8bitrocket Video Gripe-Cast: HTML 5, Flash and The iPhone/iPad
8bitrocket Video Gripe-Cast: HTML 5, Flash and The iPhone/iPad
In this Podcast full of sour grapes and gripes, Steve and Jeff wonder out loud why Apple doesn't play nice with Flash apps on their hand-held platforms while at the same time having developed and contributed the canvas to HTML 5. The same canvas that allows Javasctipt developers to make games and apps that will run on their platforms...hmm.
Some links in this Gripe-Cast:
Purple Floyd's HTML 5 Platformer
More HTML Canvas Demos: Games
Benjoffe's HTML 5 Game Site
The HTML 5 Canvas Class
Why Does Apple Hate Flash: The HTML 5 Canvas Might Be The Answer
Why Does Apple Hate Flash: The HTML 5 Canvas Might Be The Answer
Many people on the web have been questioning why Apple "really" hates Flash and why it has not been included in the iPod Touch, iPhone, or new iPad. Everything from "Flash runs slow" to "Flash is not secure" from "Apple was to control all apps" to "Apple hates Adobe" have been bandied about by internet pundits world-wide. However, while all of these are probably partially true, we think we might have found the "real" answer.
The iPod touch, iPhone and iPad all include Apple's Safari web browser. Apple has been very active in the creation of the next generation HTML 5 spec. In fact, many people have speculated that HTML 5 support for H.264 is the reason why Apple can ignore Flash and it's video capabilities. However, it's not just H.264 video that Apple has hand in creating. They have also had significant influence in the creation of a new JavaScript element in HTML 5: The Canvas.
The HTML 5 Canvas is basically a bitmap screen that can be manipulated with JavaScript in HTML. Bitmaps can be loaded, cut, displayed, tiled, scrolled, collision detected, etc. all without any kind of external plug-in. These are the same functions that many professional Flash developers use to create their games. In fact, some HTML 5 developers have already created games that work in modern browsers and look very much like Flash games. This platform game is very good example:
If you play this game in a modern Firefox or Safari browser, it will play very much like many Flash games. While it plays very well, there are some obvious drawbacks. There is no sound, and the code for the full game is available right in the browser, and it only plays in a browser that supports HTML 5. However, it looks promising and impressive.
So what does this have to do with Apple? Well the answer is right there on Apple's Safari web page:
HTML Canvas
Originally invented by Apple for Mac OS X Dashboard, HTML Canvas technology allows web designers to specify
an area in HTML that can be dynamically stylized by a JavaScript program. Safari was the first web browser to
support HTML Canvas, and the standard is now supported by most popular browsers.
Did you get that? Apple invented the bitmap Canvas. By extension, the bitmap Canvas can do much (but not all) of what Flash and other plug-in like Silverlight can with bitmaps. As well the Canvas specification is not finished yet, which means as HTML 5 still evolves, the Canvas element will evolve with it.
The HTML 5 Canvas has it's own controversies within the HTML 5 community that need to be mentioned. The Canvas does not allow DOM access to elements created on the Canvas. For many HTML purists, this goes against the grain of HTML standards. However, Apple has pushed for Canvas anyway, it seems to have taken hold.
So, does Apple think that if they avoid Flash long enough, while supporting the HTML 5 bitmap Canvas development and adoption, they can outlast Adobe and and their ubiquitous plug in? To us, it seems like that might be the case. We will be exploring the HTML bitmap Canvas in depth on this site in the coming months, as it seems like an important development for web game developers.
8bitrocket Inter-Media Mash-Up: January 28, 2010
8bitrocket Inter-Media Mash-Up: January 28, 2010
Its no secret that I have had my head buried in the proverbial sand over the last month, slogging through page after page of revisions on the book we are writing. I have not had too much time to visit blogs and have not visited a message board other than BigSoccer.com in a number of weeks. But, the lovely folks who fill up my in-box daily have sent me a few good links, and also I have squeezed out a few minutes to play, view, listen to, read, and consume media (including Flash Games) of all sorts (in small digestible pieces) that might be of interest to some readers. Here is what I have been taking a look at, in no particular order...
