Intensive Gaming Diary

The blog about videogames.

Category: History of Gaming

Remembering PS4

Posted on by Viljami

It has been eleven years already since I bought my PS4. I remember hooking it up back in the day and replacing my PS3 in my gaming setup. Back in 2014 I only used one gaming console. So, I had only PS4 connected to my television for several years. I have lots of games for PS4 in my game library. Today I am thinking about getting a PS5t that was released already five years ago. I am also waiting eagerly for PS6 to drop some day.

Lately I have not focused so much on playing video games on my PS4. It is still a very good console. Although it has its limitations. It doesn’t have a SSD and uses HDD hard drive instead. I remember clearly replacing the HDD that was only 500 GB to one that had 2 TB of space. This was an easy way to update the system and the hard disk I bought wasn’t actually pricey at all. I definitely think that extra hard disk space is expensive on newest Xbox consoles (Series S/X). I do have a 1 TB space unit installed on my Xbox Series X. Series X also has 1 TB of internal disk space unlike Series S that has only half of a 1 TB. There are also some newer models available that have different amounts of internal disk space.

I have been thinking, lately, about buying a PS5. It has some good exclusive games that I would like to play. I did buy a new PC two months ago. It was a bit of a disappointment for me. I paid over 1 500 euros for a new Windows 11 desktop computer. When I started playing Silent Hill f the computer was running the game at 30 FPS. I thought that a computer that has such a high price tag would perform way better. But this was the case after all. I think today a desktop PC can cost over 3000 euros and you are still not going to get a good performance. So, why not buy a PS5 for about 500 euros. I do know that it cannot be as powerful as a PC that cost several thousands of euros but it does save a lot of money.

You can also play PS4 games on a PS5. You cannot listen to music from audio CDs on a PS5. The backwards compatibility is a nice thing for me as a gamer because I do have lots of games for PS4. When PS4 was released back in 2013 (I bought it in 2014) it didn’t have a backwards compatibility at all. Also the release of PS4 was the point when a newest PlayStation didn’t support CDs as a format for games or music. PS4 still outsold Xbox One that had also many problems. As a console generation this was somewhat a dull one I think.

I think that the most interesting games that are available only for PS5 as exclusives are Silent Hill 2 Remake, Ratchet & Clank – Rift Apart, Astro Bot and Spider-Man 2. Some of these exclusive games are available for other consoles or for PC. Some titles I have already enjoyed very much on PS4. These games are Gran Turismo 7 and God of War – Ragnarök and also Spider-Man Miles Morales. I am hoping to get to play PS4 games God of War and Uncharted 4 and also The Last of Us Part II that I already own but haven’t yet played so much.

If we briefly gather here some thoughts about PS4 in this last paragraph of todays blog post we can conclude that PS4 was a remarkable system that sold very well. There were no delays in deliveries as was the thing with PS5 during pandemia. The first game that I played on PS4 was Tomb Raider. PS4 saw many games that were very good. It also had some exclusive games. There is information moving around and it is rumored that Sony would stop manufacturing PS4s in 2026. PS4 has sold to this day over 115 million units world wide.

Tenchu

Posted on by Viljami

I think many of us old school gamers and maybe some retro game enthusiasts do recognize Tenchu. It was released for PS1 back in 1998. I can clearly remember these moments back in the day when I saw some footage from actual television about Tenchu. What made it interesting as a PS1 video game was that you were mainly using a sword as a weapon. The fact that this game was a stealth game more than just a simple action melee game that we saw many times in the mainstream of video gaming during the 90s. So, Tenchu was something different.

I do have played this. Not recently but it hasn’t been many years since I last time played the first Tenchu game. There have been several sequels. In actually had to search for some information. There have been at least thirteen games with some relevance to Tenchu. Tenchu 2 was released for PS1 in 2000. There were games released for PS2 and also to PSP. The latest in this series that I have played is Tenchu – Wrath of Heaven that was for PS2. I think it isn’t a bad way to start getting into this ninja combat series by playing the first Tenchu game on  a PS1.

The game did impress back in 1998 and it is still a very nice game to play even today. Maybe you have to have a certain retro type of attitude to actually enjoy this game. If we make a comparison to modern era there could be some improvements on the controls and graphics. So there is some adjusting in this sense. If you do like PS1 games I recommend this game especially.

