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Rockstar Games Develops Connection Between Flash Gaming, Nintendo DS
An anonymous reader writes "It's been a long-talked-about but never fully realized aim of developers, publishers and format holders to create a game that runs on multiple platforms, but connects and exchanges assets between them — e.g. you play a game as an FPS on a console/PC but control it as an RTS on mobile devices. Now, Rockstar Games seems to have cracked it, on a small scale, with news that a new Flash game will allow PC gamers to generate in-game cash — true to form for GTA-creator Rockstar, it's through 'money laundering' — that is then transferred to its new Nintendo DS title, Chinatown Wars. GameSpy's online technology seems to be responsible for this latest gimmick, but most interesting is the idea that this could allow an interface between platforms like the iPhone and consoles as well. How long until an indie developer creates an MMO that has different interfaces for PC and mobile?"
Reminds me of the Dreamcast's VMU, complete with the minigames that provided in-game bonuses.
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
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How long until an indie developer creates an MMO that has different interfaces for PC and mobile?
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The Buffy MMO that's being made on the Multiverse platform is going to do this. Or at least that was the announcement... a *while* ago. As in, a Flash interface that will have certain abilities and a typical PC game interface that will have others (probably some overlapping features as well).
I seem to recall a game called Fable 2 where you could earn cash on a PC playing a flash game...
I am waiting for the day that I can play Call of Duty 5 online with my PS3 owning friends while I use my 360. Is that too much to ask?
Also, this kind of reminds me of that Fable 2 gimmick where you could get unlockables if you played minigames on the fable2 webpage.
As soon as this announcement was made, Secretary of State Clinton denounced virtual money laundering and the democratic Congress passed a bill taxing virtual earnings in games like GTA, Nintendo's Animal Crossing, and WoW. President Obama has vowed to sign the bill, which he says will help pay for health-care for underinsured children, and fix the nation's budget crisis. Nintendo could not be reached for comment.
This makes for an intersting twist, but it's a twist where a viedeo game comes closer to reality.
I work as a software engineer. How much of my work day deals with things that are 'real'? How much do I manipulate any physical things at all? Unless you include the copious amounts of fresh-ground coffe I swirl each day, the answer is: next to none. I write software that solves a puzzle presented by our clientelle.
If what I do is manipulate information used by other people, how is that functionally different than MMO video games, which are themselves a shared information experience? Usually, in a game you solve a puzzle presented by the game creators or by other players.
Sure, at work there's money attached, and the problems are 'real' in that the karma you earn (or burn) applies to your physical person and not an avatar, but the differences are blurring fast.
I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.
I had plans to do this for an MMO ~4 years ago. Was well into coding, had mostly completed the engine when my main coding partner fell in love and got married totally ruining the project. Curse love! Happiness ruins all good coding projects.
Games that don't interoperate cross platform are actually a step backwards...
You used to be able to play Quake across different platforms, i played it on an SGI against a mix of linux mac and windows users...
It seems pretty stupid to me that i can't play the same games against someone who has a different type of console.
http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
Savage is a combination RTS/FPS with both Linux and Windows versions.
Not quite the same thing, of course, as both modes require a full-blown PC. But interesting, nonetheless.
"I assumed blithely that there were no elves out there in the darkness"
I've often thought that lots of gaming really is something that could be handled on low-powered devices. Take, for example, X3's trading - you really don't need to have access to the 3d engine to plot trade routes etc. Of course it would still be the same game, as opposed to "gimmicks" like merely sharing a number (amount of money available).
The same goes for item auction houses etc.
Save your wrists today - switch to Dvorak
Chocobo World was a game on the PocketStation, and you could get items to transfer to your game on Final Fantasy 8. So this concept isn't all that new, but it is something that hasn't really taken off. Yeah, many games have nearly identical versions on different platforms, but that doesn't really count.
It seems that FPS/RTS hybrids are becoming more popular. I even thought about coding one up one day, but I have too many games I want to write before that one. It seems to be along the same idea.
How long until an indie developer creates an MMO that has different interfaces for PC and mobile
Why specifically an indie developer? The Eve Online guys will probably do this within a year (just speculating, from what I remember of the game mechanics it would make good sense in that game).
How long would it take until a senator pimps the news that you can now laundry money through a video game?
Is this the stuff you were talking about with respect to Flash a year or so ago? Neato :).
512 MB RAM, 20 GB disk, 200 GB transfer, five datacenters. $19.95/month.
Furcadia had a PC and iPhone version of the game available ages ago, so no, not new.
Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
I'm interested in "playing" Second life, because so far, I haven't figured out how to get on Second life using a mobile device without being on a text only interface or some crappy ajaxlife thing. Tell me?
Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
Isn't that the whole idea behind FFXIII?
From wikipedia:
The game was noted in IGN for its Phantasy Star Online-like multiplayer cooperative play, but the use of the Game Boy Advance, while innovative, was thought to be detrimental to the gameplay.
Moral of the story: things tend to function much better in theory than they do in practice.
"Operating systems suck: you're better off using only the BIOS" --trainsaw.com
Can someone explain to me why this is so difficult? Anything connected to the internet can share information with anything else connected to the internet and since consoles and portables and mobiles can all connect to the internet, then it stands to reason they can all connect to each other!
I really don't get the WOW factor of this article to be honest.
I'm god, but it's a bit of a drag really...
But playing a shooter on a PC against a console, or even a handheld game device, is a big no-no.
Because you can't possibly balance such a game, and still make it fair.
To balance the game, make the shooter not-first-person. What advantage would a player on a PC have over a player on a console in a game like Ikaruga?
http://xkcd.com/306/
Except for the case where I am the one in love. My girlfriend supports my nerdyness fully. She even wrote me a love letter in hex!
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+5 Credit where credit is due.
Also there is Shadowrun which was playable on PC and X360. I guess WoW could be considered multi-platform because you can play it on Mac and PC.
Never bring a turn based strategy-client to a first person shooter-fight... unless it's Fallout 3.
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?