Intensive Gaming Diary

Blog about different aspects of retro and new video games.

Microsoft is Buying Activision Blizzard

Posted on by Viljami

You have propably heard the news already. I’m not the first one to write about this. Let’s make it completely clear – Microsoft is going to buy Activision Blizzard. In this text I will tell you some of my thoughts about this subject.

There are lots of questions here. What happens to yet to be released upcoming games (like Diablo IV) and is Microsoft actually going to be releasing games only for Xbox and PC. We don’t at this moment have a clear response.

There are several high quality and appreciated games that have been released under Activision Blizzard. These include Call of Duty series, World of Warcraft, Diablo series and StarCraft just to name a few. How is Microsoft going to carry the legacy of these huge titles?

Microsoft has been quick to deliver Xbox Series S consoles while it has had its problems in delivering Series X. How will Nintendo and Sony react and repsond to this move? One thing that affected this situation is the existence of sexual harrasment in Blizzards working environment. This propably brought the price of this acquirement down.

Microsoft has been eager to buy big and succesfull gaming studios and attach them to their gaming consoles and as part of their brand. As time progresses we will see how these changes in the industry affect gamers everyday life.

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.

Is it a Good Moment to Buy Nintendo Switch?

Posted on by Viljami

So, this is my first post of the year. Welcome to 2022 for all you that are right now reading this blog. Before Christmas I was thinking and actually seeing conversation about how Switch would be sold for something like 250 euros after holidays. It is not that I would need a new gaming console. It is that that it is sold for so low price.

I have also been waiting for Xbox Series X to be available. I am actually thinking if I should buy Switch while there is no Series X available at the moment. While newest PlayStation and Xbox gaming consoles have had serious issues with availability Nintendo has been ready to bring their consoles to gamers worldwide.

The price for Switch gaming console has been for a while about 320 euros. The price didn’t, at least yet, fall so much as was predicted. When I made a search for the price it was about 270 euros right now. That is the current lowest price of the console here in Finland.

Should you buy a new Nintendo console instead of Series X or PS5? There is of course the possibility to get the new updated Switch OLED which costs a bit more. The curent price is 399 euros. This console doesn’t bring you 4K graphics or anything even near that. This is propably a good time to have a conversation on the topic.

Nintendo Switch keeps selling. Nintendo is bringing many games to their console. For consumers there is also an option. That means that you have to wait. Maybe you wait for the newest Playstation. Maybe you wait for the newest Xbox. Or could it be that you are already waiting for the newest, upcoming, Nintendo console.

While Nintendo is dominating handheld gaming Sony and Xbox are struggling for their spot in the living room of gamers. Is it cool to play video games with your smart phone? Whatever your question that you want the answer to is one thing is certain – there are many question here. It seems to me that waiting might be the solution.

 

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.

New 2 TB SSD for PC

Posted on by Viljami

I have a small SSD, it has 256 GB of space and I also currently have a HDD with 500 GB of space. While the space that modern games take is all the time increasing I decided to get some more space. I think also I should have thought about this issue before I bought my PC. I bought it a year ago. If you are thinking about buying a new PC I can say that you propably need a large SSD to store all your games.

I finally decided to upgrade my PC with a new SSD that has 2TB of space. IT wasn’t cheap. IT cost almost 200 euros. But I wanted to make this investment so that I could play also the latest PC games. I have a good PC to play these games with so why not make the upgrade.

One of my favorite games on PC is Dirt Rally 2.0. It takes almost 130 GB of space. So one game can take almost 200 GB of space. IT makes me think about if 2 TB is also enough. Would you need even a bigger SSD? That’s when you start to think about your gaming budget. This 2 TB SSD cost about 200 euro. There were larger SSDs of this same model but the price would be 380 euros for 4 TB and 780 for 8 TB. If I would like to build a computer of my dreams I maybe would put some more money into this but for now 2 TB must be where I draw the line.

It would be nice to purchase the latest hardware but it would be finally a huge investment of money. If you think about how much would CPU and GPU cost and what other parts would you need the cost would be enormous. And it would cost way more than you would spend for a new gaming console like PS5 or Xbox Series S/X.

I bought my PC a year ago for just under 800 euros. I had to make some compromises. I couldn’t buy such a PC that would be perfrect but this purchase I was actually very comfortable with. I use PC for many other things also than for gaming. I use it to program and make music also and those activities don’t require so much from the hardware.

I am about to replace my 500 GB HDD with this new 2TB SSD very soon. I hope everything goes nicely and I get to install some games. Thanks again for reading. It is also nice that there is a sale on Steam that begins tomorrow so maybe I also pick up some new PC games.

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.

What to Expect from Alan Wake 2

Posted on by Viljami

Remedy made it’s way to many gamer’s hearths with Max Payne trilogy. One good game by this company also is Alan Wake that was released in 2010 for Xbox 360 and PC. I managed to purchase this game for PC and it was some sort of collectors edition. I remember I bought it, as I have a habit to do, from clearance. It didn’t cost so much and I was very happy as this release came with some bonuses like soundtrack of the game and stickers and some fictive post cards that were supposedly sent from the location the game took place. I also bought for much less a used game for Xbox 360. I have also played this game through.

It is a good game. I enjoyed it. So it’s not surprising that Remedy has announced that it is working on a sequel. While survival horror keeps being popular the gamer’s are waiting for this new game now. Only a few months ago Alan Wake Remastered was released. So the product is a bit hyped already. There isn’t a release day announced yet. It might take until year 2023 for it to make its way to game shops and then to the hands of paying customers.

