Intensive Gaming Diary

Blog about different aspects of retro and new video games.

Category: Retro

Games That Brought Consoles to 2000s

Posted on by Viljami

I remember clearly my first steps that I took towards game consoles. My first device was Sega Mega Drive. I could keep playing for maybe two to three hours back then. Games were simpler than today. They were challenging but they were also very repetitive. Graphics weren’t anything amazing. Controlling your character with the game pad was simpler as there were less buttons to use than gamers today have.

I got to know PlayStation soon. I have gone over this already several times in this blog. It was about 1997 and I got my PS1. I got to play Gran Turismo. Racing seemed to be perfect genre for console players. I am talking about consoles here because there are clear differences between computer and console games especially in this time period. There was something great about games back in the 90s. It gave players a hint of where this field was heading.

I don’t see today anymore such a great difference between PC and console games. Back then we were excited about PlayStation. It was easy to plug in to the television. It had awesome new kind of game controllers that were never seen before. A bit later analog sticks made it possible to move even smoother inside the game’s three dimensional world. Consoles seemed to have conquered our living rooms while computers had their position in our home or work offices.

So PlayStation had ruled for a couple of years. It was clear that some day there would be even more powerful device in our living rooms. This was PlayStation 2. It had a capability to play DVD content. It had its flaws also. It didn’t have Ethernet or hard disk drive. But it had something we lack today and that was the extreme backwards compatibility of games and even memory cards and controllers. What were the games that pushed console gaming more and more towards the leap that was ahead?

I was a bit busy in my life this time. I was away from gaming for several years. Althought not completely but I made some choices that made an impact personally. I sold my PS1 and all my games and other accessories. I totally skipped PS2. I only got to know a bit about this era of gaming as I played some PC games and original Xbox games later. I was interested for a short period of time later about PS2. I have to say that I am not so interested in getting to it anymore. I enjoy newer games more and PS2 games don’t give me such a rush of nostalgia that PS1, NES and Sega Mega Drive are able to bring. But there were these great titles that I used to play. And now is a good time to get to them and to how they revolutionized console gaming.

If you think about it, it becomes more and more clearer. This was what would eventually happen. Games would become more and more popular and more and more acceptable as a hobby of an adult person. Think about titles like Resident Evil 2, Metal Gear Solid and Silent Hill. You can move in these games to any direction. There is a lot to discover and explore. They have a story in them. Graphics are as good as can be if you consider the systems that were running these games. This is finally what brought the need for new gaming device and that device was PS2.

Games were changing and improving in many sides. People were starting to take gaming a bit more seriously. It wasn’t anymore just a hobby for children. And I think this is what makes that era in gaming so important and special.

Some Notes About Kid Icarus

Posted on by Viljami

How it feels to play a game that has been released over 35 years ago? It feels amazing and so nostalgic. I didn’t play Kid Icarus as a child. I was so small kid back then. I think I might have seen someone else playing this. But I never played this back in the 80s.

I picked up Kid Icarus as I was browsing a local game shops NES games. It isn’t a pricey game. It cost me 35 euros. I ordered also some other games. I now have a total of seven games for Nintendo Entertainment System right now. I am playing these games with my Retro Trio Plus console.

Kid Icarus is a simple platform and shooting game. You have unlimited amount of arrows that you can use to eliminate enemies which are flying or crawling and attacking you. When you kill an enemy you get hearts. With one controller button you can jump. The other button is used for shooting an arrow. You can shoot to your left or right or even up. You also come across some enemies that take lots of arrows to kill. You can find the ground to be slippery or icy at times.

You basically move upwards in a level and keep shooting at ghosts and other monsters. When you reach a certain stage the game gives you a check point where you can continue your game from. As is usual with NES games the saving is not possible. There is some kind of a password system but I didn’t get so close to utilizing it.

Kid Icarus is a fun game. And it’s a very old game. I don’t know if it’s so interesting after you have played it for a while. If you are really into some 80s stuff and NES I can recommend this game for you. I just don’t think it would be so valuable as a game for someone that likes to play the greatest or latest games.

As times have progressed Kid Icarus is a blast from the past. It makes me think how designing of games has evolved. It makes me think about all the limitations these developers faced in 1986. So, to sum it all up I have to say that it is a nice game but I don’t think its worth to spend an eternity playing it. So, today I’m going to play my Gran Turismo 7 for a while and maybe I have time to try to finish Diablo II Resurrected. Who knows?

 

Some Characteristics of Sega Mega Drive

Posted on by Viljami

The image included here displays my Sega Mega Drive Mini. I have three controllers for it. One them has six regular buttons and two of them that were originally packaged with the gaming console that have only three buttons on the right hand side of the controller. I think original game pad is better than the updated one.

