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I happen to agree with the GP, and I've written tons of games in the past 40 years. Here's my Atari 2600 version of Lunar Lander:

http://www.pdroms.de/files/73/

Run it through an emulator like Stella to play.

I later ported the game to Flash, but it's not quite as fun as the 60Hz 2600 version. However, you can play it on a Wii! (Use S for thrust if you're on a PC.)

http://www.wiicade.com/gameDetail.aspx?gameID=692

This story was previously posted to the L4C list. Here's the response I sent there:

An interesting, albeit unoriginal, take on the problem of WebApps. Unfortunately, I do not find his arguments very compelling.

What sense does [Thin Client technology] make when any modern laptop packs enough CPU and GPU power to put yesterday's Cray supercomputer to shame?

Quite a bit, actually. First and foremost is the convenience of application access. There is no software to install and you can use your applications anywhere you have access to a web browser. In addition, the rise of web applications has spurred the rise of web services. Web services share out tremendous amounts of public information allowing developers to "mashup" (I hate that term) data sources to produce superior applications. Compare that to the desktop where just getting the programs on your system to cooperate is a challenge! (To say nothing of networking.)

Concentrating computing power in the datacenter is fine if you're a Google or a Microsoft, but that approach puts a lot of pressure on smaller players.

FWIW, the author is propagating a misconception about web applications. His belief appears to be that web apps MUST push computing power to the server. Nothing could be further from the truth. Web apps are "rich" clients rather than thin clients. Rich clients are more than capable of accepting a significant processing load. Whether that be Video Games, Image Editors, 3D Engines, Fractal Explorers, or other compute-intensive applications, the client is more than ready to pull its weight.

I personally have written an application for my current employer that requires the client to dynamically sort a 100,000 record data set in nothing but client-side Javascript. Significant computer science had to go into creating an optimized, multi-threaded algorithm that would perform well on the lowest common denominator. (IE6) The next generation of browsers that are appearing (Chrome, Firefox 3.1, Opera 10, Safari 4) will have so much compute power that a problem like my 100,000 row sorter will become easy and commonplace. Furthermore, the standards are even adding true background threads to support long-running compute operations. (The standard is based on the Google Gears implementation, which is already available.)

The Web's stateless, mainly forms-based UI approach is reliable, but it's not necessarily the right model for every application.

The communications protocol is stateless. The UI is not. AJAX UIs know their state as well as any desktop application.

Buttons, controls, and widgets vary from app to app.

Anyone who lived through the development of GUI systems know that this is not a new issue. In fact, it used to be quite common for apps to eschew Windows controls in favor of something custom. Borland, for example, LOVED their custom controls. The rise of GNOME, KDE, Java, and .NET/Avalon/WFC have created just as many problems for the desktop.

That being said, flexibility appears to occasionally improve applications. Using GMail as an example, the design would be gimped rather than helped by a "standard" Windows XP look. The clean lines of the GMail interface manage to communicate a great deal of information without creating the sort of 3D visual noise seen in applications like Outlook.

Why give up the full range of languages, tools, and methodologies that systems programming has to offer? JavaScript has evolved into a respectable general-purpose language, but it can hardly be expected to be all things to all people.

Javascript is only one component to a very lar

I don't know if there are any fans of the classic game Crossfire here, but I'd love to know if this reimagining of the game does it justice*. I've tried a few clones (notably SDL Crossfire, GridBlaster, and Gridfire), but none of them were very satisfying. In fact, most of them made changes that I felt were distateful to anyone who enjoyed the original. (Or maybe I was the only one who played with keyboard controls? Hmm...)

Anyway, try it out and let me know what you think. And if you have a Wii, give it a go there. It's tons of fun with two controllers. :)

* Warning: This is still a beta. If you want to save high score, you need to be logged into the website. Sound is not yet there. Internet Explorer is not supported due to its lack of Canvas support. And did I mention that it's 100% Javascript? :-)

http://www.quantumg.net/tetris.php

Needs work. Here's my version, complete with an adapter for Internet Exploder:

http://java.dnsalias.com/tetris/ie

(Mine is based on the NES version rather than the more modern Tetris versions, so use UP to rotate, DOWN to make it drop faster, LEFT/RIGHT to reposition the piece. If you use IE, click outside the block-drop area to make sure that it has proper focus as I have not finished the adapter.)

While not as pretty, there's also an online multiplayer version written in Javascript here:

http://www.wiicade.com/gameDetail.aspx?gameID=1063

That one is not mine, though the programmer did use my network technology. ;-)

Let me get this straight. The console that actually uses the Flash plugin for console-style games is stuck at Flash 7 because "Adobe doesn't have an SDK for Flash 9", but somehow Sony manages to get an SDK for Flash 9?

WHISKEY
TANGO
FOXTROT

I demand a recount! Or a refund! Or something.

