Intensive Gaming Diary

My Latest Purchase

Posted on May 2, 2025 by Viljami

This the beginning of my new blog post. As the title says it is dealing around my latest purchase. I ordered three games for my Xbox Series X. I bought these three games for a little under 100 euros with the shipping included. What games did I get? I bought Endless Dungeon, a game released by Sega, Lies of P and also Tekken 8 that is the latest game in the well-known series of three-dimensional fighting games.

I am very happy fellow now. I just got to my home and away from some bad weather. It is raining right now but just a moment ago it wasn’t. It is also, again, Friday and the week-end is here. I am probably going to play some video games. I do have time for that and this weeks work is done.

I almost wrote a blog post some days ago about two Xbox Series X games that I managed to install. I didn’t that time write about it but I went and installed Hogwarts Legacy and Cyberpunk 2077. Now I have played about four hours of Cyberpunk 2077 while Hogwarts Legacy is still not played at all though I have it now installed. I do have lots of space still left on my Series X since I don’t keep so many games installed. This hasn’t been a problem for me. I have almost always space for the games that I am currently playing. I just uninstall a game or two that take too much space and that I am not so into at this moment. That is my strategy and it seems to be working.

What did I expect from these games that were included in my latest purchase? Tekken is very familiar. Te latest Tekken game was so cheap that I just had to buy it. It cost me only sixteen euros and it was the cheapest game from this latest purchase. I think it is a good fighting game and a decent game when it comes to the Tekken series. It does take some space. I am not sure if I am able to install all these three games and try to play them immediately. I probably have to pick which one I am going to concentrate on.

I read just some few words about Lies of P. This game cost me 45 euros. It is not the newest game. It was released already some time ago. I have read that it is a decent game. It can be finished in 29 hours. I got this information from How Long To Beat that is a website that has a database of almost every popular game out there including every abandon-ware game as well. It is actually a very good site and I use it regularly (as you may have seen).

Endless Dungeon was 31 euros. I just felt somewhat interested in it. I actually have been looking for it in case it would be available in a cheap price. I think 31 euros is a good and nice price for a game like this. It is actually developed by Sega. It also came in a huge box. It is not a big box, like PC big box, but it is comfortable. Right now all these three games are sealed. I am not very keen on keeping games sealed so that they would be valuable later but sometimes I leave them sealed while I am not going directly into them and starting to play them. We’ll just have to see how long they are going to keep being sealed copies. I think that the time would be too long for me to get a proper profit for something like this. But there a sense in handling your games like this (keeping them sealed) if you have the patience required. After all a sealed NES game, be it a Super Mario Bros 3 or some other decently valuable game, would actually be very valauble in deed.

But what am I still talking about here? It is Friday after all. I should open these sealed games and give them a good run. I might play some Cyberpunk 2077 first or try to get into some Hogwarts Legacy type of action. Whatever my game of choice will be I am going to have some fun, right? After all that’s what these weekends are perfect for.

When Games Had No Graphics at All

Posted on May 1, 2025 by Viljami

We’re you playing video games when there were no graphics at all? This screenshot is the featured image of today’s new blog post. As you can see there is only text content for the player and no graphics. You can see the title, “West of House”, and the score. You can also see how many commands you have given in the game. That value is displayed as “Moves”. There is also an opportunity to save a game. You progress in the game with writing commands like where to move and what items to pick up and how to use them. The player also has an inventory system that can be displayed with a proper command.

This game is a text adventure game called Zork 1 – The Great Underground Empire. It was released originally in the beginning of 1980s. As you can probably already figure the first computer and video games were many times very moderate when it comes to graphical performance. They had no graphics. Some of the best text adventure games that I have come across include the first version of the adventure game Leisure Suit Larry. There was also an interesting game called Colossal Cave Adventure. It was one of the first games ever released on computer. It was released already in the 1970s.

It is interesting for me to look back in the video game history as I am such a young person that games for me have always included graphics of some type. When I was a small boy I played many DOS games on our family’s PC. Even some of the adventure type games, many of them were released by Sierra, had some sort of graphics. Later we saw games from Lucas Arts that even had an user interface that utilized some mouse interactivity. So, these games had already a real user interface.

