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Demiforce Releases "Trism", New Game for iPhone, iPod Touch
Game Set Watch is showcasing an interesting homebrew game called Trism from semi-pro developer Demiforce. The new game is designed to take advantage of the accelerometer in the iPhone and iPod Touch. While making use of this feature isn't new, this game certainly is pretty high on the simplicity and neat-factor scales. In addition to details about the game the site is also featuring a short interview with the developer.
Imagine that, a casual puzzle game! We don't have nearly enough of these, please write more. What a great use of new technology.
Intolerance for ambiguity is the mark of the authoritarian personality.
cute.
Why not fork?
She has to leave, she has to go, the fastest way, is by Trism.
You can have my SIG when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.
He says it requires a jailbroken iPhone or iPod Touch and that he wants to sell it via iTunes. Do you think Apple will let folks sell things on iTunes with those kinds of system requirements?
Keep the Classic Slashdot.
With a nice big multi-touch screen, 3d accelerometers, proximity sensors, cameras, mics, positioning via wifi/cellular beacons, etc... all in a nice compact form factor, the iPhone and iPod Touch have the hardware to try a lot of really innovative and interesting things in terms of user interface and gaming. I've been looking forward to playing with that stuff since day it was announced last year.
I just hope the SDK Apple is introducing next thursday is reasonably complete and uncrippled.
Nintendo's Wii and DS have proved that unconventional control systems and innovative casual games can provide a lot of fun, and make a lot of money. By taking the next step down that road, Apple has the opportunity to finally make it big in gaming (after neglecting, and being neglected by, that market for years and years). It would be a real shame if they dropped the ball.
"The worst tyrannies were the ones where a governance required its own logic on every embedded node." - Vernor Vinge
Is this the same guy/group that did the NES translations of Mother and FF2 and 3?
;) It'll be quality.
If it is.. Damn
All that has been released is a video demo-ing the game. If you go to the Demiforce web site you will see that the game itself has not yet been released.
.. what they're going to call the Japanese port?
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The video mentions that he has 'applied for a patent on the gameplay'. Is this a necessary step these days for independent/homebrew developers, so that their new ideas aren't simply snatched up by the big guys for their own benefit? Or is this move something that should be discouraged in the indie scene?
Ridiculous this made the front page, the games section I could understand but main page? W...T...F...
I'll give you the "unconventional control systems", but simple JAVA/Flash games have proven that simple little addictive games can provide a lot of fun and make a ton of money for a long time now on anything with a browser capable of loading them. See also: PopCap Games.
I don't know, it sounds like Apple is going to be nazis about distribution of third party apps...sure there will be ways around it, but I'm looking forward to the freedom of Android. Also, there will be some touchscreen/accelerometer Android devices I'm sure...
"I told you a million times not to exaggerate!"
I remember when they first released the Wii, there were stories about people with hand injuries and broken windows from people who were using their Wii without remembering they were inside. I wonder if there will be the same effect with games that use the accelerometer. Would Apple replace your iPhone if you throw it though the window while playing iPhone Tennis?
If this was a free/OSS game for Android, then 99.9% of the people on /. would be drooling. Don't hate it just because it is part of Apple and their cripleware.
It's nerd worthy, if for no other reason than it will be sucking thousands/millions of man-hours of productivity out of techies in the near future. It is also looking to be the first independent game to make mega-dollars through the iPhone's SDK.
He is a regular joe, not some corporate goon. It has been 25+ years since you could spend a week power-coding a game, and sell it to a popular console. It was definitely nerdy when kids did it for the Atari, why not for the iPhone?
That being said, since there is no patient granted yet, I think someone should go about creating an OSS version.
Just -1, Troll talking to another.
.. what they're going to call the Japanese port? Why? Is "Torizumu" taken or offensive in Japan?And this matters? What's next? Steve Jobs farted, news at 11?
How is any accelerometer game ever going to beat this one? http://lightsaber.en.softonic.com/symbian
Really? You've talked to Steve Jobs about it already?
Or are you basing everything on rumors that first said they'll be gatekeepers to all applications? But later, the same rumor sites say developers won't need special approval, unless they want to sell it via iTunes?
I wish people would just wait a week until until the actual SDK release is made.
