Now Playing

Now Playing: Torchlight (PC) Maffia Wars (iPhone) Gerbil Physics (X-Box Indie Game) Now Watching: Spell Fury (youTube)

XNA on the Zune

All I want for Christmas (other than Peace on Earth) is an Indie Game store on the Zune and Windows 7. Well and the ability to write an Indie Game that uses multiple Zune in 2 way communication with an X-Box Indie Game on my Plasma TV...

Quote of the day

Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves."

President Ronald Reagan

Now Playing

Torchlight, Champions, Left4Dead 1, Fallout 3 (expansions and just wandering the wasteland)...

"... the vigor of government is essential to the security of liberty;"

The Federalist Papers

Smashing Atoms

We live in the future. At least until 2012 :)

iPhone vs. Nintendo

The iPhone is a great platform for casual games and it really hits Nintendo right in the DS. Apple is very happy to have games on the iPhone, as long as it does not dominate the device, in my humble opinion.

One important thing to notice about the DS, Wii, and iPhone is the include a ton of ways to interact with the real world and the device that are not in traditional game platforms or controllers. This is a big deal and part of what makes them so compelling. When Microsoft adds the Natal we will see a revolution on that platform as well.

It is all about the sensors and interacting with the real world. And the more of this the better. Would like to see a standard sensor filled controller for the PC.

NASA on a crusade to debunk 2012 apocalypse "myths"

NASA Debunk not as much fun as Mayan Countdown! available on the X-Box and other platforms soon...

Xonar D2 and Fallout 3

So the main problem with my Rig was the settings and drivers for the Xonar D2. I got the latest drivers from ASUS. Then I had to set the microphone to on (even though I don't have one) so that the Windows sounds would work correctly. Next I had to turn off the games mode (glowing green button on the ASUS control panel), to stop the crashes in Fallout 3 and Blu-Ray problems. Everything seems stable now.

Windows 7 is a worthy competitor to OS X. The taskbar is improved and once you turn UAC off things get close to the way they should be. I still like the everything for an application is one folder convention from OS X makes a lot of sense when you consider the amount of disk space available on a modern machine.

Torchlight rocks btw! When ever you can buy digital and buy direct, of course I say that on my way to pick up Dragon Age at Gamestop (still fun to make a game run for the big ones).

Direct Games!!!

Wow take a look at these digital and direct games:

Natural Selections 2

Torchlight

League of Legends

The future of PC Gaming is here!

Windows 7 not just an Update

Windows 7 is not just an update to Vista. I think I would like it more, if it was, because then all of the drivers would not have to be updated. It is clear that the drivers and the internals of the OS have changed. It appears that there is no easy way to make yourself Admin other than right clicking and saying Run as Admin on every .exe you want to run. It removed my Vista Windows Mail during the upgrade for no rational reason as well. I now have crashes in Fallout 3 and my LG Blue-Ray/HD-DVD combo drive crashes regularly. Still the OS starts faster before is crashes.

Slowly things are getting better, ASUS has drivers for the XONAR D2 PCI card, of course ASUS is kick ass company, just like Nvidia which has the best drivers in the biz. LG is not keeping their firmware current on the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD drive. Also Power DVD does not have an Update for PowerDVD 7 for Windows 7, since PowerDVD 9 does not play HD-DVDs, buying it is not an option at this time.

Microsoft let people run as Admin if they want to ok? Also this whole we don't support 7 from third party software and hardware companies has got to go. I want to see 7 be a hit, but when you upgrade it has issues. Also we need an XP to 7 upgrade disc.

Thanks Microsoft things are getting better but we are not there yet, also you should buy Palm.

NPD

Is this the peak for Wii? This could be the waiting for a price drop crowd on the PS3. When will Natal launch?

Should traditional games on the iPhone be tracked for mobile?

NPD Report

AppStore Millionaire

So what is an AppStore?