Today I have a free day. So there’s no work for me today. I had some good time playing some Mortal Kombat. It seems to be one of the best games on this gaming system. Other very nice picks are Castlevania – The New Generation, Dick Tracy, Kid Chameleon and Golden Axe II. There are several titles more that are worth playing. It’s not possible to go through them all here. Maybe I write another post about it later.

It is said that Mega Drive games repeat themselves and the gameplay is rough. It is sometimes said that Mega Drive games are worse than Nintendo games of the same era. I wouldn’t say it like that. You can compare these systems, NES and Mega Drive, but to think clearly, you should consider them to be different. You might like Nintendo games more. Or you might think like I do and I think these consoles are both good in a certain way.

Sega’s games are maybe harder to play. They definitely are more violent. In some ice hockey games there is fighting and in Mortal Kombat you can see blood as you hit or kick your opponent. NES’s games are more complex and maybe a bit more better when considering gameplay. But Nintendo’s games can be called childish. In a matter of fact this is a case of sense of taste and you can’t really argue on these.

When it comes to 16-bit devices Nintendo might have better performance in SNES than Mega Drive. That’s natural as SNES was released years after Mega Drive. I think Mega Drive had good graphics. SNES maybe had a bit better ones. But it is clear that these two represent the best quality of their own time. In the 90s you found some good games that brought you maybe the best graphics that were possible to produce as 2D graphics. When the next generation consoles were released they were heading strongly towards 3D.

I have greatly enjoyed my Mega Drive Mini. It’s price tag was about 60 euros. As I mentioned in the beginning of this blog post it came with two controllers. It takes days of two to three hours of playing to really understand this console. You will find the best parts of it. And of course you will also find the limitations that this device has. Things have progressed in designing of games and of course the technology has advanced. We might even see some new games to be released for Mega Drive even today.

My Xbox Series S

Posted on by Viljami

I decided to write about my dear Xbox Series S. I bought this gaming console last years summer. I originally placed it inside that Ikea shelf that has eight places for consoles. This shelf holds now seven of my game devices. So I actually moved my Series S to the right side of my television. And one place in this shelf has a basket in it where I store my controllers and also some cables.

Why did I move my Series S to its current position? I was thinking that it might not get enough air flowing through it. Although I haven’t heard of cases where a new Xbox console would have overheated. I thought about it for a while. As I placed my hand on the console I felt that it was extremely hot. So I thought I should place it better.

The console never gave me any error messages but I  noticed that it was cooling way better. I couldn’t feel almost any heating after I had placed the console better. I first thought I would place it on the floor but came to other thoughts a bit later. This was finally a good place for the console.

I have enjoyed my Xbox Series S greatly. I think the price was suitable. I hate that my Xbox doesn’t have so much disk space but I guess if you can play at least two or three games at a time and have them installed must be enough in these situations we are currenty still facing. I would have surely bought a Series X if they would have been available.

Some games I have for Series S are Call of Duty Vanguard, Diablo II Resurrected, Control and Mass Effect Legendary Edition. I have been content in having all of my games digital. I would like to play some of my Xbox 360 games with this new Xbox but as my Xbox 360 still works this isn’t so much of an issue. I love playing older or remade games also on my Series S. I really like the controller. It must be compatible with also a PC. I haven’t really tested. I do have  a USB to USB-C cable for the controller so I don’t have use batteries.

I think I got, once again, a nice picture for this blog post. That small device that is placed to the right of the Xbox Series S is my HDMI selector. It enables me to connect several HDMI devices to my television. I definitely had to buy this because I have so many consoles and my television had only three HDMI inputs. I also have room for up to three SCART connections in my television.

I might some day take some more pictures of my collection and setup that I have for gaming in my home. I do have lots of games and so little room. I just other day moved some of my games to storage. I still kept most of my games in this gaming corner that I have.

What to Think About Game Collections?

Posted on by Viljami

I have mixed thoughts and feelings about game collections released on modern gaming systems. These collections try as hard as they can to bring some retro consoles most impressive games to consoles like PS3 or PC or even some newer ones like PS5. I own many game collections. In the featured image of this blog post there is a Dreamcast collection for PC and Mega Drive collection for PS3. Dreamcast collection has four games which are Sega Bass Fishing, Sonic Adventure DX, Crazy Taxi and Space Channel 5 Part 2. The list of games in Mega Drive collection has over 40 titles. Some of the games included are Sonic The Hedgehog 1, 2 and 3, Streets of Rage 1, 2 and 3, Ecco The Dolphin, Golden Axe series and Phantasy Star I to IV just to mention some of them.

