Intensive Gaming Diary

The blog about videogames.

Tag: sony

Some Reasons for the Success of Nintendo Switch

Posted on by Viljami

Today Nintendo Switch is the third most sold video game console. Only some legendary and popular devices are above it in the statistics. Those consoles are PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS. I am talking about the global top list of consoles sold. The statistics of a specific region, like North America, Europe or Asia, might differ from the ones that I here am writing you about.

The most sold consoles, huh? PlayStation 2 has held this position for a long time now. It dominated the statistics being the first DVD player for many gamers. It has also a very wide selection in a form of a game library. People were expecting something like this already when only PlayStation 1 was available. During this period we saw a great increase in the number of gamers worldwide as new players and groups were starting to get interested in video games.

What about Nintendo DS and its success. Why did it take place? I guess this has everything to do with it being a portable gaming device. You could take it everywhere and it provided solid library of games and a decent three-dimensional environment for these new types of video games. I guess that before the era of smart phones (I think Apple begun this era by releasing the first iPhone in 2007) this was something very attracting for a gamer.

We are taking now Nintendo Switch in to account while we are having a conversation about the most sold gaming consoles. And actually why is it so? Well, there are some quite clear matters that we can think for a while. One of them is that Nintendo Switch has a gaming library that has a very good quality. There are several Nintendo exclusive games being still released that are very good ones and that you cannot play on another console.

We have to take in count also these delivery problems that Sony and Microsoft faced during the pandemic. This is a reason you cannot underestimate in these talks. There was a long period of time that Xbox Series X and both PS5 models, the one with the disc drive and the one without, were totally unavailable. You could find a Xbox Series S if you were lucky but there was no serious lack of Nintendo Switch consoles. The availability might be the biggest reason that Nintendo Switch climbed to such high levels of units sold during these times.

Why is the Nintendo Switch so cheap? The price is today about 300 euros here in Europe while PS5’s and Xbox’s pricier models wear a price tags way higher. You have to consider that Switch doesn’t come with a proper controller so you might have to spend like 70 euros for Pro Controller. This is of course optional. One factor of the low price seems to be that Nintendo Switch is very underpowered especially when compared to its main competitors of this generation of consoles. It is compared to Xbox 360 when we are discussing about pure performance. The upcoming Switch 2 that we are going to get more information from Nintendo by 2nd of April is said to be as powerful as PS4. So, the pure power is not the case when dealing with success here.

We also cannot forget the appeal of Nintendo’s brand. They are known to be a “mega” huge gaming company since the early days of Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES for short, back in the beginning of 1980s. It was the video game console that made home video gaming popular again while many consumers were very disappointed in Atari’s 2600 and especially their games and overall quality that finally caused a big depression of video games consuming and playing in the first years of 1980s. NES was definitely the console that made gaming popular again. You could trust Nintendo and it was something considered to have a good quality.

Today PS2 has sold wolrdwide over 160 million units. Nintendo DS has sold 154 million units. Nintendo Switch is behind these two with 150,8 million sold units. It is very exciting to see how is the Switch ending up to sell as the sales might dive down after or even before Switch 2 is getting released. How many people are going to buy Nintendo Switch if the Switch 2 is already available? The price of this new Nintendo console is predicted to be somewhere between 400 or 500 euros. However the price or other details, like release date, are not yet officially announced.

Where to Start With PS4?

Posted on by Viljami

I have recently got to play some very nice games for PS4. The idea behind this blog post is to introduce some games that are good starting points if you are just starting out with PS4. I have three recommendations if you are trying to figure what game to start with when it comes to PS4.

PS4 was originally released back in 2013. That makes it already eleven years old as a gaming system. It had some competitors (mainly Xbox One). It offered improved performance, graphics, a new controller and updates to overall playability. The device offers Full HD through HDMI. So, it isn’t capable to 4K.

