Category: Uncategorized

“This crisis was created by an excess of debt… how should we fix it? MORE DEBT.”

On some level that makes sense, but this direct application–encouraging more consumer loans for car purchases–just seems idiotic on so many levels.

Not to mention the environmental impact. The lack of reuse. No recycling of working vehicles. The CARS bill mandates the vehicle be destroyed by the dealer.

When I first learned about this program I spent a great deal of time analyzing the different ways I could trade-in my 20 year-old vehicle to get a new car. I’d love to have a new car, but the more I thought about it, the worse I felt about it. My 1990 Pathfinder is a perfectly workable vehicle. It’s got low miles, runs well, and is a pretty comfortable ride. It just seems ludicrous to have the vehicle scrapped.

“But I can get a new car for $4500 off, ” I thought…

What if the humane society had a program where they paid you for your old dog, shot it dead, and then gave you a new puppy at a discount?

The cash for clunkers program sets my inner environmental pragmatist against my inner economist. I hate you lawmakers that signed this bill, I hate you. (shakes fist)

And why single-out the automobile industry? There are a lot of other ailing industries that could use their own cash for x program.

Cash for crappers, toilet upgrade program
Cash for consoles, video game upgrade program
Cash for kittens, cat upgrade program (wasn’t this an SNL sketch?)

You’re an inspiration to us all, and proof that we can do anything if we put our minds together. Thank you!

The iPhone dev team announced a few days ago that the jailbreak technique they discovered for the 2nd gen iPod touch will likely work on the new iPhone 3G S. At first I was excited to hear about this.. If they can jailbreak it then it’s only a matter of time until they publish an unlock and I can go back to T-Mobile prepaid. This would save me over $1000 over the next two years. As an iPhone user this is great news.

But as an iPhone developer, this is very sad news. If you can jailbreak your phone then you can run unsigned code on it, which means you’ll be able to pirate games on the 3G S.

Now I’m not someone to whine about piracy. That would make me a massive hypocrite. But growing up in an age when tty spoofing and blue boxes still worked has given me a bit of a nuanced view on piracy (and security systems in general). I don’t think it should be illegal for people hack systems in order to gain greater access to them, or to utilize the fruits of their work to break intellectual property laws (which need overhauling anyways). But I do think it should be the right of intellectual property holders and security system developers to do everything they can to prevent people from gaining access to their systems and utilizing their work in new and different ways than they intended.

So back when Apple first launched the App Store it was happy days for everyone. You could run homebrew code unsigned using a variety of pwn tools, but you could also pay for software through the App Store–and this paid software could only be ran on devices that it was digitally signed to run on. But then the hackers figured out a way to effectively unsign signed apps and then you could run a paid application on any phone. I’m not saying this is wrong. It’s just sad that Apple’s encryption was defeated.

I was hoping the 3G S would turn the tides back in the IP holder’s favor, making it impossible–at least for a short time–to run apps that weren’t signed specifically for you on your phone. I mean, eventually it needs to happen (duh!) but I was hoping it would be another year, or at least another 6-9 months.

So I have mixed feelings. I wish they would release a baseband exploit that frees us from the tyranny of AT&T and not a jailbreak that allows people to pirate my one dollar game. But I seriously doubt the holders of these exploits will be that generous. 🙂

Update: Shoutout to the guys on the iPhone Games Network who discussed this post on a recent podcast. I wouldn’t quite say I’m “pleading” with the hacker community to not release a jailbreak (afaik you need the jailbreak in order to apply the baseband exploit anyways), I’m just saying it would be incredibly awesome of them to release a baseband crack that doesn’t jailbreak your phone. 🙂 And quite honestly, I think Apple would feel the same way. They probably hate AT&T more than the rest of us combined–it was pretty obvious in their WWDC talks there was some friction there.

My game Anytime Golf is now only $0.99!

Although getting the word out about the game has been challenging (a lot more challenging than last year with my first iPhone game), folks who have found the game seem to have great things to say about it. Here’s a selection:

“A quality game of golf… cracking 3D graphics and realistic physics… hard not to recommend.” AppGamer.net

“I am struck by the amazing 3D graphics that you see in this app, but this is more than just a beautiful game… The interface is easy to navigate and the game play is a load of fun… If you love golf you would be missing out big-time if you didn’t give Anytime Golf a try.” iPhoneAppsFinder.com

“Great 3D graphics and excellent game play make this a very addictive app.” iPhoneNess.com

“The holes are really well designed… The physics are superb… The graphics are among the best on the iPhone. A+” App Store reviewer

You can purchase Anytime Golf on the App Store here.

