LGR - System Requirements Stickers
video description
Date: 2022-04-14
Related videos
Comments and reviews: 10
fanjoy
I miss the days when system requirements were very straightforward: 640k of RAM, and VGA graphics. Nothing like it is today, like -GeForce GTX 1080 or higher- and they mean it, becuase some games won't even play or aren't playable if you have, say, a GTX 1050. HOwever, I think as of lately (the past few years) game requirements have levelled off, with most only requiring a quad core CPU, 8GB of RAM (minimum) and a modernized video card (something made in the last 3-4 years. It used to be that every other year or so, you had to buy a new video card, but lately it seems that you can get by with the same configuration for a few years, unless you buy the ultra high-end games and have to have the latest and greatest hardware every year. But I think this also has to do with computers having multiple cores now (and the average home computer having 4, 6 or 8 cores) and with advancements in graphics and RAM.
I mean I look at some of these system requirements and think, even the crappiest of smartphones of today or even 10 years ago, could blow away most of the machines that these games required. Of course advancements in even the past 25 years have been immense when talking about computing advancements, where now they can fit what would be considered (back in the 90's) an extremely powerful computer on a single board (like the Raspberry Pi and similar boards, featuring quad core CPUs, GBs of RAM, etc. Which this whole thing about games always kinds of brings up the debate (that I have with people): Do software drive hardware development, or is it the other way around. hardware drives new developments in software?
reply
I miss the days when system requirements were very straightforward: 640k of RAM, and VGA graphics. Nothing like it is today, like -GeForce GTX 1080 or higher- and they mean it, becuase some games won't even play or aren't playable if you have, say, a GTX 1050. HOwever, I think as of lately (the past few years) game requirements have levelled off, with most only requiring a quad core CPU, 8GB of RAM (minimum) and a modernized video card (something made in the last 3-4 years. It used to be that every other year or so, you had to buy a new video card, but lately it seems that you can get by with the same configuration for a few years, unless you buy the ultra high-end games and have to have the latest and greatest hardware every year. But I think this also has to do with computers having multiple cores now (and the average home computer having 4, 6 or 8 cores) and with advancements in graphics and RAM.
I mean I look at some of these system requirements and think, even the crappiest of smartphones of today or even 10 years ago, could blow away most of the machines that these games required. Of course advancements in even the past 25 years have been immense when talking about computing advancements, where now they can fit what would be considered (back in the 90's) an extremely powerful computer on a single board (like the Raspberry Pi and similar boards, featuring quad core CPUs, GBs of RAM, etc. Which this whole thing about games always kinds of brings up the debate (that I have with people): Do software drive hardware development, or is it the other way around. hardware drives new developments in software?
reply
Matt
I was thinking lately about how this became such a mess in the 90s. Of course, in the early -80s- you'd had this welter of incompatible computers with their own operating systems, and games all had to be released in several mutually incompatible versions. And once everything shrank down to the IBM-compatible/Mac duopoly, it must have seemed like that would get simpler. But it didn't, because that contraction was driven by the business market, and the business market didn't like games. So these computers were more or less deliberately hobbled as game machines, and to make them good again, you needed to add third-party hardware (especially for sound, but hardware 3D graphics acceleration became increasingly important as well. Now a lot of this stuff is standard equipment again, though there's still a lot of variation in things like graphics accelerators.
reply
I was thinking lately about how this became such a mess in the 90s. Of course, in the early -80s- you'd had this welter of incompatible computers with their own operating systems, and games all had to be released in several mutually incompatible versions. And once everything shrank down to the IBM-compatible/Mac duopoly, it must have seemed like that would get simpler. But it didn't, because that contraction was driven by the business market, and the business market didn't like games. So these computers were more or less deliberately hobbled as game machines, and to make them good again, you needed to add third-party hardware (especially for sound, but hardware 3D graphics acceleration became increasingly important as well. Now a lot of this stuff is standard equipment again, though there's still a lot of variation in things like graphics accelerators.