I'm thinking the problem has more to do with your choice in games than the system itself.

Ah, the Wii. Let me count the ways...

Excite Truck
Blast Works
Lost Winds
Defend Your Castle
Mario Galaxy
Geometry Wars: Galaxies
Zackuuuu and Wiki
Link's Crossbow Training
Ghost Squad
Wild West Guns
Super Paper Mario
Twilight Princess
Mario Kart: Wii
Paper Mario 64
Super Mario RPG
Blazing Lazers
Axelay
Toki Tori
Internet Channel (Go challenge someone to a web game.)
Gate of Thunder
Simcity
Zelda 64
Guitar Hero 3
Super Smash Bros Brawl

That's just some of the games I play on my Wii. I haven't even mentioned all the GameCube titles I got for cheap. Some of them are quite fun. (Though I'll grant that most remind me of why I never got a GCN or PS2.)

they are planning on supporting Flash 7.0 and I think this means one could play swfs on it (of which I know several addictive games online).

Flash 7 is pretty ancient tech at this point. The vast majority of Flash games are Flash 8 with many of the new ones being made in Flash 9. However, the Nintendo Wii has the same limitation, so you may find Wii gaming sites to be useful on the device.

If browsers were a good application framework, we wouldn't need Flash, Air, Silverlight, Java applets, XBAP apps, XUL, etc, etc etc.

Newsflash! We don't.

Flash was never welcome on the web. It was responsible for some of the most horrific, unusable sites known to man. For the most part it has disappeared from common UI use. However, it did manage to find two major niches:

1. A standard for Web Video (because no one can friggin' agree on a standard)

2. Online Games

#1 may eventually be taken care of by the new HTML5 <video> tag. Unfortunately, the powers that be still can't agree.

#2 *is* taken care of. Javascript games already exist:

PentriiX Online Multiplayer
DHTML Lemmings
Hull Breach Online
Tetris using Canvas
Pac Man using Canvas

XUL is a Mozilla technology primarily used to construct Mozilla apps. It is not a web language per se.

Air and Silverlight are solutions looking for problems. The latter is supposed to be a Flash killer at a time when Flash is already at the end of its life. Smooth move, Microsoft.

XBAP is effectively the heavy-weight daddy of Silverlight. Except that it's not really a web app.

The sooner we realize that trying to build an "application" directly in html+javascript+whatever-server-side-tech-you-like is a losing strategy, the sooner we can move onto something better.

So what you're saying is, the sooner we shut down GMail, Yahoo! Mail, Google Docs, Google Maps, Digg, Meebo, and every other DHTML app in existence, the better off we'll be*?

* Ok, maybe in the case of Digg we would be, but that's the exception that proves the rule!

the Wii platform uses code signing with a fixed root CA to ensure that only executables approved by Nintendo can run.*

Is it still insanely counter-intuitive and hard to learn?

http://linerider.com/
http://www.nekogames.jp/mt/2008/01/cursor10.html
http://www.wiicade.com/playGame.aspx?gameID=213
http://www.wiicade.com/playGame.aspx?gameID=22&gameName=Paintball

Simplicity is beautiful.

10 years from now the biggest gaming platform will be the mobile phone.

http://linerider.com/
http://www.nekogames.jp/mt/2008/01/cursor10.html
http://www.wiicade.com/playGame.aspx?gameID=213
http://www.wiicade.com/playGame.aspx?gameID=22&gameName=Paintball

Simplicity is beautiful.

10 years from now the biggest gaming platform will be the mobile phone.

...they're getting there. Meanwhile, game programmers have been working with the (admittedly limited) Opera Browser to produce games designed for the Wii. WiiCade is even paying for games now, something which you won't find out of other homebrew ventures.

It's not a perfect solution, but it does work, and it works well enough to play some pretty cool stuff. And you can even get paid to perform your hobby! How cool is that? :)

Disclaimer: I am associated with WiiCade. So take this with a grain of salt.

...they're getting there. Meanwhile, game programmers have been working with the (admittedly limited) Opera Browser to produce games designed for the Wii. WiiCade is even paying for games now, something which you won't find out of other homebrew ventures.

It's not a perfect solution, but it does work, and it works well enough to play some pretty cool stuff. And you can even get paid to perform your hobby! How cool is that? :)

Disclaimer: I am associated with WiiCade. So take this with a grain of salt.

Is there any comparison between how fast games and other flash apps run between PC and Wii?

Also, what the heck am I supposed to do in cave 1-8? The cryptic hint in the previous cave is too cryptic for me..

There are a lot of good games they didn't mention. Someone already mentioned Portal Flash Edition, and I already mentioned Key to Adventure. A few others are:

NewGrounds Rumble (Wii Version - For that Super Smash Bros. fix while waiting for SSBB.

Fancy Pants Adventures - Kind of like classic Sonic, but with its own appeal.

