Intensive Gaming Diary

The blog about videogames.

Some Problems With Corrupted Memory Card

Posted on by Viljami

I have had some problems with my Raspberry Pi 5 and its memory card. I have Recalbox installed on my Raspberry Pi. The problems started when I turned the power off from the button that this Raspberry Pi 5 has while it was running a game. This corrupted my memory card. Luckily it was quite easy to fix this problem once I got to understand what should I do to fix this matter.

So, the problem was that Raspberry Pi 5 wasn’t starting. The screen wasn’t detected and my television didn’t display anything. I had to search for some guidance which is nowadays easy. You just have to use a search engine that also preferably has a mode in which you can utilize some AI power. I first thought that I would try to run some commands directly from SSH connection. I tried to run this Linux command (“fsck”) but I couldn’t get it to work. I would have needed to unmount the memory card first and then I would’ve had to run that command.

I didn’t feel so confident trying to unmount the memory card. Luckily the filesystem that Recalbox uses is compatible with Windows. I found out that it would be possible to run a Windows command (“chkdsk”). The filesystem of a boot partition in my memory card was FAT32 and the other partition had a exFAT filesystem. I first only repaired the FAT32 partition. I obviously had removed the memory card and inserted it in my Windows PC. Now I inserted the card back to my Raspberry Pi. Of course it didn’t load. However there was a picture.

What I had to do was to also repair the larger partition of this memory card that had the exFAT filesystem. So, after I had repaired both of these partitions, the Recalbox system now started just as it did before the memory card became corrupted. So, the problem was eventually fixed.

The memory card of a Raspberry Pi is quite vulnerable and it can get corrupted easily if you switch the power off in a wrong way. You can also access your Recalbox system by opening a web browser on a computer that is connected to your apartments nertwork and going to address: “recalbox.local”. This enables you to for example restart and shut down your Recalbox system.

I recommend to use for storing your roms and bios files some other way than just a memory card. I have a 512GB USB stick that stores currenlty all my data that is used in Recalbox. This is just huge enough for some older game roms like PS1, Mega Drive and NES just to give you an idea. I have another device that I run some newer retro games, like GameCube and original Xbox, that has a bit more power and also more storage space. A Raspberry Pi 5 isn’t so powerful that you could run for example Xbox games on it. My other device doesn’t however run Xbox 360 or PS3 games. This would require a bit more power.

So, my usage of Raspberry Pi 5 continues. I have been waiting some more news also about Valve’s Steam Machine. It would be a considerable part of my setup in the future. It would provide some power for playing retro games with emulation. We just have to wait for the announcement of price and release date. I am also dreaming about purchasing a PS5 console to empower my gaming setup even more.

The problem has now been fixed. Recalbox for Raspberry Pi 5 uses these two types of filesystems that are very much compatible also with Windows along with the compatiblity with Linux systems. It was eventually easy to fix this issue. Everything now works with this device as it did already some time ago.

Stray (Switch)

Posted on by Viljami

The next game that I wanted to play was Stray. I first played it on my PC as I bought it from Steam. As I might have told before I am identifying myself as a “couch gamer”. So, this means that I just had to buy the game also for a console. I picked the Switch version since I have liked my Switch 2 very much and been playing on it. It was for me an easy decision to make. Why am I a couch gamer? I like to play my video games when I wake up and I have found out that I easily fall asleep in the morning if I am on my personal computer. Am I getting old or something? Lets just say that I today prefer console gaming.

So, I am a cat fan. This is because it was 2007 when my parents got a cat. Sadly the cat died just a few years ago. He was an old cat already. But this is the main reason that I almost instantly started to like this game. In Stray you are controlling a cat in a fantasy/sci-fi scenario. Basically the game is about finding a path to the next location by choosing where to run and/or jump next. There are some puzzles also included.

Graphics look nice. I also liked the soundtrack which features your typical electronic music that sounds very nice to my ear. If you know anything about my habits in the field of music production I think you find it not so surprising that I am actually thinking of maybe sampling some of this stuff because it sounds basically very good.

The game takes (according to HLTB website) about five hours to complete. This is a somewhat relief for me as I had to pause my journey into Final Fantasy VII Remake after I had played over six hours of it. I had to pause because I kept thinking that the game would take over 30 hours to finish. That might be too long for me. So, at this point five hours seems just enough.

I have spent almost 4 hours now playing Stray. The game isn’t the most newest one while it also is a very fresh one. It was released in 2024. I have to say that the game does look better on my PCs screen. If you like to keep your graphics sharp you might want to actually play the PC version. I don’t know how the Xbox Series X version would look like. Currently there isn’t a Switch 2 optimized version available. At least not as a physical copy. I do like to play most of my Switch and Switch 2 games as physical copies.

If you like cats and also realistic 3D graphics and adventure games with some mild puzzle game elements Stray is a game for you. For me it cost just some euros under 40 euros. I also bought Star Wars Dark Forces Remaster for Nintendo Switch at this same moment. I hope I get some time to play also this game. Just yesterday I gathered every Switch game I have bought recently and haven’t had, yet, time to even install and I came up with some 15 games. Very many of these games were actually still sealed. What can you say? I am buying lots of video games at this moment.

There are still all the games for PS3 and also some games for PS2 that are still in a “not-yet-played” condition. The latest PS3 title I played was Need for Speed Most Wanted. I almost ended up writing a blog post about it. I played it for over 15 hours. It is a good game but not so straightforward as I would have wished for. There is a lot of goods luck involved in the game-play is what I basically mean.

Resident Evil Requiem

Posted on by Viljami

It has been only some weeks since Resident Evil Requiem was released. The game has sold already millions of copies worldwide. I decided to pick up the generation bundle which included also Resident Evil 7 and 8. It did cost some 20 euros more but I am glad that I got my copy as soon as the game was released. This time I didn’t have any problems with the delivery. I don’t know if I am going and when I am going to play the other RE games included. I did decide to install Final Fantasy VII Remake Integrade after I finished this game. I soon noticed that it takes 90 GB of space on my Switch 2. That is a bit much since I only have a memory card that holds 256 GB at the moment. So, I might have to buy a larger one soon. I don’t know what I will have to do with all the data and if I am able to setup the larger memory but I guess I’ll figure it out one way or another.

FFVII Remake Integrade is right now installing. This game is getting installed as a “game key card”. This format is something that has become more and more familiar for the users of Switch 2. The format is a bit boring. It does require the card for the installation but holds only so little data in it that you are going to need to rely on your internet connection to actually download the game and finally install it. This is done this way because the card can only hold a limited amount of data. So, it is a physical copy while actually not being a fully physical copy at all.

But now lets get back to Resident Evil Requiem. It is the ninth game in the main series. We did saw some remakes of classic RE games just a while ago. Resident Evil Requiem is a great game. I did spend eleven hours playing it and I finally finished it just today. There are parts of the game that you play with Leon that are kind of action type of part of the game and then you play some survival type of parts with another character called Grace. I think the game is something that fans of the series will definitely like. Also, if you are new to the series I think you will like this game and you might want to check out some earlier stuff in the series. I can recommend playing some PS1 titles as they still hold up even today.

The action and survival parts of Resident Evil Requiem differ in that that you get more ammo and there are more monsters attacking you in the action part while playing with Grace in survival parts requires some stealth skills and tactics since there is not so much ammunition and you will have to think about when you are actually saving your progress. I only played the game on an easy level of difficulty but I think there is more value in this game that can inspire you to play the game through again with maybe a bit more difficult degree.

What more there is to say about Resident Evil Requiem? The graphics look very beautiful on Switch 2. There is a bit of an alteration of the camera mode. It gets switched from 3rd person to first person as you change your character that you play with in the game. There’s lots of weapons. There are some puzzles but nothing overwhelming. I think there is a nice balance with action and survival in this game. I would recommend Resident Evil Requiem for almost everyone. This game is very violent and can be upsetting at times. So, beware that this game has been recommended to be played only by persons that are 18 years old or older than that. This is a recommendation. I think the game can be oppressive at times.