Mick Rippon, the guy who wrote the music for my iPhone game, Vector Blaster, just linked me to a remix he’s working on of the theme song from the game, “Tomorrow’s Mistake”. It’s teh awesome. And it includes what is essential for just about every musical endeavor: more cowbell!

Link

I got to play with the new PSP Go today at E3, here’s my thoughts.

It’s small, and it’s thin. Like, cramp your hands thin. It’s obviously designed with little kids in mind. I think the space between the face and the back is less than a half inch. On top of that, all of the face buttons are drawn in closer to each other.. I only got to play it for about 10 minutes but the whole time I had ergonomic concerns.. I don’t think I would last more than 30-45 minutes on it tops.

The screen is smaller. The large screen I thought was the original PSP’s best feature. It was comfortable to play games and watch video on the PSP. Why change that?

It looks great and has a solid feel to it. Sony build quality you would expect. Well, not entirely. The face buttons feel a bit more fragile, but I thought the original PSP’s buttons felt fragile until I got used to them.

But $249? For reals? The device is cheaper to manufacture than the old PSP (I assume, since it lacks a UMD drive and has a smaller screen), and you’re charging more for it? In this economy? With very little new content coming on PSP in 2009? OK.. whatever.. I’m just asking.

And yes, still no second-analog stick. Why? I have no idea. But seriously. Why? There’s room for it on the front panel. Gamers want the second-analog. Developers want the second-analog. Everyone wants the second analog. Give the people what they want.

I’m not sure exactly why, but I find this disturbing.

Never-mind poor sportsmanship. You just threw out all opportunity for an out-of-court settlement should the appeal not go in your favor.

At the end of the day, do you think consumers really care? Processors aren’t like shoes or lead-based toys. I don’t care how they get in my computer, I just want them to be fast an reliable. You’ll get exactly three anti-Intel geeks to rally to your cause and the rest of us will just scratch our heads… huh?

My game Anytime Golf: Magic Touch just went up for sale on the App Store.

Marketing speak:

Great golf anytime, anywhere!

Stunning graphics: Enjoy highly detailed modeling displayed in smooth interactive 3D. You will agree–this is one of the best looking games on iPhone!

Intuitive interface: Slide your finger down across the touch surface to perform your backswing, then flick up for the downswing. Your skill and grace controls the power and accuracy of your shot!

Tournament mode: Unlock new challenges by competing in 9 and 18 hole competitions. There are 6 challenges total!

Practice mode: Not up for a full 9 or 18? Hit the driving range and hone your game!

Anytime Golf: The most realistic golf experience for iPhone!

Click here to purchase!

Anytime Golf: Magic Touch’s Facebook Page

Screenshots from the final version of Anytime Golf are now available on bork3d.com. Check em out!

My game Anytime Golf: Magic Touch (to be released under the label Bork3d Games) is almost ready for the App Store. I’ve been working on this project for quite a while with a very talented games-industry friend, Jake Helms. When we started we set out to create the best looking, most intuitive and most fun golf title for iPhone, and I think we hit those marks. We’ve spent a lot of time squeezing framerate out of the device and pushing polys to their limits (in some scenes we’re well into the thousands). Our touch-based swing mechanic has gone through numerous iterations in an effort to create something with depth and sophistication but that you can still pick up in 2 seconds.

And we think it’s pretty damn fun. It has that “barely out of reach” quality we were looking for, where, like bowling and other (real life) sports games, just when you think you’ve mastered it you slip a tad and mis-execute. I find when I play it I start to become over-confident after a while and the game bitch-slaps me back in place. The moment I knew we found “it” was when I was on the 9th hole, one under par, and my finger was trembling because I was so nervous about screwing up the final putt.

Working on the game has been fun too in it’s own way. Every experiment we’ve ran or tweak to a mechanic has uncovered more and more ideas to try. But sadly there comes a time when you just have to call it “done”. There’s a lot more we could do on this game (we have a huge list we’ve been tracking) but we’re saving it for version 2. There’s only so much two guys can do. 🙂

iPhone Games Network has posted a video on their website of the first hole. Look for the final game soon on the App Store!