Very new to pc gaming

Hello people, so i am going to start by explaining that i have been a console gamervall my life but watch pc gaming on youtube and such. I still have a lot to research about pc gaming but i thought i could start here. My budget is about 700 dollars and i would like to play a chain of games specifically. I would like to run the newest total war games on 720p and 40 to 60 fps. Im assuming that since total war is a hefty game in requirements. I would think that there wouldnt be many games that would require more than total war games. So i would continue to buy most games on my xbox one and i would like to slowly expand to a pc. If there is a computer available for purchase that would meet my running preferences than please tell me but i wouldnt imagine that fitting for my budget. Im sure thete are thing's i might of left out accidentally for you to give a constructed response. But ask me and i will reply almost the same day. Thank you.

Submitted by TattierBag912 | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

Resolution issues

For some reason our Xbox doesn't run certain videos on full screen; just tried to watch a movie on Netflix and it ran with an enormous border around it. My girlfriend tried to fix the issue by changing the resolution in settings, but this has resulted in our Xbox no longer displaying it's original (auto) ratio in our options. We can now only choose between 1080 or 720, neither of which actually fit our tv. Picture is now stuck being stretched, and videos are still massively bordered. Help!

Submitted by ChrisQF | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

Two Big Questions I Have...

1. I can't seem to find any tech analysis of streaming media files (720p vs 1080p) through the Steam Link. Does anyone know of any reports or personal testing of how well high bitrate media files work/play through something like plex/kodi? I would test this all myself, but right now I still don't have the data or know of any reliable software to benchmark anything.

2. Does anyone know of any way to get Dolphin to work properly? I'm having some problems getting the controllers configured properly. While any controllers are connected to the Link, they don't display inside Dolphin as being connected. I've tried DS4 and Wii U Pro controllers through Bluetooth; as well as wired Xbox 360 and Gamecube controllers (through a 3rd party adapter).

   I've configured all of the controllers multiple times beforehand, and they work flawlessly when connected to my PC, it seems that Dolphin just can't see them through the Link. Are there any work-arounds that I can try?

If any one can offer suggestions or just point me in the right direction for either of these questions, I would be really grateful!

Submitted by neK231 | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

Playing 4:3 games on an HDTV

I got a Steam Link as a gift and it works fantastic for my couch gaming needs!

Now that I'm back on the couch, there's a couple of titles I've had for a while that I want to play on my HDTV like Psychonauts, Beyond good and Evil, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Times, ect.

Of course, these games were designed to be rendered on Xbox/PS2 (at 640x480ish) and the artists had to work within the confines of these limitations to make the game look as best they could.

This is a subjective topic, so I'm interested in hearing what you prefer because there really is no wrong answer. For example:

• original

• modded

I think that a lower resolution almost feels like part of the overall puzzle and just fits in with low resolution textures, where as in a high resolution I can see each and every "flaw" with clarity.

---

How do you like to play 4:3 games on modern hardware?

• 1440x1080 with no scaling

• 720x540 with minimal 1:1 scaling and close to the original resolution

• 640x480 with scaling artifacts

Or something in between?

Participate in the poll!

Submitted by specfreq | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

The struggle could not be more real.

Since YIFY is gone the annoyance of trying to find a torrent with a similar format to him is unreal.

Yify: option 720/1080. MP4. Small filesize. Verified.

Others now: Toss up. Always MKV. Larger files. Few verified.

Someone like me who puts files on external harddrive to watch thru my Xbox on my 60" tv requires MP4.

Any recommendations for similar uploaders?

Submitted by Ninjajay2417 | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

Discursive/Argumentative Essay

For school I'm doing a essay on PC Vs Console What do you guys think? Sorry to post it as a block of text It's not finished yet so please suggest things Also please inform me if anything is not 100% true

Discursive Essay

The ongoing battle battle between PC and console, I’m going to say it right now, PC is far superior and much better, case closed right? No, I am going to now explain why PC is much better for gaming and why console sucks.

As you have already guessed I would choose PC over console for everything, apart from something to use as a target for my air rifle. I got many ideas for arguments from, the pcmasterrace(PCMR) is a group aiming to educate the world of how much better PCs are than consoles and encourage and teach people to build computers.

The first reason why pc is better is price. PC is cheaper, in the long run, if you pay for a cheap pc at the start you can upgrade each part over time. Also games for consoles are expensive, around £50, on pc games are usually £10 cheaper if you wait a week or 2 and if you wait until a holiday there are massive sales on all types of games. There is also a thing called humble bundles. A humble bundle is a collection of games you pay what you want for them, you can decide decide where the money you pay goes, for example, you can make 50% of the money go to the developer, 35% to a charity of your choice and 15% to the company running the bundles.

On Xbox One you have to pay a subscription to play online, there is no such charge on pc, instead of spending £45 on Xbox Live, why not buy a new game or buy a new ssd to make your computer turn on much faster. Also you are not limited to Steam, there are many other platforms for games including, Origin, UPlay and disc copies of games.

PC has far superior resolution and frames per second(FPS) support, consoles barely support 720p, where a pc of the same price is capable of 60fps at 1080p. If you spend a bit more money on a pc you can easily achieve 1440p, however you don’t have to pay the cost upfront. On consoles you are limited to the hardware Microsoft and Sony think is suitable to play games, on pc you could buy a really bad pc(or build a cheap one) and over time upgrade each part. If you try to do this on a console you will instantly void your warranty and sometimes you won’t even be allowed to use the console at all.

It is common belief that pc gaming involves hours of staring mindlessly at a computer screen, sure you can do this if you want, but recently technologies including Steam Controller and Steam Link have been developed to allow you to play games on your TV and use a controller with it.

Many people prefer consoles as they are a bit easier to setup, this is widely recognised by the PCMR and is due to the fact that you have to download and install drivers every so often. Consoles used to be “Plug and Play”, but now you must spend a couple of hours installing updates and registering(or logging in). Its is still less work than on pc where many problems can arise involving drivers and installing software. However consoles are not bug free and often games have a “Day 1” patch to fix problems the developers were to lazy to fix before releasing the game.

On the whole consoles are less prone to viruses and hardware issues because its universal across everyone's XBox or PlayStation, on PC you might have to Google your problem along with what component the issue is related to. Whereas on a console you just have to search up the problem with either Xbox1 or PS4 in the name and you will get lots of relevant results.

If you have ever wanted to play games from the 80s then you can, just download an emulator to your computer and start gaming away. There are emulators for almost every single console and game-boy.

On console you buy your Xbox One or PS4 and then when it arrives you decide you don’t like how it looks, sure you can buy skins and stickers to put on it but it will always be the same shape. On PC however if you don’t like your current case you can just order a new one on amazon, or go to a shop and buy one, unplug your computer get a screwdriver and put it all in a new case. Not all pc cases are massive and loud, there are cases the size of consoles, cases that will fit under your tv. Ever had the problem of your console overheating and becoming really loud? On pc if everything is a bit loud just find some silent fans for your case and maybe a water cooler to keep everything nice and cool.

To summarise, PC gaming is much better overall apart from consoles being easier to setup and use on a daily basis. Generally consoles encounter less bugs and issues on a daily basis. This leads to an easier experience suited more to people who don’t have the time to learn how to and build a computer. Also pc can have a higher upfront cost if you want it to, this puts many people off building or buying a pc.

Submitted by FIN123123 | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

First Time Building a Gaming PC

I am normally a console player, owning Xbox 360, PS3, and now Xbox One. The last generation of consoles really satisfied me, because I felt it was a generation where developers actually cared, but now these devs and companies don't care at all, and just pump out garbage that can barely push 720p and can't get past 30fps, sometimes dipping lower. Thus, I'm seriously considering moving to being a primary PC gamer (all I play on PC at the moment right now is World of Warcraft), which is hard because I'll miss the console exclusives. Anyway, after that long preamble, I'm a complete noob at building a PC; I've always bought pre-built laptops and they have all shit out on me. Thus, I'd like to buy the parts separately and put them together myself to learn about the process about building a PC and in the future, when necessary, replace older parts with newer parts. I know some of the parts that I would definitely have with my PC; I've decided against the HDD because it's essentially a dinosaur at this point and it's time to switch to SSD; however, SSD is much more expensive, so I think I could do well with a Seagate 4 TB SSHD. Furthermore, I'd like to have a Blu-ray & DVD drive, because I'm a big fan of physical media and I burn CDs (yes I still buy CDs) and would like to watch a movie if I wanted to. Also, there is no skimping out on a wireless card; I want the best you can possibly get. Lastly, I know I can get by with 8 GB of RAM, but I think getting 16 GB would be ideal to prepare for the future in which more RAM would be required of my PC as well as that additional 8 GB of RAM could allow me to run other programs in addition to a game, like a web browser even, without putting too much strain on my PC's memory. Now, the pricing might be the issue; I was considering contemplating two builds; one budget build at ~$500 and one more expensive build at ~$1,000. Regardless, I want them both to be able to last and play games with the great graphics that PC can offer that consoles simply cannot. I'd really appreciate if someone could reply to this post (this is my first time every posting to Reddit so I'm a double noob in this case) with suggestions on these 2 builds, keeping in mind these parts (wireless card and Blu-ray/DVD drive are essential, but if you want to make argument for SSD instead of SSHD, I could be flexible to that). To be honest, I'm not sure about picking parts that would be compatible together; with this build, I already have a very inexpensive but perfectly functional mouse, but would appreciate suggestions on a mouse you might recommend, a good keyboard (probably mechanical would be best from what I hear), dual monitors, and a decent speaker system. Now that I think of it, this will probably end up being more than I want to spend, but fuck it, I need to build a PC!

