Some Games I Have Been Playing Lately

Here are, actually not two but even three different games, I have been playing a lot recently. These games are Gran Turismo 4, that I have now already spent on over 60 hours, for PS2 and Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 for Nintendo Switch. When it comes to Super Mario Galaxy bundle I managed to finish the first one in the series. I am currently on to finish also the second. But now actually I have been concentrating on trying hard to finish Gran Turismo 4. This racing game proves to be a very good game. It might be even the best game in the whole Gran Turismo series as it is tightly competing with the seventh and first game of the series in my own considerations. It is also the longest game in this racing series. It can take up to 76 hours to complete.

In Gran Turismo 4, in the career mode, you are going to have to get yourself some cars. I am saying some cars because it isn’t one or two. It is actually several cars. You have to figure which car you need and which one you could sell to buyt upgrades to the car you are using to try to complete races. You have to complete races to advance in this game and to eventually also finish it. You can check the completion percentage when you visit your Home that can be found from one of the menus that can be found inside the game.

There’s a lot to play. You can achieve yourself some driving licenses that enable you to compete in different kinds of races. There are many events available that are grouped to Beginner Events and Professional Events and then we have also Extreme Events. You have to complete all Beginner and Professional events to proceed to Extreme ones. There are also events in different countries that are for cars that are manufactured in the specific country. Also, you can find some events that are grouped by manufaturer.

You really much get to upgrade your vehicle. There are also many settings that can be enabled with buying an upgrade. Then you can make adjustments. You can for example edit your preferences for types of tires, some properties of transmission, your cars braking power and you can also adjust your suspension, driving height and many other settings. You can compete in the races without knowing every piece of the settings but this can give you a nice advantage. So, if you know about cars and can figure out these quite technical matters you will gain some well needed speed and winning races can become easier.

It is also necessary to know, or at least try to learn, about different car models. Gran Turismo 4, as all Gran Turismo games do, features very real cars and there are many car manufacturers involved. While the game was released in 2004 we cannot see these electric cars. It would have been nice to have also electric cars in this driving game. Maybe we are going to see some of these car manufacturers models some day in racing games. Gran Turismo 4 is a huge recommendation if you like PS2 games and racing games.

Now, I haven’t discussed about Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, yet. So, I managed to get through first of these games. It was a very good remake. At first I was a bit overwhelmed with the controls, since it is originally a Nintendo Wii game meant to be played with the motion sensor, but I got around it quickly. It seems only logical that this controlling method wasn’t altered so much as it is actually a keen part of the gameplay.

I spent about 14 hours playing the first Super Mario Galaxy. Then I proceeded to the sequel. Unfortunately I decided to start to play Gran Turismo 4 and that took my attention. So, I think I don’t have so much to say, currently, about Super Mario Galaxy 2. I was content that I bought this bundle of these two games. They offer a lot especially if you are into Super Mario games.

I think this is all this time. I might get back to you, later, when I might have finished at least Gran Turismo 4. I think I will have something else to write about the next time. I try to come up with a new topic. Thanks for reading and see you in the next blog post!

Playing Some Gran Turismo 4 (Again)

I am playing Gran Turismo 4 once again. This game is in my opinion the best one in the series. Not to say that there would be any really bad games in this racing game series. I was thinking about writing a ranking about how I think Gran Turismo series’s games are compared to each other. While I think Gran Turismo 4 is the best I think the first game and also GT 7 were also very good games. It has to be mentioned that the first game deserves some credit about its innovative approach to racing. That game was the one that sparked the series into its way to success.

I have played, since I recently started playing it from the beginning, for about 14 hours. I am always complaining about retro hardware breaking down so now I am going with PCSX2, the PS2 emulator for PC Linux/Mac/Windows. I do have also the original game that can be ripped from DVD with a computer and an optical DVD disc drive. Actually, I recently bought myself also an external Bluray drive and I am hoping to get to rip some PS3 games also. I might write about that also later in a new blog post. Lets just see how my plans are going to be developing.

I am playing this game with a game pad. I am using an Xbox controller because it is so cleverly compatible with my current PC setup. I am running a Windows 10 with 16 GB of RAM and a neat GPU that has 8 GB of video memory. I do have also a SSD that can hold 2 TB of data. I think for modern gaming 1 TB would be enough. The weakest link in my setup might be my personal computers processor/CPU. So, its quite clear that I am also going to have to upgrade my computer later this year. I also have some news about my screen/monitor. I finally upgraded to a screen that has a 4K resolution and is also a bit bigger. The size is 28 inches. Compared to my old Full HD 22 inch display this one is clearly better.

