blueZhift Blog

My son and I, thankfully, do not have a Darth Vader - Luke Skywalker kind of relationship at least not yet. But this weekend I couldn’t help but feel a little Jedi-like as I helped him work on writing a video game in Multimedia Fusion 2. Even though there isn’t a lot of direct coding […]

There’s nothing like the good creations of others to inspire greater creativity in oneself. In that vein, entries for the GBAX 2007 coding competition are now available for download! I’m particularly excited since this weekend I finally got some time to really start coding for the Xbox 360. They’re baby steps in the larger project, […]

Games have always been a part of the PC software landscape. And in the era of the PC compatible and the Macintosh, computer game publishers have not been required to pay anyone royalties to publish PC games, as they would have to do to publish a console based game. So Windows PC games sold by […]

Last night my son came across the 2nd controller I bought for the Xbox 360 attached to my computer monitor. My Xbox 360 was bought mainly because I was fed up with trying to run Final Fantasy XI on the PC. So it has never been in the living room or played with by the […]

Things are starting to roll with the announcement of the Microsoft XNA Game Studio Warm Up Challenge! The Warm Up Challenge requires you to build a new game based on the Spacewar sample project included with XNA Game Studio Express. I think this is a clever way to start out because it essentially levels the […]

After weeks of checking the original XNA Game Studio Contest web page, I thought it strange that the contest, scheduled to begin in January, had not appeared to have started yet. As it turns out, the contest apparently started at the end of January, but no one has as yet pointed the old page to […]

Innovative devices usually spawn innovative ways of using said devices. I’ve already seen some speculation about using the accelerometer in the iPhone to create a Wii-mote for use with Nintendo’s Wii games console. But why not go one step further? There is a growing library of games for the current generation of iPods, that will […]

After sitting on the thing for weeks, I’ve finally got things in gear to produce an entry for the XNA Dream Build Play competition. Like the Google Gadget contest before, I’m using this as a way to get off my backside and actually finish a game. I generally learn the most when I just jump […]

Pfffffft! Just another blah blah Monday for me as I work off the Thanksgiving hangover and get back on my diet after a weekend of relative excess. All of the talk of sales on and offline though, has inspired me to update my sites in hopes of snagging some commissions along with the sheer fun […]

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 development tools aimed at indies, students, and hobbyists are in beta and available for download today! I can’t wait to see what I can do (or fail to do) with these tools. I’ll start with something goofy just to get my feet wet real fast.
XNA Game Studio Express

Gamesindustry.biz reports that developer Planet Moon has been signed on to bring Sega classics to the PSP. The first thing I wondered when I read this was whether or not NiGHTS into Dreams might be reborn on the PSP. The article doesn’t say anything about specific titles, but there was some speculation about games involving […]

Yesterday it was announced that Microsoft would make Xbox 360 development tools available to hobbyist programmers. The XNA Game Studio Express development tools will be available as a free download. Those wanting to share their creations with other homebrewers will have to pony up $99 to join what is currently being called, the Creator’s Club.
Even […]

Here’s what looks like a cool tool from MIT to get your feet wet in 3D modeling and simulation without a lot of pain. And it’s free! From the StarLogo site:

StarLogo TNG is The Next Generation of StarLogo modeling and simulation software. While this version holds true to the premise of StarLogo as a tool […]

Anyone interested in or fascinated by the rise and fall of Sega should take a look at the interview with former Sega of America head, Tom Kalinske on Sega-16.com. I found it particularly interesting that first Sega, and then later Nintendo, both passed on the chance to jointly develop a CD-based game console with Sony. […]

Reading The Rise and Fall of Sega at 2old2play I began to think about my own last decade or so with Sega consoles and games. For the most part I look upon them very fondly, having been swept away in mouth frothing fanboyism back in the day. I mean after all, Sega did have superior […]