Bit Trip Beat
I finally played this game. I know, Steve reviewed it a few months back, and I did play it for a few minutes then, but I never purchased it. I downloaded the demo from Wiiware and was hooked from the first twist of the Wiimote. What an awesomely retro Pong style game filled with the ZarJaz I love. I instantly purchased the whole thing but have not had time play it again. If you have not had the pleasure, you should check it out on youtube.
They Used Our Stuff...
We get emails form time to time from people who have used our music loops. Super cool reader, Tom Lupkey made a commercial for Louisiana Hot Sauce for a contest. It's up on youtube. He used one of our music loops in it. It's pretty funny.
Worm Heroes Flash Game
Worm Heroes is a very well crafted, fun arcade puzzler. It is one of those games where you fire off a projectile from the bottom of the screen and as it travels through the environment it collides with elements that change its direction. The projectiles are are worms and the element are rocks and other items in a garden. You job is to collect apples and dodge the enemy critters and collect power ups. It's a fun little contest made by www.cheesecakegames.com
Mitomane's Llama Glama Flash Game
Inspired my Minter's Llamatron, Mitomane's latest, Llama Glama, is a fun retro arcade game. You Llama is a hero, flying through space, saving innocent animals and shooting at the bad mutant animals. Collect power-ups and blast away!
Michael James Williams Beginner Blitting Tutorials
I plan to write some new tutorials on blitting and other game related topics once the book is released. In the mean time Michael James Williams is writing up a very nice one that will be available on the Adobe site. Check Michel's blog for news about the drop date. Also check out his other great stuff while you are there.
I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1
I purchased and downloaded my first Xbox Live Indie game I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 is simply awesome! If you have an account you can download a demo and the purchase cost is only $1.00 (80 points). It is well worth your time for some 2-d Zombie blasting action.
Vampire Baseball v. Quiddich v. Pyramid
So I complained about the original Twilight film last week without ever having seen it. I finally had a chance to watch about 75% of it. I was surprised to find out that it wasn't that awful. There were some cute girls some good action, but far too much brooding. The best part was the Vampire Baseball. Now, it was COMPLETELY out of place and silly, but is was much better than Quddich as a made up sport. Neither are as sweet as Battlestar Galactica Pyramid though.
Mad Dog Mcree (Wii)
Steve and I each picked this title up for the Wii (actually we each gave a copy to the other as a Birthday present). The reviews for it are awful, but I find it kind of fun. The Wii Zapper now has more than 1 use. The acting is awful and the game is more repetitive than Activition Laser Blast, I still get a kick out of it. We had it on the PC years ago and I also remember playing it in an arcade in Pismo Beach years ago.
Katy Perry has quite a set of...Lungs
Until recently I only knew Katy Perry as the generously chested, kinda cute girl who sings about cherry Chapstick. I stumbled across an acoustic concert of hers on one of the Dish Network HD channels that they stick way up above the pay movie channels, but before the sports (a set of channels desperate for viewers). I think it was HD Sound Stage. Anyway, she was dressed exceeding cute. covered in glitter, with her ample cleavage bursting at the seams. I figured it was going to be utter crap...but it wasn't. She covered one of my favorite songs, Hackensack, by Fountains of Wayne. Anyway, my wife got me her CD for my birthday. I have to say the songs are very well written and produced and she sounds little like a more feminine Pink. Pretty good, but not for everybody.
Mochi Was Purchased
It seems they were bought by suspected Chinese Gold Farmers. I have no idea if this is true, but it makes for a good story. Supposedly there was a chat today about it on Mochi. Some of our concerns were addressed. It seems that the new company is into indie games and probably doesn't want to do any thing to jeopardize what Mochi has built. Cool.
iPod Touch
I finally got one of these little babies and I am loving all the free apps. My son especially love the Bubble Warp app. Now, if someone who has made a sweet retro game wants me to play or review it, send me a link. If you know of one that I MUST purchase, send that over too.
