EricBall

Warning: if you have addictive game tendencies - don't start playing Glitch (more on why later). Glitch is an odd game - and not just because you squeeze chickens to obtain grain. It's a free-to-play game which you can play without paying. Unlike a typical FTP games, you can't use real money to buy in game resources, reduce action times, or additional actions. Real money may only be used to buy cosmetic items like clothing and furniture. (Well, it can be used to buy teleport tokens, which could be looked as a typical FTP cash item, but that's the only one.) And unlike the typical Facebook FTP game, all of the avatars you see in the world are controlled by other players. You've got the typical MMO skills development, questing, harvesting and crafting - but no true PvP combat. (You can do minor damage to other players, but you're more likely to receive buffs from random people.) The biggest problem with Glitch is it's a time suck. Not to say that the game sucks, far from it. But there simply is little limit on how much time you can spend playing. Yes, you have a finite amount of "energy" to use each 4 hour game day performing various actions. However, it is just possible to gain energy by eating, picking up energy coins, meditating, completing quests and achievements and leveling up. Running completely out of energy sends your character to Hell, where you squish grapes to be resurrected. (There is an achievement for visiting Hell 3, 11, 53, 251 and 1009 times.) About the only thing which requires significant time is learning skills - which starts at minutes and ramps up to hours. But you continue to learn skills even when you're not logged on. It's even possible to pick which skill to learn without entering the game! One thing I have noticed as I've played over the last few days is the number of quests I am given has dropped. So while I could spend my game time harvesting resources or just exploring, there is less incentive to do so. Thus I'm busy learning skills, as these usually trigger quests. One point of frustration I've hit is your inventory is limited to 16 items. This can be expanded with bags (adds 9 more spaces for 900c) or big bags (adds 15 more spaces for 1999c). But with the number of tools and other items (including food) which get carried you never seem to have enough free space. For those who are interested in playing, I recommend also checking out the wiki at glitch-strategy.com.

My wife has also decided to stop playing Zombie Lane - for basically the same reason: a quest which required killing specific zombies for a chance to obtain specific materials. But I've introduced her to Glitch, which seems fun. The only "problem" is you can play for a very long time.

The ARS review of SML3D http://arstechnica.com/gaming/reviews/2011/11/go-buy-a-3ds-super-mario-land-3d-is-a-platforming-classic.ars is very positive. So that's one must-buy on my reasons to buy a 3DS list. But before that, Santa's got to get me Skyward Sword....

Hmm... http://www.handheldmuseum.com/MB/uVUS.htm the Microvision cartridge contained the CPU with on-die RAM & ROM - the console just contained the 16x16 LCD controller. So you couldn't reprogram the game, but you probably could make something using an AVR or similar microcontroller.

When I signed up for Google+ I was happy to see that the games (and their notifications) were segregated from the main feed page. Although I didn't join Facebook, my wife did, and her feed was clogged with games related posts. She spent a lot of time on Facebook playing games until she quit cold turkey. I told myself to avoid the games on Google+, and I managed to do it for a month. It's all her fault . . . she joined Google+ and started playing Zombie Lane, so I figured I would play too, if just to help out with stuff which requires friends. But I quickly got frustrated as the objectives changed so they couldn't be accomplished in a single day. (e.g. kill two super Zombies, which can only be killed with crafted weapons, which require killing other Zombies and hoping they drop the necessary items) So I started playing Dragon Age Legends. The main quest is fairly linear - you travel from encounter to encounter (each encounter being either a story point or a battle) which requires energy that automatically replenishes with time. (This is a good thing as it limits how long I can play at a sitting.) Battles are turn based with a party of 1-3 (you plus two characters) facing off against several waves of 1-6 creatures. After each battle you can't use the characters (other than yourself) for several hours. (Again, forcing me to stop playing.) You get additional characters and loot along the way. You also have a castle which you can improve and use to build potions and bomb. Of course, as a "Free to Play" game, there's lots of ways to spend real money but I haven't needed to yet (and probably won't in any case). But it's weird to see that there's an option to buy 6,000 crowns for $99.90! (Right beside the option to buy 200 crowns for $4.90.) I've gotten myself up to level 10 (first level cap). The battles are getting tougher so my potion & bomb production is more of a limiting factor than party members or energy. I'm also gold poor (just spent 1,000 on the level cap) and I need 2,400 gold to build my throne room so I can build furnaces to upgrade my production. Winning some battles give a decent amount of gold, but some just give a cheap item.

According to http://www.cringely.com/2011/10/apple-gets-siri-ous-about-tv/ it makes more sense for Apple to roll out TVs as they would need to sell a lot of STBs to make the same profit they could on a single TV. Now, if you want something today, you might want to check out NeTV: http://wiki.chumby.com/index.php/What_is_NeTV

I have Mario Kart 64 and Mario Kart Wii, so a 3DS version doesn't make me want to buy a 3DS just to play Mario Kart, especially since I'd need two 3DSs to play with my son. Super Mario 3D Land is more interesting; although, again, I'm not certain I want it enough to buy a 3DS just to play it. (Although I did buy my N64 just to play SM64.) Maybe when Kid Icarus finally comes out.

I have to agree with you that the list of 3DS titles seems rather slim. Looking at the IGN ratings, the only one which I would buy is Zelda - which is hard to justify since I still have my N64. There are a few more coming up in November & 2012 which look interesting, but I don't know if that will entice me enough to fork over the $$$. It's also a little tough from a publisher's perspective. ~4M 3DS sold versus 25M DSi and 93M DS. Which would you rather make a game for? Something with over 100M possible buyers or 4M? Especially since the later will cost you more to develop. But I don't think Nintendo is going to give up on the 3DS. IMHO they need to bring down the retail price again (especially when the Vita is released), discontinue the DSi, XL & DS lite (so they stop competing with themselves) and publish a couple of must-buy titles (e.g. Pokemon).