So, what is the game all about? You try to move around in this three-dimensional environment and avoid enemies. If you get caught the enemies will call help and you usually end up  fighting too many enemies and you eventually end up dead. So, avoiding contact seems to be a working strategy. Also, when you encounter an enemy that hasn’t yet noticed you you can take that person out with only one stealth attack. If the enemy detects you the enemy will call help and you end up in a difficult fight.

You can use a grappling hook to move to for example up to some roof of a house. You use a sword to defeat your enemies. You also use throwing weapons try to take out enemies. Ther weapon, the sword I mean, is a melee weapon. This gives you a different feel of combat than if there were some ranged fire weapons used. The concept hasn’t been used in my opinion so much. Instead there are tons of shooting games available as retro and also as modern games. I think the idea of Tenchu is very good and original. Being that it is a game from 1998 makes it even more inventive as a video game. It was somewhat a pioneer as a three dimensional sword and melee fighting game.

Financially Tenchu was very successful in Japan and also all around the world in Europe and USA. It sold over 1,4 million copies worldwide. It was also successful as well appreciated game and received good grades in different reviews of gaming media of the time. Actually this many times meant magazines that were printed on paper. That was the method that was used back in the day. The gaming media wasn’t yet so strong on the internet. This particular fact has changed since Tenchu was first released.

Tenchu isn’t a pricey game to pick up. If you do find it from game shop I think it can be bought with a price tag of maybe 20 euros. I haven’t seen a copy available in a long time but that price of twenty euros was the price that I bought it for. It was one of my favorite games back in the 90s. It was also among the first games I wanted to own as I started collecting and buying PS1 games to my collection again about seven or eight years ago.

Resident Evil 2 Is The Most Significant PS1 Game for Me

Posted on by Viljami

What a game Resident Evil 2 was and still remains to be. It was released in 1998 for Sony PlayStation 1. My first game for this system was Gran Turismo. So, I cannot tell you that Resident Evil 2 would have been my first PS1 game. I did have a demo disc that featured this survival horror game. I remember playing the demo. Resident Evil 2 had a time limit. I don’t remember how long you could play the game. I think it was maybe fifteen minutes or something like that. That was enough to get me hooked to this game. I had to buy the game.

PS1 had been released already some years ago and game developers were already comfortable to design games for this console. This wasn’t among the first games that were released for PS1. Actually the first game in the horror game series was available for players back in 1996. Resident Evil 2 continued and expanded the story line. It actually represents the view of happenings from the perspective of two different characters that belong to the police department of Racoon City.

I can still clearly remember how the game starts. I remember more clearer the beginning with playing as Leon (Leon S. Kennedy). You can choose the character that you play in the start of the game. The other option is Claire (Claire Redfield). Leon starts his journey after a car collision. He is surrounded with zombies. There are burning flames all around. The best option seems to be to run away and maybe try to kill some zombies that are trying to bite Leon. The story progresses and Leon heads over to the police station trying avoid attacks of zombies.

I think the plot is a good one. So, I am not going to spoil it for you in case you want to play this game. I think Resident Evil 2 is still today something that a gamer that’s interested in retro games can pick up and play. You do have to consider that it is almost 30 years old as a video game. The graphics aren’t as sharp as with some modern video games. I especially recommend it for someone that likes horror games as it is a pioneer in this field. I also recommend it to someone that wants to get an idea of what kind of games there have been made for the Sony PlayStation 1.

For me this was a very significant game. It hit me even harder than Gran Turismo or a game like Metal Gear Solid. It was so good that I wanted to play the first Resident Evil game also. Of course I played also the third game in this survival horror game series. I enjoyed the grim environment and the limitations of ammo, saving points and camera angels which were causing me an interesting mix of anxiety and a deep interest in the world that was presented through this game. There have been some more scarier games released later but Resident Evil 2 was a true pioneer in the field of survival horror. All this was introduced to video game hobbyists already in 1998.

There were actually three games released in the main series for PlayStation 1. There were also a light gun supported spin-off, Resident Evil – Survivor. You can also count the first games release with “Director’s Cut” added to the title but I think the point is clear here. There were many sequels because these games were popular. The game series went on to get many new games for many newer systems.

You can actually see some more recent episodes for this series in some recent games like Resident Evil 7 or 8 and there is also a new game coming that is titled as Resident Evil 9. It is currently in development and it might get released in 2026 which isn’t so sure because it would be a huge release. For me it is actually something very big like GTA VI or something. We are dealing with a major video game release that is continuing the series that Resident Evil 2 is a part of.