I picked up World in Conflict, Overlord, and BioForge in the past month or two.

WiC was great but too short. I really enjoyed its approach to RTS, being more about tactics than resource management. This game is vastly superior to C&C3, IMO. The storyline was well done, and I thought the in-game cutscenes were excellent. Graphics are obviously pretty decent, too.

Overlord is fun but gets somewhat old after a while. It reminded me of Dungeon Keeper for a while, but it's not really quite as twisted. Heh.

And, while I'm only about 12 years late, I've always wanted to play BioForge. So, I got it off ebay. This sucker had skeletal animation and texture mapped 3D graphics running on 486DX2/50s without any acceleration. Cool retro CGI, weird combat, with an interesting story and atmosphere.

Currently in my DOSBOX: TIE Fighter, BioForge, Dark Forces, Cybermage, and Rebel Assault.

As for future stuff:

I'm really pumped for Crysis and UT3. I am really curious about the single player portion of UT3, and just seeing all of the sci-fi/fantasy worlds they make with that engine. I can't stand the menu system in the demo at all though! What are they thinking? It's been a slow decline ever since they gave up the simple-but-very-effective windowing system that came with UT99, IMO.

Crysis is really exciting to me mainly because of how they defeat the innate linearity of FPS games through making highly non-linear gameplay. You can approach things in so many ways in its huge, open environments. Not much claustrophobia to be found here! The story may just be interesting as well.

I think CoD4 may be a buy for me too. I'm glad they moved away from WW2. And it does sound like they put together a great product, from what people are saying about it.

I will be picking up Mass Effect. That may be just about the first reason to own a 360, I think. Aside from racing sims!

I'm not sure if I want to wait for Assassin's Creed to hit PC in months, or just get it for 360.... And then there's Super Mario Galaxy...

It is truly ridiculous just how many big games are coming out this and next month.....

work work work thats how it goes right

Owning my own company/business I am pretty busy most of the time.
on my shelf i have (unopened)

Jericho
GoW
Timeshift
COD 4

I also have on pre-order

Crysis
UT3

+ for the ps3

Haze,
Uncharted,Drakes Fortune.
Assassins Creed.

It seems that I have reached a point in my life when i have the £££ to buy games + state of the art hardware but no time to play the goddamn things. as i am too busy making the goddamn things...oh the irony.

I have just recently got back into PC gaming upon building a new sff system.

Specs:
Shuttle SP35P2
Q6600
8800GTS 640MB
2GB DDR2-800
Vista Home Premium

COD 4 - Stunning graphics, insanely fierce battles, Runs very smooth at maxed settings @ 1920x1440.

Crysis demo - Although a system strangler, this one is going to be amazing. I went about completing the demo several different ways, and each time was chock-full of Newtonian fun.

UT3 demo - Honestly, it's just like UT2004 with a bit of a graphics upgrade. I'm curious as to how the campaign mode will depart from this.

Bioshock - It started off interesting, but lost steam fast. A daft overuse of bump mapping if you ask me, although I was never a fan of of the Unreal 3 engine's graphics from the first screenshot.

ETQW - Can't say there is much I like about this one.

Orange Box - Haven't gotten it yet, but HL2 still stands out in my mind as one of the best PC gaming experiences to date, so I'm playing through it again before I move on to the episodes.

Mafia II - This one still lies somewhere in the distant future, but I'm highly anticipating it's release. The first is one of my all time favorites and I still give it a run through once in a while.

No RPG lovin?

I'm currently playing through the NWN2 expansion....it's better than the original campaign.
The KOTOR2 restoration should be done soon.
Planescape Triology NWN2 mod looks promising as well: http://www.roguedao.com/news/

Guess I am crazy, I am thus far not impressed with any of the new games, though I still need to play some more. All of them are pretty but there isn't any substance. (I haven't picked up TF2 yet)

/wet blanket

I went on a "game-free" binge when I first entered University this fall, and don't get to "indulge" till Dec 8th, my last day. And oh my, how painful it has been. Why can't all these games come out in the summer? But I digress.

I did manage to play 2 demo's, CoD4 and Crysis. I really enjoyed CoD's environment and very intense action, so I'll be buying this game. Crysis I found disappointing, especially since I loved FarCry. (many things here, such as the physics, the high hit points of enemies, most of these are gripes that other people have).

I loved Gears of War for the Xbox, and only got about 2/5th's of the way through, so I'll be picking this up as well. I'm also looking forward to the new Sim City: Societies game, although I'll more than likely play this during my winter term semester.

The $50 I spent on the Orange Box was the best $50 I ever spent.

TF2 is a very fun and engaging game that won't tire you if you pace yourself, e.g., play an hour or two everyday. I find the fun tapers off after this much playing anyways, but TF2 is unique in that it manages to keep things entertaining up until the last second.

