Intensive Gaming Diary

Blog about different aspects of retro and new video games.

Tag: sony playstation

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.

Transition From PS2 To PS3

Posted on by Viljami

In this blog post we are dealing with the step from Sony PlayStation 2, PS2 for short, to Sony PlayStation 3, PS3 for short. Today we are used to see a new gaming console from a manufacturer in about six to eight years after release of a system.

I think that the transition from PS2 to PS3 was a huge one. Lets start by comparing these two systems and actually their specs. PS3 has 256 MB of RAM while PS2 has 32 MB. This means that PS3 has eight times more randomly accesssed memory. We can proceed and compare the hard disk space of these two consoles. PS3 has, depending on the model at hand, a hard disk of 12 to 500 GB. PS2 doesn’t have a hard drive. Instead it uses memory cards that have at least 8 MB of space.

PS3 has a more powerful processor and it handles graphics with a stronger and more powerful GPU. The actual weights of the units are for PS2 0,6 kg and for PS3 2,1 kg. PS2 offers an AV output with SCART connector while PS3 is also capable to output AV signal with an HDMI connector. Also PS3 has more USB connections available.

PS3 has a capability for its user to view a movie with its Bluray drive while PS2 is able to play you a movie in a DVD format. PS3 enables also an internet connection through WLAN while PS2 only supports Ethernet connection.

What it comes to controllers PS3 has a controller that is called Dual Shock 3. It is a wireless controller. I have always used the cable with my controllers but there is also wireless function which some gamers do prefer. The button layout is slightly modified in comparison to the Dual Shock 2 that is the controller for PS2. The controller of PS2 is a wired one while there can be some other wireless controllers available also for PS2.

What were some of the most important games for these two consoles? For PS2 there were games like Gran Turismo 3 and 4, Grand Theft Auto 3, Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3, Max Payne 1 and 2, Ratchet and Clank series and many others. As you can figure there were many sequels to some games that started on the first PlayStation, or PS1 for short.

Some of the greatest games for PS3 were Max Payne 3, Gran Turismo 5 and 6, Grand Theft Auto 4 and 5, Skyrim, Metal Gear Solid 4, Silent Hill Homecoming and many others.

All in all the transition from PS2 to PS3 was a huge one. While we could still use Full HD televisions while playing PS3 the graphics were totally clearer compared to what PS2 offered. I mean that you could still be playing PS2 with a CRT TV. Could you imagine playing a PS3 with one? I doubt that.

PS2 was released in 2000 and PS3 in 2006. Although PS2 has lower performance all in all it has sold way more units than PS3. The numbers are almost 159 million units for PS2 and about 87 million units for PS3. The production of PS2 discontinued in 2013 and the production of PS3 in 2017. You still might be able to buy a used  PS2 or PS3. Also I think that both of them can be played on a PC with a good emulation software today if you have a powerful enough computer.

Getting Into PS1 (What Games Should You Play?)

Posted on by Viljami

There are thousands of games for Sony PlayStation 1 that have been published since the console was released in the middle of 1990s. The amount of games can be overwhelming especially if you are new to PlayStation 1. In this blog post I am going through some of the best games for PS1 in different genres from roleplaying to 2D and 3D platformer games.

Lets start with RPGs. Roleplaying games usually take longer to finish. It is improtant to know something about the game that you are about to start to play. First RPG for PS1 that comes to mind is, of course, Final Fantasy VII. While there are more RPGs, also, this must the most improtant out of all of them. It practically brought the Final Fantasy series to Europe and made it a popular game world wide. You can also check titles like Breath of Fire, Grandia, Chrono Cross, Vagrant Story and Suikoden.

Maybe the favorite genre in PS1 games for me is racing. The first racing game that comes to my mind is, once again and of course, Gran Turismo. There were two Gran Turismo games released for PS1. If you are new to Gran Turismo I suggest that you start from the first game. Other good racing titles include Colin McRae Rally 1 and 2.0, Ridge Racer (at least Ridge Racer Type 4), Need for Speed series and Driver 1 and 2.

PS1 has also some great FPS games in its game library. While the graphics aren’t as impressive as with some later releases in this genre with some newer hardware. My first suggestion if you are interested in FPSes is Medal of Honor and the sequel Medal of Honor Underground. There was also a port of Doom and also Final Doom and I think these are also worth of getting into. I mention here also Alien Resurrection.

What would a list of the most significant PS1 games be without some survival horror games? If you’re into this genre you have the opportunity to check and play the games that almost started it all. I am saying almost because maybe the first survival horror game that was ever released was Sweet Home and it was originally designed for NES. Games that I have in mind right here are Resident Evil 1, 2 and 3, the first Silent Hill and Clock Tower.

