Intensive Gaming Diary

The blog about videogames.

New 2 TB SSD for PC

Posted on by Viljami

I have a small SSD, it has 256 GB of space and I also currently have a HDD with 500 GB of space. While the space that modern games take is all the time increasing I decided to get some more space. I think also I should have thought about this issue before I bought my PC. I bought it a year ago. If you are thinking about buying a new PC I can say that you propably need a large SSD to store all your games.

I finally decided to upgrade my PC with a new SSD that has 2TB of space. IT wasn’t cheap. IT cost almost 200 euros. But I wanted to make this investment so that I could play also the latest PC games. I have a good PC to play these games with so why not make the upgrade.

One of my favorite games on PC is Dirt Rally 2.0. It takes almost 130 GB of space. So one game can take almost 200 GB of space. IT makes me think about if 2 TB is also enough. Would you need even a bigger SSD? That’s when you start to think about your gaming budget. This 2 TB SSD cost about 200 euro. There were larger SSDs of this same model but the price would be 380 euros for 4 TB and 780 for 8 TB. If I would like to build a computer of my dreams I maybe would put some more money into this but for now 2 TB must be where I draw the line.

It would be nice to purchase the latest hardware but it would be finally a huge investment of money. If you think about how much would CPU and GPU cost and what other parts would you need the cost would be enormous. And it would cost way more than you would spend for a new gaming console like PS5 or Xbox Series S/X.

I bought my PC a year ago for just under 800 euros. I had to make some compromises. I couldn’t buy such a PC that would be perfrect but this purchase I was actually very comfortable with. I use PC for many other things also than for gaming. I use it to program and make music also and those activities don’t require so much from the hardware.

I am about to replace my 500 GB HDD with this new 2TB SSD very soon. I hope everything goes nicely and I get to install some games. Thanks again for reading. It is also nice that there is a sale on Steam that begins tomorrow so maybe I also pick up some new PC games.

Xbox Documentary Series on YouTube

Posted on by Viljami

It’s been 20 years from the release of the first Xbox or should we call it original Xbox. This was Microsofts successful attempt to get into game business. The path was rough. There were several obstacles on the way.

So the history of this gaming console has been collected to a form of a documentary series. It has six episodes in it that are about 40 minutes per episode. It is possible to view this series from YouTube for free. I can definitely recommend this for someone that has been interested in gaming for a while or to someone that just finds this content somehow interesting.

I have watched five episodes out of six. They have covered topics like the dominance of PlayStation as a gaming device in consumers living rooms and how Microsoft felt that their business was in danger. They just had to react and go from producing software to creating some hardware in the form of a new game console. It wasn’t always clear that there would be a product like Xbox now is in the markets.

So the first chapters describe how Microsoft started in the gaming business. I think everyone that has been involved in consuming games can say that they remember these problems that Xbox 360 had. There were so many consoles returned. It was said that the console was rushed. It wasn’t properly tested. So lots of products ended up returned. Microsoft handled this problem as well as they could and it cost it a lot of money.

I am going to watch the last episode of this series soon. The story is now in the beginning of the battle between Xbox One and PS4 and how Xbox declared that its console would fit perfectly in almost everyones living room. It is also clear that Nintendo had to play its cards in this game also. Did you know that Microsoft made an offer to buy Nintendo way back? If you are interested in this documentary series you can find “Power On: The Story of Xbox” from YouTube.

What to Expect from Alan Wake 2

Posted on by Viljami

Remedy made it’s way to many gamer’s hearths with Max Payne trilogy. One good game by this company also is Alan Wake that was released in 2010 for Xbox 360 and PC. I managed to purchase this game for PC and it was some sort of collectors edition. I remember I bought it, as I have a habit to do, from clearance. It didn’t cost so much and I was very happy as this release came with some bonuses like soundtrack of the game and stickers and some fictive post cards that were supposedly sent from the location the game took place. I also bought for much less a used game for Xbox 360. I have also played this game through.

It is a good game. I enjoyed it. So it’s not surprising that Remedy has announced that it is working on a sequel. While survival horror keeps being popular the gamer’s are waiting for this new game now. Only a few months ago Alan Wake Remastered was released. So the product is a bit hyped already. There isn’t a release day announced yet. It might take until year 2023 for it to make its way to game shops and then to the hands of paying customers.

I have played many Remedy’s games and Max Payne one and two are my favorite ones. Alan Wake itself is something a bit different. While Max Payne brought you a shooting experience with “bullet time” and all this action and also it had a scheme inside it. And what makes me a fan of this game company is that it’s coming from Finland that happens to be my home country also.

Alan Wake is somewhat a horror game. A big part of the game is about using your flash light and surviving in this forest type of environment that reminds a bit of the forests here in Finland. The main character is a writer. You have to survive and get rid of these enemies that keep hunting you. These monsters hide in shadows and you can slow them down with some light. It took me over an hour to play it through. It was about two years ago that I finished Alan Wake. It would’ve been possible to play it again with a harder difficulty level or try to collect all items that are hidden in the game.

All in all Alan Wake is a steady and fresh brand of Remedy. You have to wait a bit more to see some game play video but there is a trailer somewhere in YouTube. I have heard some players talk about the new Alan Wake game and how it definitely needed a sequel. It took over ten years. We have to wait a bit to see exactly what kind of a game will it be. Will it be like the first game or will Remedy take to be more like traditional survival horror game like Silent Hill or Resident Evil.