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Playing Some Mafia (Definitive Edition)

Posted on May 31, 2026 by Viljami

I started this morning spending two hours of my time playing Mafia – Definitive Edition. As you can see from the featured image I have now a new controller for my Xbox Series X. It is the Microsoft Elite Pad 2. Yes, it did cost some money but I am very pleased in its performance. At least I am for now.

It has battery and I keep it connected with the cable that came with it when I am not playing. When I am playing I do take the cable off. The cable has to be connected before I shut down the console. Otherwise the console gets powered on again. Also for taking a screenshot you have to first press Xbox button and after that you have to press Y button. Regular game pad offers a screenshot with one button press. Elite game pad did cost me something like 155 euros I think.

Mafia has been on my list of games to play since I read about it from a gaming book. The book was “Pikselipölyä” that was written in Finnish. The name can be translated to something like “pixel dust”. I don’t think this book has been translated or even available outside Finland but it was an interesting book that I borrowed from a library. In where I live we have very nice libraries. There are many of them and they have lots of new and good books to borrow. I like it a lot.

So, Mafia was recommended in that book. The game was first released on PlayStation 2. Also, in the book, it was mentioned that the Definitive Edition, the remake, would be a better opportunity if you can choose the version that you want to play. I didn’t have the game for PS2. So, I just bought the whole Mafia Trilogy collection of Mafia games. I have only played Mafia – The Old Country.

Mafia – Definitive Edition offers straight from the beginning some driving, shooting and very much discussion between the other characters and the main character. From the beginning you are starting to wonder why would a person like to work in a mafia. Well, there are some reasons why the main character just ends up on a mafias payroll. So, the plot starts to form from the early moments in this game.

There might be some other games that many gamers are playing right now. Forza Horizon 6 was released under two weeks ago. There was the new Bond game released just some days ago. The game is titled “007 – First Light”. I just yesterday watched some content on YouTube about the new Bond game. It was said that it is very good as a video game. Many of us are already also waiting for the next Grand Theft Auto Game – GTA VI. Well, I don’t care so much about actually playing games that are somewhat straight from the oven so to say. I just like to play any good game that I have missed and haven’t put so much time in. This makes my mind pretty much why would I want to play a game like the first game in the Mafia series. I might play the second or the third game next. I really don’t know yet.

Since there are so many good games out there you really have to try and think what to play next. I do, as you might notice from the blog post that I wrote yesterday, play some retro games also. I like to play some PS2 games and also Mega Drive games. I end up casually playing some good games also for NES and SNES with not forgetting PS1 games. Sometimes I like to escape the limitations and when I feel that kind of a sense I turn to some more modern games. In this way I can really see how the technology and also the design of video games has improved.

I could go on about some movies that are going to be available soon in 4K disc format (the next Avatar and also the Silent Hill movie) or tell you about how it uplifted my moods to see Finland win Canada yesterday in ice hockey’s World Championships but I think this is enough from me right now. See you next time my dear reader!

Waiting for Forza Horizon 6

Posted on May 14, 2026 by Viljami

Forza Horizon 6 will be released 19th of May this year (2026). It will be available at the launch for PC and Xbox Series S/X. There have been some very unofficial discussions about this game getting released also for other mainstream gaming consoles. This just seems to be the viewpoint today. There might be such things as exclusive releases soon as every PlayStation title seems to be getting released for PC and now also for Xbox.

So, what I have been up to lately, one might ask. Mainly I have been working and keeping myself busy in that way. There seems to be less time for video games as I get older. However I have played some games and this blog post deals with that part of my life now. I have played Crash Bandicoot 4, Doom – Dark Ages, Half-Life 2 and also more and lately Dirt 5 which seems to be a nice racing game to start to get ready for Forza Horizon 6.

Dirt 5 was originally released in 2020. It isn’t the newest game that has been developed by Codemasters but it still remains as a part of this legendary series of racing games that might even been started by Colin McRae Rally already back in the end of the 90s. There have been many great games in this series. I especially want to mention Colin McRae Rally 2.0 and Colin McRae Dirt 2. Those might be the best games out of this series.

Dirt 5 has a lot to offer. I have already spent a bit over 7 hours playing it. You get to drive with several different vehicles and there are several types of driving you will get involved in during playing. There are many camera options to choose from. You can set the camera to the surface of the road or then set it to display the whole car from the back. I chose to set the camera so that I can see the whole car I am driving. This makes it somewhat easy to play Dirt 5. You do have to control the vehicle precisely. I have played this game with a game controller. I really don’t know how a driving wheel and pedals would make the game seem to feel like.

Dirt 5 is a nice racing game in overall. It is almost unfair to make a comparison between the earlier games in this series because they are just so good as racing games. If we put it into this perspective Dirt 5 is a good game. There might have been some issues early when the game was released but I think that in 2026 this game is still a fun one to play. It has received the “metascore” of 79 out of 100 on Metacritic.