To me there are a few things that define an AppStore:

1) Direct link to the customer, the only other company involved is the one running the store.
2) 70% for the developer.
3) Ability to sign up and submit on-line.

I plan on creating an App for every AppStore that follows these guidelines. So far that includes X-Box Indie Games and the iPhone AppStore.

Tech Question

If I change my RAM speed from 1333 to 1600, you think that will be noticeable? Worth doing?

Some gain, you have enough RAM in the system already I assume. The biggest gain is from having enough RAM so that the swap file is not over-used. You may want to but the swap file on a different hard drive than the OS. Make sure the system is stable when you increase the speed, I have had to back it down before. Have you tried an Intel Solid State drive yet?

Blu-Ray

Why can't I continue from where I was last playing a Blu-Ray disc? This works fine for DVDs on my PC and TV but no many Blu-Ray disc don't want that to happen. The constant firmware updates continue to annoy as well, perhaps the worst part is that the firmware is not available when the movie is. In addition the firmware is often times only related to content protection and not features. It is sad to see the movie industry going down the path of the music industry, please stop punishing your paying customers. I would buy 2 or 3 times as many Blu-Rays as I have already if they let me resume from where I was last playing them and they played on the day I buy them and not weeks or months later. The problem is extremely bad on the PC side, I have add a few blue screens of death while trying to play the Watchmen BD. Quit it the pirates are enjoying your movies, let the paying customers enjoy them as well.

The Collider

File this under the maybe bogus but sure is fun theory dept.:

"“We are all agreed that your theory is crazy. The question that divides us is whether it is crazy enough to have a chance of being correct.”"

-- Niels Bohr

Time Travel and The Collider

Mayan Countdown

2012

"One of them is Monument Six.

Found at an obscure ruin in southern Mexico during highway construction in the 1960s, the stone tablet almost didn't survive; the site was largely paved over and parts of the tablet were looted.

It's unique in that the remaining parts contain the equivalent of the date 2012. The inscription describes something that is supposed to occur in 2012 involving Bolon Yokte, a mysterious Mayan god associated with both war and creation."

It is the Mayan Countdown!

ZenHak V 2.0

Look for Version 2.0 it is up!

The description has Version 2.0 in it. Also the file size is 48 megs. You have to delete your old version and download the new one. New content, skill trainers, and AI help screens for the Haking mini game. Let me know what you think and what you want in V 3.0.

And of course it is a free update for gamers who already own ZenHak.

XNA cover art mania!

Check out this huge collection of XNA cover art:

XNA Box Art

I had a fun time hunting for ZenHak in there. Also the images are not cached so this monster will just keeping on growing and growing. Amazing to see all of the games that have been cranked out.

(-0-)

Virtues

The three chief virtues of a programmer are: Laziness, Impatience and Hubris.

Larry Wall

Half-Way

I want to explain where I am going with ZenHak, I want to bridge the gap between the way computer games were and the way console games are today, with some new ideas just to make it fun. I want the audience to meet me half way. I am not there yet, and I probably won't get there on the next update, but I will keep listening and updating until I get it right. I will also add features and content with each update to reward those who bought ZenHak.

I have made a simple change in the Haking game that makes it much more clear. A list of winning and losing numbers is shown so that you can see the direct result of placing bots and haking. I have a little more content to add and some mini game instructions (delivery via vid net (video phone)) before I post the update. Stay tuned.

Cheers and thanks for getting ZenHak into Top 10!

ZenHak Approved!

Much easier than getting a game into CompUSA in the 90's! ZenHak is for sale on XBox MarketPlace Community Games!

Check it out: ZenHak.

Keep it up folks, make the world flatter one step at a time...

ZenHak Y'all

Hey Hey Hey ZenHak is on the way!

I have ZenHak in playtest over at: xna.com, check it out if you are an XNA developer. If you are a 360 owner look for us in Community Games starting in March!

If you are a C# coder checkout XNA it is good stuff...