I’m about to jump in to Human Revolution tonight, but as I prepare for it, my thoughts drift to the Invisible War launch. At that point, I was regularly lurking the official Eidos forums. The place was pretty swamped and amid the constant complaints, one of the biggest issues of the time was IW’s hardware requirements. It required a card with… shaders.
A few other PC games had done this, but it was a relatively new, forced step to the future. Some seem to applaud the idea. “We get better graphics. Who cares about old cards. It’s time to upgrade.” Others were left behind in the dust. I fell into the latter camp.
Now, the reason I checked the forum so often was to see if someone had figured out a way around the shader issue. Short answer is no. I’d eventually play the game a couple of years later. And yes, I’d had the game in my possession since launch. Personally, I got what was coming to me. I bought a game that specifically said it wouldn’t run on my hardware and I risked it anyway. No problems. The people who were really hurt were those hit by Nvidia’s marketing strategy. The Geforce4 Ti cards could run the game. The lowly MX? Not so much.
Coming around almost full circle, Nvidia has started reusing the Ti moniker. Any bets on how long it is before the MX comes back?
Wait, who cares? Time for Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
After several years of anticipation, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is about to be released. Time to take a quick look back and see how we got to this point.
In a way, it’s almost shocking that it’s happening. After all of the anticipation, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is going to be released tomorrow.
When the game was announced, I was surprised. After all, Invisible War had left a bad taste in gamers’ mouths and it’d been years since the term Deus Ex had mentioned outside of a retro review or a greatest games list. Despite the lackluster efforts of the then latest in the Deus Ex series, I already knew I’d have to try out Deus Ex 3 when it appeared.
(Slightly related: I’ve replayed Invisible War since its release and, without being tainted by the awesomeness of the first game, it’s not too bad. )
What followed was not pretty. I’d check the official Eidos forums every week looking for an update on the Deus Ex. What a horrible place. So much pessimism, so much hate, so much anger for a game that, for the vast major of us, consisted of a few pictures and a bizarre trailer for about three years.
Someday, I’d play the new Deus Ex. I knew it. My computer at the time would not cut it. So, I built a new system, where a small voice in the back of my skull whispered, “You’ll be able to play this game on it.” That was two years ago. Yes, I had convinced myself that DE3 would make an appearance at E3 2009. It didn’t happen.
I persisted. Soaking up each droplet of news. When it finally became real, when gameplay videos and interviews started appearing, I couldn’t look. It’s too close to home. The surprise, the joy of discovering something for the first would be ruined. So, I’ve been on a self-made Deus Ex media blackout for the last few months.
In the meantime, I’ve pre-ordered a game for the first time in my life. I’ve used Steam to pre-load a game for the first time. This also marks the first time in a long damn while that I’ve paid full price for a PC game. And to top it off – that computer from a few years ago – finally got a graphics card that wasn’t a POS. Yes, I”d been holding off to update it until Deus Ex: Human Revolution would be released.
It probably seems a bit much. I’m sure it seems in a way like I”m setting myself up for failure, that the game can’t live up to my expectations. It’s a real possibility, but I’ll still be playing this thing tomorrow anyway.
I did something I haven’t done in years: I purchased a game at full price. That’s right, I just pre-ordered Deus Ex: Human Revolution, so you can expect a ton of updates, ramblings, spoilers, thoughts, etc. as I confusedly work my way through the game. Oh, did I choose any of those fancy Augmented Editions? No. Extras that I view once and throw in storage are not something I want.
It’s official: After years of speculation, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is set to be released on August 23, 2011.
Via Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution has been delayed until at least April in light of parent-company Square-Enix slicing its forecasted profits by 90%.
Via Reuters.
An extended version of the Deus Ex: Human Revolution trailer is now available.
Via Shacknews.
Prosthetic manufacturer Sarif Industries launches a new website. It’s worth digging around.
Via Sarif Industries.
Local Ditch Gaming