I originally picked up Dirt 5 just some weeks before the upcoming release of Forza Horizon 6. It currently has a price tag of 21 euros on the Xbox store. So, it is a cheap game that can help you to better deal with waiting for Forza Horizon 6. This time I bought a game as a digital copy. Although I decided to order Forza Horizon 6 as a physical copy. There will be a long installation process since the game takes a bit over 130 GB of space from my Xbox Series X. Do remember that there is also a PC version available.

With having already made the purchase I am waiting to get my hands on the new Forza game at next Tuesday. Today I am having a day off and I am currently enjoying it an drinking some coffee while I type this post that you are soon able to read. I really have nothing else to say right now. So, until next time my dear readers.

Thoughts About Buying New Games

Posted on April 22, 2026 by Viljami

This is the blog post about my thoughts of buying more new games. I wanted to let you, my dear readers, to know that I have already a huge amount of games. Some of them can be considered retro games and some of them are newer releases. I do play modern games on my PC, Switch 2 and Xbox Series X. To this day I haven’t bought a PS5 gaming console. Now my selection of video game consoles that are in my setup and connected to my 4K television is huge. There simply isn’t room anymore for a console like PS5 that takes loads of space. I read somewhere that the unsual height of the PS5 console is due to a heat sink solution used in the console.

I do play also retro games like NES, SNES and Mega Drive. I also have a GameCube hooked on my TV. I am not sure if it works. I haven’t played it in a while. Last time I played something on it I think I got a disc read error. I also have a PS4 and a PS3 hooked on my TV. I have also a Raspberry Pi 5 that holds Recalbox that I use for retro emulation. Finally on the left side of my TV I have a PC that holds Batocera as its operating system. I use it to run Xbox and PS2 emulation. For Raspberry Pi and the PC I use Xbox Series S/X game controllers. I like them and I think they are of a great quality.

I have loads of games. I took the image that is presented as this blog posts “Featured Image” to demonstrate the situation. Just some days ago I sorted all the games that I have on these two large shelves. I did make some room as I got rid of all DVDs that were sitting on these shelves. DVDs aren’t so precious to me today. I do watch some DVDs sometimes but having hundreds of them lying on a bookshelf is kind of wack thing to have in your living room. We are living the year 2026 after all.

So, I don’t have a lot room for more games. I don’t necessarily need new PS1 games. I have some very good games in my collection. I haven’t played all of them. I don’t necessarily need more PC big box games. I have over ten big boxes already along with some modern games as “collectors editions”. I actually very much like to play all the games that I end up buying. Its been a long time since I finished some game. I think the piles are getting bigger and I seem to have less and less time to play video games. Remember the post I did about some PS3 and PS2 games that I bought. I have barely touched those games. I did play 15 hours of the Need For Speed Most Wanted but that was all I got to play. That purchase included many games that were also very interesting.

What about buying more digital games? Look. I have hundreds of digital games. I have over huhdred games in Steam and almost hundred games also on my Xbox Series X’s Xbox Store. The reason and also the way that I have bought so many of them seems to be somewhat common for any digital video game consumer. You get ahuge discount and you buy tens of games at one sitting. Then you wonder around thinking which one of these games should you install. Even if you end up installing something interesting you don’t actually get to play it a lot. That’s the way I view this situation. People have more games but less time to play. If you are a young person, for example a student, you don’t have money and that seems to be a limiting matter.

I am interested in some new releases that we are going to have available soon. There is System Shock 2 Remastered getting released 29th of May. Forza Horizon 6 is getting released 19th of May. There are some other interesting new releases also. There have been some conversations and presentations about the new Neo Geo console. It might be interesting too. I just don’t seem to have aany space left for a new console.

What about retro games? Am I going to buy annything new soon? I think no is the answer. I have loads of retro titles sitting on the shelves. Also prices of older video games are going up and up. You don’t even find that many games from flea markets because someone is making a side hustle with buying every retro game for cheap and selling it at a higher price. I think also that I have invested, if that is the right word, my money already enough to support my local game shops.

Sometimes I turn to emulation. I don’t so much see that it would be harming the game business so much. It is good to keep consumers interested in also retro gaming. There are many good ways to buy totally legitimately retro games. I mean the collections for modern consoles and remakes and also mini consoles. I think some games are so expensive that gamers cannot afford them. Sometimes I think that for preservation means it is signifant that we have ways to share old games. After all the developer that developed the game in the first place cannot receive in many cases any more money because the game isn’t availalbe legitimately.

I think this is enough about me and my slight frustration against my ever growing collection of games. I do have this dear hobby. If it costs me some money so be it. Some people buy cars. That’s an expensive hobby too. Have a nice end of the week and see you again soon!