reply
Obie327
Yeah, I remember all these old requirements when they came out. Remembering my first -new- store bought -Packard Bell 486 SX 25 mhz with Panasonic printer- from Best Buy (late 1992) and 4 megabytes of ram. Windows 3. 1 and dos 5. 0 and direct x 1. I upgraded that system for years with 486DX 50 mhz then 100 mhz cpu and then a cyrix 133 mhz. Ram upgraded to max at 20 megabytes with ram double software installed for even more space. Sound blaster (original then awe 32 version later on) Print shop deluxe taking an hour and a half thinking and about the same amount of time printing it making banners for work. 4x cd rom drive also. One of my all time windows direct x games was -Chrystal Calliburn- (pinball game I still love and still own today) The good Ole' days of computers and gaming: ) Thanks for sharing these cool memories: )
reply
Yeah, I remember all these old requirements when they came out. Remembering my first -new- store bought -Packard Bell 486 SX 25 mhz with Panasonic printer- from Best Buy (late 1992) and 4 megabytes of ram. Windows 3. 1 and dos 5. 0 and direct x 1. I upgraded that system for years with 486DX 50 mhz then 100 mhz cpu and then a cyrix 133 mhz. Ram upgraded to max at 20 megabytes with ram double software installed for even more space. Sound blaster (original then awe 32 version later on) Print shop deluxe taking an hour and a half thinking and about the same amount of time printing it making banners for work. 4x cd rom drive also. One of my all time windows direct x games was -Chrystal Calliburn- (pinball game I still love and still own today) The good Ole' days of computers and gaming: ) Thanks for sharing these cool memories: )
reply
fanjoy
for sites like steam etc, there should be a program that scans your system and finds out all your performance parameters and filters the site down to games that will run on your PC. maybe a traffic light system to tell you if you can run the game in low graphics to full graphics.
maybe games that don't currently work on your system it can recommend hardware (maybe sponsored) that will make the games work according to the traffic light systems. so you can put a pc together according to the specs of games you want.
could be like a huge game modding price comparison site.
this could really work and bring pc gaming to the masses, especially those who only stick to consoles because PC gaming can still be pretty hit and miss.
reply
for sites like steam etc, there should be a program that scans your system and finds out all your performance parameters and filters the site down to games that will run on your PC. maybe a traffic light system to tell you if you can run the game in low graphics to full graphics.
maybe games that don't currently work on your system it can recommend hardware (maybe sponsored) that will make the games work according to the traffic light systems. so you can put a pc together according to the specs of games you want.
could be like a huge game modding price comparison site.
this could really work and bring pc gaming to the masses, especially those who only stick to consoles because PC gaming can still be pretty hit and miss.
reply
Retro
I started off in computing at about 8 years old with the good old VIC20, great for building electronics projects and using the VIC to control them, I bought a switchable RAM expansion for it because I needed it to play a few of the games I had. Then it was the C64 and onto an Amiga and a CD32. Then in the early to mid 90s I moved from Amiga to a PC. Chased the system requirements, constantly upgrading and building new PCs. Eventually I bought a laptop for serious stuff and an Xbox then a PS3 for games. Gaming on a PC just became a slog, constantly shelling out for faster this and more of that. I miss my VIC20 and my CD32. Getting quite nostalgic today.
reply
I started off in computing at about 8 years old with the good old VIC20, great for building electronics projects and using the VIC to control them, I bought a switchable RAM expansion for it because I needed it to play a few of the games I had. Then it was the C64 and onto an Amiga and a CD32. Then in the early to mid 90s I moved from Amiga to a PC. Chased the system requirements, constantly upgrading and building new PCs. Eventually I bought a laptop for serious stuff and an Xbox then a PS3 for games. Gaming on a PC just became a slog, constantly shelling out for faster this and more of that. I miss my VIC20 and my CD32. Getting quite nostalgic today.
