Intensive Gaming Diary

The blog about videogames.

Tag: racing

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.

Another Game Finished (Forza Horizon 3)

Posted on by Viljami

I have now finished another game, Forza Horizon 3, for this year (2026). I have already posted about this game earlier as I was telling you how I purchased it from a flea market for maybe three euros or something like that. I wanted to play this racing game for a reason or another. I think it’s nice to play a game that you were at least somewhat excited about when you bough it. I did notice that there is going to be another game released in this series this year. This game is Forza Horizon 6 and it will be available on May 19th this year.

“What was Forza Horizon 3 like to play?” one might ask. It is a racing game but it also has many other kinds of features that make it very diverse as a video game. It was released as an exclusive for Xbox. You basically get to explore huge amount of tasks that differ from a racing competition, finding and breaking different plagues that give you experience points and other rewards to strictly exploring the huge map and driving around discovering different places and roads. So, there is racing but with lots of other stuff to do also. The game basically doesn’t have an age limit. It is recommended for people older or as old as three years. There isn’t violence in this game. It might be a good choice for some younger audience also as a video game.

It did take me a bit over 16 hours to finish Forza Horizon 3. It was estimated, by “How Long To Beat” website, that it would take 17 hours to finish the game. There is still plenty of content to play in the game also after winning the final event against an airship. It is a bit tempting for me to keep playing this game but I think I’ll skip this and start getting ready for the next Forza Horizon game (Forza Horizon 6).

Thank you, again, my dear readers, for keeping reading this blog! I haven’t been writing too many blog posts this year but just hang in there because I think that I still have a lot to say and to write about. I have been busy playing and trying to finish some more games. I am also happy that the visitor counter tells me that there have been almost 200 000 visitors here on this website and on this blog.

There are also plenty of things waiting to get released soon. I am waiting for Resident Evil 9. We are going to see also Valve’s gaming console or computer or what ever it can be described as, to get a release soon. Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade was already launched for Nintendo Switch 2. I still have loads of games in my backlog and I have made also some recent purchases. I just have to concentrate and try to finish the next game.

The next game that I am going to soon start to play is Clair Obscur – Expedition 33. I have already installed it on my Xbox Series X. I bought, this time, the physical copy of this game. I got it for a cheap price of just some euros under 40 euros. The game has received lots of good reviews and it has received some awards also. There was some debate on if there was some artificial intelligence used while developing this game. I don’t know if this matters at all when you think about the game and its overall feel as entertainment.

There are many games getting released this year. I think that we aren’t going to see the next PlayStation console, PS6, yet, this year. Still there is something to wait for. PS5 still has some very good games to get into. We are going to see, soon, how Xbox is playing it cards in this game this year. I think it’s going to be an exciting year as the year is, right now, 2026 already. Think that for a second or two!

V-Rally 4

Posted on by Viljami

I just started playing V-Rally 4. I got it for a cheap price of three euros. This was a digital purchase through Steam store. I made the purchase a bit over two weeks ago. Seems to me that I was very lucky because I just checked and the price for V-Rally 4 is now 30 euros on Steam. I am playing this game with my brand new Windows 11 desktop computer. I also have a 4K display. So, the graphics of this rally game look really nice.

This is the latest game in V-Rally series. The game was first released in 2018. This means that it isn’t the newest rally game available. It also although indicates that any patches that would fix any gameplay or performance issues have been probably very much solved. I have to admit that I am only in the beginning with V-Rally 4. I have played it for only about half an hour. I do find it a pleasant video game about rally racing.

Some earlier releases in the series that V-Rally 4 belongs to can be detailed as retro games. I think first two games were released already on the first PlayStation 1. I somewhat  remember trying to play V-Rally 3. This game, I think, was current in the era of PS2. After a quick fact check through a search engine I found the information. The third V-Rally game was actually released in 2002 for PS2, Xbox, GameCube and Windows (PC). So, there seems to be a gap of sixteen years between V-Rally 4 and the previous game in the series that is V-Rally 3.

I don’t have a clear memory of playing any V-Rally game on a PS1. I am quite sure that I did never own a copy of V-Rally one or two. I might have played V-Rally 3 for a while but I don’t remember that also so clearly. I do remember games that belong to Colin McRae Rally series. I also recall clear memories of the WRC rally game series. Also, I have to mention a very good, but a bit old, rally game series that was released in the 2000s for original Xbox. This series is Rallisport Challenge one and two. Especially the sequel is a very good game. When it comes to conversation about the best rally games of all time you have to mention also Richard Burns Rally every time.

So, I am yet to experience probably a good rally game. V-Rally 4 is promised to have content for a decent 21 hours. This information can be found from the “How Long To Beat” website. This website and also a database can be utilized or at least I use it to determine a duration for any game be it retro or new. V-Rally 4 provides racing but also some strategic decision making. You have to have a complete team and you are managing a budget. You have to have a manager, a technician and an engineer or possibly several. The career journey begins with a moderate vehicle. You have to make smart decisions all the from the beginning to the end.

I am expecting V-Rally 4 to be at least an entertaining experience. I hope it has enough challenge to keep me interested in the game all the way to the finish. It seems to me that you have to keep your eyes open when it comes to Steam. They actually have an autumn sale coming very soon. After another fact check I can confirm that there is a sale on Steam from 29th of September to 6th of October. Besides all the games that are going to be on sale I am also very much waiting for Silent Hill f to drop. This game has a price of 80 euros. This is the standard edition and there is also a “Digital Deluxe” edition that costs 90 euros.