Unreal Flash - Sort of like Portal Flash Edition. Except that it's an Unreal Shoot'em Up rather than a platform/puzzle game.

Artillery Live - Simple, yet amazingly fun multiplayer take on Scorched Earth.

One of the best Flash games released this season is Key to Adventure. It's playable on the PC or Wii over on WiiCade, and currently holds a front-page spot over on NewGrounds. Perhaps even more interesting is the fact that WiiCade sponsored the game, meaning that it's now possible to get paid for creating Flash games for the Wii.

One of the best Flash games released this season is Key to Adventure. It's playable on the PC or Wii over on WiiCade, and currently holds a front-page spot over on NewGrounds. Perhaps even more interesting is the fact that WiiCade sponsored the game, meaning that it's now possible to get paid for creating Flash games for the Wii.

One of the best Flash games released this season is Key to Adventure. It's playable on the PC or Wii over on WiiCade, and currently holds a front-page spot over on NewGrounds. Perhaps even more interesting is the fact that WiiCade sponsored the game, meaning that it's now possible to get paid for creating Flash games for the Wii.

it really is a problem for those who want to overwrite the os with linux and play opensource webbased wii games

it really is a problem for those who want to overwrite the os with linux and play opensource webbased wii games

I dont' care about yousless tube junk

The purpose of the article is Flash Games in specific. So your examples are neither here nor there. Personally, I'm amazed that no one has mentioned Newgrounds Rumble, one of the best brawlers of all time! It was one of the highest rated games over on Newgrounds, and hung around for AGES. More recently, it was ported to WiiCade so that you could play against your friends on the WiiMote controller. (Which is a lot more fun than trying to share a keyboard, let me tell you.)

Actually, I should probably expand on that a bit more. One of the nice things about the Wii is that you can have multiplayer flash games. Games like Wiimote Wars 2 and Slipstream are simply amazing when you get the chance to play against your friends and family members. Much, much, much better than playing single-player games. Which is good, because there isn't much in the way of online-multiplayer flash games.

Of course (DISCLAIMER!), I both have a family to play these games with and I have connections to WiiCade. So feel free to take what I'm saying with a grain of salt.

The purpose of the article is Flash Games in specific. So your examples are neither here nor there. Personally, I'm amazed that no one has mentioned Newgrounds Rumble, one of the best brawlers of all time! It was one of the highest rated games over on Newgrounds, and hung around for AGES. More recently, it was ported to WiiCade so that you could play against your friends on the WiiMote controller. (Which is a lot more fun than trying to share a keyboard, let me tell you.)

Actually, I should probably expand on that a bit more. One of the nice things about the Wii is that you can have multiplayer flash games. Games like Wiimote Wars 2 and Slipstream are simply amazing when you get the chance to play against your friends and family members. Much, much, much better than playing single-player games. Which is good, because there isn't much in the way of online-multiplayer flash games.

Of course (DISCLAIMER!), I both have a family to play these games with and I have connections to WiiCade. So feel free to take what I'm saying with a grain of salt.

The purpose of the article is Flash Games in specific. So your examples are neither here nor there. Personally, I'm amazed that no one has mentioned Newgrounds Rumble, one of the best brawlers of all time! It was one of the highest rated games over on Newgrounds, and hung around for AGES. More recently, it was ported to WiiCade so that you could play against your friends on the WiiMote controller. (Which is a lot more fun than trying to share a keyboard, let me tell you.)

Actually, I should probably expand on that a bit more. One of the nice things about the Wii is that you can have multiplayer flash games. Games like Wiimote Wars 2 and Slipstream are simply amazing when you get the chance to play against your friends and family members. Much, much, much better than playing single-player games. Which is good, because there isn't much in the way of online-multiplayer flash games.

Of course (DISCLAIMER!), I both have a family to play these games with and I have connections to WiiCade. So feel free to take what I'm saying with a grain of salt.

I believe the buttons on the Wiimote map to a few keys (for use in Flash games)

Even if it did, you wouldn't be able to play it because there's no way to generate keyboard events with the Wii. The only events you do get are mouse motion events and the left mouse button.

Actually, all the buttons on the Wii remote are accessible:

http://www.wiicade.com/api.aspx

David Williams about the user-generated content possibilities being added to Shockwave.com and the AddictingGames sites.

The game is called Dice Wars. As someone who's played a lot of risk over the years, I can say that this game isn't nearly as good as my wife seems to think! But if you're in dire need of some 1 player vs computer risk, it might do the trick. To get to it from the homepage, go to "Puzzle", sort by rating (default), and it's the top rated game on there.

The Wii is interesting at the moment, not just because of its controller. It's so much more than that. First, you can grab all the used Gamecube games you can handle. All for super-cheap if you know where to look. Which means that the Wii can be used to play all the cool titles you might have missed. (I highly recommend Donkey Kong Jungle Beat!)

