First custom PC build

Haven't updated this in a while for a number of reasons. One of them was the fact that there were a few deliverables to be handed in for university courseworks and the like. The other was that I've just recently finished building my first custom PC!

It's something I've always wanted to do, but never really had the balls to try as I was scared that I would buy the wrong parts, make a mess of the build and therefore spend funny amounts of money on pieces of hardware that don't go together. However, around Christmas time I bit the bullet and decided to give it a shot, and I was surprised how easy it was! Seriously, anyone who's out there who is scared to build their own gaming rig, don't be! All it takes is a little bit of research on Google to see what parts you need, how to put the parts together and then it's just a case of shelling out the dough to buy the parts! Putting the parts together is just a matter of knowing which part goes where, which again can be remedied with a quick Google search.

I mainly used this video from YouTube for some guidance on how to build the PC. It shows pretty much everything that is required to build one and how ridiculously easy it is compared to what many have been lead to believe:

Before building my PC I was a die hard console gamer. My opinion was that gaming should be done on consoles as has been done for decades, with a controller between my hands sat in front of a TV. However, I've now opened up to gaming on a PC. First person shooters are just so much better with a mouse and keyboard, so much so that playing a FPS on a console now feels a bit weird. I've also now discovered strategy games such as XCOM Enemy Unknown and Command & Conquer which, why also available on consoles, was definitely designed with point and click in mind, to the point that strategy games feels a bit cumbersome using a game controller pad.

I'd like to make clear though that I have definitely not turned my back on console gaming now that I have discovered PC gaming. Whilst FPS and strategy games are better for PC, I feel that games such as Devil May Cry, Gears of War etc feel much better on a console. Imagine playing Devil May Cry using a keyboard? In my opinion it just wouldn't work with the amount of button mashing involved. I know you can plug your Xbox 360 controller into a PC to play the game, however it just doesn't feel right in my book when the game has definitely been designed with consoles in mind.

I may or may not have just droned on a lot of cack as my brain is a bit fried. I'll just finish off by summarising what I said above that really could have been said with one sentence; I've discovered PC gaming and it ain't half bad, but console will never be obsolete in comparison to PCs and vice versa.

Bring back childhood gaming!

I'm currently in a retro gaming phase. Every now and again I suddenly get this urge to break out the old games and revisit the old classics like Final Fantasy 7, Crash Bandicoot, Chrono Trigger, Super Mario World and far too many others to count.

But why is it I take these notions to play older games? Is it because I'm bored of the current games on offer in our current generation?

Far from it! I love how far games have come along, however I can't help but feel that as I've grown older gaming has become something of a norm for me. I'm not saying that I've outgrown or become bored with gaming nowadays. I just miss the days as a kid when I wasn't making my own money, when the only way of getting a game was from your parents as a Christmas or birthday present and getting and playing that game was the most exciting thing in the world. Sounds ridiculous I know, but I miss those days when getting a new game and playing that game was special. Instead I sort of feel it's become standard.

Of course, I wouldn't want to not be able to buy games on a regular occurrence nowadays! But playing the classics reminds me of how excited I was to get and play those games at the time. In ten years I might not be so excited to come back and play, say, Halo 4 because buying and playing it just felt standard. Don't get me wrong, the game is awesome, but it'll never compare to the day I got a psone and played crash bandicoot for the first time, or when I played Chrono Trigger for the SNES! Or when I sat down for weeks and played through Final Fantasy 7 or Metal Gear Solid! Those games may not be able to compare very well to the games of today, but if I had to choose what game I got most excited about, Donkey Kong Country for the SNES or Halo 4 for Xbox 360...well, here's my answer:

Violence in games....whit!?

When thinking about my first proper entry to this blog, a few things came to mind. Perhaps a review of the new DmC game, the next generation of consoles that are to be revealed this year, or maybe even a look back at some of the best games of this generation.

Then it hit me like a ton of bricks...I'm gonna talk about the very thing which pisses me and so many gamers off around the world. This bullshit that games cause violence!

Sure, there have been numerous cases where it has been found that those who have committed violent acts such as shootings, mass murders etc owned and played violent games. Back in 1999, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris opened fire in their high school, shooting 20 people where 13 of them died. It was later revealed that they played violent games such as Doom, Mortal Kombat yadda yadda yadda!

Since then, and possibly even before since I haven't looked up many other incidents, many people have came to the conclusion that violence in video games translates into real world situations.

Now I'm sure I'm thinking exactly what most other people reading this are thinking...just because I hijack cars and perform a hit and run on hookers in GTA doesn't mean I'm gonna be stupid enough to do it in real life! Just because I wear Mjolnir armour and perform epic headshots in Halo doesn't mean I'm gonna spend a ridiculous amount of money on eBay for the same armour replica and go out on a killing spree! (No pun intended...)

Many would also argue that although we may not replicate what we do in video games into real life, it is still wrong that we perform such virtual acts in video games and apparently 'fantasise' about killing while playing. When I play Black Ops for example, I'm not getting a kick out of killing a human being in the game. I have the common sense required to realise that the characters in games are just virtual targets, nothing more. I'm not thinking "yas, I killed a person, oh I'd love to do this in real life".

If people in the media still wanna go with this ridiculous notion that all gamers are psychopaths in the making, then why not go right on ahead and ban every movie that has any form of weapon in it? After all, next time I watch Star Wars I might be brainwashed into going out with a bread knife, pretend it's a lightsaber and swing it about at passers-by!

To cut a long story short, my opinion is that those who are quick to point the blame at video games should start pointing the blame where it matters...the silly bastard that was stupid enough to commit the crime in the first place!

First of many!

Hey guys, welcome to my very first attempt at a blog! Pretty new to this so bare with me if it turns out to be a bit shit...

The plan is that the blog will consist mainly of my opinions, thoughts, rants etc about various aspects of the gaming community, whether it be my opinion on a new game or a rant about a new game, discussions about the gaming industry and other stuff. Well, that's the plan anyway!

Anyway, as I said I'm a complete noob at this so if anyone has any suggestions don't hesitate to throw them my direction!

Cheers :)

Dave