Intensive Gaming Diary

The blog about videogames.

Tag: exclusive games

Playing Gran Turismo 3

Posted on by Viljami

Gran Turismo 3 is a game that I hadn’t played a lot. Now just recently, I think it was yesterday, I figured that I would like to get into this game. Gran Turismo series has always been one of my favorite game series and also in my opinion a very good racing game. I first started playing the first game in this series back when I first bought my PlayStation 1 console. That was back in the end of the 1990s. It was among the first games that I played that were for PS1. I also got to play, back then, a demo version of Resident Evil 2. I liked it so much that I soon had to purchase it.

I am a fan of Resident Evil series also. Just yesterday I got my new copy of Resident Evil 9 (or Requiem). I haven’t played it yet. It might just be a very good game. Somehow playing some Gran Turismo 3 was more important than getting into RE9. That does not make sense in any way. I just think that you must sometimes go with your first initial thoughts and instincts when it comes to matters like what game do you want to play next. That’s just how I feel and think.

Gran Turismo 3 was released originally for PlayStation 2 back in 2001. The first two games in Gran Turismo series were released for PS1. It is very much have been a PlayStation only game. So, it is an exclusive game that you can play only on PlayStation consoles. It has been that way for a long time. It’s like Forza Horizon or Forza Motorsport. They are exclusives of Xbox consoles. While there have been many games ported from console to another, lately, you can say that there are these certain limitations that are still in effect when it comes to Xbox, Nintendo and/or PlayStation games. Also PC can be mentioned when having a debate or conversation like this. I think the limitations are beginning to be small and we are going more and more towards games that are released and can be played on almost any system that does exist or is available. That might be a good thing. It might be a bad thing. Or, it might be something in between.

Gran Turismo 3 offers a bit over 40 hours of playing time. That is way less than the time it tooks to finish Gran Turismo 4. If you are thinking about which one of these two games you are going to try to play first I really don’t have a good advice, at least yet, for you. I started my journey with this franchise with the first Gran Turismo. I wouldn’t advice you to play it today as your first Gran Turismo game since the graphics are somewhat disgusting to look at. Nostalgia cannot save everything. This same advice goes with the second Gran Turismo. I think Gran Turismo 6 or maybe Gran Turismo 7 would be good starting points. If you don’t mind about outdated graphics you should go with Gran Turismo 3 or 4. You with yourself get to decide if you choose 3 or 4. I think they are both great games.

Since I have broke already two PS2 consoles I today play my PS2 games, that I still like very much to play, with Batocera emulation. Last autumn I installed Batocera to my old desktop PC and setup the whole environment for playing PS2 games with that PC. I have it hooked to my television through HDMI connection. I use Xbox Series S/X controller with this retro gaming PC. This seems to be a good way to experience PS2 in 2026. PS2 games are also very easy to rip as they act like your regular DVDs. I use a program called “ImgBurn” to create an image out of the game DVD. Then I just transfer the file to the right directory on my Batocera PC.

All-in-all Gran Turismo 3 is a nice game. The first and yet the only car I have acquired in this game is Mazda MX-5. It is a good first car in the game. I have purchased many updates already to this vehicle. I have unlocked B and A driving licenses. My car has now almost 340 horsepower (or HP). I have played the game, since yesterday, six and a half hours. There is a lot more to play in Gran Turismo 3. I hope to also get to play some Resident Evil Requiem soon.

First Finished Game of This Year (Uncharted 4)

Posted on by Viljami

Uncharted 4 is now the first game that I have finished in the year 2026. It is actually a PlayStation exclusive. It was first released in 2016. I have to say that it still looks very nice. I especially enjoyed the scenery and some effects and use of light in this games graphical content. It took me a bit over 16 hours to complete. I didn’t play this came so intensely and it took me about three weeks to finish this game. The game was developed by Naughty Dog that you might remember making some Crash Bandicoot games for PS1 in the 90s. You might also remember this game studio from titles like Jak series for PS2 and The Last of Us series for some more modern gaming consoles.

What do I have to say about Uncharted 4 after finishing it? You cannot say that this game would be a very easy one. Some parts of it are difficult. At times it seems to be some kind of a wall climbing simulator. It might be hard to find the path to follow to advance in the game. There is some shooting elements. You do have a good selection of shooting weapons. Also you get to think about some stealth attacking tactics. Sometimes it is easier to take out an enemy or two silently so you don’t alarm all of them. You get to shoot with weapons like rocket launcher and sniper rifle and of course there does exist these mandatory shooting weapons like a hand gun and an assault rifle. There is plenty of shooting weapons to choose from.

Also the story of this game keeps you hooked to the game all the way to the ending. The characters are detailed very nicely and their relationships to each other are described entertainingly. You can also see some scenes of Crash Bandicoot in a form of a mini game as different characters play Crash Bandicoot on a PS1 during the game.

I am not a huge fan of Uncharted series. Uncharted 4 was still a nice game to finish. I picked it up because it was available for a cheap price of around 10 to 15 euros as a used copy for my PS4. This is also actually the first game of the series that I have completed. I think Naughty Dog made a good game back in 2016 and it was very enjoyable.

This was actually also the first game that I finished from the pile of PS4 games that I did write a blog post about last month. I have to once again be very honest and tell you that I am not going to try to finish all of these PS4 games. I think my focus has changed a bit from what I had earlier in my mind. I have bought many new games and once again I am in a situation that I have lots of games that I would like to play. These games include Silent Hill f, Metroid Prime 4, Killing Floor III, Shinobi – Art of Vengeance and even some more games that are piled somewhere in my collection of video games that are waiting to get played.

So, this blog post was mostly about how I have started my gaming year. It has been over three weeks since posted last time. It was time for a new post. I hope you all (my readers) have a very nice year. There are many games going to be released soon that I am waiting to get to play. Now I am going to concentrate on playing some Shinobi since I already spent an hour playing it today. I bought it for my Xbox Series X for 30 euros as a digital copy.