I have an old blog at http://spacewar-a78.livejournal.com which details some of the development. http://spacewar-a78.livejournal.com/5567.html has a reference to what I did at one point, but I'll have to find the actual code to see if the implementation changed over time.

As I started to read your entry, I was thinking "for SpaceWar! 7800 I implemented gravity using a look-up table", and the next thing I read is you did the same. (Although I think I used less than 4K for mine as I was able to fit the entire game in 4K.) But I agree that SpaceWar, as a game, isn't as fun as many other games.

Another way to increment A: CLC ; carry = 0 ADC #1 ; A = (A + carry + 1) mod 255, carry = (A + carry + 1) div 256 or SEC ; carry = 1 ADC #1 ; A = (A + carry + 0) mod 255, carry = (A + carry + 0) div 256 If you know the value of the carry flag, then that instruction isn't required. Decrement is left as an exercise for the reader (just watch the carry flag).

I have Scribblenauts for the DS and it's fun, up to the point you get stuck. Then it's pure frustration trying to figure out what object the game wants you to enter to solve the puzzle.

Nathan sometimes does blog entries on how he works. See http://www.atariage....08-feelin-blue/ for some insight. You also may want to check out http://www.SchlockMercenary.com/ Howard Tayler has been drawing this daily webcomic since March 2000. As he explains in "Talent? Who needs Talent?" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4qBSrLe19k&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PLF830253A84BEF1A6 it's all a matter of practice, i.e. draw as much as you can, as often as you can while trying to improve as you go.

That looks very nice. I assume the ARM is feeding a 48 pixel style kernel on to generate the menu. If there isn't too much animation, I don't see any reason that the 2600 couldn't generate it on it's own. Have the ARM instead do some music generation! PS Put me down for a signed cartridge when you get to that stage. This much effort deserves a purchase. Frantic - the Donkey Kong Country of 2600 homebrews

Team orders are interesting things. At this past week's NASCAR race in Richmond Clint Boyer needed a win to advance to the chase for the championship (the first 26 races determine the 12 drivers who are eligible to win the championship based on the results of the last 10 races). However, his teammate Kevin Harvick (already locked into the chase) had a really strong car and was leading for most of the race. I wondered if Kevin was in first and Clint in second whether the team owner might suggest to Kevin to let Clint win. That's not the NASCAR way (about the only team orders are to not wreck your teammate), but it's about the only time I can see it occurring. It wasn't necessary though as Clint wasn't in second, but Kevin did win.

http://ds.ign.com/index/upcoming.html shows a whack of DS titles coming out in the rest of 2011. And because the 3DS is backwards compatible with the DS/DSi, I don't see companies making 2D 3DS-only releases instead of DS releases. Publishers want the biggest market possible, which is why there are only 5 DSi-only non-DSiWare games. It's going to be a long time before the last DS title is released. My son and I have been enjoying playing Plants versus Zombies on the DS. We've both gotten through the "Adventure" levels once.

Ever water a potted plant where the soil has dried out? The water goes straight through and out the bottom. Rain on dry ground doesn't soak it up, it just erodes it away.

Check the Completed Listings button on the left side. I think it goes back a month at least.

The real question is what the actual selling price of the last one sold was. If someone else was dumb enough to offer $2K for the game (probably because two idiots put in mega bids "just to make sure they won", good luck getting paid), then asking $2K makes sense. But if the last sales were in the $50 range, then the seller is an idiot and has has just thrown away any listing fees.

My PS3 gets used for three things: games, blu-ray and MythTV playback (via DNLA). LotR:EE BD looks spectacular! Fortunately (for my wallet) the 3DS still doesn't have the list of must-have games. 2012 looks like it might bring a few.... Right now my son & I are having a blast playing Plants versus Zombies on the DS.

My son likes the various Mario branded/themed candies.

1GB is an awfully low usage cap. It's probably possible to exceed that even without downloading big stuff. Do you have any alternatives? It looks like my cable provider uses a 4000-5000:1 ratio (i.e. 60GB/month, 12Mbps). It looks like I average 13GB/month, with a max of 17GB. And I don't consider myself a heavy downloader either.

Give the cat some place high to sit and watch the dog from. Keep the dog away from the cat's food, water, litter & sleeping area. You want them to avoid confrontations.

I saw it this weekend in 2D, and I'm will be seeing Deathly Hallows 2 in 2D tonight. I've seen a few recent films in 3D (Tron, Dawn Treader) and it just doesn't add enough to the movie to justify the cost. (And there's more bad 3D conversions than exceptional 3D movies.) I have to admit that it's impressive how real Chris Evan looks as pre-change Steve Rogers. Whether it was CGI or a body double I never thought to myself "that's fake". (Well, maybe when he was bare chested just after the change - those pecs looked unbelievable.) I agree that the Hydra rayguns were a little over the top. But since Marvel's Avengers includes Thor the inclusion of a Norse super-battery is more plausible. (And this is also the universe where Iron Man eventually exists.) My wife had two complaints: 1. Bucky (to say more would be spoilers) 2. No closure for the other supporting characters, especially agent Carter. My only complaint was the plot was a little too formulaic (well, except for the Uncle Sam tour - I wasn't expecting that).

Congrats on achievement. I'll ask my wife to put it on our Kobo.