‘Can You Run It?’ Instantly Tests Your PC’s Hardware

Can You Run It? may be the single best use of web technology yet. Pick your poison (in this case Crysis), allow a tiny Java applet to run for a few seconds and you’ll know with all the subtlety of a slap in the face if your PC is capable of performing. As you can see in the test above, my computer is in no shape to take on the component-melting graphics of Crytek’s latest.

But be warned, testing the hundreds of supported titles is just as addictive as clicking your way through Facebook’s endless stream of polls and quizzes. For example, my computer blows away the recommended requirements for the 2D side-scrolling MMO, Maple Story, but somehow still falls short of 2003’s euro-sleeze romp Torrente. Go figure.