I am hoping to get to play some more new games with a new Windows 11 PC. I have already bought Final Fantasy XVI and Starfield from Steam but my hardware is too poor in performance for me to play them currently. So, I have bought these two games but never even installed them. I am also very interested in getting into the new Silent Hill 2 remake that has received a lot of good reviews. I hope I will get to update my PC in about 2 months. The move to Windows 11 from Windows 10 is going to be scheduled to October. So, for me, this is the final deadline for the upgrade.

This week we also finally got some news from Nintendo concerning the release of Switch 2. The price is going to be 470 euros and 510 euros when you buy one game bundled. This game is going to be Mario Kart World. It is already possible to make an order at least here in Finland. The actual release will be 5th of June this year. I am waiting to get my hands on the new console. I am probably going to get at least Hades 2 and maybe the new Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 when it gets released in July.

What more do I have to say about Gran Turismo 4? It was originally released for PS2 in 2005. The graphics are just amazing and I think that they even hold up against today’s racing games. It is very nice to play Gran Turismo 4 with a 4K display and some graphics settings tweak and the screen just screams as the beautiful graphics are getting displayed. There hundreds of real cars that need some updating and tweaking of settings. You can start with buying a transmission that can be set up to get a better acceleration for your vehicle while your top speed does drop. You can have yourself a strategy about different tracks that different types of corners and parts where you are just driving full speed ahead. You have to play some tracks several times to gain some credits so you can advance and buy a new car. You also have some missions to complete to get a proper driving license. Winning series’s of races is being rewarded with a car also.

PS2 Games That Are Still Worth Playing Today

I have many PS2 games. I wanted to pick some of these games that I do still enjoy playing. Here in this image there are three games. They are Gran Turismo 4, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and Resident Evil Code Veronica. Yesterday I wanted, first, play Gran Turismo 2 on my PS2. I’ve owned that game for a long time but haven’t had time to get into it. I even removed some saved games from my PS1 memory card. As soon as I started the game I just couldn’t stand these awkward 2000s PS1 graphics. It was too muddy for me. So, I turned to Gran Turismo 4.

I wrote about Gran Turismo 4 earlier. It is definitely a great game for someone that loves racing and cars even in a technical point of view. So I started playing. I finished A International license which opened up some new competitions for me. I also drove some races with one of my favorite cars – Dodge Viper. I really enjoy Gran Turismo 4. I have only completed a bit over 12 percentage of the game. I have to say it has been fun playing this game. Graphics aren’t as nice as in some newer games in Gran Turismo series.

“Which Gran Turismo is best?”, one might ask? I really enjoyed the first game in the series. That was of course over 20 years ago. I think there have been many improvements in graphics and also on some other perspectives also. I liked the sixth game and also enjoyed the latest that was Gran Turismo 7. I have played third and fifth but I didn’t like them so much. This is of course my opinion and you can think however you want. All in all it is a great and realistic racing game series.

What about these two other games? There certainly isn’t a debate about if THPS 3 is a good game. I think I heard someone mentioning that it is among one of the best games of all time. That isn’t a light statement. It might be the best THPS game ever released. First Tony Hawk Pro Skater was and is a good game. The second comes very close but I think there isn’t a game in this series that can really beat the third THPS game. The graphics were as good as can be. They were definitely better than the graphics of the first two THPS games that were released for PS1.

Why did I pick Resident Evil Code Veronica? It’s just this traditional style of Resident Evil game with some upgraded and good looking graphics. It is still a traditional RE game and not something that we would play in first person view on a more modern hardware. It might be the last traditional survival horror game in this series of great games. Maybe there is something reminding me of those times in some Resident Evil Revelations games that were more recently released.

I am not satisfied about every PS2 game that I have acquired. I have recently bought Forbidden Siren, Ecco the Dolphin and Ratchet & Clank. Guess what? I didn’t really get into those. I just hadn’t enough time to learn to play them well. Also I am a bit sad about how PS2 games look on my 4K television. I know I should get a decent HDMI converter but I don’t know if it would make my mind any easier. Dual Shock 2 controller hardly makes things any easier for me, also.

There are some verry good games for PS2 that you might want to play even today. I am not so sure if you should get this system. I think it is also possible to play these games as emulation. There is so much about PS2 that I love. But there is also a lot about it that I hate. I never had PS2 when it was the latest system. It reminds me of an era of the past. It reminds me of watching movies as DVDs. Is that an experience I don’t want to forget?

It might be a time for me to move on and enjoy more about modern games. I have PS4, Nintendo Switch, PC and Xbox Series X. PS2 might still remain as a system that I play sometimes. I just think it isn’t worth spending days on. It did enable a break for me in my streak of playing NBA2K23. NBA is just basketball and if you know anything about me and basketball you will understand why it keeps getting my interest so heavily. Did you see just a week ago as Finland played against Lithuania in Tampere. Did you see Lauri Markkanen? He is that Finnish basketball player that really made an impact on that game that was played. There were 13 000 people watching the game at the stadium.