With Windows 7 seemingly gaining more and more popularity, a question some people may have is how legacy games will work in the new OS. The solution to this may be as simple as using a virtual machine (ala Microsoft Virtual PC) to run the games.

While Virtual PC does not support hardware acceleration, you can see that it runs the FPS Quake 2 quite well using software rendering. That said, true legacy games should run fine in a virtual machine with little performance hit. You should, however disable Integrated Mode if you are using Windows XP Mode in Windows 7.

Does anyone currently play games in a virtual machine? If so, how is the performance?

There have been some who read PCMech that would like to shoot me in the face.

Well, you may get your chance.

Last week on PCMech LIVE, the subject turned to gaming and I said I wanted to give PCMech readers an option to play a game with a real live PCMech author, that being yours truly.

The problem has been that people have different computers that use different operating systems, and it was really difficult trying to find something fun that everybody could play no matter what they used. In addition, I wanted something that was attractive to old and new gamers that was easy to play and be fun at the same time.

Someone (and I’m so sorry but I can’t remember the guy’s user name – forgive me) in chat recommended I check out QUAKE LIVE.

Some of you just read that and thought, "You mean that QUAKE? The one that was so frickin’ cool and super-awesome back in the day?" Yes, that QUAKE.

For those that have no idea what QUAKE is, it was one of the first FPSes (first person shooter) that really made a splash in multiplayer 3D environment PC gaming. This is what LAN parties were made of. It was the successor to DOOM and filled those shoes very well.

Here’s what makes QUAKE LIVE amazingly cool:

First, it’s all in-browser. It runs in Windows, Mac or Linux. All that’s required is a simple plugin download along with registering a free account.

Second, it’s free.

Third, and what I consider to be the best part, it’s stupidly easy to play. The strategy is simple. Join a game and shoot everybody. Pick up ammo and weapons that are in spots around the arena and just keep blasting away. Whoever score the most kills/frags wins. It’s as simple as that.

For the older gamers:

This is QUAKE pretty much exactly as you remember it. You may think in-browser 3D games suck, but with QUAKE it is so, so smooth. Add in the fact that it’s all multi-player’d extreme with ladder rankings and so on, and you’ll quickly see that yes, this is quite an awesome port.

For the newer gamers:

For an in-browser 3D FPS, you’ll be impressed by it. No, it doesn’t have the super-awesome realistic nature of games on XBOX or PS3, but the fact it doesn’t cost you anything and it’s so easy makes it really cool. Trust me, this is no Runescape. This is a true FPS in every sense of the term. And it’s fast. Really fast.

For those who have never played QUAKE:

QUAKE LIVE does have a training mode, and a darn good one at that. If you’ve never played the game, or haven’t played it in years, don’t worry. You’ll get in the swing of things fast n’ easy with this. It follows the same WASD (up, left, down, right) that so many other FPSes use, so it won’t be anything that’s totally unfamiliar.

Quick note before continuing: Yes, it does have a full screen mode.

Is this something you think you’d be interested in?

I’ve been trying for a while to find a game everybody could get into. QUAKE LIVE is looking pretty good right now. It is OS-independent, browser-independent and should run on just about any computer. It’s easy to use, easy to play and has all the right stuff.

If this is something you think sounds good – or not – let me know.

Also be sure to join PCMech LIVE Wednesdays 8pm-10pm EST. I’ll be happy to field questions about it there as well.

If enough of you want to get in the game, you’ll get the chance to shoot me in the face with a rocket launcher. Virtually, of course.

If you’ve bought enough computers over the years, chances are you’ve had at least a few of them that dropped in value so fast it made your head spin.

Before listing the worst, the best concerning resale value has always been laptops. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Lenovo, Macbook, Dell Inspiron or what-have-you. The laptop will always retain higher value than the desktop PC will. Note however that this is for standard sized laptops and not the smaller netbook format.

The worst concerning resale value however isn’t the desktop computer – although I bet you thought it was.

It’s the gaming console. And yes, that is a computer.

There’s not much that shoots down in value faster in value than gaming consoles and the games themselves that play on them.

