Will Doom 3 revive the struggling PC Gaming Industry?

CNN:Money ^ | July 14, 2004 | Chris Morris

[Paradox]

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Since 2000, developer id Software has told the world the next installment of "Doom," the game that kicked off the action genre, would ship "when it's done."

Good news, gamers: It's done. In the lexicon of the industry, "Doom 3" has gone gold.That means with id Software's work done, publisher Activision is duplicating copies to ship to retail. What it all boils down to is you'll be able to pick up a copy at retail on Aug. 5, though some stores could start selling the game as early as Aug. 3.

[Dog Gone]

From what I hear Doom III requires a serious gaming system.

It does. If your video card is more than a couple years old, it won't be good enough. This game is so anticipated, it'll probably cause a surge in purchases of computer upgrades.

[Paradox]

Playing video games until you feel sick?

Its a strange effect. I didn't notice it until AFTER I stopped playing the game. I had read something about that in an article, something about virtual reality type games that could make you sick like that. My symptoms were a slight nausea and instability/perception problems. Kinda weird. The mind gets used to the way things look in VR, then takes a while to adjust back to real life. Its called Simulator Sickness.

[spodefly]

I am not hugely into games, but I do play Quake 3 Arena online, where my lucious fembot "Pink" frags with the best of them.

My understanding of Doom 3 is that you better have a water-cooled 3.2Ghz P4 with a 800MHz FSB, and at least a 128MB video card ... otherwise it will be a slide show.

[Skooz]

Yeah, me too.

I downloaded the shareware version of Wolf 3D off the old Prodigy boards in 1992. I quickly became addicted.

Then, I played hours and hours of Doom and Doom II. Doom II was cool because you could connect with a friend and play online, in a primitive, DOS 6.2 way (a real novelty in those days).

I don't do much gaming anymore, but I'll probably pick up Doom 3 because I liked the first two so much.

[RandallFlagg]

HAAAA!!!! A DOOM 3 THREAD!!!!!

[GreenLanternCorps]

Diablo II "Obsolete"

Goodness help me, I still have the following:

Red Baron
Age of Rifles
Dark Forces

Of course my first PC was:

486DX-2 66mhz
8MB RAM
520MB Hard Drive
2x CD
3.5mm AND a 5.25in Floppies!

[BrooklynGOP]

I played Raven Shield for quite a while. Great game!
Splinter Cell was cool at first, but I just have no patience for stealth type games :(

[TomServo]

Crap - time for a new video card.

[BrooklynGOP]

My first PC was:
286 16mhz
1 meg ram
OAK VGA with 256k
40 meg hard drive

This was like in 1991, so no cd rom :)
Oh, no sound card either, I stripped a wire off the Y cable and wrapper it around a PC Speaker jumper. Plugged it into my boom box, so I could hear .mod, mtm, etc., loud and clear (sorta clear).

[Mr. Jeeves]

You end up having dreams all night where you are moving down corridors, just like in the game. Some games with changing perspective give me a headache within five minutes - Neverwinter Nights did that, and I wanted to like that game. The perspective in Diablo II is always the same, so it doesn't have the negative effects on your eyes and brain. The downside is that because it doesn't really stress your eyes, you can waste hours playing it... ;)

[COEXERJ145]

Never liked DOOM, Quake, etc. The only first person shooters I've ever played have been the Delta Force series from Novalogic (both single and multiplayer), Ghost Recon and the Medal of Honor series for the PC but only in single player.

Best online game though hands down was/is WWII Online but the developers have their heads stuck so far up their backsides they're going ahead with plans that will ruin the enjoyment of the game. Oh well, I was banned for life for being too vocal about it on the forums so if it tanks it won't hurt me.

[Moonman62]

Once again, entertainment rules our roost. Why a video game is of any significance to our economy remains one of life's great mysteries.

It's what people want. On the flip side, remember that commercial poking fun at the commies who gave no economic value to what people wanted: Eveningvear... very nice.

[Batrachian]

I think it would only be that bad at the highest graphical levels and effects that the game can be set for.

[MarkeyD]

I thought they fixed that problem with motion sickness by making the screen move around?

[Skooz]

Red Baron was considered a mighty fine flight sim in it's day. I had Aces of the Pacific and Aces Over Europe from the same company (Sierra) and they were excellent games.

Of course, the machine I played them on was:

386sx 20 mghz
2 mgs of RAM (that's right, 2)
40 mg HD
no CD
I'm not sure about the video card, but I remember I had to buy a new one to upgrade to 1 mg so I could play a game that required SVGA.

I wonder how I can justify a motherboard/RAM/CPU upgrade to my wife. I can't tell her I have to upgrade so I can play a game, for cryin' out loud.

[BrooklynGOP]

Medal of Honor series for the PC but only in single player.

If you like Medal of Honor, then make sure to check out Call of Duty (if you haven't yet).

[GreenLanternCorps]

I'm pretty sure my Nvidia 4200(?) is on the very low end of being able to play it.

Alas, having just bought a house, I won't be able to upgrade my AMD system for a while. Le alone finding the time to blast bad guys... :(

[KC_Conspirator]

I did not know the PC gaming industry was doing bad. From what I gathered it was doing just fine. I do understand that console games have cut into them some. I use my computer for work related things now and just play games on PS2.

[BrooklynGOP]

I'm not sure about the video card, but I remember I had to buy a new one to upgrade to 1 mg so I could play a game that required SVGA

I bet it was Trident :)

[Rebelbase]

My kids are hooked on Star Wars Galaxies and play it online.