Lets take a look at some fighting games that were released for PS1. Fighting Force 1 and 2 delivered some classic street fighting in a 3D environment. Games like Mortal Kombat Trilogy and many versions of Street Fighter brought you some 2D fighting while Tekken series and Battle Arena Toshinden presented some fighting content in 3D. I can also mention Bushido Blade here. If you are into stealth style of fighting you should check Tenchu and also the sequel for it.

There are also some very good 2D and 3D platformers for PS1 and I have to mention some good games in this genre also. We cannot forget Crash Bandicoot. There were a total of three games released for PS1 in this series. Spyro The Dragon is also one good game in this genre. If you like 2D platformers check the first Rayman and also Oddworld Abe’s Oddysee and the sequel to it.

Other good games that I haven’t mentioned yet in this list are: Grand Theft Auto 1 and 2, Metal Gear Solid, Tony Hawk Pro Skater series, all sport games, Spider-Man series, Wipeout, Tomb Raider series, Castlevania Symphony Of The Night and all other titles that you might find just if you look deeply into the PS1 game library.

There must and there has to be a game that I forgot. And of course this is the list of most important PS1 games in my opinion. You might have a different idea of it. If there are thousands of games there also have to be some hidden gems and you have to spend some time with PS1 to get to know these games. But anyways I hope you did find something from this blog post. I hope this gives you some sort of an idea of what games you shoudl play when you are starting to get into PS1 and its huge game library.

My Take on Tenchu Wrath of Heaven

Posted on by Viljami

Tenchu Wrath of Heaven is the third game of series of Tenchu games. This game was released in 2003 for PS2. The first game of the series was released for PS1. This is also where my interest in this game series came to exist. I really enjoyed playing it. The name is officially Tenchu: Stealth Assassins.

Lets go over shortly about what kind of a game we are dealing with. I played Wrath of Heaven recently. This is not a review. I actually didn’t get too far inside this game. That is mainly because of its difficulty level. There are two characters to choose from. Both of them have ten missions that you can go through. I selected Rikimaru. The other character is Ayame. So, the first mentioned is male and other one is a female. There is also a third character but you have to unlock that feature by completing parts of the game.

This is definitely a game that depends heavily on stealth combat. The easiest way to defeat an enemy is to sneak behind its back where you can finish the enemy with one hit.If an enemy sees you before you strike you enter a combat mode and defeating of the enemy becomes much more heavier and you will probably loose a great deal of your health. In this kind of battle the enemy can take from three to five or even six hits to be defeated. You can try to block hits. Enemy is also very good at blocking your attacks. So battling is way more risky than catching your enemy off guard with a stealth attack.

Battling can be frustrating. There isn’t many ways you can better your situation during a battle. It isn’t a matter of skill. It is more about luck. You can try to block every attack of the enemy and try to hit as many times as you can but that’s about it. I think there is something in the source code of this game that makes winning battles a bit randomized. Timing your attacks doesn’t seem to matter as much and hits that are successful seem to come randomly.

Your weapon is a sword. You also have some health potions and also a grappling hook that you can move with. Sometimes while playing the levels seem like a maze. Poorly aged graphics of PS2 cause also some difficulties. It might help a bit if you have a PS2 HDMI adapter. I use my 4K TV to play also PS2 games with and a CRT TV would probably display the graphics of this game better. You will also get better graphics if you are playing this with a PS2 emulator.

This game is very difficult. I did get to mission 3 while playing with Rikimaru. I got frustrated with this particular mission. First of all the level is very difficult to move in. Controls aren’t as good with Dual Shock 2 controller. After I finally beat the level I had to face a boss. I could defeat the boss. But there is a but. There was another boss right after the first one which was way harder and of course I couldn’t defeat it. Then I died and had to start the mission three all over again. That makes me want to use a cuss word but I am however not doing that. So, I basically stopped playing.

The game might seem more to your like if you are familiar with these earlier entries in this series. I only have some experiences with the first game. For those of you readers that aren’t yet familiar with Tecnhu series I definitely recommend that you first play a bit of the first game before getting into this one. My opinion might change if I find the other character more into my linking some day. But today I might just change to another game for PS2 since I have lots of games for it.

I sometimes think that all games of this era of PS2 and its competitors aren’t always very good games to play today. Main points for this are poor graphical quality and outdated controls. Sometimes it just feels that many things are way better in today’s newer games. But also I have to tell you that sometimes you can definitely have this feeling of nostalgia. It just depends so much of the game. I have had some happy moments of nostalgia with some PS1 games. How poor are graphics and controls for those? It is nice that you can play PS1 and PS2 games on your PS2 console.

Right now I am going to continue my Sunday. I might play some other PS2 games that I have. I haven’t had time for all of them. I haven’t even tried every game that I own for this system. I have maybe 70 games now for PS2. I am definitely going to publish this post and add something about this post to Instagram and Facebook also. Did you know that I have a page on Facebook also? Well, now you know! Happy day for you the reader of this blog post!