I always get a kick out of reading "Wow, PC gaming isn't dead after all!" commentaries, which are usually written as though some kind of unforeseen miracle has transpired...;) And, these kinds of comments are usually reserved for periods of time in which the vitality and strength of the PC gaming marketplace appears undeniable. Times just like this Christmas season, of course. At other times, all we hear is "PC gaming is dying!" Heh...;)

Well, let's see...the number of PCs out there outnumbers consoles by what--ten or twenty to one--or maybe more? Probably much more, since 220M + PCs are sold each and every year, and that number is growing instead of shrinking. Consoles of all kinds in total don't sell in anything approaching this volume each year, and never have.

Then there's the fact that people who primarily prefer to play PC games generally have more disposable income to spend on gaming, which is why they prefer PCs to consoles in the first place. Then we could talk about how consoles are technologically locked into place for years whereas PC hardware gaming technology advances so much more rapidly it is hard to keep up with it. The cutting edge of gaming has always been found on the PC as opposed to the console. In fact, that is why consoles are redesigned every few years, because if this wasn't so then eventually nobody would be interested in them as they'd be hopelessly obsolete in comparison with the state of the PC for gaming. Then we could talk about the fact that PCs are infinitely more useful overall than consoles because you can do so much more with them besides gaming.

Bottom line is to ask, then, why it is that people bother with consoles instead of computers in the first place? My opinion is that if it wasn't for the price differential--uh, at least in terms of the hardware--they wouldn't bother with consoles at all. And, since it's obvious that you indeed get what you pay for most of the time, the miracle is not that PC gaming is alive and well, the miracle is that the console gaming market hasn't dried up and blown away.

I think that moving forward as PC's become ever more powerful and ever more inexpensive, too, the console as we know it will actually be the form of gaming technology that is threatened as opposed to the PC. I can see a time very near in the future when owning a powerful PC will contrast very positively to purchasing a console, not only in terms of raw gaming capability as is already the case today, but also in terms of upgradability and raw price, too. IMO, it's the lower price of consoles today which is keeping the console concept afloat. Moving ahead, that will be a position that every year will become more difficult for console manufacturers to maintain.

I think, too, that it is important to separate the various types of console classes which exist. The WII/Nintendo class of console is, I think, much different from the xBox/Playstation class of consoles. I see these two types of consoles appealing already to entirely different markets who want and expect entirely different things from their consoles. I think that the threat of PC gaming is primarily going to be felt in the future by the xBox/Playstation market, and I can see a day when only the Wii class of console remains standing.

Just IMHO, of course...;)

Id say the UT3 and Hellgate demo's were disappointing. Not really looking forward to the full games.

I liked the Crysis demo gameplay and the graphics were insane. I look forward to the full version of that.

The Orange box is unbelievable. I think TF2 is on its way to multiplayer game of the year.

BF2142 and ET:QW -- why bother with either of them?

Gears and Cod4 are fun games.

I've been an avid player of the Quake and Battlefield series, yet 2142 and Quake Wars don't excite me in the least. I want TF2!

It's a great time for pc games, don't forget Guitar Hero III which is on the PC also! That's loads of fun, despite the hilarious South Park episode which antagonizes the game :P

I'm pretty keen to try out gears on the pc, even got a 360 controller / receiver so I can play it in bliss relaxation (don't get me wrong, you simply can't beat mouse for precision but for chilling out a controller is a lot more comfortable)

Personally I think TF2 is over hyped. Certainly it is a very solid game, great art direction and the whole package just oozes fun from the stylization of characters to the possibilities of teamwork. So how can I say it's over hyped if its so good? Put simply, the game lacks depth. There is room for some co-operative play by mixing classes and tactics on the various maps, however the classes themselves are rather simplistic. Too simplistic. Whenever I play it feels as though something is missing, like I should have a little extra or be able to do something else. But nope, you basically get shoehorned into the narrow role of your class which must be played in a very predetermined way if you intend to succeed. Also the game does little to bring anything new to the Team Fortress play style, alas even grenades are gone. It's basically team fortress rehashed in a very clearly defined way, this is how we want the game to be played, and so it is.

It would have been nice to see some new ideas brought into the game to keep things more dynamic, instead the game is very simple and plays more like a mini-game than something that stands above the crowd on its own merits. To valves defense, they did only release it as part of the Orange box so clearly they saw this themselves. And as I have already said, it is a really well made game with a high degree of polish and very fun for what it is. It just becomes repetitive very quickly.

Don't forget Need For Speed, The Witcher, Fear Perseus Mandate

system shock > bioshock
UT2k4 > UT3
HL > HL2

Pc gaming is either dead, or too consolized.

