Dead Space

I bought the game today and something happened that hasnt happened in years...the fucking game wont run. When I start it the screen goes black and thats it. Im fucking livid.

Make sure you meet the system requirements
Make sure you have the latest video drivers for your card installed (nvidia.com)
Check the website forum for advice
Worse case, call support

What OS are you on? XP or Vista?

Make sure you're up to the latest Service Pack for it (I found that I had a hard time running certain games on my laptop before I patched up Vista)

Also, you may not have an nvidia graphics card. find out the manufacturer and go to their site, generally under the support section is where you'll find the newest drivers.

I have Vista. ATI Radeon x1270. dual AMD Turion(tm) 64 X2 mobile technology tl-60. Any suggestions? Is my shit too sorry to run that shit?

Forget it I figured it out. I need an X1600 radeon or better. $40 down the toilet. Unless I upgrade the video card...any Idea how much that would be. For a Laptop?

rokassan wrote:Forget it I figured it out. I need an X1600 radeon or better. $40 down the toilet. Unless I upgrade the video card...any Idea how much that would be. For a Laptop?

Anywhere from 100$ to 250$, im not sure on the prices of Radeons since i always use Nvidias, but there pretty comparable in terms of cost.

Laptops are not really build to run games. You need high end video (as you just learned) and alot of RAM, which most laptops won't have standard.

To upgrade, Laptop hardware is much more expensive than desktops.

I found the hardware on ebay for $125 (Buy it now)

However, you will also need a pro install as you don't want to open up your own laptop (vs. a desktop who almost anyone can do).

It would be a big investment just to run a game, and even then it may not perform as well as you want it to. I wouldn't do it.

Sell the game on ebay to recover some of your costs

See if there is a Patch for the game in the official web site.

You're not the first to have issues with this game.

http://forums.ea.com/mboards/thread.jspa?threadID=451328&start=0&tstart=0

This is why I think consoles have an edge in the end, as much as I love PC gaming and the interface flexibility (not to mention modability): if you had an XBox 360, you could've just bought the game and be playing it right now.

or you could buy a graphics card, cheaper than a console.

If it wasn't for shitty controllers, I'd be interested in console games.

Consoles? Are you serious? Consoles are proprietary so when they break you need to pay to have them fixed or buy a whole new system.

Your also limited to proprietary titles that do not port accross platforms. You may love ie: Super Mario World, but you can't play it on your $600 playstation because the software is owned by Nintendo.

Your internet connection is limitted to their proprietary service. You can't play Unreal online vs. your friend unless he owns the exact same console and service.

Chris covered those stupid controllers.

Plus you can't surf the net, run your business, email, or any of that other stuff with your console game system. In short, the PC can do everything a console system can plus much more.

My Xbox 360 only gets used as my DVD player for the family room.

Tsk, I love my PC, but here's something else I give consoles:

ease of playing online. I'm sorry, but unless you know the pain of trying to hook up two computers with routers across the interwebs, or worse, the modem days, you can't appreciate how easy it is to go and play directly with a friend. The only thing that's easy to connect to pc-wise is either an MMO or a server. Even now, getting just two computers connected for a game is a gamble. I can't tell you how many hours I wasted trying to get System Shock 2 to play multiplayer, or any number of other games.

As for the controllers, they may suck for some things, but for others it beats the PC. For example, platformers. I've played Mirror's Edge PC and 360, and I'm sorry, but it plays a LOT better with the controller.

As for proprietary games, that argument gets blurrier every day, most good games go across EVERY console AND PC. It's only Nintendo that holds on to their good games, and that's what, 5 of them? I prefer the Xbox right now mostly because I don't care to spend a fortune on blu-ray discs and because I enjoy their "exclusives" more. Plus that argument doesn't really wash with PCs, because there are plenty of console games that never see a PC release.

Do I prefer Fallout 3 on the PC? Hells yeah. But if I had a laptop, which as Shadowmaster pointed out, is a pain in the ass to upgrade and not meant for gaming, I'd stick to a console. Because in the end, a console will be cheaper than a PC rigged for gaming.

Don't give me the "Just a simple upgrade" excuse. Don't people remember when everyone decided PCI-Express was the way to go, and suddenly it wasn't just your video card but your video card, motherboard, and CPU? Downward spiral.

I'm not arguing one is better, I just think when it comes to arguments of "I got X game, now I have to jump through hoops, adjusts settings and drivers, and rub buddha's belly in the hope that it'll run."

I'm just glad we're past the age of autoexec.com, config.sys, and manual memory management, a black hole of my childhood.

In the old days networking was a pain and you would need to lean on your pro friends, but today the Windows OS does most of the work automatically. I've worked in development for 17 years, so I do take most of that stuff for granted.

All 3 console companies: Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft all have proprietary titles. Game companies like Bethesda or Blizzrd make their games work on all 3 platforms to increase sales - but the cost is increased because the must develop and maintain 3 different versions of the code base. This of course is passed on to the consumer.

The one type of game I do like better on consoles is sports games. You can't really play Madden or NHL hockey with a keyboard. I also have this xtreme skateboard game for my wii fit which is silly fun.