To put this in perspective:

You buy a video game system for $250. What’s it worth in six months? About $100. If you can sell it for more, consider yourself lucky you found a sucker to buy it.

That game you bought new for $50? In six months it’s worth $15.

It is routine that gaming consoles and the games will lose 50% or greater (usually greater) of their value in six months or less.

OUCH.

Even cell phones don’t drop in value that fast.

What’s the best way to sell off a used console gaming system?

If it’s in warranty, that’s a huge, huge plus. Mention it in your listing on eBay or craigslist and mention it LOUDLY. This gives the buyer confidence that if the system busts it can at least be fixed for free.

If it’s not in warranty, well.. bundle as many games as you can and take what you can get. But don’t be surprised if what you get is less than half of what you paid for it.

While I’m sure a lot of our readers are not into gaming, I am also sure a large number are. If you are and prefer to build your own system over purchase a ready made, then this tip is for you. This article on Tom’s Hardware titled ‘System Builder Marathon: Performance & Value : Is Spending More Justified?‘ covers building a gaming machine on 3 distinct budget ranges and compares the resulting systems.

The 3 budget values examined are $625, $1,250 and $2,500, which seems like typical amounts people spend on gaming machines judging by posts in the forums here. The really interesting angle of this article is the comparison of what extras you get for the extra money.

Jumping to the conclusion:

As we’d hoped, performance scales directly to dollars spent, but not proportionally. Performance increases are almost linear whereas build-cost increases are exponential. Doubling our $625 PC budget produced a 78% performance gain in the $1,250 PC, but doubling the $1,250 budget gave our $2,500 PC only a measly 13% gain. Overclocking helped the $2,500 PC more than the rest, but  the value of high-end systems is always somewhat questionable.

One thing to keep in mind, is these systems were spec’ed in December, but for the most part the prices should not have fluctuated too much.

The Iphone is just cool. Calling it a phone is almost a disservice because what it really is is a full mobile computing platform. And in that vein, it can also be a mobile GAMING platform.

Now, I’m not a big gamer (my regular readers know that). But, I did spend a little time playing around in the App Store looking for some decent free games for the Iphone. I wanted to see what the phone could do. And I came across Maze Finger.

This game is simplistic as hell, but the graphics are pretty cool. I decided to create a quickie video to show you. NOTE: I was using a Flip Video in the dark to record this, so yeah, it is kind of out of focus. But, you’ll get the idea.

What do you think? Do you think the Iphone and the Ipod Touch could be Apple’s competition to some of the other popular mobile gaming platforms? I do.

In what has to be one of the coolest Linux LiveCDs ever released, there is a DVD distribution of Linux that is absolutely nothing but games, games and more games.

You can check it out here. It’s built on the Arch Linux distribution and there are 16 games available on it.

Compared to other distro releases, this is not about productivity (no tools present for that) or anything of that ilk. It’s just games.

The web site states it is a true “boot ‘n’ play”.

I plan on downloading it and checking it out. You should too.

If you want some nitty-gritty on what’s on the disc (other than the site) Linux.com will give you all the details on it.

For those of you want more out of your computer than e-mail and Internet, but don’t have the money to dish out for a $3,000 rig that will get outdated in a week, look no further. I have compiled a list of the various components to let you get the most for your money for 2008. You want to play Crysis on high set on 1280 X 768 resolution with flawless performance? Done. You don’t want to wait longer than 8 seconds when starting up your computer? Done. You want to have all the Internet tabs open as you want? Done. Incredible graphics on a 22” screen? Ability to download and watch HD movies at the same time? Option to immerse yourself in a MMORPG game with your own surround sound system? Done, done, and done. For a computer with this type of performance, you would probably pay $3000+ for a retail version. I’ll show you how to do it for a little over $2,000. 

Motherboard: ASRock NVIDIA 650i SLI ATX

This high-end motherboard supports two graphics cards running in SLI mode. Also features 4 ram slots at DDR2 800 with dual channel support, support for LAN and wireless, with onboard audio. Great for graphics.

Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad QX6600 2.66GHz

With four processing cores you will be able to do all the multitasking you want. Reasonably well priced, good compatibility, and cheaper than some of the dual core processors.