Landon Donovan In Never-Everton Land
Favorite American footie player finally opened his Premier League account against Sunderland. I didn't get to see the game as WORK was in the way and I forgot to DVR it. In any case, here is the video from SoccerByIves.
That's it for this week.
Tables Turned: One Of My Favorite Game Jounalists Interviews Me
Last week I spent over an hour talking with one of my favorite game journalists, Tom Chick, about one of my favorite games of all-time, Roller Coaster Tycoon. Actually, we seemed to discuss many things other than Roller Coaster Tycoon, but it was still fun.
You can listen to it here:
Video: Mochi Media's Jameson Hsu Answers Our Question About Shanda And Developer I.P.
Millionaire Tycoon Jameson Hsu From Mochi Media removes his monacle for a bit to talk about the Shanda Buyout And Mochi game intellectual property. We asked Jameson a question about how Shanda will treat developer intellectual property in the Mochi system. This was his response. Very encouraging.
Here is link to the full chat: http://mochiland.com/articles/log-from-live-community-chat-with-jameson-and-bob
(PS: Jameson, we jest. We know you don't have a monocle...yet).
iPad Flash Support For Web Sites? Apples Fumbles This One Badly
So it looks like the new iPad, the one that apple claims is the "Best Way To Surf The Web", does not support Flash. That means that any full-form web site that uses Flash for ANYTHING will not work correctly. This is not just games or animations, but all sorts of features that ubiquitous for normal web browsing:
-Flash ad rotators, and rich advertisements
-Flash audio players
-Flash video players
-Flash site navigation (menus, menu bars, etc).
-Flash image manipuations apps (3D rotate, zoom, crop, etc)
-Flash product demos
-Flash mini sites
-Flash landing pages
-Flash based catalogs and "Sunday" ads
-Flash photo viewers/manipulators
-Flash educational apps and games
-Flash games and animations (of course)
By the way , this most likely includes all other plug-ins like Silverlight, Unity, etc..
I'm OK with my iPhone/iPod Touch not having this functionality, but not a device the purports to be a full-page "web browser". To support the iPad, sites will need to re-written as straight HTML 4.0 or 5.0 + CSS/JavaScript. Of course, Flash deve.lopers can still target the iPhone (and by extension, the iPad) with Flash CS5, but that is just for native apps.
Technology-wise, Apple may have just taken the world a year or so into the future with an amazingly cool design. However, for web site development and Flash (and other) plug-in support, they have taken us 10 years into the past. You know, back when the bubble burst.
(last paragraph edited @2:02 Pacific Time by ickydime's clarification request)
Mochi Media Bought By (Alleged) Ex-Chinese Gold Farmers? (updated)
Update:
Jameson Hsu of Mochi Media confirmed yesterday (1/27/2010) that Shanda does not intend to do anything with developer I.P. that would jeopardize Mochi's standing in the development community. This is great news. We will continue to follow this story and report anything that might be of note.
Original story:
How did we miss this?:
Mochi Media Acquired By Shanda Games For $80 Million
Great.
Here is an article about these guys and their (alleged) notorious "Gold Farming" ways of old. Hopefully things have turned around a bit for them. Apparently Shanda has been trying to go legit (if in fact they needed to "go legit", which is still a not quite clear) for a couple years, so this could be a positive step for Mochi, but it might also just be a way for their funders to finally get a payout.
However, one word of caution. Remember this from Mochi Terms Of Service:
By submitting User Submissions to Mochi Media, or displaying, publishing, or otherwise posting any content on or through the Service, you hereby do and shall grant Mochi Media an irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, fully paid, sublicenseable and transferable license to use, modify, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, perform, and otherwise fully exploit the User Submissions in connection with the Service and Mochi Media's (and its successors and assigns) business, including without limitation for promoting and redistributing part or all of the Service (and derivative works thereof) in any media formats and through any media channels.