Wait, I take back dead, Supreme Commander is the greatest game ever, can't wait for the expansion.

The Witcher and TF2!

Oh noes, you blasted ET:QW! Madman will come in and say you are a DX lover and is trashing his beloved OpenGL thingy!

LOL =D

I am really looking forward to the video card review you are working on! :-)

Bioshock: such a gorgeous artistic display and presentation. About 4 levels in I wanted it to end, however. Trudged through. I think I gave it a B+ overall. I'll never play it again. It just needed a tad more variety to shake things up.

Crysis Demo: I haven't had this much fun since Far Cry. Loved it, I played it on normal through Delta, and each plays differently enough that it's worthwhile. I will definitely buy this game.

Portal: The only one of the orange box that piqued my interest. An interesting idea, but alas, another one I probably won't ever play again. I started the bonus rounds, but after about 25% of the way through it was more work than fun, and the levels started to bore me. I gave it an A-.

Just finished CoD 4 and I was surprised. I didn't like the demo at all (the level they give you it seems like you are too restricted,) but a friend lent me the game for the past few days. Man that game is kick ass. What is also amazing are the level load times. We're talking like 4-6 seconds for these massively beautiful levels. The game plays like a movie and this was a surprise for me since I found the demo so singularly restrictive. There are some incredible levels in this game, just jaw dropping amazing.a

I have little interest for HL ep:2. My brother said he couldn't finish it he was so bored, so maybe I'll borrow his steam account for a weekend and give it a shot...

UT I've never been a fan. I've always gotten bored of its multiplayer, but I've got a LAN party coming up in two weeks, so I'll check it and TF2 out.

I am really looking forward to Assassins Creed. Its looks great, and just in time for the Nov. 15 release.
Throw in Need For Speed: Pro Street and Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles as well.

I have always liked my Xbox360, N64, and so forth because they allowed me to play with friends. Co-op games are definitely my favorites since they seem to add infinite more ways to play. On the other hand I can't get enough of good graphics so I love playing games such as Crysis on my PC. Of course I can never get enough of Counter-Strike either :)

The $37 I spent for the Orange Box were some of the best ever spent.

Portal while short, is almost worth 2 games itself, since it is fun to just jump in and play even after I beat it.

I never played HL2:Ep1, so I am playing 1 then 2, and in between.......

TF2......WOW, what a blast.

Wow i guess everyone's out partying up a storm on Friday night huh? No replies to this yet. I had the same feeling about ET Quake Wars. Just got tired of getting killed so quickly and waiting to respawn so went into single player mode and put it in god mode and voilla! Now it's better than Battlefield. I
I've played the Crysis Demo so many times I'm chompin at the bit for the new one. Just ordered an 8800 GT after seeing that the prices for the HD 3850 will be the same. http://www.buy.com/prod/HD_3850_PCIE_256MB_GDDR3_HDMI_CTLRDVI_DUAL_...
Check out the deal I just got: An MSI o'clocked with two games for $226.99 and a mail in rebate from UPS for free shipping.
http://www.onsale.com/shop/detail.aspx?dpno=7349454&store=onsale&so...

Bioshock got a little boaring half way through so I've put it to rest. Don't really feel like looking around for the ingredients to that nutralizing gas or whatever it's supposed to be.
Are you guys getting sick of rediculousely hard Boss Battles? I'm really getting fed up with them. I'm stuck in Lost Planet Rite now in yet another Mech Suit Battle. Trying to Kill Two mini tank thingies and a HUGE tank thing that has killed me about ten times now. I'm getting real sick of it.
I'm glad you are talking about increased performance on Call of Juarez. The demo was not playable on my 8600gts (just RMA'd it in favor of the 8800 GT).
I totally agree about COD4 but only played the Demo. Looks great and plays real smooth.
The Timeshift Demo looked great. I'll buy that game when I can get it for under $30 (ebay probably).
I've been reluctant to buy the orange box. Valve should have released the black box versin that they scuddled. It would have only had the three new games which would have cost less. They should not force us to buy games we already have. THAT'S a bunch of B.S. SORRY. They are not getting any more of my money.
Among the ones' I've played so far, Lost Planet, Enemy Quake Wars, Bioshock (initially had a bad sound bug where no sound played and I had to download a patch), COD4 Demo,Call of Juarez, and Unreal Tournament 3 demo the crown definately goes to CRYSIS.

I just love the beautiful outdoor environments and although some say the game is too linear I say that I've used different attack points and strategies from stealth to run and gun to just grabbing a boat and/ or a humvee and blowing the crap out of everyone and loved the different ways in which the game unfolded. It looks awesome too. And now with an 8800 GT most of us can play it at settings where it's frame rate will be OK. This one seems comfortable at 25 FPS. I'll stop rambling now.