Doppelganger shutters vSide

 Posted by (Visited 11375 times)  Game talk  Tagged with: , ,
Jul 092009
 

Always sad to see an online world close. 🙁

It is with a heavy heart that we author and post this message. This message serves as the Official Announcement for the Termination of the vSide service. Please read this entire message carefully for important information regarding the next week.

vSide is shutting down. The last day of vSide operation will likely be Thursday July 16th, 2009. It’s possible that the service will become unavailable before then, but we’re going to try to keep it up until then. It’s also possible that it will stay up a few days after 7/16/09.

— vSide Forums: Official Announcement: Termination of vSide Service.

vSide used to be known as The Lounge, which was itself PCDLounge before that, I think. Doppelganger also did the Virtual Lower East Side for MTV; the old link for that seems to be gone behind a password. They opened in the summer of 2007.

What does Google’s new OS mean for games?

 Posted by (Visited 12702 times)  Game talk  Tagged with: , ,
Jul 072009
 

Great question. The blog post announcing it says it’s for netbooks, really, and that the development platform “is the Web”:

Google Chrome OS will run on both x86 as well as ARM chips and we are working with multiple OEMs to bring a number of netbooks to market next year. The software architecture is simple — Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel. For application developers, the web is the platform. All web-based applications will automatically work and new applications can be written using your favorite web technologies. And of course, these apps will run not only on Google Chrome OS, but on any standards-based browser on Windows, Mac and Linux thereby giving developers the largest user base of any platform.

— Official Google Blog: Introducing the Google Chrome OS.

Except that we’re still quite a ways from games of the Web meaning something other than Flash. The kernel is Linux, which could mean that AAA games that run on Linux (all three of them) could show up. Maybe. But I wouldn’t bank on it anytime soon.

Will Flash show up on here? Hard to imagine a Web-centric Netbook or tablet that doesn’t need it, if only for YouTube videos. So perhaps Flash will simply extend its crossplatform dominance one step further.

Who knows is this OS will gain adoption; one thing for sure, though, people will play games on it if it is possible. And the more possible it is, the more adoption it will see.

Metaplace on desktop: MP in Titanium

 Posted by (Visited 5371 times)  Game talk, Gamemaking  Tagged with:
Jul 072009
 

Andrew Woolridge has gotten the Metaplace client embed up and running inside of Titanium, which means that you can now grab a downloadable Metaplace client for Windows, Mac, or Linux: MetaTanium.

In his own words:

Titanium is a kinda  open source alternative to Adobe AIR that I’ve been toying around with. As soon at the ability to embed Metaplace worlds was announced I wanted to combine two of my passions into one:

MetaTanium lets you choose a world to run as a desktop app. You can even run it fullscreen!

It’s in an alpha state, but please give me feedback and feature ideas.

I am guessing he wants the ideas posted in the forum thread on the Metaplace site. 🙂

Two great Flash-related posts

 Posted by (Visited 5983 times)  Game talk  Tagged with: ,
Jul 062009
 

There’s two great posts related to Flash surfacing today:

CoderHump.com has an open letter to Adobe asking for them to make Flash the default console for the web. This is a developer-centric post, focusing on weaknesses of Flash as a generic platform for game development:

Adobe, make Flash like unto a console! Give us consistent performance! Give us excellent tools! Flex Builder is not that great, Adobe. Your compilers could be a lot better, too. Don’t worry too much about lots of fancy features. People who have to have super high end 3d and do not want to run everywhere will use tools like Torque or Unity that do 3d really well. Be everywhere, run well, be easy to develop for, and you will be loved and well rewarded.

Adobe, I have a vested interest in you succeeding. Please listen to my words. I have spent years developing game middleware on a variety of platforms. Now I am working with Flash. If Flash dominates the game industry, it will be possible for me to afford to eat.

A lot of the gems aren’t in the post, but in the comment thread that follows — worth reading.

And the inimitable Dan Cook of Lost Garden has a wonderful analysis of the business models behind Flash game development and where they are broken — and what a developer can do to fix it.

When you design your game, pick three or four revenue streams and build them into your game. Here are some categories of users that you may want keep covered.

  • People who don’t want to pay: Advertising is a good option to keep around. A few hundred bucks is still money in the bank.
  • People who are interested in more of the same: Once you’ve established the value of your game, some players want more. Give them more levels, more puzzles, more enemies in exchange for cash.
  • People who are interested in status or identity improvements: Some people see games as means of expression and identity. Give them items that let them express themselves or customize their experience.
  • People who have limited time: Some people live busy lives and want to consume your game when they desire and how they desire. Cheat codes, experience multipliers and other systems that bypass the typical progression all help satisfying this customer need.

Looks like this is just part one of a lengthier series of articles — I look forward to the next one!

Bayer Didget – A Nintendo DS Blood Glucose Meter

 Posted by (Visited 8846 times)  Game talk  Tagged with:
Jul 052009
 

Awesome! It goes into the cartridge slot for GBA games; too bad the new DSi doesn’t have that slot anymore.

Features

  • Converts test results into reward points that children can use to unlock new levels and buy in-game items.
  • Includes Knock ‘Em Downs™: World’s Fair video game and Mini Game Arcade for use with the Nintendo™ DS and Nintendo™ DS Lite gaming systems.

Bayer Didget – Product Information – Bayer’s DIDGET™ Blood Glucose Meter.

This is a UK website… dunno when or if it is coming to the States.

Someday I should finish and post up the game I did to teach my daughter about blood sugar levels and the glycemic index of various foods…

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