Submitted by familyguy0395 | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

First Time Building a Gaming PC

I am normally a console player, owning Xbox 360, PS3, and now Xbox One. The last generation of consoles really satisfied me, because I felt it was a generation where developers actually cared, but now these devs and companies don't care at all, and just pump out garbage that can barely push 720p and can't get past 30fps, sometimes dipping lower. Thus, I'm seriously considering moving to being a primary PC gamer (all I play on PC at the moment right now is World of Warcraft), which is hard because I'll miss the console exclusives. Anyway, after that long preamble, I'm a complete noob at building a PC; I've always bought pre-built laptops and they have all shit out on me. Thus, I'd like to buy the parts separately and put them together myself to learn about the process about building a PC and in the future, when necessary, replace older parts with newer parts. I know some of the parts that I would definitely have with my PC; I've decided against the HDD because it's essentially a dinosaur at this point and it's time to switch to SSD; however, SSD is much more expensive, so I think I could do well with a Seagate 4 TB SSHD. Furthermore, I'd like to have a Blu-ray & DVD drive, because I'm a big fan of physical media and I burn CDs (yes I still buy CDs) and would like to watch a movie if I wanted to. Also, there is no skimping out on a wireless card; I want the best you can possibly get. Lastly, I know I can get by with 8 GB of RAM, but I think getting 16 GB would be ideal to prepare for the future in which more RAM would be required of my PC as well as that additional 8 GB of RAM could allow me to run other programs in addition to a game, like a web browser even, without putting too much strain on my PC's memory. Now, the pricing might be the issue; I was considering contemplating two builds; one budget build at ~$500 and one more expensive build at ~$1,000. Regardless, I want them both to be able to last and play games with the great graphics that PC can offer that consoles simply cannot. I'd really appreciate if someone could reply to this post (this is my first time every posting to Reddit so I'm a double noob in this case) with suggestions on these 2 builds, keeping in mind these parts (wireless card and Blu-ray/DVD drive are essential, but if you want to make argument for SSD instead of SSHD, I could be flexible to that). To be honest, I'm not sure about picking parts that would be compatible together; with this build, I already have a very inexpensive but perfectly functional mouse, but would appreciate suggestions on a mouse you might recommend, a good keyboard (probably mechanical would be best from what I hear), dual monitors, and a decent speaker system. Now that I think of it, this will probably end up being more than I want to spend, but fuck it, I need to build a PC.

Submitted by familyguy0395 | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

Upgrading to pc

I have been a console player since 2008 moving from sd 32 inch 360 to what i have now in a 42 inch 1080p xbox one. If i were to upgrade in say 3 months (when i have finished working over summer) i would have about £2400 to buy an entire set up, with the launch of new cards i think 4k ultra isnt out of budget. how big of a visual upgrade will it be, will it be like the first time i watched HD sport compared to sd sport r like the jump from 720 to 1080?

Am i instantly gonna be like holy fuck why did i not convert sooner or might i be underwhelmed, if im going to invest this heavily in something i wanna be sure :)

Submitted by Tubelesscrib15 | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

[USA-FL][H] Computer Parts, Gear VR, Pebble Time, Misc other items [W] Paypal

I need to sell of all the items quick. Baby on the way and need to clear out the room. Best reasonable offers will be accepted on anything. All items do not include shipping. Please PM me your zip and I will calculate shipping. No trades thank you. If you would like any additional pictures please let me know.

Chromebox

• Chromebox with Kodi installed - $150 They are all brand new. I have it setup to boot to Kodi. No addons or extras preinstalled (But can install on own) just Kodi. I find these much faster and more stable then android.

Zotac Zbox

• Zotac Zbox with Kodi installed - $200 Dual core Intel Atom with Nvidia ION Video, 2gb memory, 32gb SSD, Bluray reader, Card Reader, HDMI and optical audio out. I have kodi installed on it now but can install windows or linux as you choose. I had this as a media streamer on my tv. Worked great.

Pebble Time

• New Pebble Time Champion Kickstarter edition. - $100 Never used. Says 2x Champion on the back

Cell Phones

• ZTE Zinger with case - $20 Used once as a backup.

Sony Ereader

• Sony Ereader - $50 Includes case and charger

Port multiplier

• 4 Bay port multiplier. - $50 Takes 4 internal sata drives and connects to a esata port on computer. Never used.

Android TV Box

• Gbox Slav - $60 Barely used. Android TV Box can install Kodi and other android apps.

Xbox 360

• 250gb Xbox 360 - $175 Includes Kinect (with game party game), Scene it game (with controllers), Halo 3, Battlefield 3, Batman Arkham city, Controller

Misc Items

• Griffin Beacon - $15 each Turns your iDevice into a remote, new

• 2 Logitech Tablet Keyboard - $20 Each For android, should work with apple (don't guarantee that though), new

• Dual USB Charging Station - $10 Has 3 plugs and 2 USB Ports, new

• Insignia 720p camcorder - $10 Basic camcorder, internal flash memory, new.

• Rocketfish Bluetooth Speaker - $15

Gear VR

• 2 Gear VR - $80 each

Computer Parts

• Core i3-3240 Processor with heatsink - $70

• Celeron G1620 Processor with heatsink - $30

• Asus Radeon HD 7870 Video Card - $100

• Samsung DVD Writer - $20

• 2x Thermaltake TR2 700W PSU - $50 Each

• MSI Z77A-G45 Motherboard - $100

• Asus P8Z77-V LX Motherboard - $90

• Dell 300w Power supply - $15

• Cooler Master 700w Power Supply - $30

• DVD Writer - $15

Misc Box of Computer stuff

• I have 2 boxes of computer parts. There is Ram, Video cards, a heatsink, and other misc parts. Selling boxes as is. - Best offer

Submitted by mastercpt | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

Upscaling Issues in Windows 10

Recently I decided to update to Windows 10, mainly for the reason of wanting to be able to communicate with my friends on Xbox through the Xbox app. However, I have been forced with the fact that playing most games on my pc is now very difficult.

My computer is not a very powerful one, with a J1800, 4GBs ram, and integrated graphics. With these specs, playing most games is difficult, but I've been able to drive my computer to play CS:GO, Mount and Blade Warband, and a few Elder Scrolls games.

However, the kicker is that the resolution has to be drastically reduced in order to see a playable framerate. For example, in CS, I have to play at 640x800 at minimum settings to get around 50fps. In Windows 8. this disgustingly low resolution was upscaled to encompass the whole screen, which at least allowed me to play the game without black bars and the like. While I can see the pixels on the screen if I look hard enough, I'm still happy to play the game without black bars. The issue is, in Windows 10, this upscaling does not occur. So, in CS, the screen is about the size of a fist in the middle of a 21 inch 1920x1080p monitor. Obviously, this makes playing the game very difficult. This effect carries over to Mount and Blade, which I play at 720p.

Does anybody have a fix for this? If not, I have to revert back to 8.1. Also, I can't see myself building a PC anytime soon to simply play the games at 1080p with no issue, because money is a stretch for me.

Submitted by dragontank22 | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

[Tech Help] Screen tearing after upgrading to Windows 10

After, somewhat foolishly, I upgraded to Windows 10 Pro (64bit) from Windows 7 Pro this weekend. Everything turned out fine except now I am getting screen tears on most of my games (Witcher 3, XCom 2 etc). This wasn't a problem before I upgraded.

My specs are: i5 2500k, GTX 970, 16 GB RAM, OS on SSD, Asus VS247 Monitor (1080p/60Hz) and and old Samsung 720p as a secondary

I've tried everything I could find online including the following:

• Uninstalled my nVidia drivers in safe mode via DDU, stopped Windows from auto-installing drivers and installed the latest drivers from my GTX 970
• Uninstalled all the pre-installed Win 10 apps (including the awful Game Bar, XBox app and other crap)
• Windows Power plan is set to High Performance
• Removed all the transparency options for the desktop
• VSync mode is set to Adaptive in the nVidia Control Panel
• Tried fullscreen mode and borderless windowed mode (still have tearing)
• Tried in-game vsync (still some tearing)
• Windows Display and nVidia control display Hz options are both set 60
• Disabled the 2nd monitor
• Shadowplay is off.
• FPS capped at 60 FPS

Is there anything I'm missing? Screen tearing is killing my experience :( Please help!

Submitted by unnamedplayer01 | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

Couple questions about streaming to PC and Remote Play.

I just got a PS4 yesterday. Some thing I wanted to do with it is Remote Play to my Vita and stream games to my PC. Today I set up the streaming and noticed a couple things.

For one, is 720p really the max resolution for streaming? Has there been any word on if this will be improved in the future? Not to sound like some fan boy or anything but when I stream my Xbox to PC it's definitely 1080p and the lower resolution of the PS4 streaming is a little disappointing. Another question about streaming to PC; is there any way to go full screen? It seems there is always a bar at the top with "close" and "minimize" etc. (I'm on Win 10 if that matters).

As for the Remote Play to the Vita, does it work with all games on the PS4? How are the controls handled considering there is no R2+L2 on the Vita?

I guess that's it for now. Thanks in advance for any help :)

Submitted by NauticalDisasta | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

Anybody use a smaller screen (13 to 29 inch I guess) for gaming? Like a computer sized screen and sit close. I sit at work in front of a computer wishing I had an Xbox controller in hand. Whats the experience like?

Thanks for the replies. I'm gonna try a 24 inch screen. See how that goes. I guess my next question would be - at 24 inch is there any difference between 720p vs 1080p. I've read that anything that size and smaller had no discernible difference.

