Intensive Gaming Diary

The blog about videogames.

Category: History of Gaming

Developing Own Game Using HTML Elements

Posted on by Viljami

Let’s go back some years. Actually let’s go back 20 years. In the beginning of 2000s our family bought another electronic device. This time it was a brand new computer. The processor was 400 Mhz. It barely ran some games like Diablo II, Hitman, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 and Colin McRae Rally 2.0.

This was a time when HTML was the most popular way to make websites. And websites were definitely more simple than they are today. You could even use some WYSIWYG editor like FrontPage or Dreamweaver. The scene was very different than it is today. Internet was accessed mainly with personal computers screens instead of mobile devices and tablets. CSS was already available but JavaScript was a bit different than it is today. If you had will and skill you could learn something like PHP programming or you could even get into databases.

So this was a time for me to get to know how a web browser basically works. I didn’t get so deep in this topic back then. But I did design some websites. You could say that making websites was my hobby. It took me ten more years to actually apply to study programming. I have been interested in computers for a long time of period. And finally I ended up also working in this field.

If you know some HTML you understand that there are elements, like headers, paragraphs and images. You can interact with the system by clicking links and hovering the mouse cursor over some element. All this is done as you run a website on your web browser. HTML displays the structure of the site, CSS styles, sets the colors of fonts and backgrounds of div elements, and JavaScript handles events and manipulation of the elements presented. All this is done inside the web browser.

There are different web browsers available. Today, they don’t differ form each other that much. Back in the day there were wars between browsers. You had Internet Explorer that understood JavaScript in it’s own way. You had to produce code that could be handled in every browser that existed.

This text is nothing like a tutorial in game development. I decided to write this blog post to give you an idea about how you can approach this topic. You don’t necessarily have to start learning something heavy like C programming or OpenGL. You can start with something like HTML. Some might say that it isn’t a real programming language. And actually it really isn’t. It still provides you some ways to create something that can be used when developing a real game.

You can even use a database in your design. You can also use a JavaScript framework like React or Vue or something like that. Making a website is easy and fun. You can make your website to be a game. If  you don’t think that you would want to make a game that can be run in a web browser you can also find tools for converting your game to a desktop application. Only the sky is a limit in this matter.

What to Think About Game Collections?

Posted on by Viljami

I have mixed thoughts and feelings about game collections released on modern gaming systems. These collections try as hard as they can to bring some retro consoles most impressive games to consoles like PS3 or PC or even some newer ones like PS5. I own many game collections. In the featured image of this blog post there is a Dreamcast collection for PC and Mega Drive collection for PS3. Dreamcast collection has four games which are Sega Bass Fishing, Sonic Adventure DX, Crazy Taxi and Space Channel 5 Part 2. The list of games in Mega Drive collection has over 40 titles. Some of the games included are Sonic The Hedgehog 1, 2 and 3, Streets of Rage 1, 2 and 3, Ecco The Dolphin, Golden Axe series and Phantasy Star I to IV just to mention some of them.

How much would you pay for this kind of a collection of games that have been released on some earlier retro gaming system? Is it fair to sell them for the price of a completely new and unreleased game? Are these collections a good way to get deeper into a gaming system? I have to say that I didn’t pay the full price of these two collections. I bought both of them from sale. I remember getting my Dreamcast Collection for PC for about 10 euros and this Mega Drive Collection for PS3 was about 20 euros. I wouldn’t have paid 60 euros to have one of these even if it were some years ago.

Why would I make my decisions the way I do in this matter? I think there is a point in getting to know your gaming consoles games may they be retro or new. I like to think that every system has its own strengths and weaknesses. Mega Drive is great for 2D platform and shooting games and Dreamcast is capable of bringing you the experience of early 3D games of the end of the 90s. I think you have to get into the system you play these games on. That’s what makes it interesting for me and this is true for especially retro games.

There are limitations in gaming systems that were released in the 1980s but you might still have the motivation to play some Commodore 64 games to have some nostalgic feelings. Of course it has its limitations. After all it is an old system. But that same limitation becomes an advantage when thinking about what game designers had to face and how where they able to get around these technical limitations. The design process and the ways and skills in how to design games has progressed. It is also not so odd to find a new game, released last year or something like that, released for older gaming system.

It is not also common that all of your games in your full gaming library can be actually even played at all. As a game hobbyist you have to think about what games you have, or what games you are going to acquire, and how can you play them. Do you use emulators? Do you buy all the games as physical copies? What systems you have and what systems do you want to have in the future?

So, as a conclusion to this blog post, I think there is some sense in re-releasing old retro games as a collection to a newer system. They might be even quite playable. This is not, in my opinion, a proper way to sell games although and the price would have to be a bit lower than for a new game. There are many ways you can play your retro games. Original systems is just a one way. There are also consoles like Evercade and we have definitely seen mini consoles of Mega Drive, NES and SNES and there might be some new releases in the future also.

Differences between Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter

Posted on by Viljami

I finally managed to get my hands on original Street Fighter II SNES cartridge. It is not a rare or expensive game. But it is definitely a good fighting game and has earned its position as one of the greatest fighting games ever.

There is however competition. Street Fighter games are always compared to Mortal Kombat series’s games. Back in the 90s these two were the best fighting games that any decent arcade, or a video gaming console, had to offer. It was before we got these 3D styled fighting experiences like for example Tekken or Virtua Fighter.

The competition between these two brands was furious. Nintendo wanted to get more young players to enjoy their games. There is no blood in Street Fighter II. In Mortal Kombat you have these deadly fatalities that can be executed after you have beaten your opponent . This was also a time when consumers were becoming more aware of violence in video games.

I played Street Fighter II for a while. It got me to understand how it is different when compared to Mortal Kombat. The latter was released for Sega Mega Drive and the first one was a SNES title. First thing that caught my attention was the differences between controllers.

The way you play these games is almost identical. There is one fighter against the other fighter. The moves are however different. You do have kicks and punches and you can throw your enemy to the other conrner of the screen. Mega Drive doesn’t have shoulder buttons in its controller while SNES does have. Button layout is a bit different when compared between these two gaming consoles.

Mortal Kombat is the one of these two that shows elements of brutal violence. Street Fighter doesn’t show you blood and violence is a bit more cartoonishly expressed. Is it okay to show how violence in real life affects your victim? I don’t have a clear answer. Both of these games are violent. Do you have a problem with it? Well, I don’t as I think of it as fantasy. I do understand that you might have to have a conversation with younger palyers on this topic at some moment.

While this might not be a good time for a discussion about violence in video games but it is a time for me to try to finish this blog post honestly. Both of these fighting games are great. Maybe I should say that I like both of them and that they both have their own strengths. So I can recommend both of them if you have the ability to also play both of them.