There are some reasons to buy a PS4 in 2024. If you do not have the latest and greatest television or any other type of display you can still enjoy smooth graphics performance. There is a huge library of games released for PS4. Also the price of this console is lower than newer devices. You can also easily find a new console or maybe a used one. Either way you are paying many hundreds of euros less if you pick PS4 over, for example, PS5.

You made your decision and want to get into playing some PS4? Great! “What would be some good games for this system?”, one might ask. I have an almost perfect answer to you. I am about to present to you my current favorite games for this system.

I got my PS4 back in the spring of 2014. I was still very keen on my studies at that moment so I had to save some money. The console did cost 400 euros. As I wanted a game to go with my PS4 I chose to spend additional 50 euros for a game. This game was then very new and shiny Tomb Raider. This is a new game and it has very little to do with the original adventure game series. In any way this game was my first and it is also a very good game that I personally picked for my first PS4 game.

There have been two more games released in this a bit newer Tomb Raider game series. The other games are Rise of the Tomb Raider (2016) and Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018). Games are available also for PC and Xbox One and also for most newest consoles that actually are PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. I have to bring up also Tomb Raider I-III Remastered in this conversation. These games were remakes of old Tomb Raider games and they were released earlier this year. These might be your piece of cake if you are into some old school and retro type of action games.

I have two other games that I am going to deal with in this blog post. These are way newer than Tomb Raider that was actually not a launch game but released very closely after PS4 was launched. It was launched in 2014. Spider-Man Miles Morales was released in 2020 and God of War – Ragnarök in 2022.

While the first Spider-Man was a good game I think Miles Morales made a significant improvement. I really liked this game. It wasn’t so long as a video game. It took me maybe ten hours to clear. If you really like the game there is also some content that you can play after you have finished the main story.

God of War – Ragnarök has become my favorite game in the God of War series. I am still actually onto playing it. I have spent 26 hours already in it and also waiting to finish the game very soon. It just offers you a perfect experience as a video game. I have really enjoyed playing God of War – Ragnarök.

Why I Bought PSP In 2024?

Posted on by Viljami

Here’s a blog post about PSP (PlayStation Portable). I bought one this year. Why would you want to get a PSP in 2024? Here are some reasons…

PSP is very cheap today. I paid 80 euros for it. It has been some months already. I really like the device. I got also an adapter and a memory card (microSDHC) that holds 32 GB of storage. The deal included also a charging cable. I actually had to buy the memory card and adapter separately so they weren’t included in the price of 80 euros.

What are some good games for PSP? I bought three games: Colin Mcrae Rally 2005, Marvel – Ultimate Alliance 2 and NBA 2K13. These are just some examples. You are actually able to play PlayStation 1 games on PSP. The games seem to be more advanced than PS1 games as PSP was released later than PS1.

You can also play games like Metal Gear Solid – Peacemaker, Silent Hill – Shattered Memories, God of War – Ghost Of Sparta and Gran Turismo just to name a few. There are a total of almost 2000 games in the library of PSP games. Many of the games are ports of well-known titles.

I just today read some news that Sony might be working on a new portable gaming console. We have seen a handheld console already after PSP. That device was PS Vita.

We have seen how Nintendo Switch can be played in a handheld mode and it can also be connected to a television screen. Right now Switch is in the top five of the gaming consoles that are sold most. The top position is held now by Sony PlayStation 2 and Switch is actually on the third spot right after Nintendo DS. I do own also a Nintendo DS.

I am not very comfortable playing a handheld device. I enjoy more  about a gaming console when I can connect it to a big screen and play it with a good quality gaming controller. I like to sit and lean my back towards a comfortable chair or a sofa when I play.

Handheld devices can be nice if you are on the move. It is very nice to play a device like PSP in a hotel room for example. A handheld device is good when you don’t want to carry around many cables and other heavy equipment.

You can also check some games on a PSP emulator also. There is a very nice emulator called PPSSPP. The games do have some limitations and cannot be compared to some device that gets connected to a 4K or Full HD screen. Also the controls are a bit compromised.