How much would you pay for this kind of a collection of games that have been released on some earlier retro gaming system? Is it fair to sell them for the price of a completely new and unreleased game? Are these collections a good way to get deeper into a gaming system? I have to say that I didn’t pay the full price of these two collections. I bought both of them from sale. I remember getting my Dreamcast Collection for PC for about 10 euros and this Mega Drive Collection for PS3 was about 20 euros. I wouldn’t have paid 60 euros to have one of these even if it were some years ago.

Why would I make my decisions the way I do in this matter? I think there is a point in getting to know your gaming consoles games may they be retro or new. I like to think that every system has its own strengths and weaknesses. Mega Drive is great for 2D platform and shooting games and Dreamcast is capable of bringing you the experience of early 3D games of the end of the 90s. I think you have to get into the system you play these games on. That’s what makes it interesting for me and this is true for especially retro games.

There are limitations in gaming systems that were released in the 1980s but you might still have the motivation to play some Commodore 64 games to have some nostalgic feelings. Of course it has its limitations. After all it is an old system. But that same limitation becomes an advantage when thinking about what game designers had to face and how where they able to get around these technical limitations. The design process and the ways and skills in how to design games has progressed. It is also not so odd to find a new game, released last year or something like that, released for older gaming system.

It is not also common that all of your games in your full gaming library can be actually even played at all. As a game hobbyist you have to think about what games you have, or what games you are going to acquire, and how can you play them. Do you use emulators? Do you buy all the games as physical copies? What systems you have and what systems do you want to have in the future?

So, as a conclusion to this blog post, I think there is some sense in re-releasing old retro games as a collection to a newer system. They might be even quite playable. This is not, in my opinion, a proper way to sell games although and the price would have to be a bit lower than for a new game. There are many ways you can play your retro games. Original systems is just a one way. There are also consoles like Evercade and we have definitely seen mini consoles of Mega Drive, NES and SNES and there might be some new releases in the future also.

Altered Beast and The Showcase of Sega Mega Drive

Posted on by Viljami

Altered Beast is a game that was available when Sega Mega Drive was launched back in 1988. You have to consider that this game was one of the first games ever released for a game console like this. Nintendo had its 8-bit system in the markets. Sega gained the position of the most powerful gaming console in the industry. At that point SNES wasn’t yet released. I think SNES had a bit more power to it when compared to Mega Drive.

I am mentioning this detail because you know how it is when a console launches. It usually has only a few games and these games aren’t the best ones that will be made for this console. Everyone seems to understand and know this. You need a game that you can play right? So you have to choose at least one from the ones that are available. This pattern was recognizable also when systems like Saturn and PlayStation launched.

Altered Beast is a nice game. You control a character that gets waken up from grave to beat all kinds of beasts. You basically control the character with three buttons of the controller. One button gives you jump, one gives you a hit with a fist and one makes you kick. You can also crouch with down button. This game reminds me a lot about Splatterhouse 2 that was also released as a Mega Drive game later. You also get upgrades. When you get enough of updates your character transforms into a beast that is faster and stronger than it was earlier.

The game play isn’t perfect. Still this game kept me playing for some hours or maybe about three hours. I couldn’t get past through the boss at level 2. Like any Mega Drive game this game also gets you easily frustrated. This is a common feature in Sega’s games. There is a bit of a repetition going on. But it’s not the worst game of Mega Drive I have played and I think it showcases the abilities of this gaming console nicely.

I think for me this was a nice pick up. I paid about twenty euros for this game. I think it is a huge part of gaming history and also part of the legacy of Sega Mega Drive. This wasn’t the only game I ordered as I also bought two PlayStation 1 games. These other games were Bomberman and Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX Maximum Remix. So this time I bought three games for a low price.

Differences between Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter

Posted on by Viljami

I finally managed to get my hands on original Street Fighter II SNES cartridge. It is not a rare or expensive game. But it is definitely a good fighting game and has earned its position as one of the greatest fighting games ever.

There is however competition. Street Fighter games are always compared to Mortal Kombat series’s games. Back in the 90s these two were the best fighting games that any decent arcade, or a video gaming console, had to offer. It was before we got these 3D styled fighting experiences like for example Tekken or Virtua Fighter.

The competition between these two brands was furious. Nintendo wanted to get more young players to enjoy their games. There is no blood in Street Fighter II. In Mortal Kombat you have these deadly fatalities that can be executed after you have beaten your opponent . This was also a time when consumers were becoming more aware of violence in video games.

I played Street Fighter II for a while. It got me to understand how it is different when compared to Mortal Kombat. The latter was released for Sega Mega Drive and the first one was a SNES title. First thing that caught my attention was the differences between controllers.