I have played many Remedy’s games and Max Payne one and two are my favorite ones. Alan Wake itself is something a bit different. While Max Payne brought you a shooting experience with “bullet time” and all this action and also it had a scheme inside it. And what makes me a fan of this game company is that it’s coming from Finland that happens to be my home country also.

Alan Wake is somewhat a horror game. A big part of the game is about using your flash light and surviving in this forest type of environment that reminds a bit of the forests here in Finland. The main character is a writer. You have to survive and get rid of these enemies that keep hunting you. These monsters hide in shadows and you can slow them down with some light. It took me over an hour to play it through. It was about two years ago that I finished Alan Wake. It would’ve been possible to play it again with a harder difficulty level or try to collect all items that are hidden in the game.

All in all Alan Wake is a steady and fresh brand of Remedy. You have to wait a bit more to see some game play video but there is a trailer somewhere in YouTube. I have heard some players talk about the new Alan Wake game and how it definitely needed a sequel. It took over ten years. We have to wait a bit to see exactly what kind of a game will it be. Will it be like the first game or will Remedy take to be more like traditional survival horror game like Silent Hill or Resident Evil.

How to Maximize Your Performance in Competitive Gaming

Posted on by Viljami

When talking about how you perform in competitive gaming it first comes to mind that you have to practice a lot. You have to be young enough but also still old enough. You need your wits. You also have to be balanced in your life in overall. Make sure you get enough sleep. You might also figure that drinking is not good and you perform badly if you have a hangover.

But what I have to say is that one of the key things is concentration. You might remember how school was when you were a child. I remember that we had 45 minutes of class and then we took a break for 15 minutes and got some fresh air and then begun the next class. This seems to be somewhat optimal time for a person, a player, to concentrate. So keep this in mind. You can continue playing longer than 45 minutes but I think you should at least have a break after you have played for 2 hours.

Your age matters actually a lot when competing in gaming. It has been said that after the age of 27 years your nerve system starts to weaken a little by little. Well, I’m myself right now 37 years old so it seems I wouldn’t be able to compete against some younger players. This seems to be the case when considering especially first person shooter (FPS) games. But you have to also remember that while you play a game your nerve systems forms memory out of your actions and you might have a huge advantage if you have played some shooter game a lot. Like it is with athletes – very few of them are over the age of 30 and if they are they won’t be as good as they were younger.

While age matters and young players are more likely to succeed you have to remember that winning might not be the most important matter when it comes to gaming. I can say that I definitely enjoy playing games like an old soccer players enjoys playing. After all you are the one that sets your goal and the amount of effort you put in to playing games. Everyone doesn’t have to be a professional.

As it is important for competitive players to practice it is also important to have enough sleep. You also have to be in, so to say, good balance with your life. Gaming might not be your best shot as a career. It might not pay your rent. But it can be part of your successful life. It might be your dear hobby. It might be a way to spend some free time and get your thoughts out of your studies or work. For some people it might be a profession. Not for everyone.

The last thing I want to talk about in this blog post is that your equipment does matter also. Think about what genre you are going to compete in. For driving games you would like to have a steering wheel and paddles, fighting games require certain type of joystick, FPS’s can be played with keyboard and mouse and real-time strategies require these also. There are many tools for getting the best out of your performance.

About Crysis 2

Posted on by Viljami

I have hyped some games that I really enjoyed in this blog. So I guess it’s time to say something about a game I didn’t get so much in to. I’m not saying it is a bad game. Also I’m not saying I haven’t played FPS games at all because I somewhat have played them. Actually I’m currently playing Call of Duty Vanguard. There are lots of differences between these two considering that they are both in a same genre. In this text I would like to write about these differences and explain why I didn’t play Crysis 2 so much.

Crysis 2 is a good game. But my point here is that it is really difficult. What makes this game hard? At first it looks like your regular FPS experience. When you get to action you suddenly notice that the enemies are all over the place. When you fire a shot lots of enemies notice you and start shooting at you from different angles. You can dodge and take cover but because there are enemies behind you and in front of you…the game forces you to shoot accurately. If you miss a shot you get punished. There’s not lots of ammo also.

If we compare Crysis 2 to some Call of Duty, lets mention Vanguard here, we can see a clear difference. Call of Duty is easier. You can play it even if you are a casual shooter game fan. The enemies appear mainly in front of you. You can take cover easily. You just have to remember to reload your weapon and if there are lots of enemies you have to take cover if they fire at you heavily and if you get also wounded badly.

Weapons are a bit different also between these two games. Crysis 2 brings you some futuristic weapons while in Vanguard you get to use old weapons used in World War 2. But basically in Crysis 2 you get a shot gun or a sub machine gun with a bit limited aiming. In Vanguard you get to shoot with a sniper rifle a lot and also with some basic rifles and you can effectively use sub machine gun at close combat. Vanguard also features some stealth action and it may have more of it than Crysis 2.

So all I wanted to say about Crysis 2 is that it is basically a very good game. It’s just that it’s in my opinion just too hard. I know there are lots of fans of Crysis series all over internet. So please don’t be offended. Crysis 2 was originally released in 2011 for Xbox 360 and I think there is currently available a trilogy of HD remakes that includes all three Crysis games remade with todays graphics.

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial