Retro Archives - Page 47 of 59 - Intensive Gaming Diary

Xbox Documentary Series on YouTube

Posted on December 20, 2021January 11, 2022 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.

Role of Gaming Merchandise

Posted on December 5, 2021January 11, 2022 by Viljami

How do you feel and think about gaming merchandise? I am talking about coffee mugs, t-shirts, posters, books and so on. I have two gaming mugs that I like a lot. I have some gaming t-shirts. One of them is Diablo III and the other has a large Atari logo printed on it. I have also read some books about games like Diablo, Starcraft and Halo. Of course I also have many other books related to games and gaming. I also have some science fiction books. My favorite books are non-fictional and often I read life stories like Elon Musks, Stephen Hawkings and Steve Jobs’.

For small time independent gaming companies this is definitely a way to get more promotion and income for their game designing efforts. So it feels nice to spend some money knowing that it will be benefiting that company a lot. What about major big time game studios? Do they need your support? Do they need it as much as some smaller gaming companies? Of course they need to make some money also so they can bring you new games that are of good quality.

What do you get out of buying this kinds of merchandise? Maybe you have some nice brand that you admire and somewhat even respect. In gaming it is very meaningful to find games that you like and even love. Some games have more importance than others. Some games’s logos and graphics are just so legendary. While gaming is increasingly popular you find this merchandise even more and more available in stores and even some supermarkets. You don’t necessarily have to go to game shop anymore to get these material things you like and love so much.

Do we need more material things made for gamers or is this too much already? Should we put our money to something more important even if we are dedicated to our dear hobby? Do game companies actually benefit of merchandise and what are relations of companies that produce these t-shirts and mugs.

More Games for Nintendo GameCube?

Posted on November 7, 2021January 11, 2022 by Viljami

Earlier this year I bought a gaming console. It was a retro console. Actually it was Nintendo Wii. I was well aware that it was capable to run also GameCube games. I had to buy also a memory card and a controller. This was nice.

Now, about ten months later, I haven’t played Wii so much. I currently have three games for it. I only have one GameCube game. You can see all my Wii and GameCube games in that featured image I took. So I don’t have so many Nintendo games. I do have Switch Lite. At some point I was considering getting the regular Switch but I decided not to buy it. At least not yet. This is also because I’m running out of space. I am also considering to selling or giving my Xbox Series S to a some of my connections if I get my hands on a Series X.

As I wrote early this year I was then hoping to get to know more about some Nintendo games. I have purchased some NES cartridges, some SNES cartridges and games for Switch Lite. This is a nice beginning to my journey. I have always been around Sega, PlayStation and Xbox. I don’t so much about Nintendo. I would like to get to know this topic a bit better.

You cannot mention Nintendo without mentioning Nintendo 64. It would be cool if there would be a mini console of it made available. I have read so much about Zelda – Ocarina of Time. I don’t actually have room for N64 in my small, or not-so-small, gaming corner I have in my living room currently. N64s controller can definitely raise some eye brows.

But to the point, again, I don’t have so many games for GameCube. They can be a bit pricey. I have heard about Eternal Darkness and there is, I think, some good Mario games also released for it and available for me to purchase. So, the game I do have is Resident Evil. It is a remake of the survival horror game that was originally released for PS1 in 1996.

Actually, any advice on this would be appreciated. I don’t know if you want to recommend a game for me or is this the right channel for it. But it was nice to give you something to read again. I am going to write some more stuff here soon. I just yesterday purchased CoD Vanguard and I am spending some time with it. I also might have something to say shortly about how it felt to play Crysis 2 and maybe even how it is as FPS compared to any Call of Duty game and what are the biggest differences.