The way you play these games is almost identical. There is one fighter against the other fighter. The moves are however different. You do have kicks and punches and you can throw your enemy to the other conrner of the screen. Mega Drive doesn’t have shoulder buttons in its controller while SNES does have. Button layout is a bit different when compared between these two gaming consoles.

Mortal Kombat is the one of these two that shows elements of brutal violence. Street Fighter doesn’t show you blood and violence is a bit more cartoonishly expressed. Is it okay to show how violence in real life affects your victim? I don’t have a clear answer. Both of these games are violent. Do you have a problem with it? Well, I don’t as I think of it as fantasy. I do understand that you might have to have a conversation with younger palyers on this topic at some moment.

While this might not be a good time for a discussion about violence in video games but it is a time for me to try to finish this blog post honestly. Both of these fighting games are great. Maybe I should say that I like both of them and that they both have their own strengths. So I can recommend both of them if you have the ability to also play both of them.

About NVIDIA Shield TV

Posted on by Viljami

Some years ago I had a situation with my television. It wasn’t a smart TV. I wanted to watch more content that I liked from it. I tried to make this possible in several ways. First I tried connecting my old Raspberry Pi, the first model, to it. I found out that it wasn’t powerful enough.

What I tried next was to install a Linux distro to a computer and then hook it up to the television. So I got my hands on an old computer that was not used anymore actively. I installed many distros. I was most successful with first Lakka OS and then I also tried LibreELEC. I wasn’t satisfied.

I started thinking if there would be some other solution. My thoughts were first centering around Google Chromecast. It was cheap. Then I found this perfect solution. It would cost a bit but it would cost even more to get a smart TV. This solution was Nvidia Shield TV.

I have now written already three paragraphs in this blog post and we haven’t really touched the main subject yet. The subject of course is the device that allows you to run any Android app and in that way allow you to play games, new and also retro, and see any television programs that you like. The image related to this post displays the remote controller of Nvidia Shield TV.

There are two models of this device available. One has a price tag of about 150 euros and the other, Nvidia Shield TV Pro, has a price of about 230 euros. I have the cheaper one of these two. I also bought a 128 GB memory card with the device. IT connects to your network only with a cable. So that is a small minus. Otherwise I have been happy to use my Shield TV.

It connects to your television with a regular HDMI cable. So, as I said, you can install any Android app. You can hook up your favorite game controller through Bluetooth. I used Dual Shock 4, which is PS4s controller, and I also made sure that my controller had power for it. In this case Dual Shock 4 takes its power from a smart phones charging cable. It uses micro-USB.

There is an app for retro gaming and it is Retroarch. You have to copy your rom files through your local network which is very easy actually. I wasn’t able to play any PS2 games but I found that I could run any PS1 and Dreamcast games. So it is more powerful than your Raspberry Pi would be. And I think there isn’t any decently working Android emulator to be found at the moment (please correct me if I’m wrong).

I can recommend NVIDIA Shield TV to someone that needs a bit more power than the newest Raspberry Pi provides and wants to watch TV programs provided by any Android app. There are also features that let you mirror the games from some other device like a PC.

Xbox Documentary Series on YouTube

Posted on by Viljami

It’s been 20 years from the release of the first Xbox or should we call it original Xbox. This was Microsofts successful attempt to get into game business. The path was rough. There were several obstacles on the way.

So the history of this gaming console has been collected to a form of a documentary series. It has six episodes in it that are about 40 minutes per episode. It is possible to view this series from YouTube for free. I can definitely recommend this for someone that has been interested in gaming for a while or to someone that just finds this content somehow interesting.

I have watched five episodes out of six. They have covered topics like the dominance of PlayStation as a gaming device in consumers living rooms and how Microsoft felt that their business was in danger. They just had to react and go from producing software to creating some hardware in the form of a new game console. It wasn’t always clear that there would be a product like Xbox now is in the markets.

So the first chapters describe how Microsoft started in the gaming business. I think everyone that has been involved in consuming games can say that they remember these problems that Xbox 360 had. There were so many consoles returned. It was said that the console was rushed. It wasn’t properly tested. So lots of products ended up returned. Microsoft handled this problem as well as they could and it cost it a lot of money.

I am going to watch the last episode of this series soon. The story is now in the beginning of the battle between Xbox One and PS4 and how Xbox declared that its console would fit perfectly in almost everyones living room. It is also clear that Nintendo had to play its cards in this game also. Did you know that Microsoft made an offer to buy Nintendo way back? If you are interested in this documentary series you can find “Power On: The Story of Xbox” from YouTube.

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