Gran Turismo 7 – After Ten Hours of Playing

Gran Turismo 7 was released 4th of March. I got to play it early since I had ordered it in advance from a local game shop. Gamers all around the world have been waiting for this game to be available. Gran Turismo 6 was released on PS3 just before PS4 was getting to markets. So, we have been waiting for this for a while.

I would definitely like to play this racing game with a PS5. The circumstances are what they are and I have to satisfy my needs of some Gran Turismo racing with my PS4. I can see how a somewhat more advanced controller and better graphics would enhance my whole experience about this game. But even played with PS4 instead of PS5 I can be very satisfied how this game feels like.

I have to warn you. I usually play games longer compared to what is the average completion time expressed in for example How Long To Beat website. I have played already 48 hours of Diablo II Resurrected. It is said on How Long To Beat that its main story takes 18 hours to complete. Maybe I am a slow player or maybe I am a comletionist.

So, I have played Gran Turismo 7 for a bit over ten hours. This game made an impact as I started playing it. I had played a bit of Forza Motorsport 3 for Xbox 360 lately. It is older game but I immediately understood how good of a racing game the Gran Turismo is. You can set the difficulty level suitable for yourself. There are assists for breaking, steering and changing gears.

Gameplay is not simulation and it’s also not also arcade. It is somewhere in between. This can probably raise a question if it is a good game for some eSport sessions. Playing against your mates through network is an option if you like to play games that way. In the beginning of the game I chose intermediate skill level. I soon wanted to turn off automatic breaking. I tested a bit the settings and finally found ones that I liked. So there is a challenge for every racing fan that wants to play this game.

Graphics are amazing. Driving is fun. I don’t know how long it takes to finish the game since you can play it, I think, eternally, if you wish to do so. This is definitely the best we can get out of a racing game for PS4. I would like to try this game for PS5 but as you know there is a limited availability for a PS5 still. So you can play Gran Turismo 7 for as long as you want.

There are lots of goals in this game. You can try to called all the cars and unlock all the tracks. There is a cafe in GT7 from where you get missions, or menus, that give you something to achieve. You get a reward from achieving a goal. It is usually some new tracks or cars. You don’t immediately get to drive the fastest sport cars in the beginning of the game. You have to drive some time with some slower or not so sporty cars first.

After ten hours of playing Gran Turismo 7 seems to be everything I expected it to be. I have talked about this game with some of the persons I know since I heard that it was going to be released. It’s finally here. Now it’s time for me to enjoy it. I can definitely recommend this game.

Is it a Good Moment to Buy Nintendo Switch?

So, this is my first post of the year. Welcome to 2022 for all you that are right now reading this blog. Before Christmas I was thinking and actually seeing conversation about how Switch would be sold for something like 250 euros after holidays. It is not that I would need a new gaming console. It is that that it is sold for so low price.

I have also been waiting for Xbox Series X to be available. I am actually thinking if I should buy Switch while there is no Series X available at the moment. While newest PlayStation and Xbox gaming consoles have had serious issues with availability Nintendo has been ready to bring their consoles to gamers worldwide.

The price for Switch gaming console has been for a while about 320 euros. The price didn’t, at least yet, fall so much as was predicted. When I made a search for the price it was about 270 euros right now. That is the current lowest price of the console here in Finland.

Should you buy a new Nintendo console instead of Series X or PS5? There is of course the possibility to get the new updated Switch OLED which costs a bit more. The curent price is 399 euros. This console doesn’t bring you 4K graphics or anything even near that. This is propably a good time to have a conversation on the topic.

Nintendo Switch keeps selling. Nintendo is bringing many games to their console. For consumers there is also an option. That means that you have to wait. Maybe you wait for the newest Playstation. Maybe you wait for the newest Xbox. Or could it be that you are already waiting for the newest, upcoming, Nintendo console.

While Nintendo is dominating handheld gaming Sony and Xbox are struggling for their spot in the living room of gamers. Is it cool to play video games with your smart phone? Whatever your question that you want the answer to is one thing is certain – there are many question here. It seems to me that waiting might be the solution.

 

About NVIDIA Shield TV

Some years ago I had a situation with my television. It wasn’t a smart TV. I wanted to watch more content that I liked from it. I tried to make this possible in several ways. First I tried connecting my old Raspberry Pi, the first model, to it. I found out that it wasn’t powerful enough.

What I tried next was to install a Linux distro to a computer and then hook it up to the television. So I got my hands on an old computer that was not used anymore actively. I installed many distros. I was most successful with first Lakka OS and then I also tried LibreELEC. I wasn’t satisfied.

I started thinking if there would be some other solution. My thoughts were first centering around Google Chromecast. It was cheap. Then I found this perfect solution. It would cost a bit but it would cost even more to get a smart TV. This solution was Nvidia Shield TV.

I have now written already three paragraphs in this blog post and we haven’t really touched the main subject yet. The subject of course is the device that allows you to run any Android app and in that way allow you to play games, new and also retro, and see any television programs that you like. The image related to this post displays the remote controller of Nvidia Shield TV.

There are two models of this device available. One has a price tag of about 150 euros and the other, Nvidia Shield TV Pro, has a price of about 230 euros. I have the cheaper one of these two. I also bought a 128 GB memory card with the device. IT connects to your network only with a cable. So that is a small minus. Otherwise I have been happy to use my Shield TV.

It connects to your television with a regular HDMI cable. So, as I said, you can install any Android app. You can hook up your favorite game controller through Bluetooth. I used Dual Shock 4, which is PS4s controller, and I also made sure that my controller had power for it. In this case Dual Shock 4 takes its power from a smart phones charging cable. It uses micro-USB.

There is an app for retro gaming and it is Retroarch. You have to copy your rom files through your local network which is very easy actually. I wasn’t able to play any PS2 games but I found that I could run any PS1 and Dreamcast games. So it is more powerful than your Raspberry Pi would be. And I think there isn’t any decently working Android emulator to be found at the moment (please correct me if I’m wrong).

I can recommend NVIDIA Shield TV to someone that needs a bit more power than the newest Raspberry Pi provides and wants to watch TV programs provided by any Android app. There are also features that let you mirror the games from some other device like a PC.