Those little plastic games that came free in CrackerJacks boxes where you try to get all the balls to sit in holes at the same time, or get all the rings on the central peg - both one-handed games controlled by physically shaking/moving the game.
Then there's smaller knock-offs of labyrinth.
I called it Tri, and instead of being a vertical column thing, it went down into a V. I guess I shoulda released it commercially, but I didn't feel like porting it from DOS to Windows when they phased out DOS emulation in Windows. Yet another one of my great ideas is successful.
God spoke to me.
On the surface of this it looks no better than any other bogus software patent.
What surface are you scrutinizing? Please post a link to the patent you are criticizing so we can properly interpret its merits. The Trism developer said he applied for a patent on the game. Doesn't he deserve to be paid for his concept? Or does he deserve to have his game ripped off with an infinite number of clones like the Tetris guy? I don't think anyone should rush to judge this patent without reviewing it and I certainly don't believe your criticism is based on a reading of his patent application.
Seth
$5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!
"Demiforce" - what a rip-off :(
Are you sure about the SDK release? I was under the impression that they were just going to talk about it a bit and give a new release date.
Everything will be taken away from you.
Except that the display is on the controller. All the swinging around, tilting, turning, etc. will be moving the display with it. I remember Kirby Tilt 'n; Tumble for the Game Boy Color and it was annoying to play due to constantly tilting the system different angles.
If you listen to the presentation, he is saying he has applied for a patent on the techniques used. Not sure if that means both the touchscreen and the accelerometers or just the accelerometers though.
If you want to get a game out as well, better be quick - there are only a few sensors left that are still unencumbered by patents...
Check out iPhysics for truly innovative iPhone/iPod Touch games. More so that this Trism nonsense I'd say!
http://iphysics.r4m0n.net/index.php?title=Main_Page
Also, do a search on YouTube for iPhysics to see videos of it in action. Some of the videos are showing the 'sandbox' which is just to try out the physics engine without gameplay - so don't just watch them and say 'huh? whats the point?' Look for ones with a red square and a blue circle. These are game levels, and the point here is to move the blue circle to reach the red square. Not always as easy as it looks.
iPhysics is actually more than just this. There are levels built up that are fully-operational pinball simulators for example, with scoring!
Best ipod/iphone game ever!
Jolyon
Please read my Canon EOS tech blog at http://www.everyothershot.com
Those Apple sites make me sad though. Usually they go something like this
OMG! OMG! The Apple iCar will cost $2000 and offer free iTunes downloads
[Site closed down by Apple lawyers, journalist shipped to Infinite Loop to be waterboarded to get his source]
A bit later the iCar is released but it costs $5000 and you need to buy iMiles for it from iTunes in addition to gas. And you need to redownload all your iTunes purchases to make them work on the iCar.
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
Apple has two hurdles for being a major game company: Too few games and too high a price. The too few games problem is mostly chicken and egg so you have to jumpstart the cycle by making your own great games that sell the platform (and you have to have a great game with good marketing that uses your features if you want them to be a selling point). Price wise I don't think Apple has a chance, a system that's as expensive as a home console plus a subscription fee can't feasibly compete with one that costs 130$ (or whatever the DS currently goes for) and I don't think it's realistic to drop the price enough within a reasonable timeframe.
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
- Rumor sites publish unfounded rumors about how Apple will introduce sexbots at Macworld, and they'll cost 400 bucks and fuck your brains out and also cook dinner and clean out the garage
- Apple then actually announced sexbots which will cost 600 bucks, and will "only" fuck your brains out and not also cook dinner; cleaning out the garage is not yet ready, but expected in a later update
- Everyone is disappointed because they cost more than expected and won't cook dinner and won't clean out the garage yet, so Apple's stock tanks despite of the fact that they just announced fucking sexbots
- Tons of competitors announce their own version of sexbots, which only look like Apple's but can't really fuck your brains out, but they only cost 500 bucks, so people claim that these are the sexbot killers who will put Apple out of business; Apple's stock tanks further
These rumors hurt Apple's business. They publish Apple's trade secrets so their competitors know what Apple's up to. Rumor sites basically sell Apple's trade secrets for ad money, and they hurt Apple's business. You can hardly blame Apple for trying to go after them.