Submitted by PizzaNBrew | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

Beginner's guide to the installation of Dark Souls: PtDE

As you know it, Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition is the port of the game on PC. It was initially not meant to be, but a petition brought the game to the PC platform; FROM SOFTWARE, however, had no experience with PC ports, and this port is unanimously recognized to be a mess on several points: PC optimization, but everything about the online experience.

I have seen several players brought to Dark Souls recently, mostly on PC. You might be one of them. But not all of those players are aware that several mods and tools exist, to make the players have a great experience, far more enjoyable that on consoles (what was that? What lag in Blightown are you talking about?). to make the game look nice, feel nice (if you're not stuck with a keyboard and mouse), with a kinda functioning matchmaking. al

Durante's DSfix

This mod is the father of all mods. Vanilla DS:PtDE (vanilla meaning not modded) barely gives you any access to any graphical options. Activate a messy fullscreen mode, activate or deactivate the anti-aliasing (AA), motion-blur, and the resolution. The said resolution, however, cannot go above 720p, and the FPS are locked to 30 if you have a good enough computer, 15 otherwise. This mod fixes all that, and much more. It even replaces the default fullscreen mode with a nice, actually working borderless windowed mode.

How to install it?

1. Launch the game. Go to the options, and deactivate the in-game anti-aliasing. If you want to use the borderless windowed mode, which I highly recommend, set the FULLSCREEN option to OFF.

2. Download DSfix latest version. Currently, it is 2.4.

3. You should get a compressed file named something like DSFix 2.4-19-2-4.zip, or something similar. Open that file, and drag all the content of it to your installation folder. It should be something like C://Program Files (x86)/Steam/steamapps/common/Dark Souls Prepare to Die Edition/DATA, or something similar.

4. Now you can see several files. The ones we will be interested in is the file called DSfix.ini. Open it with a text editor (the Notepad will do, though I highly recommend the use of Notepad++ instead).

5. Before doing any modification, launch the game. It should be working. If there is a problem, delete the files DSfix.ini and DINPUT8.dll, and go back to 1; check that your DSfix version is actually the most recent one.

The next step will be to configure the DSfix. I know that modifying a text file might be scary for some of you, since doing it wrong might prevent the game from starting; to you, I advise the use of Morten242's UI for DSfix. It's just a graphical interface which modify the file: download it and drop the content of the compressed file the the same place as the DSfix.

How to configure it?

I won't go against a gaping dragon to explain what does what (go against a gaping dragon, go in-depth, see what I did there?). I'll just explain the main options. If you want something more thorough, I'll advise you to check at sajtt's Guide.

• Graphic options You have basically to categories there. The first one is the internal rendering resolution of the game, the second one is the display resolution. Basically, you'll just want to set renderWidth to your screen width, renderHeight to your screen height. Example: for a 16:9 Full HD screen, you'll set renderWidth 1920, renderHeight 1080, presentWidth 0 and presentHeight 0. If, however, you think that the AA is for filthy paesants and that your rig can take it, you'll use a rendering resolutions to something higher than your screen resolution, and the display resolution to the one of your screen; be sure to keep the screen ratio (4:3, 16:10, 16:9, 21:9 or whatsnot.)

• Depth of Field If your rig can take it, I'd advise you to set this value to the one directly above your screen height. Do not, however, put the same value as your vertical resolution! If your rig cannot take it, set that value to the one below. Example: you set the renderHeight value to 1440, either because you have a QHD screen or because you think AA is for paesants. Then you set dofOverrideResolution to 2160. With that value comes the DoF additional blur, which has to be set accordingly to the dofOverrideResolution.

• Framerate This is where the fun starts. Here, you have two options: unlockFPS and FPSlimit. The first one unlocks the FPS, the second one sets the FPS limit. First, everyone should set unlockFPS 1; it does nothing wrong. The tricky part is with the FPSlimit. When you set that value too high, it creates problems with the way collisions are computed in game, creating various bugs: your rolls or your jumps don't go as far, and you have a non-negligeable chance of passing through the floor when you're sliding down a ladder. According to sajtt, this bug occurs as soon as the FPSlimit goes above 30; according to the PC Gaming Wiki, however, this bug can be avoided if you set the FPS limit the 59. That's my pick, and I never had any problem with that.

• HUD options This is a part I love. This option allows you to modify the in-game HUD size and transparency. On any screen with a resolution higher than HD, the HUD seems grotesquely big and pixelated. Even using a HUD texture mod will not improve greatly that, since the HUD will still be as big. Displaying a smaller HUD is a solution. To enable the HUD modifications, set enableHudMod to 1. My two cents about it: I like to set the HUD as it is, just smaller, so to set hudScaleFactor to 0.8, and leave the rest untouched. However, this setting is not perfect! Activating the HUD modifications actually makes the bosses' healthbar bugged: instead of displaying the healthbar, it only displays a yellow rectangle, which gives almost no indication at all about how much health the boss has. My third cent about it is then: use the HUD modifications if you like it, and deactivate them when you're fighting a boss; to do so, press the right shift key. Pressing the right control key will hide the HUD, which looks nice and all, but you don't really want to use that except when you're taking screenshots, do you?

• Mouse cursor options First, do not think about it, set the lines disableCursor to 1 and captureCursor to 1. The first one allows you to not have your mouse cursor in the middle of the screen (that's how bad that port is), the second one allows your cursor to stay in the screen.

• About borderless windowed mode If you want to use it, which, again, I recommend, you will have set the in-game fullscreen option to off. Then, set the borderlessFullscreen line to 1, and, all the way down, forceWindowed to 1 as well.

• Texture override This is another thing I love about this mod. It allowed the game to have a modder base, as it was not given at all from the start! The option enableTextureOverride will simply replace the in-game by the textures that you will have put in the folder dsfix/tex_override. If you play the game in a higher resolution that 720p, especially, all the fonts and UI are so low-res that it hurts my heart. Fortunately, the Nexus has tons of texture files: HUD, UI, armors, faces... Check them out. I, however, have a few recommendations:

  • backfoggen's High-Res UI and Subtitle fonts and iwa360's Xbox360HD Interface Icons to get rid of that filthy pixels in the UI
  • Toology86's DarkSoulsHD Texture Pack, if your computer is up to it.

lebber's Mouse fix

You're probably somewhat masochistic since you want to play Dark Souls. However, playing Dark Souls: PtDE with a mouse and keyboard is more than being the casual masochistic: you might as well ask to get tied and whipped for hours watching Blue Is the Warmest Color, and want to masturbate all along. But, maybe you cannot afford a controller, or do not want to buy one because PC Masterrace... Well, anyway, you're wrong, but that's not my point. My point is that lebbers got your ass covered, to help you take off the notches of the whip, thanks to his DSMfix. It's basically something that helps you handle the mouse a little better. It's not great, but it actually allowed a friend of mine to finish the game without an controller (we had to lock him up for a few weeks but he's feeling better, now, thank you).

Be careful, though, and do not use this mod if you're using a controller! This will just mess things up.

How to install it?

1. In the DSfix.ini file, change the line dinput8dllWrapper none to dinput8dllWrapper dsmfix.dll

2. Download the DSMfix

3. Open the compressed file and drag the content of the file to DATA folder, the same as the DSfix

Now you can open dsmfixgui.exe and change the settings according to your taste. As for the keyboard, the DSfix comes with a file called DSfixKeys.ini, which allows your to rebind keys. As I never had to use any of those, and therefore have no recommended settings.

/u/eur0pa's PvP Watchdog

You might have heard about that, and if you didn't, here it is: the online on DS:PtDE is a mess. Some say that it might be because the game's online initially worked through Games For Windows Live, platform which has been taken down and replaced by Steam; I don't know if that's true and if the game used to work well, but that's besides the point. If you summon or get invaded by a player with a too long Steam alias, the game will simply crash. It also has issues to simply get online. I won't get into detail, since I don't know much about that. What I know is that the connection works on a peer-to-peer basis, and that peer-to-peer connection is established thanks to servers put up by Steam, which are related to something called nodes. As far as I understand it, a node is simply some sort of network ramification through which your connection is established; the more nodes you "have" means the more players you're actually connected to.

Happy thing that, again, the modding community has thought about something; and in this case, it was a fellow redditor, /u/eur0pa. What does it do? A short list would be:

• It tells you how many nodes you're connected to, and allows you to take the maximum number of nodes from 21 to 32.

• If you're hosting or are hosted, it gives you the Steam alias of the hosting or hosted player, and the ones present in your world at the same time.

• It fixes the "namecrash bug", which means your game won't crash because a Steam username is too long.

• It tells you when a player is cheating, based on any incoherence between the player's level and stats. It also tells you so, and allows you to kick him out of your world.

• It prevents you from being cursed, prevents your equipment to get broken, and all sorts of things that an online opponent is not able to do without cheating.

So basically, it's a must-have as long as you play online, especially if you want to invade the shit out of other players. All these information are displayed in a very small overlay, in the top left corner of your screen, that you can hide by pressing F9.

How to install it?

1. Download it

2. Extract the content of the compressed file to your Dark Souls DATA folder. Again, the same as the DSfix.

3. Same as the DSfix, it comes with a whole range of options, all configurable through a file called dspwsteam.ini.

As I think the mod works very well as it is, I never had to change anything in it. Therefore, my only advice is: leave it as it is. The only thing you might want to change is the maximum number of nodes you can connect to; I have, however, heard that some might have had a few issues with that, and never tried it myself. Actually, if I have more than 0 nodes in my game, I'm usually happy with that!

/u/Wulf2k's Dark Souls Connectivity Mod

As mentioned above, but I feel like I want to emphasize on this, the online on DS:PtDE is a mess. For years, players have struggled to connect with a specific friend. As the fellow redditor /u/Wulf2k probably wanted to do that as well, he created a tool. And because he apparently has some kind of Ron Swanson vibe, he called it the Dark Souls Connectivity Mod. And because of that Ron Swanson vibe, he did not stop here and made of this tool an essential.

