Some Online gaming questions.

Hello guys.
Some quick questions...
I'm new to the PC online gaming.. always played XBL.
I was wondering, with games such as CoD4, Crysis, L4D(what I mean is Can you say stuff like "WATCH THE ZOMBIE ON THE LEFT OF YOU!" to the people your playing with?), etc. When your playing online, can you text-chat to people? Not in a messenger such as AIM and etc..
But do the games themself have a "chatbox" type thing that allows you to chat with the people your playing against?
Also which would you say is better? Playing on Xbox Live or playing on PC online?
And which has more players? Like am I going to be sitting there waiting for players on the PC unlike Xbox Live where theres loads of players to play against and allow you to chat with during your games and everything?
Thanks guys.

 

Games like L4D and, to a lesser extent CoD4 are really built around headset microphone play where you DO say things like, "WATCH THE ZOMBIE ON THE LEFT OF YOU!" So is Counter-Strike, so are many MMOs as well. At the same time, all these games also offer ingame chatting, in Valve games (like L4D) this usually maps to the 'y' key. Personally, PC gaming is my gaming of choice, the communities I've become a part on the PC are much more fun, interesting, and long lasting than the ones I've become a part of on XBL.

That said, when you have a group of friends come over to your house, it is much easier to play a game with everyone using XBL and HALO3, can't really do that on the PC, nor in Gears of War 2 (only 2 players, gah).

 

Thanks for your quick-response.
Yeah not many of my friends game on PCs, most on XBL. So I was wondering is it easy to make new buddies to play with on PC games? I love playing online and chatting with people while playing. Mainly text chat though. Good to know they have both.
So most games have it? (text chat that is)

 

well if your playing left 4 dead i doubt you will have time to type "WATCH THE ZOMBIE ON THE LEFT OF YOU!" since the person will get attacked before you get to finish typing it, so you should buy a headset

 

Haha good point. Probably use a headset for that game.
But you can text-chat in most online games right?

 

If there was a zombie on the left of your teammate, it'd probably be quicker to kill it yourself.

 

Lol alright alright sorry guys and gals I gave a bad example!
Lets redo this....
Say your playing CoD4, and you want to text chat to the people your playing with in-game, you can. Right?
Also what about private chatting?
Say your playing CoD4 and your playing with your friend and you want to teamup with him/her. Can you talk privately in the game? Like if you want to work together like "Charge in through the left, I'll cover you". Without others seeing? And can you do that with a group of people? Like can you make teams? Or is it all every-man-for-themself?
Thanks.

 

In COD4 the voice chat works inside the teams (OpFor/Marines/Spetnaz/SAS), so the other team can't hear you.

If you want to talk only in a duo, or trio, I suppose you should use a software like Teamspeak.

 

I did a few searches and none of them turn up the magic number to tell which platform has more online population base.

I'm interested too and will be much appreciate if anyone can point the way.

 

I've played COD4 and some other popular FPS that are out today, and from my experience Counter Strike Source has the most player base as far as I can tell. I like CSS alot because team work is a major part of the gameplay, strats are pretty much a must since 9/10 times if you run in with a para (machine gun) and try to spray and prey like you can in Halo they will shoot one bullet into your head and it's all over lol. Another reason Im a big fan of Counter Strike is because it is the most realism game I've ever played, meaning any weapon in the game will kill you (Most of the time) if one of the bullets hit you in the face. It's a very good game.

Also, Communities in PC gaming are much better than in XBL that I've seen. Alot of XBL Clans and communities don't have websites since everyone is on the Xbox, so if you're not online then you can't really talk to them. Where as most clans on PC Gaming have websites with forums and stuff, so it's much easier to get to know people and get your name out there

 

xbox live will always have a higher population. but thats not to take from the PC crowd by any means,,, we are a lot lol

COD4 is currently pullling out aroung 16,000 servers.now mind you some of those might be empty but im just giving you an idea.

We tend to be an older more mature crowd and the reason why theres more xbl players is because it is cheaper to buy/maintain a xbox than it is a top of the line PC to be able to play current games all the time.

And to answer your question about chat, yes most online game include a text chat option.. people mostly use text chat in games like cod4 and world at war but some actually use the in game voice chat system..its just good to know the choice is there.

Dont know if your familiar with gaming clans, but they are groups of people usually friends who game together and usually have some sort of tags in from of theyr name (i.e the SCE_ in front of my name Sobek) We use our own voice chat system and love playing together.. it makes good teAMWORK and we tend to play more tactically.

If you have any questions just shoot away.

 

Yes, you can text chat in most if not all online pc games but a headset is generally preferred and makes the experience more enjoyable - especially the inevitable random chat, and drunk people who come on late with no idea what they're doing

As for private chat, games like COD4 & Left 4 Dead have public chat and team chat. Steam & Games for Windows LIVE also have private chat with people on your friends list or group chat so that's really cool.

 

thanks alot guys, those last two post were very helpful. so all in all do you guys think i should go with XBL or pc online gaming?

 

now is windows live for pc or are you referring to XBL?

 

"Games for Windows Live" is pretty much Microsoft bringing XBL style online gaming to PC, games tagged with being "Games for Windows Live" games can also usually use the Xbox 360 controller for your PC which is nice in games like GTA IV or if you just prefer using a controller rather than Keyboard & Mouse.

I'm pretty sure XBL has more players as said, but in saying that there is certainly no shortage of players on popular pc games. I've never had trouble finding a game really, and PC games tend to have a higher supported amount of players. Hell, I've seen a 128 player servers in an FPS games before! (Counter Strike)

 

Yeah, That's the other thing. After playing FPS's on computer and not console, 16 players on the xbox and PS3 are a joke. In the servers I play in when there's 16 people in, the server is almost empty. And it's not chaos when theres 32 players as many would think

 

So Windows Live comes with games labeled Games for Windows Live or do you have to buy it separately like you have to with XBL?

 

no its a free service for PC.

You should just try out PC gaming, give it a shot thats the only way you will know if you like it.... keep in mind tho, that if you have never played with a keyboard and mouse then it will take a bit to get used to it... no wories tho, once you get the hang of it youll have a blast...playing with a mouse is way more accurate then an xbox control!

yes.. controller croud flame on all you want lol