Pick Your Upgrade Path (October 29, 2005)

ChrisReid

ChrisReid

Super Soaker Collector / Administrator
Our new poll asks what sort of system you expect to need for the next Wing Commander game. Wing Commander fans have a long history of making major upgrades for each primary chapter in the series. The first option is a minimum spec that some current games already require. And it's only a matter of time before those same games' recommended specifications will become the future's minimums. The third option pushes the technological envelope another step further, and you have the choice to select a theoretical higher bar if you wish. If you think the next Wing Commander game will only be released for consoles or handhelds (like Prophecy Advance), then the last two choices are for you.

We don't run very many repeat polls, but this one was originally conducted back in the fall of 1999. Less attention was paid to RAM and video card requirements, so we simply gave fans the option of a Pentium 200, Pentium II 350, Pentium III 450 and Pentium III 600. The P2/350 won with almost half the vote. The 200 MHz system received almost a third. It seems that the 6% who expected to need a system faster than a P3/600 turned out to be right (or very wrong, since the GBA has just a 17 MHz processor).

Our old poll tried to gauge what non-Wing Commander titles by Origin were the most popular. Strike Commander took the lead, with Crusader in second place. The Ultima and System Shock franchises jockeyed back and forth throughout the poll. Cybermage was apparently one of our worst voting options ever.




What was your favorite non-WC Origin game or series?

Bioforge: 4.93%



Crusader: 21.42%




Cybermage: 0.69%



Strike Commander: 25.71%



System Shock: 19.46%




Ultima: 21.16%



Wings of Glory: 6.63%




Total Votes: 1583



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Original update published on October 29, 2005
 
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Why does EA hate Origin so much?

Seeing as EA is uniformly hostile towards Origin properties (even the UO cash cow, it seems), it's unlikely we'd see another official WC game anytime soon.

So, since I didn't see a Multi-Gigaquad, Bioneural, solid light holodeck listed, I chose "higher".
 
If by "hostile" you mean "hosts fan meets and releases annual expansions and retail box sets," then I'd have to agree with you. I voted for 3.0 GHz, 1.0 RAM, 256 Video though.
 
I don't think EA would ever release games that want killer hardware as Origin did. They aim for most profit and that would result in a game that runs on any office PC. So I think we are pretty much talking about the lowest end specs you have listed (as minimum requirements)
 
Yeah, saying EA wouldn't want a cutting edge game because they cater more to the mainstream doesn't acknowledge how many of their recent PC games are quite advanced. I had to upgrade for C&C Generals just like it was a Wing Commander game. And EA is now at the forefront of pushing the DVD standard for PC games. I could kind of see how someone might say they'd go for a more multiplatform push with the next game and there'd be some least common denominator they'd go for.. and in that case it'd be the next generation consoles, which sport better specs than the medium option in our current poll.
 
However WC1 also probably was the most hardware pushing WC game of all I'd dare say. Also note that I did say MINIMUM system requirements. There probably would be lots of options that need high end PC, but I still believe that minimum would be well below 1 Ghz for an EA title nowadays.
As for multiplatform: Considering the X-Box 360 and the PS3 I'd actually worry for the PC performance in comparison.
 
And, of course, we have an infinite number of reasons to believe some random forum poster from Denmark who for all we know could be some 13 year old trying to make themselves sound important by claiming to have inside information at EA... :rolleyes:
 
Why is it considered cool to hate big corporations? Despite "everyone" hating them, they still make a lot of money so they're doing something right.

Anyways, I choose 3.0 GHz, 1.0 RAM, 256 Video. Games like X3 and Nexus run very smoothly on my computer and they look gorgeous. I would very much like to see WC with said graphics.
 
cff said:
However WC1 also probably was the most hardware pushing WC game of all I'd dare say. Also note that I did say MINIMUM system requirements. There probably would be lots of options that need high end PC, but I still believe that minimum would be well below 1 Ghz for an EA title nowadays.
Click to expand...

You haven't seen many of the EA games lately. Something like Generals, released two years ago, needs almost 2 GHz to play decently. New EA games like Black & White 2 or Battlefield 2 have bare minimums starting at 1.6 and 1.7 GHz respectively (with an appropriate video card to match), but aren't smooth unless you have quite a bit more.

cff said:
As for multiplatform: Considering the X-Box 360 and the PS3 I'd actually worry for the PC performance in comparison.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it'll be a few years before many of us get PCs powerful enough to play these games in their flagship platform fidelity if that's the route they go.
 
Death said:
And, of course, we have an infinite number of reasons to believe some random forum poster from Denmark who for all we know could be some 13 year old trying to make themselves sound important by claiming to have inside information at EA... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I was about to write a long reply, but then I noticed your incredibly original name. And while hystericly laughing at your ingenuity, these two lines was all my trembling hands could muster.
 
In addition to being death incarnate he's is also one of the administrators. He's also a great guy unless you do something stupid.;)
 
Dyret said:
In addition to being death incarnate he's is also one of the administrators. He's also a great guy unless you do something stupid.;)
Click to expand...

I am sorry, but I must have missed that 'great guy vibe' in his reply.
 
Bandit LOAF said:
It's okay, we know you were busy being stupid.
Click to expand...

Another 'great guy' I see.

Why hello there. I see that the Admins here have a charming personality to go with their good looks.
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Let me try to save everyone else the minute they'd otherwise waste trying to figure out why that swabbie avatar showed up there...

"I know for a fact that EA hates WC! They just want to take over the world!"
"Why should anyone believe you?"
"Your name is stupid! You're all great big jerks!"
 
Glad I could contribute to your Intarweb Pen0s LOAF, now that your real one is derelict.

Oh and for the record, I never said I hated EA. I know some people in their marketing division and get all kinds of nice stuff for free so why would I hate them?
 
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