How to install it?

1. Download it from his home page (on the left panel, DSCM - Connectivity Mod). There's also another version on the Nexus, but it is usually outdated.

2. Extract the content of the compressed file anywhere. Somewhere you can easily acces is better.

3. Launch the game, THEN launch the DSCM.

How to use it?

A picture is worth 1000 words, and that good, good man made a video about it, so check it out. Since his video is 5:12 long, that would be 312 seconds, times 25 since because there are approximately 25 pictures a second, which would be 1560 words. You can also check his original post, where he explains a few other things. Thanks to this, if the online is actually working on Steam's and From Software's ends, you should be able to connect with a friend in a matter of seconds or to get a few nodes in a matter of minutes.

Submitted by Hydroel | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

How to change quality on Xbox 360 app?

All my video streams to my Xbox 360 at 4mb 720p, how can I increase the quality of those streams? It's hardwired to my computer, not on on WiFi or anything, so how can I get 1080p?

Submitted by Dzmagoon | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

Help Me Escape Pixelation

So I've not yet focused on any graphics or anything other than the basics till I can offer a buttery stream, but even at higher bitrates and 720p 30fps I still get pixelation. I have VoDs if you'd like an example, I was playing Witcher 3 from the cap card on Xbox and noticed how terrible it was on that, and it is pretty bad on H1Z1. (Please don't watch H1Z1 VoD I'm the worst ever.) This is my Current Build. For PC cap it's just game/desktop capture, and for the Xbox capture I'm using an AVerMedia C985 Live Gamer HD. PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor	$344.99 @ Newegg
CPU Cooler	Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler	$34.99 @ Newegg
Motherboard	MSI Z170A GAMING M5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	$172.98 @ Newegg
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory	$54.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$64.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$122.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card	-
Case	Fractal Design Define R5 w/Window (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case	$129.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply	$129.99 @ Newegg
Operating System	Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)	$99.99 @ Newegg
Monitor	Asus ML248H 24.0" Monitor	-
Monitor	Asus VX248H 60Hz 24.0" Monitor	$149.99 @ Newegg
Keyboard	Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse	$24.99 @ Newegg
Mouse	SteelSeries Rival 300 Wired Optical Mouse	$59.99 @ Newegg
Headphones	Astro A40 + MixAmp Pro - Black 7.1 Channel Headset	-
Other	AVerMedia C985 Live Gamer HD	$159.99
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$1585.85
	Mail-in rebates	-$35.00
	Total	$1550.85
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-24 11:30 EDT-0400

Submitted by foxayee | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

[Configuration] Why does the Mouse-Like Joystick SUCK?

Maybe I'm just not using it correctly or there's something I have to configure but from my experience and even light tinkering the mouse-like joystick just kinda sucks. I loaded up the Xbox 360 controller preset for Black Ops 3 and started up a game of zombies. Swiping across the touch pad is nothing like the mouse input, in fact I don't see how it's anything like a mouse. If I swipe twice really quickly, weird tweens in the mouse speed occur between swipes where my turning slows to a stop, waits a few frames (sometimes as long as 5 frames), then applies the next swipe. Swiping quickly across the touch pad moves the mouse slowly, and swiping super slowly makes my character do thirteen 720 spins aboard a unicycle. Am I using this option wrong, or does it just kinda suck?

Submitted by theluigi805 | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

1st build: can't connect to panasonic plasma tv

Troubleshooting Help:

What is your parts list? Consider formatting your parts list.

Computer details *Video card: EVGA Geforce GTX970 *Processor: I7-6700 *Motherboard: GA-H110N *OS: Windows 10

Television details *Type: Panasonic SMART VIERA® 50" Class S60 Series Full HD Plasma *Model: TV TC-P50S60 *It only has two HDMI inputs *Link to owner's manual: ftp://ftp.panasonic.com/television/om/tc-p42s60_en_om.p... *When talking to the Panasonic tech, these are the frequencies he said the tv can receive: Input Signal Vertical Frequency (hz) 525 (480)/60i 54.94/60.0 525 (480)/60p 54.94/60.0 750 (720)/60p 54.94/60.0 1,125 (1080)60i 54.94/60.0 1,125 (1080)/60p 54.94/60.0 1,125 (1080)/24p 23.98/24.0

Describe your problem. List any error messages and symptoms. Be descriptive.

Hey guys, I'm unable to get a signal from my video card to my television and hope you can help. The television just says "no signal." Right now I have the computer hooked up to a monitor via VGA and to the television via HDMI. Windows config and the Nvidia config both recognize the television as "Panasonic TV." The only other thing plugged into the television is a cable box.

List anything you've done in attempt to diagnose or fix the problem. *Testing the computer with another monitor. I can connect the pc to a monitor via hdmi no problem. *I've tested each hdmi port on the television with the card (it was on the right tv input too). I also tried the motherboard hdmi port but I don't think that does anything anyway. *I've tested multiple hdmi cables. *Other hdmi devices (xbox, cable box) work with the television. *I talked to the tech who built it. He didn't have any suggestions, unfortunately *I called EVGA tech support. Their tech said it was a TV problem and suggested I call panasonic. He suggested I try to get the EDID, which I haven't been able to do. *I have chatted online with panasonic tech support but haven't been able to call yet. Their tech said the tv isn't guaranteed to connect with any pc and said he couldn't help with the edid. *I've tried changing the display options on the computer to see if that would help the tv recognize it. I've tried 1920 by 1080 at 50, 59 and 50 hertz. *I searched the forms on Toms *I Googled. I found a few other people that seem to be using this model as a monitor but couldn't find any troubleshooting or similar issues. But it was very encouraging that other people seem to have it working.

Post relevant photos of build/parts here.

I can post photos if needed

Provide any additional details you wish below.

I'm also interested in any other workarounds. I would really love to hard wire it via hdmi but would also appreciate suggestions other than buying a new TV. Are there any other recommended ways to stream or link a desktop to a hdtv? Steam link maybe? And it's very possible that I botched one of the troubleshooting steps above or that I missed a very simple fix somewhere along the way. Thank you for your time and any help would be very very very appreciated.

Submitted by Texas_Tide | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

720p on Xbox One, now maybe looking for a gaming pc

So today I was finally able to play the beta on my Xbox One and surprise: 720p. Looks so blurry when comparing it to most footage of the game on YouTube, I don't even want to experience this amazing game in this resolution.

I'm not a pc gamer, but how much would a pc - straight out the box - cost to run this game at 1080p max settings?

Submitted by J4mie_ | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

Sorry for wasting your time

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ugh not another one of these 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 oh well, he’s going to stop at 67 like the others 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 oh okay good it’s done 68 69 heh 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 wait… 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 you can’t be serious 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 he wasn’t kidding? 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 He wasn’t kidding… 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 umm… 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 I can’t believe this 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 He’s a quarter done I guess… 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 ugh this is boring 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 I’m going to get a sandwich. 300 Be back in 80 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 Back 381 382 383 384 385 XD He’s still here 386 Loser 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 Error Number Not Found 405 406 407 408 409 410 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 BYAOH BYAOH BYOAH 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 This is a really good sandwich 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 munch munch 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 burp 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 excuse me 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 Bon Jovi (Halfway there „wink“-Emoticon ) 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539 540 541 542 543 544 545 546 547 548 549 550 551 552 at this point I don’t even know what to say. 553 554 555 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 563 564 565 566 567 568 569 570 571 572 573 574 575 576 577 578 579 580 581 582 583 584 oh you know what he’s probably copy and pasting this lol 585 586 587 588 589 590 591 592 593 594 595 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 612 613 614 615 616 617 618 619 620 621 623 624 625 626 Stitch!!!! 627 628 629 630 631 632 633 634 635 636 637 638 639 640 641 actually, I’m not sure how he’d copy and paste 1000 different numbers… 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 657 658 659 660 661 662 663 664 665 666 ebil numberz 667 668 669 670 671 672 673 674 675 678 679 680 681 682 683 684 685 686 687 688 689 690 jeez if he can’t copy/paste them… 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 698 699 700 701 702 703 704 705 706 707 708 709 710 711 american corner store „grin“-Emoticon 712 713 714 715 716 717 718 719 720 what the next xbox SHOULD have been called 721 723 724 725 726 727 728 729 730 731 732 733 734 735 736 737 738 739 he’s actually doing it by hand…. Oh my… 740 741 742 743 744 745 746 747 boeing 748 749 750 751 752 753 754 755 756 757 758 759 760 761 762 763 764 765 767 768 769 770 771 772 773 774 775 776 777 JACKPOT WOOOO 778 779 780 781 782 783 784 785 786 he’s got to be tired 787 788 789 790 791 792 793 794 795 796 797 798 799 800 holy crap almost there. 801 802 803 804 805 806 807 808 or BOB in calculator language ^{.^} 809 810 811 812 813 814 815 816 817 818 819 820 821 822 823 824 825 826 827 829 830 831 832 833 834 835 836 837 838 839 840 841 842 843 844 845 846 I’ve run out of witty sayings by now 847 848 849 850 851 852 853 854 855 856 857 858 859 860 861 862 863 864 865 866 867 868 869 870 871 872 873 874 875 876 877 878 879 880 881 882 883 884 885 886 887 888 889 890 891 892 893 894 895 896 897 898 899 900 thrusters at 90% capacity!!! 901 902 903 904 905 906 907 908 909 910 911 912 913 914 915 916 917 918 919 920 921 922 923 924 925 926 927 928 929 930 931 922 923 924 925 926 927 928 929 930 931 932 933 934 935 936 937 938 939 940 941 942 943 944 945 946 947 948 949 950 951 952 953 954 955 956 957 958 959 960 961 962 963 964 965 966 967 968 969 970 971 972 973 974 975 976 977 978 979 980 981 982 983 984 985 986 987 988 989 990 991 992 993 994 995 996 997 998 999 And… 1000 Surprisingly this only took me an hour with the num pad. I put on my music and mindlessly typed. I will be honest it was kinda enjoyable. I actually got to relax and just do something mindless and relatively productive. I mean, I’ve memorized the number pad by now XD Anyway sorry for wasting your time, I just think this whole counting to 1000 thing is ridiculous and needs to stop. So I actually did it. No point in saying you’re going to do it if you’re not actually going to do it. Have a great day.

