PC gaming is a mixed bag of good and bad.

I am trying to get into pc gaming. Some of it is great. After upgrading i can play with very nice graphics and frame rates and even play on my hdtv just like a console. But its just the not the complete package like the xbox360. For example. I just got GRID for my pc. It plays beautifully and the online is smooth. It even plays with the 360 controller. BUT, i can not voice chat with anyone online. Text chatting is just too primitive and slow. if there is a way to voice chat its not immediately apparent. On the 360 i can chat all day.

Another game is Mass Effect...the game just wont play on Vista for some reason, ..all i get is a message after installing the game saying " the configuration application can not be opened" and then it closes out to windows. ???? All i want to do is play the game, but unlike a console i cant get the game to run. I am not going to jump through hoops just to get the game to play...i will just stick with the 360 version.

I tried installing Company of Heroes....1 hour later after installing 8 different patches..i finally can play the game...what a pain that was. Its a good thing i like the game.

But along with the negatives, i get positives too. COD4 is fantastic on PC and World in Conflict is a great game you just cant play on a console.

But, i am a bit mad at lack of voice chat, unruly patches and just plain incompatibility issues that really make console gaming more attractive.

Consoles > PC in terms of actually getting a well rounded, usable experience.

World in Conflict is a great game you just cant play on a console

Videodogg

Yet

voice chat works differently on the PC...for many games (especially ports) most people use third party services like TeamSpeak or Ventrillo to talk to other players.

as for patches, most new games these days auto patch, and if you get games via Steam (which is an option for company of heroes) you will download patches automaticlly as soon as you start steam.

About Mass Effect, that's your computer's problem. The game works fine on Vista.

About Company of Heroes, would you rather wait for everything to be fixed and get an amazing experience, or just let it be unstable and have a bad experience?

As for the voice chat, everytime I play CS Source of TF2 there's plenty of voice chat. You also can't expect voice chat in an RTS game because that could affect the chances of you winning.

Are you sure "the configuration application can not be opened" is the exact phrase? Nothing shows up on google.

I prefer to simply use skype to voice-chat by the way. Although it has its limitations.

voice chat works differently on the PC...for many games (especially ports) most people use third party services like TeamSpeak or Ventrillo to talk to other players.

as for patches, most new games these days auto patch, and if you get games via Steam (which is an option for company of heroes) you will download patches automaticlly as soon as you start steam.

cobrax75

Teamspeak ? Thats no good unless you know a person and hook up with him to talk. You cant talk to everyone in the game. Thats not really a acceptable option now is it? As for steam...thats fine, but if you bought retail you are kind of screwed. I dont mind a patch here or there, but 8 consecutive patches in a row was a bit much. And i still cant play Mass Effect...i have to take the game back to the store and beg for credit back.

About Mass Effect, that's your computer's problem. The game works fine on Vista.

About Company of Heroes, would you rather wait for everything to be fixed and get an amazing experience, or just let it be unstable and have a bad experience?

Seems to me that your system is with some faults.

mo0ksi

Well if there is a problem with my pc, i will never figure it out. I dont have to worry about things like that with a console. Every other game i own installed and plays great, even Crysis, so Mass Effect is a anomoly i will never figure out. Patches are fine, It would be nice if they just made one patch that covered everything though...not make me reboot the game eight times.

[QUOTE="cobrax75"]

voice chat works differently on the PC...for many games (especially ports) most people use third party services like TeamSpeak or Ventrillo to talk to other players.

as for patches, most new games these days auto patch, and if you get games via Steam (which is an option for company of heroes) you will download patches automaticlly as soon as you start steam.

Videodogg

Teamspeak ? Thats no good unless you know a person and hook up with him to talk. You cant talk to everyone in the game. Thats not really a acceptable option now is it? As for steam...thats fine, but if you bought retail you are kind of screwed. I dont mind a patch here or there, but 8 consecutive patches in a row was a bit much. And i still cant play Mass Effect...i have to take the game back to the store and beg for credit back.