reply
siloPIRATE
Just noticed something. These requirements are like how consoles today are only compatible made with games mad specifically for them. Consoles today now use X86 and are getting closer to PCs after being wildly different to each other when they first started. Does that mean, we could get consoles that play each other's games in future? Much like how PCs started off with games tailored specifically for them and then ended up being able to play any computer game regardless of their hardware configuration (as long as they ran Windows and had hardware equal to or better than the requirements)
-
reply
Just noticed something. These requirements are like how consoles today are only compatible made with games mad specifically for them. Consoles today now use X86 and are getting closer to PCs after being wildly different to each other when they first started. Does that mean, we could get consoles that play each other's games in future? Much like how PCs started off with games tailored specifically for them and then ended up being able to play any computer game regardless of their hardware configuration (as long as they ran Windows and had hardware equal to or better than the requirements)
-
reply
Eddie
I remember buying a some game way back when, thinking I could cheat the video-card requirement. It didn't work, so I had to save up for months to buy a Voodoo2. I thought it was the bee's knees. But it didn't fit in my tower, so I had to buy a larger case. Then the card didn't fit my motherboard, so I had to buy a new motherboard. Then my old memory cards didn't fit in the motherboard, so I had to buy new memory cards. Then my CRT screen looked really blurry, so I had to buy a new monitor. Then I realized my CD drive was 2x, not 4x, so I had to buy a new drive. Then I found out the game sucked.
reply
I remember buying a some game way back when, thinking I could cheat the video-card requirement. It didn't work, so I had to save up for months to buy a Voodoo2. I thought it was the bee's knees. But it didn't fit in my tower, so I had to buy a larger case. Then the card didn't fit my motherboard, so I had to buy a new motherboard. Then my old memory cards didn't fit in the motherboard, so I had to buy new memory cards. Then my CRT screen looked really blurry, so I had to buy a new monitor. Then I realized my CD drive was 2x, not 4x, so I had to buy a new drive. Then I found out the game sucked.
reply
Luna
The most Annoying thing for me was 'Expanded Memory'
I remember getting a game 'Aces of the Pacific' At my Grandparents house on Christmas Eve. I just couldn't wait to get home, go to bed and play it before parents woke up for Christmas Morning.
I was only greeted with Disappointment when I got the 'Not Enough Expanded Memory- and I tried everything, from using a boot disk as it suggested and buying more memory chips, nothing worked. Even tech support couldn't help me out.
I don't know how but I did finally mage to get it to work, though It did something weird with the startup.
reply
The most Annoying thing for me was 'Expanded Memory'
I remember getting a game 'Aces of the Pacific' At my Grandparents house on Christmas Eve. I just couldn't wait to get home, go to bed and play it before parents woke up for Christmas Morning.
I was only greeted with Disappointment when I got the 'Not Enough Expanded Memory- and I tried everything, from using a boot disk as it suggested and buying more memory chips, nothing worked. Even tech support couldn't help me out.
I don't know how but I did finally mage to get it to work, though It did something weird with the startup.
reply
sbcontt
We gotta thank MS for DirectX SDK. It is because of DirectX SDK that all the hardware API got standardized. They also helped develop X86-64. Who knows what would have happened had intel gotten it's way and pushed Itanium in common market while apple would have either stayed with PowerPC or switched over to ARM.
An ARM switch can still happen in future, which frightens me. At this point, if you wanna change architecture then pls go async. Not another synchronous architecture pls.
reply
We gotta thank MS for DirectX SDK. It is because of DirectX SDK that all the hardware API got standardized. They also helped develop X86-64. Who knows what would have happened had intel gotten it's way and pushed Itanium in common market while apple would have either stayed with PowerPC or switched over to ARM.
An ARM switch can still happen in future, which frightens me. At this point, if you wanna change architecture then pls go async. Not another synchronous architecture pls.
reply
Keith
In regards to the 'Tandy VGA only' requirements on Sierra: Tandy originally had a 16-color mode that was cloned from the PCjr. This mode is a super-set of the original CGA graphics standard and is NOT compatible with EGA. It looks like at the time this game was released, Sierra stopped supporting Tandy/PCjr 16-color mode altogether and, therefore, the game only worked on Tandy machine with VGA graphics built-in.
reply
In regards to the 'Tandy VGA only' requirements on Sierra: Tandy originally had a 16-color mode that was cloned from the PCjr. This mode is a super-set of the original CGA graphics standard and is NOT compatible with EGA. It looks like at the time this game was released, Sierra stopped supporting Tandy/PCjr 16-color mode altogether and, therefore, the game only worked on Tandy machine with VGA graphics built-in.
reply
Add a review, comment
Other channel videos
