Intensive Gaming Diary

The blog about videogames.

Tag: playstation

Video Games Transition from Toys to Entertainment

Posted on by Viljami

Video games might have been considered to be somewhat childish back in the days. We gamers of course know a lot about this matter and might have a better point of view on the topic. What I am going to write you about in this blog post is how the large audience was thinking about video games.

With playing video games we basically went from games being considered to be some kinds of toys for small children. This was the popular way to think back in the early 1980s to maybe the middle of 1990s. The gaming console that actually made video games to be a seriously taken entertainment that was suitable also for adults was PlayStation 1. It was released in 1994. One the games that defined the new role video games was that game on this blog posts featured image. The game is Metal Gear Solid.

There were also many other good quality games that were released for PS1 when it was the most newest and most powerful gaming console on the markets. You can find a list using your favorite search engine but let me make a brief list of some of them right here. Games I want to include here are the first three Resident Evil games, first two Gran Turismo games, Final Fantasy series, Crash Bandicoot and Colin McRae Rally games. There are many others also that I haven’t included here.

The hardware was developing quickly. Suddenly it was possible to save your game. The optical CD-ROM discs could offer more space for a video game. It was possible to offer some tens of hours of playing time. This wasn’t the case with some earlier gaming consoles like Nintendo Entertainment System or Sega Mega Drive. However PS1 didn’t have a hard disk. It relied on memory cards that could be purchased for your PlayStation console. This was how PlayStation 2 also handled saving games. The capacity of a PS1 memory card was 1 MB while PS2 had 8 MB memory cards.

The graphics of video games were moving strongly towards three-dimensional environments. The graphical content was improving in quality while professionals tried to do their job while the technology was improving in a fast pace. This was also for me personally a period of time that I started to think about some day being able to make a video game by myself. This can tell you just how strongly I was beginning to have a this sort of feeling towards gaming. I wanted to be involved in some way.

For me a dream like making your own video game has been in my mind since those days. I was 14 years old when I bought my PS1 console. Exploring these games three-dimensional environments was a very fun thing to do. I was amazed how now also some persons that were over ten years older than me had an interest towards gaming. The shift from being considered as toys to being a seriously taken form of entertainment had begun.

For me playing video games has been a hobby. Programming a full game is a project that takes a lot of work. There are many easy to use tools available today. Today I am working in the field of information technology but making video games is not my current job. I have actually found some other ways to be involved. I know a bit about programming but I am not so confident in being a professional programmer today.

It can be a subject of debate if SNES or PS1 was the first console to have games that could be considered as serious entertainment also for adults. One console that is usually mentioned in this discussion is Sega’s last console Dreamcast. Dreamcast was more powerful than PS1. It was on the markets only for some years and then it was discontinued by Sega. It is a common matter to say that playing PS1 was like listening to rock while playing Dreamcast was like listening to jazz.

My Latest Game Purchase

Posted on by Viljami

My latest game purchase, that I collected from the mail locker just yesterday, includes two PS2 games and four PS3 games. I bought Midnight Club 3 – DUB Edition (PS2), Sonic Heroes (PS2), Bayonetta (PS3), Spiderman 3 (PS3), Aliens vs. Predator (PS3) and Need for Speed – Most Wanted (PS3). They did cost me 109 euros with shipping included. I am waiting to have a chance to get into these new purchases. I am going to have to knock on wood while I’m saying that I am glad that my PS3 still works. It has served already over 16 years in my video game setup. I have faced some issues with hardware earlier. I have two broken PS2 consoles, a broken original Xbox and also an Xbox 360 console that doesn’t work.

Somehow these consoles don’t seem to last forever. I am also not so good at maintaining or repairing stuff like these consoles. I think they actually aren’t even meant to last for tens of years. That is the main reason why I am trusting more and more on emulation. So, I am going to rip these two PS2 games that I just bought and play them with an emulator. I have two different devices that I am running emulation on. One is a Raspberry Pi 5 with 8 GB of RAM. It is running Recalbox. I use it to emulate mainly Sega Mega Drive, SNES, NES, PS1 and also some more exciting consoles while I use another device (a desktop PC) that runs Batocera to play PS2 and some other consoles that require a bit more power.

So, there are two racing games included with my latest game purchase. Midnight Club 3 is a classic racing game. There is really no words necessary for the introduction of a game that belongs to Need for Speed series of video games. This title is labled with “Most Wanted”. It think it will be eventually a good game that might take some hours to get into. Usually I have somewhat liked almost every Need for Speed game that I’ve played.

Why did I pick up Bayonetta? I heard a word or two about it as I was reading a book that desrcibes different video game characters. Bayonetta is a strong female character and it seemed an interesting game and I wanted to purhcase it. I am going to try to find some time to get into this game. I also bought Sonic Heroes because Sonic games just rock. I also bought Spiderman 3. I think there are very few bad games that feature Spiderman. So, why not give it a try. The last game in my latest game purhcase that I haven’t yet mention in this paragraph of this blog post is Aliens vs. Predator. It must be a decent first person shooter.

I made this purchase because I found these games interesting. The price was also cheap. I mean I got these six games for a price lower than what it would have been for two new games. Actually I think you couldn’t buy two new games with 110 euros. It might be possible if the games wouldn’t be brand new releases. I am content with yhis game purchase. I am waiting to get to enjoy also these new games.

I have been lately still playing Gran Turismo 3. It takes some time to finish it. I have spent already over 15 hours on playing GT3. The game might take a bit over 40 hours to finish. Also I have a confession to make. I haven’t, yet dived into plaiyng the new Resident Evil game Resident Evil Requiem. I have read that it is a very good game. I am waiting to get into playing it also 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.