Also I've never seen this issue in Mass Effect. I have Vista32 and I had no problems whatsoever while playing.

Teamspeak ? Thats no good unless you know a person and hook up with him to talk. You cant talk to everyone in the game. Thats not really a acceptable option now is it

Videodogg

[QUOTE="cobrax75"]

voice chat works differently on the PC...for many games (especially ports) most people use third party services like TeamSpeak or Ventrillo to talk to other players.

as for patches, most new games these days auto patch, and if you get games via Steam (which is an option for company of heroes) you will download patches automaticlly as soon as you start steam.

Videodogg

Teamspeak ? Thats no good unless you know a person and hook up with him to talk. You cant talk to everyone in the game. Thats not really a acceptable option now is it? As for steam...thats fine, but if you bought retail you are kind of screwed. I dont mind a patch here or there, but 8 consecutive patches in a row was a bit much. And i still cant play Mass Effect...i have to take the game back to the store and beg for credit back.

Steam is the future, 8 patches is nothing, remember patches are a good thing. You sound like you aren't enjoying pc gaming, perhaps you should quit.

[QUOTE="Videodogg"][QUOTE="cobrax75"]

voice chat works differently on the PC...for many games (especially ports) most people use third party services like TeamSpeak or Ventrillo to talk to other players.

as for patches, most new games these days auto patch, and if you get games via Steam (which is an option for company of heroes) you will download patches automaticlly as soon as you start steam.

mo0ksi

Teamspeak ? Thats no good unless you know a person and hook up with him to talk. You cant talk to everyone in the game. Thats not really a acceptable option now is it? As for steam...thats fine, but if you bought retail you are kind of screwed. I dont mind a patch here or there, but 8 consecutive patches in a row was a bit much. And i still cant play Mass Effect...i have to take the game back to the store and beg for credit back.

Also I've never seen this issue in Mass Effect. I have Vista32 and I had no problems whatsoever while playing.

Never had any issue's with Mass Effect either, purchased Company Of Hereos off of steam, it came fully patched.

[QUOTE="Videodogg"][QUOTE="cobrax75"]

voice chat works differently on the PC...for many games (especially ports) most people use third party services like TeamSpeak or Ventrillo to talk to other players.

as for patches, most new games these days auto patch, and if you get games via Steam (which is an option for company of heroes) you will download patches automaticlly as soon as you start steam.

mo0ksi

Teamspeak ? Thats no good unless you know a person and hook up with him to talk. You cant talk to everyone in the game. Thats not really a acceptable option now is it? As for steam...thats fine, but if you bought retail you are kind of screwed. I dont mind a patch here or there, but 8 consecutive patches in a row was a bit much. And i still cant play Mass Effect...i have to take the game back to the store and beg for credit back.

Also I've never seen this issue in Mass Effect. I have Vista32 and I had no problems whatsoever while playing.

I play COD4 and others on the 360...you voice chat with your team members only so i am not sure what you on about. But a game like GRID i want to chat with all the racers at once...you cant do that on the pc version.

i am re-installing ME right now so i can give you the exact failure message i get when i try to launch the game.

[QUOTE="mo0ksi"]

[QUOTE="Videodogg"][QUOTE="cobrax75"]

voice chat works differently on the PC...for many games (especially ports) most people use third party services like TeamSpeak or Ventrillo to talk to other players.

as for patches, most new games these days auto patch, and if you get games via Steam (which is an option for company of heroes) you will download patches automaticlly as soon as you start steam.

Videodogg

Teamspeak ? Thats no good unless you know a person and hook up with him to talk. You cant talk to everyone in the game. Thats not really a acceptable option now is it? As for steam...thats fine, but if you bought retail you are kind of screwed. I dont mind a patch here or there, but 8 consecutive patches in a row was a bit much. And i still cant play Mass Effect...i have to take the game back to the store and beg for credit back.

Also I've never seen this issue in Mass Effect. I have Vista32 and I had no problems whatsoever while playing.

