get raped and then blame the controller). But yeah if your not going to get into PS3/Xbox gaming anytime soon, buy yourself a half decent mouse (I'd recommend a Logitech MX518, they're awesome and very cheap) and a mousemat to go with it. Then just spend some time getting used to it.

RangeR

Magill wrote: »

Then just spend some time getting used to it.

Be patient. It will take from a couple of days to a week or two to get proficient. It's a whole new way of playing and tales time to master. Once you've taken to it, you won't look back and will come naturally in all FPS's.

Skerries

have a look here to see what your graphics card is capable of playing
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-8600M-GT.3986.0.html

and if you have a specific game you want to play have a look here to see if it will run
http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/

if it can't run it then there is not much you can do with a laptop as very rare ones have upgradable graphics cards, i've never seen one
the best you can do is add more ram, tidy up your pc and pray

valleyoftheunos

If you're looking at broadening your gaming horizons on PC then for First Person Shooters its Keyboard and mouse all the way, ditto for any role playing gamess or Real Time strategy stuff you may be interested in.

However for the third Person stuff like dead space a controller would probably be the best bet as that is how they are designed. Microsoft make one for Windows, it looks the very same as the xbox 360 one.

ShadowHearth

aaronh007 wrote: »

I'd like to be able to help but I've absolutely no idea what you're asking...

For PC gaming, a mouse and keyboard is pretty much all you need. A gaming pad would be handy/helpful if you're more used to console gaming.

Same here. I read it, but I still can't put my finger on it.

Op, do you need advice on which console you better of or you need advice what you need to play games on your laptop, or you need advice what games can you play on laptop?


If you are just starting off gaming and you dong have good pc to play On, then I suggest you to get a console and find out: do you really really like gaming. It will be cheaper for you. You could buy a ps3, and if you domt like gaming, you can use it as a brilliant media centre and blue ray disc player. When you realise that gaming is really for you, you can look in to pc gaming. I would not touch pc gaming on your laptop, as it only give you bad impresion of what pc gaming is.

If you want to stick to pc gaming and try a proper gaming, then I suggest you get a decent mouse and any keyboard. ( you got bouth already ). Then start of with some older titles which can still play on your laptop. Try some first person shooters and real time strategy games. These to genres are the most epic on pc platform.

I know it's hard, but learn to play on wsad and mouse. When you master it, any ather controller will be just useless.