Intensive Gaming Diary

The blog about videogames.

Category: Modern

Every Gaming System Is Unique

Posted on by Viljami

I have a gaming setup in my living room (or maybe “gaming room”) currently that has total of 8 gaming consoles. Some of these devices are old and some of them are more recent. I have a Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series X that represent a more recent of a gaming system. I do have retro consoles also.

These are Sega Mega Drive Mini, PSOne and Retro Trio Plus. The last-mentioned is capable to support Mega Drive, NES and SNES games. I have also some adpaters that enable a gaming system like Master System or Game Boy to be played. I have also PS3 and a PS4 in my current setup. I almost forgot my Nintendo GameCube.

Here we are getting some kind of an idea of my gaming setup. The idea was to ponder on how every gaming system is unique. This comes in mind when you are thinking about game controllers. Every system has its own kind of a controlling device. NES has a very edgy controller while PSOne functions with a DualShock 2 controller that is originally a PS2 game pad. It is nice to have this kind of a compatibility between PS1 and PS2.

Some devices have backwards compatibility with games or some accessories. Nintendo Wii is a very special gaming console. It has this sort of a “magic wand” that you operate and control your games with. Wii is also backwards compatible with a legendary gaming system – GameCube. I liked the last-mentioned better and even went as far as replacing my Wii with GameCube in my setup of gaming consoles.

Some games can be expensive. While it seems to be a good idea to run some sort of an emulation gaming system there is one particular question that comes to mind: What controller should you use? There are two approaches to this matter. You can change your controller to support any gaming system or you can go with the latest and best controller for any gaming system that you are emulating.

You can think about a gaming system and consider how powerful it is. Every device cannot be as powerful as some newer device. If you want the most powerful system you should get yourself a PC. There are however many other matters that take count when you consider about which gaming system you prefer to play your favorite games with.

How is Switch able to compete with Series X and/or PS5? The gaming library can be one matter. Nintendo has games that feature characters like Super Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and Kirby. Of course these games aren’t going to be released for these competing consoles. What Switch lacks in power it makes up in originality, design and content of its games.

Some factors that make game consoles unique have to do with their part in the history of video games. Technology is always improving. We are moving on all the time. We hear every day gaming people talk about what would be the newest console to appear in the markets. We have already heard about Switch 2 and PS6. What does the future hold for us gamers? We can only wait and see.

We have dealt with different gaming consoles. Some of these facts that make a system unique can be summarized are the design of the controller, library of games that are available, performance and raw power and backwards, or any other, compatibility between other gaming consoles.

I collect and play old and new games. It is a very tempting thought and I have already considered to just install an operating system like Lakka OS (or some other OS) to a device like Raspberry Pi 5 or maybe on an old desktop PC that I do have laying around in my home. In this way it would be possible to play many games from many devices. Physical copies can be pricy at times.

Game consoles are usually sold for cheap price. Companies like Sony manufactor these devices and sell them with a loss just to increase the console base world wide. Then they release games for the system. Games are where these companies get most of their profit from. This makes it a definitive fact that games do in a way make the gaming system to be also kind of unique. What do you think?

NBA 2K24 Is a Disappointment

Posted on by Viljami

I bought NBA 2K24 as it was in discount. I paid 22 euros for the Switch edition. I already knew that the Switch version has some limitations. So, the graphics could be better. There were also some other issues. I know that it also takes some time to develop your player so that it is comfortable to play with the character you have just created.

NBA 2K24 is the latest in the series of good quality basketball games. There is lots of expectations. I think this game is very much a disappointment. The main reason I am actually saying this is that it just doesn’t feel like a fun and enjoyable game to play. It pretty much offers the same as earlier games in this series. I really think that the developers of this game should have made a better game.

I really don’t know if the game offers something more in a long run. I mean that I spend a bit over five hours playing this. What I experienced was not satisfying. My player is awkward. He doesn’t know how to score. He takes some rebounds but that’s all he does well. How many hours of this miserable playing do I have to go through to really at some point enjoy this game?