I Finally Got To Add This Game To My Collection

Posted on by Viljami

I am a huge fan of survival horror games. I especially enjoyed first two and maybe also the third game in series of Resident Evil games. Resident Evil 2 was my first touch to this genre back in 1998. I remember first playing the demo that had this time limit in it. It really made an impression. I had to soon buy RE2 for the first PlayStation.

RE 2 is definitely, at least in my opinion, best out of the first three games. But RE1 isn’t a bad game. It isn’t even a decent game. It is actually something very nice. This is also where the story of Resident Evil games starts.

RE 1 was released in 1996. It is a kind of a remake of an early adventure/horror game Sweet Home which was released in 1989. So the roots of this game are deep in video gaming history. RE 1 also takes lots of influence from Alone In The Dark series. The game also brings horror games to the era of 3D environments.

This game only cost me 30 euros. It is a platinum version which might lower its price a bit. Otherwise it is in a great consition. There is not one scratch on the disc. The case is also clean and shiny. The cover leave is also in good consition. You might not expect this for a game of this age.

I had this game when I earlier owned PS1 and tens of games for it. I have several times complained about my decision. I shouldn’t have sold my PS1 and my game collection. I didn’t get so much money. I just couldn’t figure at that moment what kind of a role would video games have later on in my life. Now, as you can witness, I am a serious game collector and also a player of video games.

I somewhat like how games where back in this generation. It takes about 7 hours to beat this game. This is very nice. I don’t like every game to be such a marathon. I mean some games have to be lengthy but I can also appreciate a shorter game at times. I might play latest NBA2K for hundreds of hours but I am not a serious fan of lengthy role playing games. In this era I also finished almost every game I bought.

What else can you say about the first Resident Evil game? If you aren’t familiar with the concept of survival horror games I can tell you that there is a limited amount of ammo. This isn’t actually an action shooter game. There is also limited amount of opportunities to save your game. Music is very important. I can already hear the background track playing when you enter a safe room which is a room that you can make a save in.

Also camera angles and views are somewhat, how to say it, well…evil. This kind of arrengement causes a bit of an anxiety. And it makes you also a bit nervous. I have read that the person that was responsible for the vision of the game had encounteres some very depressing and violent moments, even a trauma, in childhood and this game is some kind of a way to handle these experiences. That would sort of make a sense. I don’t confirm this so this is only a rumor.

There is also a book that I have some deep interest to some day get into. I think it was called “Itchy, Tasty” and it describes how this game came to be. When I last time checked this book was sold out. It would be interesting to read it.

So, you probaply get the picture. This is a game for me that left a serious impact. I had to get it once again to my collection. This is also a good game for you if you want to get intoduced to this genre called survival horror games.

Where It All Begun (And Where Are We Now) With Gaming

Posted on by Viljami

I am a game hobbyist that started playing video games as soon as I was old enough to interact with a keyboard and a mouse. Some years later I was gaming on a Sega Mega Drive and some years after that I got my PlayStation. This was the beginning of my hobby.

Today video games are more popular than ever. There is a large amount of money involved. There are also many independent developers. There seems to be some people that really love video games. There seems to be a lot of games released mainly for making lots of money.

There was once a time when video games were a true form of art. You can take for example the game I am currently playing now. I also wrote a blog post about this game. The game is Remedy Entertainments Max Payne. You can see that this title was a success both artistically and financially.

I think I don’t have to point out any of these big companies that try to release very big games. It seems that when the stakes are too high there is a strong propability for the game to also fail completely. The failure will be financial and you definitely wouldn’t call it art in any way.

The involvement of money is one thing that is effecting the whole industry today. I kind of miss the artistic side of gaming. I have nice memories of playing all those PlayStation 1 titles. It is said that playing PS1 is kind of listening to rock music. And playing Sega Dreamcast is like listening to jazz music.

Why was Dreamcast a failure? To put it simple it didn’t sell that well. It did sell 9 million units. That wasn’t enough. We can compare this to how PS2 sold. That was way over 100 million. Even Xbox and GameCube sold over twice of what Dreamcast ended up selling. Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo are the leaders of todays game console markets as Sega has already made it clear that they aren’t going to release another new console.

Does it seem that you are getting fooled? This might not be the case afterall. If consumers keep buying those titles that they find the most satisfying there might be a brighter future for gamers and gaming. You just have to be aware of the situation. If you are a gaming hobbyist like I am you definitely want to keep up with this field. There is the mainstream. But there definitely does exist an opportunity to pick the games you really want to play. I think that there is a way to have good experiences in gaming. There is an alternative.

There are loads of games, old and new, for you to choose. Don’t have the latest console? Don’t worry about it. You can pick yourself a Xbox 360 or some other older console. It doesn’t cost you as much and you can have a really good time. There are many ways to get some good quality games for your personal computer.

There is always a way and also a place for art inside gaming. It might not be the deepest art you will ever see but it does have a value for gamers. Observe your possibilities. What you are buying is usually a way for also a gamer to influence what is going to be available in the future.

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