Submitted by VireStudios | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

Seeing recent games going as low as 720p just to reach those sweet 60Fps makes me wish, Microsoft accounce an uograded Xbox One soon.

Now don't get me wrong Xbox One is doing great (The box is selling, The Community is great and friendly, The Online services are better than the competition, Game with Gold are great)

It's 2016 and us Xbox gamers are still stuck with 720p or can go as big as 900p. A great example of games looking like crap are games made by EA. Just look at Battlefront, Battlefield Hardline and the recent Mirrors edge. If someone want to play a game in that quality with those pixilated edges and blurry graphics he can build a 200$ Pc. I only fear great titles like Mass effect and more will look as bad as other EA titles.

I'm really hoping for Microsoft to announce upgraded hardware at this year E3. I would defiantly buy an Upgraded Xbox One if it means i will get to Play gamea in better quality.

The only reason i am writing this is because after Spending two weeks on Ps4 i seriously do not want to buy a PS4 Neo or even a Ps4 again just to get better Graphics.

Submitted by moinimran6 | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

[WCCF] Mirror's Edge Catalyst beta is running at 720p on Xbox One

http://wccftech.com/mirrors-edge-catalyst-xb1-beta-screens-show-underwhelming-graphics-frame-rate-reportedly-over-30/

Submitted by MJuniorDC9 | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

Need consultation: I built my system and was super happy until I got to my second game and can't tell whether it's the GPU or the game itself.

I built this guy (https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/4d8lq7/trying_to_build_an_htpc_and_gaming_pc_for_the/)

I love the machine, for the most part. Windows 10 is quite buggy, but manageable.

The main things that upsets me are GPU related. I installed the EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card.

1) Every time I boot my machine, the color settings reset. Since I'm hooked directly into the TV, I had to adjust Brightness, Contrast, and Gamma to my liking. And when I reboot/boot I have to manually go it and adjust brightness/contrast all over again. Weird thing is the color shows the way I want it, and then a split second later something changes it to the way I don't want it. Almost like Windows is overriding the GPU setting.

2) Most importantly, I'm annoyed with gaming. I loved playing Assassin's Creed Black Flag and Rogue for Xbox360, and thus I installed AC: Syndicate on the new machine. The recommended settings for the game are ...

For a recommended experience, the game requires a video card with at least 3GB of VRAM when playing at a full HD resolution

I'm not close to full res. I'm at 1136x676 doing 720p. The recommended graphic settings on the are the lowest it can possibly be. I tweaked a few things, but it barely mattered. The even with the game on it's lowest setting possible the game hiccups. Freezes momentarily, renders things incorrectly at times, overall is sloppy.

Is this the game developer's fault, or the GPU's fault? Is there a piece of software that can enhance the settings of the card better? I read about HiAlgo. Youtube turns up way too much to know what works best. I don't feel like I purchased a low grade GPU, and if I did, where can you sell a GPU after 1-week of use with no box?

Submitted by SPAtreatment | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

So what is the Xbox One version like?

And Is it really 720p/60fps? Why not 1080p/30fps :/ I am dissappoint.

Submitted by kris9512 | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

Live Gamer HD can't accept 1080p and stream @ 720p @ 60fps

Hi.

Just as the title says. I can no longer send a 1080p signal from my Xbox 1 to the card which outputs 1080p to the monitor and have xsplit broadcast at 720p @ 60fps. Before recent patches from avermedia and xsplit it would do this fine. However, recent updates have now locked my fps at 30fps when using the above settings. The only way I can get the card to stream at 60fps is to set the Xbox to 720p. I used to be able to play at 1080p and record at 720p. I told xsplit this but their support was just a generic it's meant to to that response.

Any help or information is appreciated.

Submitted by C0RPORAL | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

A Guide to Streaming and Finding Success on Twitch (Part 2)

Hey again everyone. I'm posting the next of section of the guide I put together for your enjoyment and perusal. If you already read the whole thing from the complete PDF version, feel free to ignore this post. This is here to put a complete version up on reddit itself and for the benefit of anyone who isn't inclined towards seeking out the pdf.

If you would like to download a full copy, you can find it here! As before, feel free to share the guide in its complete form and I appreciate any and all suggestions people might offer.

 

---

 

Equipment and Software

This section is meant to provide some general advice and guidelines. If you want to learn more about equipment, my strong recommendation is to check out the Twitch subreddit. There are some incredibly knowledgeable people there who have posted guides and answered so many questions on improving your broadcasting setup. One caveat: please use the search function. Many common questions have already been answered, and if you do some research, you’ll get more value out of the questions you do ask!

 

Equipment

• Microphone

  While it’s technically possible, I don’t know of any high quality broadcasts on Twitch that don’t use a microphone. Verbal communication is one of your best means of interacting with your audience and adding value to your stream. As a result, I would recommend spending at least a bit of money to get a mid-range USB microphone. A high-end audio setup would be ideal, but for a beginning broadcaster, there are several great options well under $150. Commonly recommended microphones include the CAD-u37, Blue Snowball, Blue Yeti, and the Audio-Technica AT2020. Setting up these microphones correctly is also important. This involves positioning the microphone close enough to your mouth, reducing background noise, and a lot of experimentation with settings.

  Because audio can be such a detailed and difficult topic to broach, here are two incredibly useful guides:

  Basic Audio Guide: https://goo.gl/bOs9Nw

  Advanced Audio Guide: https://goo.gl/LL5VFV

• Camera

  A camera isn’t a required piece of casting equipment, but remains a reasonable choice for many streamers. That visual element adds another way for you to reach your audience, and some people will only watch streams where they can see the broadcaster. However, using a camera also requires you to be cognizant of your physical appearance, mannerisms, and posture. If you look slovenly or disinterested, your camera is probably hurting you more than helping.

  Starting out, any 1080p or 720p webcam is more than sufficient. Eventually, you might consider using an HD camcorder with a capture card, but that is probably overkill initially. The Logitech C920 line is probably the most often recommended option. I’ve also had personal success with the Microsoft Lifecam. Either way, find a way to position your camera well. Use a tripod, mounting bracket or just a lot of duct tape. Also remember to select the correct camera resolution in whatever capture program you use, and make sure that with each game you play, the camera is positioned over a relatively unimportant part of the screen.

• Streaming Computer

  Remember that your computer will be both running a game and encoding your stream. Encoding is a CPU-intensive operation and you can easily have issues as a result. A mid-range i5 (or equivalent) processor or is the absolute low end of what you want for broadcasting. An i7 is ideal, as your CPU will be supporting both your broadcasting software and the game you’re playing. Obviously, your computer should be powerful enough to run whatever games you wish to play beyond that. That usually entails having at least 8GB of DDR3 RAM and a video card that is at least as powerful as a GTX 650 series. While your streaming software won’t have a huge impact on RAM usage, it will put at least a bit of strain on your video card, so be aware of this.

  A two-computer setup bypasses many of these issues, but is probably beyond most beginning broadcasters. For an introductory look on the topic:

  Two PC Broadcasting Guide: https://goo.gl/fjmWrR

• Screen Space

  You need to be able to play your game, adjust capture settings, and read chat while you’re streaming. Doing all that from a single monitor is a challenge. Ideally, you want at least two monitors when you broadcast (or if you have a laptop available, consider using that to view chat).

• Lighting and Green Screen

  A starting broadcaster likely don’t require heavy lighting or a green screen. I recommend setting up a pair of desk lamps with white-light bulbs, one on each side of your camera, facing you. Buy compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL) in the 3500K+ temperature range from your local hardware or big-box store. Mess around with positioning to ensure the highest quality.

  If you want to set up a green screen, you can do so inexpensively. Fabric from a local craft store can easily be hung from hooks in your ceiling, strung up on some clips or a retractable clothesline, or stretched over a PVC pipe frame. This will look good in almost every case, and should cost $30 or less. Play around with the lighting you have before committing to a large lighting purchase, but a green screen will benefit from at least two directed light sources. Also note, distance is your friend - increasing the space between your body and a green screen reduces shadows and improves chroma keying.

• Other

  Use headphones or a good headset to listen to game audio. Speakers will be picked up by your microphone and the resulting echo is thoroughly unpleasant for your viewers.

  If you plan on playing console games, remember that Twitch does have a streaming app on both Xbox One and PS4. This limits many of your customization options, but can be a reasonable option for many people. If you want to stream on other systems, you’ll need to buy a capture card to manage this. This is something that you’ll want to research and understand before committing to. Check these links for more information.

  Console Streaming Guide: https://goo.gl/a9wcmU

  Information on my Favorite Capture Card: https://goo.gl/rDvTaw

   

Software and Stream Setup

• Broadcasting Software

  Today you have several options for broadcasting. You can simply use the built-in software on the current generation of consoles, but this severely limits your streaming options. Open Broadcasting Software (OBS) and XSplit are the dominant choices out there, though a few others do exist. OBS is free and has vastly improved since its early days. XSplit is subscription-based, but has options and settings that many people prefer. Use what you want and note that ultimately, you’ll have most of the same basic options on all of those pieces of software.

  XSplit Home Page: https://www.xsplit.com/

  OBS Home Page: https://obsproject.com/

• Initial Setup of Software

  Use a guide. There are many of them out there for every piece of broadcasting software and they will help. For easy access, I am linking the standard Twitch OBS and XSplit broadcasting guides below. Use the Twitch subreddit to find more in-depth information!

  OBS Setup Guide: https://goo.gl/A70Gl5

  XSplit Setup Guide: https://goo.gl/tWtG25

• Understand Upload Rate, Resolution, Framerate, and Presets

  Your upload rate determines how much data your stream can use. Chances are, the amount of upload you can reliably use is slightly less than what your ISP states you have. With a 5Mbps upload speed, you might get 3.5-4.5 Mbps that you can use without issues. This upload rate corresponds to the bitrate that you set in your capture software (1000 bitrate is using about 1Mbps). Higher upload rates mean more data can be used and will generally give you better quality.

  Regardless of the amount of data you use, you can set the resolution your viewers see and the number of frames they receive each second (framerate). Playing a game in a higher resolution or framerate than you are streaming impacts computer performance without improving what your viewers see. Playing at lower resolutions hurts your quality. Your encoding preset impacts how much effort your CPU devotes to encoding. Slower presets yield better quality, at the cost of intense CPU usage. Veryfast is a generally solid setting, but trying to push out better quality video with low bandwidth may require a lower preset.

  When you stream with a lower resolution and fewer frames, it takes less data to look good. Less on-screen action also takes less data to look good. And thus, you have a balancing game between your stable bitrate and stream quality.

  Approximating Settings: http://streamcalc.net/

• Don’t Overdo your Bitrate

  Viewers with slower internet will find it impossible to view streams that broadcast too much data. Raising your bitrate too high will essentially remove a large portion of your potential audience from the start. 2000-2500 is a bitrate that will allow you to have a high quality 540p 30fps stream or acceptable 720p 30fps stream for many games without isolating too many viewers.

• Provide Some Basic Information Below Your Channel

  Use the Edit Panels option below your stream and create panels, one for each topic, below your broadcast. If nothing else, include concise information about who you are, the rules of your channel, and the times you plan on streaming. You can also make specific images and upload them for each panel. Check later in this section for a few (free) sources of panel images.

• Update your Profile and Basic Channel Images

  Take a moment to navigate to www.twitch.tv/mychannelname/profile while you’re logged into your account. There, you should be able to update your profile information and banner image. Likewise, navigate to https://secure.twitch.tv/settings to change your profile icon, and go to https://secure.twitch.tv/settings/channel to change your offline image for your stream. These don’t need to be anything fancy, and you’ll likely end up changing them, but they add a personal touch to your channel.

• You Don’t Need Overlays and Buttons, But They’re Easy to Make or Get

  When you begin broadcasting, you can do fine without any stream images or overlays. Displaying the game itself and a message for when you take breaks should be enough. The only times I would really recommend using an overlay early on is when you are playing a game with an odd aspect ratio, or if you really want to include chat in your broadcast (however, with the formal introduction of the Chat Replay option on Twitch, on-stream chat is even less important).

  However, it doesn’t take much to learn the basic Paint or Photoshop skills to make simple buttons or stream images. Type “Twitch Overlay” into YouTube and the first few results will be a collection of 10-20 minute tutorials working you through the basic process. You can make serviceable stream assets with a few hours of work at most. Or, you can find a few free ones to use online instead.

  Free Twitch Panels/Buttons 1: http://goo.gl/97jhRv

  Free Twitch Panels/Buttons 2: http://thingsforstreams.com/

  Free Twitch Panels/Buttons 3: https://goo.gl/WbucO0

  Free Twitch Panels/Buttons 4: http://styles.artsonist.co/tagged/Tech

• Alerts and Bots Are Mostly Just Distractions, Starting Out

  Starting out your broadcast, alerts are something you probably don’t need. Donations and subscriptions aren’t really a concern for you, and follower alerts probably won’t do much to build your channel. These things may have more value later, but for now, they take your focus from more important things.

  Likewise, a chatbot is an excellent tool for many streams. You can work in moderation tools, automated reminders and information spam, channel currency, viewer rewards, and lots of other functionality into your chat with a well designed bot. But starting out, you really will need none of that. Without a regular audience, you should focus on content rather than fluff.

   

  If you absolutely insist on using alerts initially, I can recommend:

  StreamPro: https://streampro.io

  TwitchAlerts: https://www.twitchalerts.com/

  Using these with OBS requires you to install CLR browser on OBS.

  Installing CLR Browser: https://goo.gl/L6hp0d

   

  As for publically-available chat bots, the following are generally useful, with some simple setup involved:

  Xanbot: https://goo.gl/BtoHEF

  Moobot: http://twitch.moobot.tv/

  Nightbot: https://beta.nightbot.tv/

  Anhkbot: http://marcinswierzowski.com/Code/AnkhBotR2/

  Moobot and Nightbot have a relatively simple-to-use online interface. Anhkbot is a bit more involved, but is very well-received in general.

 

---

 

Again, you can download the full guide here. And I appreciate any feedback or suggestions you may have to offer!

For other sections of this guide:

Post 1: Starting Out, What Are Your Goals?, Planning and Mental Preparation

Post 2: Equipment and Software

Submitted by sadpandadag | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

TuvixHosting Seedbox Review (In Depth)

Good evening all,

Tuvix Hosting was kind enough to let me test one of their dedicated servers for 3 days and I would like to share the results of my 3 days with this little speed demon.

Just to give you a little background, I consider myself a bit of a seedbox junkie. Just this year, I've had or trialed servers with : Feral, Seedboxes.cc, Seedhost.eu, Seedbox.io, RapidSeedBox, and .. more I can't think of off the top of my head.

While I believe it's relevant to share that most of the slots I purchased this year were shared (not dedi's), I have had the opportunity to take some friends dedicated servers for a spin a few times. Most recently from Online.net and Kimsufi. Also FYI, not all of the shared seedboxes I've tried this year were of the bare 'entry level' variety .. though some were.

In any event, the TL;DR of this review is that the Tuvix server was blazing FAST. I've never seen speeds or ratios before like I did with this box, at least sustained over multiple days like it did. I also want to note that I consider service to be very important in a seedbox provider (albeit less so with a dedi) and I have to give these guys very high marks in this department as well. They answered all of my questions and tickets on the whole faster than any of the other companies I've been with.

OK, enough about me, lets get down to business.

———————————————————————

• Server & System Info

• 3Gbps Full Duplex from Leaseweb (it has a 10GE NIC - however, they know with this kind of hardware that you're not going to see 10Gbps, so I appreciated that they were upfront about this and market/sell it as 3Gbps)

• 100TB Monthly Traffic (upload)

• 4 x 3TB HDD (RAID-0)

• Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E31230 @ 3.20GHz

• Cores: 8

• Frequency: 3192.870 MHz

• RAM: Total 16041 MB (16GB)

• Swap: 3903 MB

• Speedtest (IPv4)

CDN - Nearest Location: Cachefly CDN 200MB: 21.9MB/s

North America: Coloat, Atlanta, USA: 16.9MB/s Coloat, Chicago, USA: 3.99MB/s Softlayer, Dallas, USA: 13.6MB/s Vultr, Dallas, USA: 11.5MB/s Softlayer, Seattle, USA: 11.9MB/s Vultr, Seattle, USA: 8.00MB/s Softlayer, San Jose, USA: 12.6MB/s RamNode, Los Angeles, USA: 12.6MB/s Softlayer, Washington, USA: 24.4MB/s Vultr, New Jersey, USA: 16.8MB/s Digital Ocean, New York, USA: 55.0MB/s OVH, Beauharnois, Canada: 6.65MB/s

Asia: Linode, Tokyo, Japan: 8.47MB/s Digital Ocean, Singapore: 17.7MB/s

Europe: Leaseweb, Haarlem, Netherlands: 394MB/s Digital Ocean, London, England: 104MB/s OVH, France: 238MB/s

• Drive Speed

Initial (with only a few torrents loaded):

I/O (1st attempt): 421 MB/s I/O (2nd attempt): 444 MB/s I/O (3rd attempt): 445 MB/s Average I/O: 436 MB/s I/O With Cache DD : 215 MB/s

After 36 hours (with 500+ torrents loaded):

I/O (1st attempt): 371 MB/s I/O (2nd attempt): 328 MB/s I/O (3rd attempt): 371 MB/s Average I/O: 356 MB/s I/O With Cache DD : 230 MB/s

———————————————————————

• Control Panel :

Screenshot of CP

I liked the layout and simplicity of their control panel. One click service on/off for RTorrent, Deluge, iRSSi-Autodl, BTSync, Subsonic, SyncThing, Plex, and sabnzbdplus.

• Speeds From Home :

Using FTP (Filezilla) - I could consistently pull 17MB/s - 21MB/s to my home on the East Coast (US). My Time Warner home internet maxes out at 25MB/s (DL) so I was more than pleased with these speeds for 'vanilla' FTP. I didn't have the chance to try lftp, though I usually have had to resort to this out of necessity because I could often only pull 500Kbps to maybe 2MB - 3MB/s max using FTP with many of the other seedboxes I've tried.

• Other/Misc. :

I also really liked the Swizards ruTorrent theme. It's pretty sexy for my tastes.

———————————————————————

For the testing itself, I opted more for of a real world approach. At least how my own real world usage often is vs strictly pulling Autodl from IPT. Though, yes, I did Autodl from IPT for the same reasons that anyone familiar with this sort of testing is already aware of.

———————————————————————

bold Test Results Overview / Totals

bold italics RTORRENT:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ bold AFTER 12 HOURS TOTAL (rTorrent) :
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TOTAL DL: 817.1GB TOTAL UL: 1.7TB RATIO: 2.08

BUFFER GAINED: 882.9GB

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ bold AFTER 12 HOURS - Per Tracker (rTorrent) : ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IPT :

TOTAL DL: 430.41GB TOTAL UL: 909.84GB RATIO: 2.11

BUFFER GAINED: 479.43GB

that hit 1.0 ratio min:

13 (out of 18) = 72% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TVT :

TOTAL DL: 189.55GB TOTAL UL: 746.65GB RATIO: 3.94

BUFFER GAINED: 557.1GB

that hit 1.0 ratio min:

13 (out of 13) = 100% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MTV:

TOTAL DL: 22.71GB TOTAL UL: 746.65GB RATIO: 3.94

BUFFER GAINED: 479.43GB

that hit 1.0 ratio min:

13 (out of 20) = 65% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MAM:

TOTAL DL: 2.25GB TOTAL UL: 7.42GB RATIO: 3.3

BUFFER GAINED: 5.17GB

that hit 1.0 ratio min:

17 (out of 20) = 85%

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ bold AFTER 24 HOURS TOTAL (rTorrent) :
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TOTAL DL: 1.2TB TOTAL UL: 3.1TB RATIO: 2.58

BUFFER GAINED: 1.9TB

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ bold AFTER 24 HOURS - Per Tracker (rTorrent) : ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IPT :

TOTAL DL: 777.34GB TOTAL UL: 1.84TB RATIO: 2.37

BUFFER GAINED: 1.07TB

that hit 1.0 ratio min:

43 (out of 48) = 90% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TVT :

TOTAL DL: 230.85GB TOTAL UL: 925.3GB RATIO: 4.01

BUFFER GAINED: 694.44GB

that hit 1.0 ratio min:

38 (out of 43) = 88% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MTV:

TOTAL DL: 112.58GB TOTAL UL: 224.92GB RATIO: 2

BUFFER GAINED: 112.34GB

that hit 1.0 ratio min:

57 (out of 97) = 59% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MAM:

TOTAL DL: 2.25GB TOTAL UL: 8.47GB RATIO: 3.76

BUFFER GAINED: 6.22GB

that hit 1.0 ratio min:

18 (out of 20) = 90% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

———————————————————————

bold DELUGE:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ bold AFTER 12 HOURS TOTAL (DELUGE) :
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TOTAL DL: 817.1GB TOTAL UL: 1.7TB RATIO: 2.08

BUFFER GAINED: 882.9GB

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ bold AFTER 12 HOURS - Per Tracker (DELUGE) : ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IPT : ***(NOTE - these stats are off for IPT - I don't usually use Deluge and didn't realize IPT has an issue with Autodl-Irssi where it'll hang in Deluge for 30 mins before it joins the swarm much of the time if you don't set a delay in Autodl tracker settings for IPT - I didn't discover this until well after 12 hours into initial Deluge testing - so these IPT #'s would likely be significantly better..as I'd missed getting in early on the swarm so forfeited a HUGE amount of return/ratio. I corrected this a little after the 12 hour mark so you'll see reflected in the 24 hour Deluge stats that IPT began to correct itself)

TOTAL DL: 276.37GB TOTAL UL: 545.07GB RATIO: 1.97

BUFFER GAINED: 268.71GB

that hit 1.0 ratio min:

19 (out of 37) = 51% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TVT :

TOTAL DL: 261.05GB TOTAL UL: 488.49GB RATIO: 1.87

BUFFER GAINED: 227.44GB

that hit 1.0 ratio min:

32 (out of 37) = 86% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MTV:

TOTAL DL: 143.06GB TOTAL UL: 302.73GB RATIO: 2.12

BUFFER GAINED: 159.67GB

that hit 1.0 ratio min:

69 (out of 107) = 64% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ bold AFTER 24 HOURS TOTAL (DELUGE) :
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TOTAL DL: 1.05TB TOTAL UL: 2.68TB RATIO: 2.55

BUFFER GAINED: 1.63TB

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ bold AFTER 24 HOURS - Per Tracker (DELUGE) : ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IPT :

TOTAL DL: 443.12GB TOTAL UL: 1.33TB RATIO: 3.0

BUFFER GAINED: 884.71GB

that hit 1.0 ratio min:

35 (out of 54) = 65% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TVT :

TOTAL DL: 369.94GB TOTAL UL: 885.7GB RATIO: 2.39

BUFFER GAINED: 515.76GB

that hit 1.0 ratio min:

59 (out of 66) = 89% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MTV:

TOTAL DL: 232.4GB TOTAL UL: 465.82GB RATIO: 2.0

BUFFER GAINED: 233.42GB

that hit 1.0 ratio min:

116 (out of 166) = 70% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Note - I chose not to include per tracker results for some of the other misc. trackers that I incidentally used while Autodl'ing with my main 3 - 4 trackers. I did this because I either didn't have Autodl setup yet for them or because I was using it just to gain bonus points and gain whatever buffer I could grab from free leech snatches (again, didn't use Autodl .. just snatched them manually many hours after the initial swarm so these weren't really intended to be part of a short term test such as this. You'll also notice in the screenshots that the total # of torrents represented in these misc/aux/not included in testing trackers were extremely minimal - usually around 5 - 10 or 12 total torrents tops

———————————————————————

• Several Screenshots with Notes:

Here's an Autodl from TVT (freshon.tv) within the first hour showing 284MB/s (UL) and 70MB/s (DL)

This one is pulling 277MB/s (UL) and 88MB/s (DL) on a random Autodl from IPT within the first couple of hours

Here is a #top I pulled a few hours in while DLing / ULing several large torents (20GB+ filesizes)

Another random #top screen FYI

One from the Control Panel bandwidth meter showing 221MB/s UL while DL'ing at 142MB/s

Just some random ratios after about 24 hours of rTorrent

TVT ratios after 24 hours using rTorrent

IPT ratios after 24 hours using rTorrent

MTV ratios after 24 hours using rTorrent

Traffic (plugin) screen after 36 hours using rTorrent

Early on in initial Deluge testing - pulling over 315MB/s DL on a single torrent from PTP (with rTorrent still running simultaneously)

And 361MB/s UL from an IPT torrent

Another Deluge screen showing 318MB/s UL andf 106MB/s DL on one torrent from TVT

I was truly impressed with this one. Over 400MB/s UL (combined) using Deluge

Deluge ratios (all trackers) after 12 hours

IPT ratios after about 16 hours using Deluge

TVT ratios after after about 16 hours using Deluge

MTV ratios after after about 16 hours using Deluge

#top while DLing multiple large files using Deluge

Deluge ratios (all trackers) after 36 hours

IPT ratios after 36 hours using Deluge

TVT ratios after 36 hours using Deluge

MVT ratios after 36 hours using Deluge

AHD ratios after 36 hours using Deluge

Wow. Deluge pulling over 627MB/s UL and 81MB/s DL on a single torrent (this is with nearly 500 torrents loaded/'active'/not paused)

———————————————————————

bold Final Thoughts:

It streamed Plex to my Xbox, tablet, and laptop like a champ. Didn't have any buffering/stuttering issues at any point in the day or night. Even with Time Warner, who I hear might throttle Plex/CDN traffic from Leaseweb? At the very least, Time Warner seems to sit in a similar boat with Comcast (though maybe not quite as bad) and seems to be notorious for less than stellar peering from European data centers .. especially for transcoding and trying to stream. On average, I had the stream quality anywhere from 3MBs / 720p to 8MBs / 1080p.

Again, I was blown away by how well this server performed. After just 48 hours, it had uploaded 5.78TB of data - netting me an over 3.5TB gain in buffer.

(If it weren't for my own misstep with IPT on Deluge (Autodl), the numbers would have been even better)

After the overwhelmingly positive experience I had demoing this box, I decided to cancel the other couple seedboxes I was currently with / still on the fence about (the best of what I had tried up to that point) and pickup a dedicated seedbox from Tuvix. I should note that they have continued to provide me with the same excellent support and fast response on tickets. I'd like to thank Tuvix for letting me trial one of their boxes for a few days for free. It turns out that I'm quite glad that I did!

Submitted by ckisgen | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

XBOXGAMER113 is a scammer!

Xbox GT is NEgan720K, he is trying the old send to a contract and I'll send after BS. Avoid any business with this user.

Proof!

Submitted by Wing_Nut_93x | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

Remedy messed up horribly with the graphics on this game.

Apart from the stunning character models and mo-cap, everything else is a blury, grainy mess. Lighting appears weaker than it did in Alan Wake. Textures are dull, and colours are flat. And there's even missing animations - such as picking up weapons. What happened? Alan WAke looked stunning for its time. It appears like they poured all of their resources in to the character models and half-assed everything else.

Sure, effects are cool, especially during stutters, but when it's displayed in a disgusting 720p, those effects are kind of undermined.

Surely the Xbox is capable of better than this?

Submitted by kris9512 | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

Why I hate Nintendo

5 reasons why Nintendo is the worst

1) They sell incredibly weak hardware at the same price as other consoles

With the WiiU, you could argue that the WiiU touchscreen controller bumps up the price, but the original Wii had no such controller yet they still charged the same amount of money for it as Microsoft charged for an Xbox 360 and Sony charged for a PS3 despite its vastly inferior hardware. For fucks sake, the WiiU can only play minecraft with limited world sizes at 720p.

