On the agonies of consumer purchasing power

[warty goblin]

Good playgrounders, I find myself in a most distressing conundrum.

There are two games that I desire, yet I can only afford one of them. This evenofitself isn't unusual. However my usual fallback decision making metric is failing me. This metric goes: buy whichever game is least likely to succeed, since it needs the support me.

So on the one hand we have DCS Blackshark (http://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/), an attack helicopter sim of actually frightening accuracy and depth. This is interesting on a couple of levels. Firstly I like sims, although it's been a while since I played one. Secondly, any game with this degree of fidelity is interesting on general principle. Thirdly, it's a hardcore flightsim released in 2009, something that just isn't supposed to happen anymore. Also, attack helicopters.

On the other hand we have Section 8 (http://www.joinsection8.com/). This is without a doubt less hardcore than BlackShark, and in some ways less fringe. But it's a shooter that seems to cross Tribes (awesome) with Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (more awesome) and a fairly in depth power armor representation (even more awesome). Plus its a shooter with brains and the guts to come out the same fall as that great font of vapidity: Call of Duty.

So I ask you, oh playground, for your knowledge of these titles, and which one you would support with your hard earned dollars.

[Triaxx]

Depends on whether you want to fly around and shoot people or run around and shoot people. There's nothing that says you can't buy both, the question just becomes which first. I'd lean towards Section 8. Blackshark need a Joystick?

[Thrawn183]

From reading many, many, many of your posts, I'd have to advise you to go with realism. Er... go with your stated preference for realism, I should say.

[Oregano]

A few people have told me that Section 8 is fun, but overall not that great. So if you think the over will be good I'd get that.

I'd say get the first one anyway. It'll need the sales more as it's not exactly a popular thing and good sales could/will convince them to provide some sequels which can be great. It's unique and deserves your support.

[Kudaku]

Did a youtube search for DCS - Black Shark and this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q_XNf4elAI)was the first movie I found. It takes the player four and a half minutes to prep the helicopter for takeoff before he's airborne!!! If that sounds like pure awesome to you then you know what game you should get.

[warty goblin]

Did a youtube search for DCS - Black Shark and this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q_XNf4elAI)was the first movie I found. It takes the player four and a half minutes to prep the helicopter for takeoff before he's airborne!!! If that sounds like pure awesome to you then you know what game you should get.

It transpires, from perusing the offical forums, that there's a shortcut key for that, which is good as I'm not overly interested in playing what amounts to a 50 keystroke long quicktime event in order to play the game.

One concern I have about Black Shark is that I don't have a decent joystick. I've got a fairly cheap and very old one, which I used to play Microsoft Flight Simulator 95 to give you some idea of the age. Unfortunately being from the Cambrien, it doesn't have a USB plug and my computer lacks whatever socket we used back in the dark ages. I could probably chase down an adaptor, but that's not a certainty by any means. I've played some flight simish sort of stuff without a joystick before, and the experience isn't anything to write home about.

Also there is the staggering depth of DCS. I've played some things I consider hardcore, but this is actually rather daunting...there is supposedly a 'game' mode, but even that's supposed to be hardcore enough to shatter concrete.

[Myatar_Panwar]

Avoid both. Buy Batman.

But to actually answer your question, the flight sim one probably needs your money more than Section 8. I gauge my decision on the fact that I've actually seen it advertised in several places, written about briefly on gaming blogs, etc, though I have never ever heard of DCS. This tells me one company has the money to pay for advertisments/marketing, and one doesn't.

But again. Buy Batman.

[warty goblin]

Avoid both. Buy Batman.

Superheroe things and I don't really get along all that well as a rule. I'd rather avoid a game about them simply because every time I've experienced superheroe media over the last few years I've been bored silly.

Plus Batman fails my metric so hard it actually goes negative. This isn't to say I never buy popular games, merely I feel no real need to do so compared with the less popular ones on the market. I figure my tastes are weird enough that I make myself more useful to the gaming polis by supporting the fringes than the mainstream, and it doesn't cost me to do so because I often enjoy fringier titles. Again, I don't have anything against mainstreamness as a whole -there are certain mainstream games I consider retrograde and extranious just like there are plenty of fringe titles I think the same of- but I'm not trying to be elitist about this.



But to actually answer your question, the flight sim one probably needs your money more than Section 8. I gauge my decision on the fact that I've actually seen it advertised in several places, written about briefly on gaming blogs, etc, though I have never ever heard of DCS. This tells me one company has the money to pay for advertisments/marketing, and one doesn't.

But again. Buy Batman.

That's the impression I'm getting. OK, now it's off to start looking at joysticks. If only I could afford TrackIR as well...

If I'm going to do this, I'm doin' in right.

[Triaxx]

Well, there are Gameport to USB adapters, but I can't vouch to quality. NewEgg has some I know. What I use for that sort of thing is a converter that lets me use a Console controller instead. Works pretty well.

[ZeroNumerous]

That's the impression I'm getting. OK, now it's off to start looking at joysticks. If only I could afford TrackIR as well...

If I'm going to do this, I'm doin' in right.

I sat through that entire start up video. I watched it twice just to be sure I wasn't crazy. He spends 4 and half minutes, 270 seconds, sitting there flipping switches. I can honestly say: Unless the game disc is laced with cocaine, just buy Batman.

[Myatar_Panwar]

Oh my god I just watched that video. SO MANY SWITCHES

Also he describes it as a "quick and dirty" startup. What happens when you do it the right way? O.o

[warty goblin]

Oh my god I just watched that video. SO MANY SWITCHES

Also he describes it as a "quick and dirty" startup. What happens when you do it the right way? O.o

It's sort of like switch porn- I lika dem switchies.

I've watched a couple other videos, and I think I'm going with DCS, as soon as I get the bills in for the month and can assess whether I can afford a new joystick or not. Somehow I have a feeling that I'll need more than my crappy two button one for this game...

[Swordguy]

You wanna do it "right"? Then do it.

Do it. C'mon, you know you wanna. Pick up a Saitek x52 (http://www.saitek.com/UK/PROD/x52pro.htm) and an accompanying rudder pedal setup. Doooooo eeeeet.

They're awesome (I play Falcon 4.0 and MechWarrior 4 Mercs on them).

[warty goblin]

You wanna do it "right"? Then do it.

Do it. C'mon, you know you wanna. Pick up a Saitek x52 (http://www.saitek.com/UK/PROD/x52pro.htm) and an accompanying rudder pedal setup. Doooooo eeeeet.

They're awesome (I play Falcon 4.0 and MechWarrior 4 Mercs on them).

Congratulations. You have just succeeded in filling me with much burning desire. Tragically that's a bit outside of my price range. I was looking at the Cyborg X (http://www.saitek.com/UK/PROD/cyx.htm) though. Any opinions on that one?

and to be honest I think I'll invest in TrackIR before rudder peddles. That way I could also do Arma II right, doncha' see. There's also the bit where as a college/grad student I'm essentially an (unpaid) professional seasonal worker in the field of staring at paper. The smaller I can keep the amount of gaming crap I haul around, the less dispairing looks from the parents.