I play COD4 and others on the 360...you voice chat with your team members only so i am not sure what you on about.

i am re-installing ME right now so i can give you the exact failure message i get when i try to launch the game.

There's disadvantages sure but one good aspect is the price! My family pc that my dad bought over two years ago (p4 3.00GHz, 1gb ram, a** intgrated gpu) can be upgrades not much with cpu (only pentium D) but it's better than buying new I'd need a gig of ram, need gpu maybe a 3850 ati and new pentium D, but I can OC so no prob. 300$ Goes a long way!

Run mass effect as administrator... i did that and it fixed the game for meredbaron3

"The Configuation Utility has stopped working". Thats the message i get.

I tried the administrator thing, i dont think i did it right because its still not working. This is the point i am making. Consoles never give you problems like this.

PC gaming is not for you, I suggest you quit, sell your machine, blog what you just wrote here, and tell everyone how bad it is. ;)

Took me 5 seconds:

http://masseffect.bioware.com/forums/viewtopic.html?topic=631473&forum=127

Check also if they have made a fix yet.

I am trying to get into pc gaming. Some of it is great. After upgrading i can play with very nice graphics and frame rates and even play on my hdtv just like a console. But its just the not the complete package like the xbox360. For example. I just got GRID for my pc. It plays beautifully and the online is smooth. It even plays with the 360 controller. BUT, i can not voice chat with anyone online. Text chatting is just too primitive and slow. if there is a way to voice chat its not immediately apparent. On the 360 i can chat all day.

Another game is Mass Effect...the game just wont play on Vista for some reason, ..all i get is a message after installing the game saying " the configuration application can not be opened" and then it closes out to windows. ???? All i want to do is play the game, but unlike a console i cant get the game to run. I am not going to jump through hoops just to get the game to play...i will just stick with the 360 version.

I tried installing Company of Heroes....1 hour later after installing 8 different patches..i finally can play the game...what a pain that was. Its a good thing i like the game.

But along with the negatives, i get positives too. COD4 is fantastic on PC and World in Conflict is a great game you just cant play on a console.

But, i am a bit mad at lack of voice chat, unruly patches and just plain incompatibility issues that really make console gaming more attractive.

Consoles > PC in terms of actually getting a well rounded, usable experience.

Videodogg

lol yeah I really hate sorting problems with my Pc. When I first got TF2 it took about an hour to get all the patches :(

I was pretty angry, but its worth the wait. I can stand installing and patching, it all benefits me..faster loads..better gameplay fixs etc

The one thing that really bugs me is the lack of my relax genres...like sports and those fun 3rd person games (Lego star wars 2) While Pc may have a few, its alot funner on a console espcially playing with a friend.

Thats why I happen to own a 360 :P I don't want to miss fable 2, or madden 09 (Stupid Peter more)

some games just play better on console, while others on PC...TF2 and C&C 3 rocks :D

But I can't wait for Fable 2, Madden 09...RED ALERT 3!!!!

Have the best of both worlds :P

Check if they have released a fix, or use the exe in the bin and see how it works out. lillefix

I tried that exe in the bin ; it did not work for me, it just says there is problem with the program and closes. I could wait for a patch, but that could take a long time. I will probably just take the game back, im good with the manager, she will let me exchange or something.

Great, so the game is not compatible with AMD Quad Core processors. So the game is worthless to me. I am glad for consoles, the games always work....with pc its a crap shoot apparently.Videodogg

Nah, it's not a crap shoot for everyone, not even close. I rarely ever have problems gaming on the PC. Unsurprisingly, those that seem to have had problems tend to embrace consoles ;) Fair enough I'd say.

In your case, I think Steam could become a best friend of yours on the PC :)

Sorry, I've had Mass Effect (PC) for a while now, but still haven't gotten around to playing it yet. Regardless, I'd be very shocked if I encounter problems so that probably wouldn't help me with helping you anyway, but here's another post you can take a look at if you like.

http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?s=831cfbebdff075150c66bcb5b0d14a10&showtopic=69232&st=0&p=391656&#entry391656

Good luck man.