By DPA
Dusseldorf (Germany) : It’s every dad’s nightmare: he buys his son or daughter the hot new video game for Christmas, installs it, and it just won’t run. The publisher’s hotline gives a permanent engaged signal, and the mood at home is mutinous.
Before hurling the game out the window, cooler heads know to first take a look at the PC at home. In many cases the problem is a missing driver for the graphic card that is required for the software to run.
Anyone who is uncomfortable with the ins and outs of a computer should check out their own basic system information before heading to the game shop.
“Many people buy games based on the advertisements, but their computer may not meet the minimum system requirements,” says Thomas Jaskiewicz from game maker Ubisoft. The crib sheet should include the operating system, processor, RAM totals, and name of the graphics and sound card.
“If the minimum requirements are met, then games will usually run, even if only at a lower resolution,” says Hendrik Weins from Munich-based Gamestar magazine. Problems can emerge if the operating system has not been completely updated.
“Always install all recommended Windows updates,” recommends Frank Buchheim from game maker Electronic Arts. A current version of DirectX should also be installed on the machine. It is often included with the game itself.
In some cases anti-virus or firewall software can cause problems with the installation. “Many games connect over the internet during installation, which means that a firewall throws a wrench into the works,” explains Marcus Cool from game publisher Limbic Entertainment. If the installation aborts itself, try turning off the firewall and ant virus software temporarily and restarting the installation.
Even if the installation works properly, there’s no guarantee the game itself will run. Freezes, blocky transitions and crashes are all possible. “The first thing I’d do is go to the publisher’s site and check if there are already updates available,” Marcus Cool recommends. “If you’ve installed the most recent patch and the game still won’t run, then usually the problem is with your system.”
The most common troublemaker is an outdated graphics card driver. You can check when it was last updated using the Device Manager function. Armed with that data, users can then check on card maker’s web site as to whether a new driver is available. If the sound is the problem, then the sound card driver is usually to blame. In that case it needs to be updated.
If the game still won’t work, then try the publisher’s homepage. “There is usually a frequently asked questions page with helpful information,” Jaskiewicz says. Hendrik Weins from “Gamestar” recommends against calling the telephone hotline: “That can run up costs really quickly.”
The fact that games won’t run smoothly on home PCs is not some marketing trick by the developers, but rather a reflection of just how many different kinds of computers there are.
“There are millions of different configuration options, and each can have different side effects,” Frank Buchheim confirms. “The only way to guarantee that the games will work is to buy a console.”