The old Mochi crew swore up and down that this was boiler-plate, and they would not actually enforce it. What about now? Are all bets off?
Hmm.
Maybe the fine people at Mochi can clue us in.
Down The Road – Before The Corruption: An Overly Sentimental 40th Birthday 8mm Film Retrospective.
Down The Road - Before The Corruption: An Overly Sentimental 40th Birthday (today) 8mm Film Retrospective. This video includes 8mm film of us (twins Steve and Jeff Fulton from 8bitrocket.com) from 1970-1983. All the time before we were "corrupted" by getting our own Atari 800 computer or discovering the rock band The Alarm: two things we have not lost "the love" for the subsequent 27 years. By the way, notice our penchant for making faces and sticking tongues out. The song is "Down The Road" by Mike Peters of The Alarm (used my explicit permission from Mike Peters)
Happy Birthday Jeff. I apologize in advance.
Flash Indie Game Review Mash-up: January 19, 2010
Flash Indie Game Review Mash-up: January 19, 2010
I am going to "clear" out the notebook (so to speak) and review a list of games that people have sent me over the last few weeks. I have not had time to do reviews in that time, but I as encourage people to send games for review it would be nice if I actually reviewed some of them every once in a while.
Games reviewed: Right Brained Robot, Luminr, Vowels in Your Bowels, 2mazed, 2009 The Game
Game: Right Brained Robot
Author: Ace The Super Villain
Game Play: No real "game play" here as the robot in question is more of a game idea generator, similar to one we produced a year or so ago. If you are looking for an interesting game idea, this one has 4,425,578,006,446,080 different combinations.
Plus, Ace is a funny dude, so some of the games are hilarious!
Verdict: Not really a game, but will be good for game developers and fans of interesting random concepts: 75% Retrotastic
Game: Luminr
Author: Mochi User: MuktoSoftware
Game Play: Luminr is a puzzle game built around the idea of clearing levels by clicking on Orbs. The orbs are arranged on a grid and each time you click one, it and all of it's adjacent
neighbors change color. You job is to change the color of all the Orbs to white. It is much more difficult than it sounds.
Verdict: Orbs has pleasant music and decent game play. It is
best suited for a quiet, peaceful time at home or lunch when you have a few minutes for a quick challenge.
Rating: 75% Retrotastic
Game: Vowels in Your Bowels
Author: Kosoftgo
Game Play: This very unique little word puzzle game is a little like Boggle crossed with Zuma
Verdict: 83% Retrotastic. This is a very well designed, fun game.
Game Play: A fun little retro maze-based arcade game with a twist: You choose to control either the right-side or the left side character of a mirrored maze and the opposite side character will mirror the movements of the one you control.
It makes for some very nice game play. I had a few little problems controlling and
navigating the maze, but all in all it is a nice little game.
Verdict: 80% Retrotastic.
Game: 2009 The Game
Author: Thor K. Jensen
Game Play: Dodge 2009's biggest scum bags and collect as
much money as you can. How come all of them are Americans... Oh, I guess that's
a stupid question. Maybe with Landon Donovan at Everton, the USA will save
a little face - if only on the footie pitch. Too bad Dempsey went down with a
bad knee. Did you see his play against Rovers before he went down? He is amazing
at narrowly missing amazing shots. Too bad for Fulham that Benny MCarthy actually makes his shots (but good for Squize)...
Verdict: 80% Retrotastic! A sweet little retro game.
Today Only: 100% Of Your Purchase At Popcap.com Goes To Haiti Relief
Today only, you can load-up on PopCap.com games (some of the best games ever made) and every penny you spend will go to the Haiti relief effort.
If you have been waiting around to buy such games as Zuma, Book Worm Adventures, Heavy Weapon, Feeding Frenzy, Peggle or Bejewelled, today is the day to do it.