Secondly, the Virtual Console gives you all the classics under one roof. Whether you want to finally play Bonk, zip along with Sonic, relive Mario World or Mario 64, fly with StarFox, enter your favorite adventures with Zelda, or have a go at the hidden classics that you missed, the Virtual Console has a lot to offer.

Lastly, the free web browser is more than just a web browser. It's a portal to casual games, a television channel, and even a WiFi stereo system.

I won't even get into the fun you can have with hacking your Wii through the SD Cards and WiiMote. (If you're into that sort of thing.) Suffice it to say that you can transfer your Miis to the Internet, play your favorite SCUMMVM games, use your WiiMotes to play your computer games, and other fun hacking possibilities. :)

I think you're confused. Touch ME was an Atari Game way back in the '70s. Touch Wii is the update for the Nintendo Wii. Though I could see how that could be confusing.

In all fairness, the 360 has had a full year head start over the Wii. Which means that the Live! service is well developed to meet the needs of the (rather massive) casual gaming market. However, I do expect that to change in the near future. For one, Nintendo has already stated that they'll be hosting "Wii Ware" downloadable games that can be purchased from the Wii Store. Rumors are already circulating that Super Paper Mario could be the first.

For another, tons of gaming sites have popped up to fill the "casual" needs through the Opera Web Browser. In fact, the most popular of these sites just announced a new API that lets game programmers make use of *all* of the Wiimote's buttons. If they get multiplayer gaming up and going (e.g. poker, battleship, hearts, etc.), they could end up being an impressive force for casual gaming on the Wii.

Porn >>>> Dying of Wii boredom

Not a bad guess. One of the latest areas where Embedded Opera is actually getting used is on the Nintendo Wii and DS. It's mostly been used for accessing Flash games like those at Wiicade, but some Javascript applications that take advantage of the Wiimote have already started showing up.

It's an odd thought, but some people seem to like being able to access the Internet on their TV while sitting on the couch. It seems to be a convenience thing.

That being said, if Google supported Opera, they could advertise the Wii as a portable viewer for their Powerpoint-ish presentations. No need for a laptop TV card, just hook up the Wii and go. Hmm. My boss with a Wii. Scary thought.

So if the hardware price is equal, why would the consumer be enough of an idiot to get stuck on a closed system and pay 20% more for all their content. Consoles are aimed at people who can not afford full fledged open hardware apart from the minority technology collectors and as the price has risen it has started to squeeze them out.

Though I disagree wildly about your characteization of PC gamers vs. Console gamers here are a few reasons for Console ownership:

1) It just works. No drivers, no compatibility issues. You either own the system or you don't.

2) Couch > Computer chair.

3) Bigger Screen.

4) Better sound system. (Many people who have a home thater setup, stick with the sterio sound on their computer.)

Let alone a full range of free games available for PC as well as an ever growing number of free on line games.

Wii have them too.

Just try selling a PC that only uses software approved by one company, only plays content approved by one company, and only uses hardware approved by one company and only connects to one companies version of the internet.

I think you just desribed the Sparc IV from Sun Microsystems.

Ok, so you can buy a $600 PS3 that runs linux at the level of an 800 Mhz Pentium 3 ? Ok, I wouldn't do it but some people might.

Are you familiar with the Free flash games for the Wii ?

There's also the new flash-based games website for the Wii at http://wiicade.com/

All the games have been designed to be used with a mouse or remote, so can be used with the newly released Wii browser. I've tried some of the puzzle games already, and they're pretty fun.

Wiicade is well worth the price of admission. They have a collection of Wii-oriented Flash games you can play using the Wiimote. Tactical Assassin is the best.

As I've remarked before, the really exciting thing about the inclusion of Opera in the Wii is that it includes Flash support. That means that you can use the Wiimote to play mouse-only Flash games.

Opera is already installed on every Wii (it's used to power the Wii Shop Channel), but to access other websites you have to use DNS redirection hacks... On Friday you'll be able to use it freely. Meanwhile, wiicade.com is a website dedicated to developing/promoting Flash games explicitly designed to be played on the Wii.

Hmm, thought I'd hit submit, but the post disappeared.

Aaanyway. Nintendo has done you one better by providing Flash support in the Opera browser included in every Wii. That means that you can play games developed in Flash on your Wii using the Wiimote.

Opera is already installed on every Wii (it's used to power the Wii Shop Channel), but to access other websites you have to use DNS redirection hacks... Once Opera is properly "released" you'll be able to use it freely. Meanwhile, wiicade.com is a website dedicated to developing/promoting Flash games explicitly designed to be played on the Wii.

You dont need that - the Wii Opera browser can hit normal web pages just fine, so flash-based homebrews can just be served off regular ol' pages, like this:

http://wiicade.com/Home.aspx

Have fun!