Playing a text adventure game that has no graphics can be very charming. Early in the game you become used to the limitations. While there are many functions in the game they are a bit harder to figure and image. So, this leaves a lot to your imagination. You have to figure out what are the main commands that can make you progress in the game. It helps if you have some experience in playing adventure games be it that they would have had some kind of graphics. You can get into text adventure games more easily if you know concepts like items, maps and/or inventory systems. In some games your character even has some kind of development that can be based on for example experience points. Your characters abilities can sometimes open new opportunities like some new function that is enabled as your character has a more advanced ability. Sometimes there can be a new option inside some conversation dialogue. This all is based on charaters abilities like intelligence, luck or strength that can have a value like a number from 1 to 10. So, this number increases when your character goes up a level. Sometimes you may have options on how to develop your character. Character progression is however considered to be more of a character of a role playing game. Most text adventure games aren’t considered role playing games.

I encourage you to try for example Zork 1 or its sequels. You can get an idea of the surroundings of the space or room you are in with a command like “look around”. Then you are beginning to find some points and items that you can interact with. The score tells you about your progression in the game. Text adventure games are a bit limited but they can be a fun way to experience something new. They sure tell us a lot about the history and origins of video and computer games. The first Zork game is considered abandonware and you can download it from internet and install it through Dosbox. You can maybe use a frontend like D-Fend Reloaded that I am personally using for this purpose.

The Huge Library of PS2 Games

Posted on April 24, 2025 by Viljami

This blog post is about PS2 games. Sony’s sequel to PlayStation was a huge success in many ways. There are almost 3500 games that have been ever released for this gaming console. In this post I am trying to create a picture of the whole meaning of this huge game library and how things are with games today.

PlayStation as a video game console affected the whole industry very strongly. Playing video games transformed from something you did for two or three hours sometimes to playing tens or even hundreds of hours of any game you chose to play. Before the first PlayStation we saw video games that weren’t so appealing especially for grown ups. Gaming was considered to be a thing only for young people and children.

This way of thinking changed when the first PlayStation was released. PS2 went even further and brought some advancements. PS2 is today the most popular gaming console ever. Even consoles like Switch, that’s still in production while I’m writing this, or Xbox 360 or the newer PS4, haven’t been able to sell as well.

PlayStation had many games that presented us gamers new kinds of worlds in a three-dimensional environment. PS2 games made these worlds even more deeper. As the console was released in the beginning of 2000s we saw many unforgettable and great games. These PS2 games were just some years ago very cheap but the prices have been rising recently as this seems to be the current trend for retro game titles.

As there are many games included in PS2 games I want to give some personal recommendations in case you are a complete PS2 games “beginner”. You can already find these PS2 games from the picture I took. These seem to be the latest PS2 games that I’ve have played or bought recently. I have to say that I have had some bad luck as my PS2s have broken. I have had two PS2 consoles already.

I was going to give you some recommendations of PS2 games. I liked Tenchu – Wrath of Heaven a lot. It can be a difficult game. Also I have to mention maybe the best driving game ever – Gran Turismo 4. It is a PS2 title definitely. We have also in this picture Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3. It is a very good skateboarding game. It might be the best in the series. Ratchet & Clank is a very nice three-dimensional platformer slash action adventure game. The content of this game is suitable for people of every age.

Some other popular and good PS2 games are Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3, Gods of War 1 and 2, Silent Hill 2 and 3, Resident Evil Code Veronica X, Ecco the Dolphin – Defender of Future, Okami, Shadow of the Colossus, Colin McRae 3, 4 and 5, some very good Need For Speed games, Hitman games, The Sims 1 and 2 and some fighting games like Tekken and SoulCalibur and also some roleplaying games like Final Fantasy X. There are some FPS games, like Call of Duty and Black. I have to mention also a game called Bully.

If you are going to try to get into PS2 games these games are just something you can start with. Try to get familiar with a genre you find the most interesting. You might be into strategic games or adventure or action games or you might want to play some roleplaying games. Try and test and find your favorites. There are so many PS2 games out there.

While there are many PS2 games to get into the system has its limitations. These include awkward controllers and that there really isn’t a hard drive in the world of PS2. So, you have to use memory cards. Graphics could be better. You might face some nostalgia if you played PS2 games in the past.

The system has its limitations but all-in-all it is in my opinion something you just have to try. I have well over 50 games already in my personal PS2 games library. There seems to be many good games that PS2 has to offer.