gaming « Tim Anderson’s ITWriting

Popfly Game Creator – programming online with Silverlight

By tim, on May 3rd, 2008 Follow tim on Twitter

This looks great: Popfly Game Creator.

Interesting on several counts.

First, casual gaming will help get Silverlight runtimes deployed.

Second, it’s Microsoft doing one of the things it does well: opening up programming to a new group. Another example: Microsoft promotes its XNA gaming framework to universities, where it helps

…continue reading Popfly Game Creator – programming online with Silverlight

XBox 360: nearly great

By tim, on March 15th, 2008 Follow tim on Twitter

Unhappily, I have joined the ranks of those who have suffered more than once from the XBox 360 red lights of death. It’s a known design fault, so hardly surprising, but annoying none the less. Mine was a launch console, and lasted over a year before succumbing. Ten months later, and it’s failed again.

…continue reading XBox 360: nearly great

Which games console this Christmas?

By tim, on November 19th, 2007 Follow tim on Twitter

Which games console is the smart choice this holiday season? With four or maybe five serious contenders there is plenty of choice, and that’s good for buyers because (with one exception) it’s keeping prices down. Here’s my quick guide, in alphabetical order.

I admit, it’s not a console, though you can come close

…continue reading Which games console this Christmas?

Flash, Silverlight the future of video games?

By tim, on October 21st, 2007 Follow tim on Twitter

According to the BBC, gaming giant Electronic Arts is fed up with having to code the same game three, four or five times over. That’s the downside of the console wars – several incompatible systems.

The article says that streamed server-based games will be increasingly important.

A few observations. First, the PC is the

…continue reading Flash, Silverlight the future of video games?

Ninja Gaiden 2 announced

By tim, on September 14th, 2007 Follow tim on Twitter

Ninja Gaiden 2 is on its way for XBox 360. A few snippets of info and screens here.

I mention this only because its predecessor on the XBox is my favourite game ever.

Technorati tags: xbox 360, ninja

…continue reading Ninja Gaiden 2 announced

Fixing the Xbox 360

By tim, on July 6th, 2007 Follow tim on Twitter

Microsoft says it will give a retrospective 3 year warranty to all owners of Xbox 360 consoles. Here’s a snippet from the press release:

As a result of what Microsoft views as an unacceptable number of repairs to Xbox 360 consoles, the company conducted extensive investigations into potential sources of general hardware failures.

…continue reading Fixing the Xbox 360

How many XBox 360s have failed?

By tim, on May 28th, 2007 Follow tim on Twitter

Simple question. In the early days Microsoft stuck to its story about 3-5%, muttering about “industry average”. More recently Peter Moore, in an interview with Mercury News, ducked the question, saying:

I can’t comment on failure rates, because it’s just not something – it’s a moving target. What this consumer should worry about is the way

…continue reading How many XBox 360s have failed?

Wii a one-trick console, but it’s a great trick

By tim, on March 11th, 2007 Follow tim on Twitter

I’ve recently been trying Nintendo’s Wii console (I know I’m a bit late on this). A few comments.

First, the motion-sensitive controller is stunning, really well done. It is genuinely a new dimension in gaming. Even people who wouldn’t normally play on a console will pick up the Wii controller and have a

…continue reading Wii a one-trick console, but it’s a great trick

Hey, Microsoft! What happened to XBox 360 backwards compatibility?

By tim, on December 15th, 2006 Follow tim on Twitter

Christmas is coming and thoughts turn to games. A year after the release of XBox 360, can you retire the old black XBox and play your XBox games on the new console? Unlikely. Here’s the list of compatible games, which looks impressive, until you consider that only around half of the games released for

…continue reading Hey, Microsoft! What happened to XBox 360 backwards compatibility?

Tim Anderson’s ITWriting

Recent Comments

Blogroll

Archives