Memory: Patriot Extreme Performance 4GB (4 X 1GB) DDR2 800

You can’t go wrong with this RAM. You will experience faster speeds and loading times for applications and programs. Even games will run faster with the improved CAS latency.

Video Card: 2X ZOTAC 8800GT 512MB AMP Edition in SLI

One of the fastest 8800GT cards out there. Beats the 8800GTS 320MB and 640MB versions, and keeps within 1-3 fps of the 8800GTX priced almost twice as much. Pre-over clocked to 700MHz stock, 2GHz memory, and 1760Mhz shader, this thing is definitely AMP’ed up. 2 of these in SLI mode will allow you to play even the most intense games at an incredible level with stunning graphics and phenomenal frame-rate for the price. Will probably be able to handle anything you throw at it for a solid couple years.

Case: NZXT HUSH ATX mid-tower

Has two extremely quiet fans to keep your rig nice and quiet even when you pull late night gaming sessions. Also has many expansion slots, HDD drives, and optical drive slots on the outside. Plenty of room to expand.

Hard Drive: 2X Western Digital Raptor 150GB 10,000RPM in RAID 0

If you thought 7200RPM was fast, think again. This hard drive comes with a speed of 10,000RPM; almost double the old 5400RPM version. 2 of these in RAID 0 will yield even more impressive speed with a total of 300GB for storage. Great combination of speed and storage.        

Optical Drive: 2 X Samsung DVD+/-R/W Combo burner with Lightscribe

The standard for running and burning DVD’s and CD’s. Includes Lightscribe technology for disc writing abilities. Incredible reading and writing speeds. With two you will be able to simultaneously burn a CD or DVD while watching a movie or playing a game on the other.

Monitor: Sceptre 22” Widescreen 2ms

Super fast response time, 1680 X 1050 for great gaming and video picture. Contrast Ratio is 2000:1, so your blacks and whites will be easily told apart.

Keyboard: Logitech G15

Only the best use this keyboard. Has over 100 programmable buttons to make RTS and MMORPG games a breeze. LCD screen provides critical information from the current game you are playing and also monitors your CPU and memory load. Different backlight brightness allows for overall one of the best customizable keyboard ever.

Mouse: Logitech G9

You will need a good mouse to keep up with this computer. This mouse will have no trouble at all. Can be optimized to up to 3200dpi for super fast response when caught up in intense battles, while able to be adjusted lower for the recon sniper roles. Comes with alternate cover and adjustable weights.

Speakers: Logitech 5.1 surround sound system

Immerse yourself into the game with this sound system from Logitech. With this setup you will be able to hear (and feel) a grenade explosion like it was meant to be. 

Power System: Hiper ATX 880watt quad 12V rails

To run two graphics cards and a quad core processor, it will take a lot of juice. This power system is up to the task with 880 total watts of raw power, coming from 4 12V rails, two of which set at 30 amps compared to the average 18-22. Great for over-clocking.

Cooling: Zalman 2 ball CPU cooler

If you want the best out of your money, you are going to want to over-clock your processor. Swap this out with the cheap one they send with the processor packaging and you will notice significant temperature drops, allowing for you to easily attain 3.0GHz or more on all four cores stable.

Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium

If you want to play DX10 games, vista is the way to go. It may be a tad slower performance than XP and a bit buggy, but new updates are coming out almost every day fixing the problems and improving the overall vista performance.

Price Listings from Newegg

So for a little over $2000 you can get a high-quality gaming computer that provides the performance of a high-budget enthusiast but without the price of one. For example on Alienware the same specs would cost $3,479.87! And that doesn’t count that this setup has factory over-clocked graphics cards, a quality CPU cooler for over-clockability, and 5.1 surround sound speakers. Sure $2000 for a computer may seem steep, but each and every component will feel like they were worth it, from the dual graphics setup to the mouse. No buyer’s remorse and no need to sell your car. You can go to the store and no longer worry about the minimum requirements on the back of those brand new shiny games. You don’t have to leave the computer for 10-60 minutes anymore when it’s downloading something. The more you use this computer, the more you’ll realize what a great buy it is for the price, which is why it is one of the best bang for the buck gaming computers of 2008.