2)They sell their games at the same price as huge AAA games.

Not to put down any of Nintendo's games, but Mario maker is basically a glorified level editor yet they still charge the same amount of money as a brand new AAA game like GTA V or Rise of the Tomb Raider.

3)They hurt the industry with exclusive titles.

There is no reason for exclusive titles to exist. "How do exclusives hurt the industry?" You might ask. Simple, if 25% of gamers play on Xbox, 25% play on PlayStation, 25% play on PC, and 25% on the WiiU, and a game is released exclusively to one of these platforms due to the company that owns that given platform locking the game franchise in with a contract, that means the game company can only reach 25% of gamers. I don't mind the idea of exclusive features with games on certain platforms, completely locking 75% of gamers out is complete bullshit. Not only does it hurt game company's that lose access to 75% of potential revenue, but it hurts gamers in general buy forcing you to buy a specific platform in order to play a particular game. Nintendo is the worst at this, as 90% of the games on the WiiU are console exclusives. While some games are semi understandable, particularly the ones Fully based around the WiiU controllers, give me one good reason why I can't play Mario cart 8 on a PC. Can't think of one, can you?

4) They are incredibly terrible to You Tubers.

Want to do a let's play of a game? Great! Wait, it's a Nintendo game, sorry bud, no can do? I shouldn't even have to explain how utterly terrible Nintendo has been Youtubers. They have infringed the fair use rights of more people than Viacom has.

5) Lack of it original content.

I know many company's are guilty of this, but considering how the main selling feature of their consoles is access to their exclusive titles, it's really sad to see how little originality their is. I can only think of one game that isn't a remake or a sequel that was good and well known and completely original that is a WiiU exclusive; Splatoon.

One Goddamn game in the 4 years this console has been around. For a console that is all about the exclusives, you would think that there would be a few more original exclusives.

tl;dr: Nintendo is a company that:

Sells vastly underpowered hardware at premium prices

Sells overpriced games

Hurts the industry with exclusives

Has a huge hatred towards Youtubers

Lacks any originality in there exclusive titles, despite the fact that their exclusives are their only selling point.

In short, I hate Nintendo, but I love their games, so I will continue to buy their old games for the Wii at yard sales, and emulate them on my PC, so I am still not breaking the law, but Nintendo isn't getting a cent directly from me.

Submitted by TechnicallyNerd | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

[Tech] Microsoft Edge Video Error

I'm trying to watch a video on microsoft edge and keep getting the following error: "HTML5 player does not work on internet explorer. Please use FLASH player or CLICK HERE (720p) to use your device's player."

If I switch to flash nothing happens.

If I click on the other link to use the device's player I get an error message from google that says "your client does not have permission to get URL"

I had a friend try to play the same video on his xbox one and it played no problem. I can also play the same video from my phone and computer. It also happens for videos that I have watched on my xbox one before. I tried quitting the app and hard resetting, but neither helped.

Anyone know why this is happening all of a sudden and how to fix it?

Thanks

Submitted by roninsascha | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016

Impressions after a week using Virtual Desktop + CV1 as my exclusive monitor.

Short version: I no longer use my desk at all, Virtual Desktop has made it 98% irrelevant. I have re-arranged my room to reflect no longer needing to be at my desk.

A little background: I use my PC at home for entertainment purposes only. I have a company-issued laptop for work. I have it hooked up to a 47-inch 3DTV that I use as a monitor. I have a G27 for racing sims on my desk, as well as a Thrustmaster Hotas for flight/space sims.

How it started: I initially purchased Virtual Desktop as a way to play videos. I wouldn't have done this at all if the Oculus Video file-selection wasn't so weak and the videos had proper black levels. However, I was immediately struck by how well it worked as a monitor. Even before my CV1 arrived on Tuesday I was using it with my DK2 in limited instances as a monitor. Usually it was when I wanted to check something real quick in between games, and it was a huge pain to remove the DK2 with the shorter cable, separate headphones, and a wired Xbox controller. It was a 5 minute ordeal just to remove the headset, check e-mail for 30 seconds, and get it all back on without tangling. Even with the worse resolution and screen door, it was pretty usable on DK2, but never would have replaced my monitor.

Using VD with CV1: The first program I launched after the CV1 set-up was Virtual Desktop. It's the easiest way to check resolution/screen door on content that's not specifically optimized for the headset. I was suitably impressed. Even right now on this mostly-white page, I can barely see the screen door. The lower resolution is apparent but does not hinder legibility or use in any case I've found yet. Of course, your mileage may vary. Some people may need to see their keyboard to use it, I have no trouble using it without ever looking. Due to vision issues, I also keep my desktop resolution set to 1280x720. I have a feeling bumping this to normal 1080 would hinder text legibility quite a bit. However, due to the Rift's limited resolution, I don't think there's any benefit to running 1080 over 720. I quickly fell in love with this setup. I can resize or zoom in at will. I can reposition the image at any time for work in any position. The desk environment Wormslayer created it great, but I generally prefer the ability to fully customize the size of the screen offered by the void or cubemap environments. I didn't plan it, but I suddenly found myself putting on the Rift every time I sat down at my desk, even for a quick 5 minute Reddit browse or reading the news.

Using Rift with glasses: I have very poor vision due to cataracts as an infant, and therefore have to wear bifocal glasses. This necessitates a screen with larger text and a monitor right in my face. With Virtual Desktop instead of my bifocals I use a pair of cheap reading glasses from Wal-Mart. They're plastic so they won't scratch the Rift lenses. Also, somehow the Rift Lenses help with the vision correction somewhat. The reading glasses are +3.00 which is well short of my regular prescription, and in real life things are still blurry with these glasses. However, as soon as I put on the Rift things are crystal clear. Not sure how that works, but it means that I can be in the Rift and not have to lean in closer to my monitor to be able to read. For anyone with big glasses that don't fit well in Rift, I recommend trying out a cheapo pair of reading glasses from Wal-Mart or Target. It feels silly to put a pair of 5 dollar lenses in front of expensive Rift optics, but my regular frames don't fit and this sure beats not being able to see at all! (Due to corneal transfer surgery, the shape of my eyes does not allow use of contacts.)

How it changed my playspace: At first I was sitting in my swivel chair at my desk wearing the Rift, until I realized I had no reason to. I have a wireless keyboard and mouse, so I adjusted the tracking camera to point out to my whole room by mounting it on a tripod. Now, I am sitting in the recliner about 8 feet away from my desk across the room, laying back with my feet reclined and typing with the keyboard in my lap and the mouse on the arm of the chair. It's super comfortable, super easy, and allowed me to re-arrange my space. I moved my desk into the corner and my PC to the other side so the cable can reach farther. Suddenly I have a much bigger space in which to do the standing/walking demos. Instead of having to move stuff around every time and slide out of my swivel chair, I just pop out of the recliner and I can move around the room. The only time I use my desk now is when I want to play Project Cars, Elite Dangerous, or Eve Valkyrie with the specialty controllers.

Content Consumption: Playing games can get a little choppy every once in a while, but this is likely because I'm on a below-spec GTX960. It's never been enough to make me want to quit, and the pure black-levels of the amoled screen are just dreamy. I also have found myself using the Rift to watch movies more often than the $1000 projector I bought two months ago. For 2D movies it's good, but for 3D movies it's really a WOW experience. With the curved screen zoomed in to take most of my field of view, it really starts to feel like 3D films are actually Virtual Reality content. I have never seen Hollywood 3D have the kind of pop I experience with this set-up. I prefer to keep the background as the black void when watching movies. After 6 days I have already acclimated so much to the 'God Rays' that I don't notice them at all. Being able to recline fully in my chair and re-orient the video content to be in front of my eyes no matter how I am positioned is revolutionary. My back is already reaping the benefits. Due to my poor eyesight, I've always had to lean in towards my monitors. Not anymore.

Comfort of the Rift At first it hurt my cheeks worse than DK2. Then I figured out how to tighten it so the back strap actually held the weight (the top strap must be pulled up further than you're used to with DK2) I've had no issues. The headphones sound great and are set as my default windows sound device.

When it doesn't work Of course there are a few use cases where Virtual Desktop won't work. The other day I tried to use it while my monitor was turned off. It worked, but many things were freezing and a few windows including Google chrome would load but would not render. Turns out, any monitor you want Virtual Desktop to mirror must be on and recognized by the system to work correctly. I'm sure this is documented and I just missed it. Another example of not being able to use it is when I'm updating or installing apps in the Oculus store. It won't let you do so when another app is active (stupid limitation) so I have to completely close VD. Also of course have to load up windows before starting Virtual desktop. Also when you're installing an app and the 'Windows needs permission to install this" yes/no box pops up, that only shows on the monitor. Everything else though as far as adjusting settings, adding/removing programs, etc. all works perfectly. Another obvious limitation I'll mention: I play guitar as well, and of course I have to use the monitor to read tabs while I'm learning a new song.

Conclusion: It's not ready to be a 100% replacement yet. I sometimes regret the lack of spatial awareness of the room around me. I might install a webcam I can pull up just to see what's going on (my fiance, dogs, grabbing a soda, etc.) It's also annoying if I get a phone call, or especially if I'm having a text message conversation with someone. Having to take it off every 30 seconds to read and reply to a message, even with the greatly improved ergonomics, is still a pain. Overall though, it works great, and the benefits of using a more comfortable chair and being able to use it anywhere in the room and in any position I want outweighs the cons like resolution. There will be many individual use cases where it's not practical for everyone every time you're using a computer. But generally, I see no reason to be tethered to my desk anymore.

Submitted by trialobite | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016