So, my player is weird. His shot release is awful. He feels a bit clunky. The movement is slow. I don’t even want to talk about trying to make the freethrows not to mention three-point-shots. I know that you can enjoy and keep playing this game, or a quite similar one from the past, for several hundreds of hours. But…this isn’t a game that I am willing to play for such a long time.

So, I think I am going to quit playing this game. I think I paid too much for this one. I don’t know if there is going to be some sort of an update or not. I am very glad that I didn’t pay any more of this kind of junk.

I also got another game from discount with this same delivery. This game is Assassins Creed Mirage for Xbox Series X. I paid 25 euros for this game. I hope I find it more enjoyable than NBA 2K24. Assassins Creed Mirage has received better reviews than NBA 2K24. Somehow my hopes aren’t that high.

I have also some games that I haven’t had time to get into. I just have to find some more time for these. The games are Dead Space (Remake), Hogwarts Legacy and Sonic Frontiers. I also haven’t touched Alan Wake II yet. I am waiting also for the new System Shock. These games that I have mentioned here in this paragraph are all Xbox Series X games.

So, some games can be sort of a disappointment and this sadly is the case for NBA 2K24. Some of these big releases seem to fail at times. That is of course natural. I can imagine how much money is envolved. This surely is a disappointment financially also. We are looking forward for more gaming experiences. I hope we get to see some more good quality games this year and also int he near future. Stay tuned…

The Relationship of Technology and Games

Posted on by Viljami

In this blog post I am trying to answer the question: what is the relationship of technology and games? There are several successful game companies based here in Finland. How did they get to that position? We are going to have to go back to the beginnings of the history of home computers. Commodore 64 was the computer back in the 80s. That was the tool for many programmers.

Commodore 64 provided means so that you could program games and other applications. You could start with Basic and keep going to some graphics and music to turning the whole device to parts and figure out how it ultimately worked. This was something that many persons drawn into technology and games did. This computer opened a path for them into the depths of technology and games.

There was a sort of a scene that formed around capable programmers in Finland. It was called “demo skene” which is a Finnish term meaning “demo scene”. This know-how made among these young individuals was something that positively impacted in the rise of know-how also in a more professional way. Things were looking good as Nokia also needed persons that were able to program applications to cellphones. There were many game companies here. Some of them are still functioning. You might know companies like Remedy, Rovio and Supercell. These companies were driven by some of the people that started their progressing from the era of Commodore 64.

I was thinking about this subject and how would I approach it. Programming is one thing. If you are hoping to make a game you have to know also very much of the functioning of the graphical system and also how the computer uses long term and temporary memory and also how you react and with which device (keyboard or maybe controller) to actions of the player. How does the experience of a video game take its final form. There’s lots of things going on while the game is running. Part of it is purely technical. The technology forms the experience.

It is somewhat true that games give you a similar reaction as does any modern form of art. Technology enables you to use techniques like programming and 3D modeling along with the design of the whole aural experience. There are these skills and if you are capable of using them in a strong way you can be successful in creating digital art that can be called a game. The player can enjoy this game even without a deep knowledge of the technology that lies under the hood of the device that the game is running on. There is something very magical in all of this. Games can be enjoyed and even studied by anyone that feels even a slight interest in them.

This is one of my dreams that I have had for now maybe tens of years. This was the reason I chose to study programming. I dreamed that I would be able to create some kind of a game. It might not be as powerful as a game like EA WRC is but there is this motivation inside my mind that I still have. I would like to some day be able to create games. This is a powerful dream that drives me forward and motivates me. Sometimes you don’t learn so fast and sometimes you have to learn details instead of the most fundamental concepts.

So, my path to learning more about computers does continue. I am not so sure if I am ever going to be able to be a part of some unit that would create something very beautiful in the form of a computer or video game. I do hope that these thoughts of mine were inspiring this time. Basically, I got tired since I already had played EA WRC for many hours today and this topic formed this time this kind of an output that formed this blog post. I hope you enjoyed it and see you next time, soon!