If Wii 'rockets' to success will I get resi 4 for a fiver?

In an Interview Shigeru Miyamoto did for Japanese website, Nintendo dream he said that he saw the possibility of retro-fitting the Wii control scheme onto some Gamecube games.

N: So you think games will experience a rebirth thanks to the Wiimote...
M: Yes. Of course you can wander into a second hand shop and buy a lot of these games still, so I don't think we can release these Wiimakes at full price. Since a lot of the development cost has already been accounted for, we'll be able to release these at a much more affordable price. And if others also take advantage of this and release Wiimakes, there's a high possibility of a lot of software from third parties also.

Now He mentions here that you can wander into shops to buy these Gamecube games already. NO YOU CANT! If i walk into any high street shop now (even the large game retailers) there is either a tiny section with a couple of games or no section at all. Which got me thinking.

If the Wii is a huge success will retailers start putting Gamecube games back on the shelf? The Wii is backwards compatible with GC games so it would be a great way for retailers to make a quick buck. I for one would welcome a move like this since there are loads of GC games that I have yet to play and would love to give a go (for the right price). What do you think? would you buy 2 Wii games if you also got a FREE Gamecube game?

(aplogies for the title of the post, I found a cool picture of a rocket. ROCKET GOOD!!!!one)

XNYay or XNGay?

So Microsoft recently announced that they were going to make their game development for windows and xbox 360 available to the great unwashed. Now in theory this sounds like a great idea and its got lots of people really excited about making games in their spare time.

The thing is there are already plenty of frameworks out there for people that want to make games. Now admittedly these platforms don't have the resources or marketing reach of a company like Microsoft so that people can find out about these things, nor do they have integration with a full blown console platform (although the $99 price tag may scare people off a bit) and IDE. But by and large people who make games are fairly resourceful people and will be able to find these other solutions and get them to work.

I have a feeling that the initial buzz will be great and Microsoft will get lots of large download figures which to band about but at the end of the day, people will realise that programming games is hard and there will be a fairly steep drop off. Still, if one great game is made because of this initiative then hey, hats off to them! I for one will be downloading this and giving it a go.

A Toy

I wasnt sure whether to post this or not as its techincally a protoype of a game that im working on. But i was playing with the physics system for it and it sort of turned into this fun little toy. Basically you move the small smiliey face around and with the arrow keys. And he has 2 powers, attract and repel.

Arrow Keys : Movement
Space : Attract
Z : Repel
C : Clear all blobs
M : Add another 200 blobs

Anyway see if you like it...

Get it here! (dodge.zip)

First Principles

I was listening to the radio the other night and it was a radio phone-in for science questions. Listeners would phone in and ask the presenters (One of which was Docter Carl for anyone that listens to Radio 5 live!). It was interesting because alot of the time the Doc would know the answers as a matter of fact, however when he didnt he would use his knowledge of 'first principles' to derive an answer. for those that dont know, first principles are taking what basics you know about a world or situation and using them in a logical way to come to some sort of conclusion. An example of this would be that you know that when a button is pressed an action may happen, and when you drop a ball it exerts a force on something it hits. You could then derive that you could throw the ball at the button to make the action happen. You were not expressely told this but you can derive it from first principles.

What if there was a gameplay equivalent to first principles? Instead of having hundreds of facts about user actions what if there were a basic number of first principle gameplay mechanics that could be mixed and combined to create a virtually limitless amount of different gameplay. Creating this kind of gameplay development would of course require some very robust mechanics to begin with. I think that this is similar to emergent gameplay.
Now some may argue that this is basically what physics systems are doing in games nowadays but i think that physical interactions are only a small part of creating this limitless gameplay potential. We need to find new ways of allowing players to improvise and add gameplay techniques in a logical and intuitive way. Physics is a first step but there is more to be done.

Shooter (nominated most original game name 2006 and lost)

So this is Shooter. Its the biggest game ive ever made and its not finished. Basically I could finish it but ive done what I wanted todo with it. Its got 2 different type of normal enemies, a boss, some sound effects. The whole caboodle basically. Its kinda fun to play but there is nothing really thats special about it. On the programming/learning side however I learn TONS. The project finished up at about 1500 lines long which may not sound like much but to me its the equivalent to eating 6 or 7 small children, not in a week but IN ONE SITTING. Yes its pretty hardcore and not for the faint of heart. Oh and incase you suddenly think that Ive developed a bit of an artistic edge. None of the art work is my own, its all taken from royalty free sources (some sprite sheet I found lying around somewhere...)

Get it here! (shooter.zip)

Instructions, Arrow keys to move and space to fire. The floaty p thing is a powerup that increases the power of your gunZ.

Sfcave (if anyone has heard of the original have a cookie)

Before i get a tirade of nasty comments from my faithful readers (the sad thing is that even if I said 'both of them' I would still be overstating my readership). YES! this is a remake of the palm pilot classic, SFcave made by sunflat software. But hey its a good game and someones got to do a remake sometime right? Well I did so a big raspberry to you all (I would use more colourful phraseology but im trying to keep this all U rated).

This is the final in my series of single button games. I learnt alot about them and it was a good laugh trying to think of different ways of playing with the idea of a single button of interaction. There is a good article on gamasutra about it but im too lazy to track it down.

This is definately my most polished game to date. It has sound and nice title and extro screens (ok maybe just a title screen). Its also got some graphical 'flourishes' like text that zooms upwards when you get a bonus. And yes i realise that it looks like the inside of a dogs arse but i dont have a single artistic bone in my body (as you will come to realise).

Get it here (sfcave_FINAL.zip)

Javalin Throwing sim

I'm sure everyone has played those annoying flash games where you have to throw the javelin as far as you can (I didn't link to any because they are all a hell of a lot better than mine!). Well as the previous parenthesised comment just alluded to, I have indeed created my own version of this timeless classic. Once again featuring "generic plumber man" and his estranged rocket/spear (wtf is it??) contraption.

I would like to point out that this is without doubt the most buggy piece of rubbish I have ever forced upon the poor inhabitants of this thankless planet. Its not a virus but I reckon even the virus writers would form a collective sharp intake of breath at the sight of this hideous monstrosity. Oh and a lot of the time is doesn't work.

Believe it or not the game play reason for making these was that you could accomplish a lot with just one button. What with all the new controllers having more buttons than a pearly king its nice to limit yourself to something more simple.

So if you are still feeling foolish enough to try it out...

Get it here! Javalin.zip

Oh its space bar to do all the associated actions (running, throwing etc).

My First game!

This game is called Super jump brothers. Its the first game that i ever made. Actually to call it a game is a slight misnomer. You press the space bar to make they guy jump over the fences that get faster as you get over more and more. Of special note is the way that when you get to the peak of your jump "Generic plumber man" does a little forward flip. See its attention to the little things that make my games something really special... For anyone that cares this game was written in c using the Allegro games programming library which i might add, is a great tool for begginers and experts alike!

Anyway if you do play it dont hesitate to leave a comment about how shockingly poor it is!

get it here! (framerate.zip)

This game is brought to you by the power of gravity