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Ask Slashdot: Are The Days of Homebrew Gaming Over?
Croakyvoice writes "A few years ago the Homebrew community went from one console to another releasing some excellent software, from the Days of the Dreamcast the first breakthrough homebrew console, to the PSP which gave us the first handheld Nintendo 64, GBA and PSX emulators on a handheld. The last few years we have seen Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony and Apple all bring out means to thwart homebrew development. The app store on both Android and iOS have taken many homebrew devs over to try and break the market. The major consoles have so many firmware updates that the days of Homebrew seem to be numbered, is there a way back for the Homebrew Community?"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge's_Law_of_Headlines
I am literally 3000 tokens away from the chaotic crossbow --Stephen
You can write a "homebrew" choose-your-own-adventure text game in minutes or hours at most.
Without some understanding as to what the author means by "homebrew", this question can't really be answered effectively.
Perhaps if there were an article linked, we'd get that additional information...
Well, in the U.S. at least, if you could come up with enough campaign contributions to buy repeal of the DMCA, then sure. But considering the deep pockets of Sony, Apple, Disney, etc. it's going to cost you a LOT. Otherwise your only real shot is to get the Supreme Court to rule the anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA unconstitutional. And as conservative as the Court is these days, you can pretty much forget that. The DMCA appears to be here to stay.
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
There are a number of games made by enthusiasts for the systems that I grew up with. People are writing games for the C64, Atari 2600, etc. Not in the kind of numbers as back in their heyday, but there is still life non the less.
These systems are well known, fully documented. All of the tricks are there to try out, lots of great sprite editors, assemblers, etc. There is no need to homebrew only on phones.
As far as I know, you can still write a game in XNA, play it, distribute it, and indeed sell it in XBox Live.
Doesn't that kinda incorrectly assume the days of consoles haven't already ended?
I suppose homebrewers can release long after industry support goes away.
Its getting kind of bad in console land. My son's favorite game to play on the big screen is angry birds on the roku, when he's not playing on his ipod touch. At his age I was a little atari 2600 / Coleco monster. He does occasionally play some wii games, but the streamers and the app developers will eventually figure out multiplayer and then its bye bye consoles.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
Unless homebrew means "writing software by breaking through console security", there's plenty of homebrew out there.
The fact that Android is mentioned means the original question is vague to begin with!
First off, Android has basically no restrictions - you can install any app any which way you want. There's no "security" to break through so homebrew is basically legitimized - anyone can download the Android SDK and whip out an app. For iOS, it's mostly true as well - homebrew apps games well, they just get the SDK, pay $99 and publish it.
If you want apps that Apple doesn't approve, there's jailbreaking (all Apple devices except AppleTV have a method to do so - all iPhones through (and including) the 4s, iPod Touches and iPads), of which there's a homebrew community as well.
And the Xbox has a homebrew games community they call Xbox Live Indie Arcade as well.
Then there's the venerable PC which even with Mountain Lion can still run any valid executable code.
Of course, if the question is about people breaking security for fun, there's iOS jailbreaking and console security busting.
Between the PC, Xbox Live Indie Arcade, Android, and iOS, there's an outlet for one's programming talents that has legit paths that require no work to customize, really. And since the signing keys for the PS3 are public as well, the PS3 is also an open target that no firmware update can remove (though you can get your console banned from PSN if they discover "strange packages" installed on it).
Perhaps the better question is - what is the real question?
that did not have any vendor lock-in problems ...
I don't understand what it is that people are being prevented from doing. If you want the widest possible audience for your DIY game and want to make a few bucks, go for iOS; $99 isn't that big a barrier to entry. If you don't want to pay the $99 and/or want to do one of the specific things with your game that Apple says you can't, write for Android. Or just code for a standard PC operating system. There is nothing special about modern consoles; they're basically just restricted and usually outdated computers. You can hook any modern PC up to your TV through the HDMI port.
Between XNA, Steam, flash games, iOS, Windows Store, Kindle Store, Google Play, and the upcoming spectacular failure Ouya, the homebrew gaming scene is better than it has ever been.
StoneCypher is Full of BS
Starcraft II implemented the best custom game making system in gaming history. Since SC1 ran steady for like 12 years and set records for the longest time on store shelves primarily because of user-made content, that makes sense. They're both RTS games but I made a board game out of a map :-P It's practically a programming language wrapped in a premade graphics engine so you can make any kind of game you want inside it. Many, many people have made tower defense and full blown RPGs with leveling and saving. Some are even D&D-based. So just because the big name consoles are blocking people out left and right doesn't mean people can't design their own games anymore.
http://www.wiibrew.org/wiki/Main_Page
Wii homebrew still gets made, emulators get updated still. It's slowed down, but after we hack the Wii U, I imagine there will be a bunch of new stuff.
Stuff still gets made for the Xbox 360, the PS3.
Wouldn't even need to ask the question if you googled the various scenes.
Be seeing you...
When I homebrew, I create a batch of beer. Then I put it in a keg marked "BUD LIGHT (but better!)" and sell it to bars. But Anheuser-Busch served me a C&D and now I can't do that anymore. Is this the end of homebrewing?
Everything is better with chainsaws.
Older consoles were not particularly complex and used moderately common parts so you could hack them and make your own games since things were generally well documented.
These days consoles are generally far more powerful than your average PC with custom hardware (so you're not emulating it) and good luck making games without manuals, etc to tell you where to even begin coding. Without an emulator you can't code and test on your PC. Every change has to go through the process of loading it onto the actual console.
In addition, with certified channels, you don't need to go through the hassle. If you want to make games, anyone can for iOS and Android and if you have talent you can get picked up by a developer with the proper tools to work on consoles. XBox is pretty much a standard PC so you can use DirectX and if it runs on your computer there's a very good chance it will run on the XBox. MS released XNA to make XBox development accessible to people.
So again, the whole "homebrew" thing is either supported or not. If it's not supported by the console maker, it's just not worth the hassle. If you really want to get into the game programming business it doesn't matter what platform you work with. Most people now just use the PC, Android or iOS since that captures the bulk of the market and proves you value to any development company.
Homebrew hasn't gone away. The historical "hacking" aspect of that term has just been rendered mostly moot.
Wow, spoken like someone who's just guessing.
The consoles are NOT more powerful then PC's, do you even read what's going on?
Programming the consoles haven't been a problem. The Wii, Xbox 360, and the PS3 all have active "homebrew" and programming tools.
Homebrew is almost NEVER supported by the console developers, we hack the system, then get it to run what we want, then release tools so others can, which in turn, usually gets more tools released.
Sure, it's not big, it's not about making money, and it's sometimes a bit primitive, but that is what makes it fun.
Be seeing you...
He says they lack homebrew, but I can go and get a XNA or playstation mobile license quite easily and make games. It seems what the GP has a problem with is the lack of easily accessible pirated content, which of course the platform makers try to fight.
I don't always homebrew, but when I do, I put it in a keg marked Dos Equis.
Stay thirsty my friends.
This is about the fourth time I've seen this in a week here and almost never before that.
But there may be a gaping flaw:
"Won't someone Think of the Children?"
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
It's really getting old to have it under half of the submissions.
Which will be Microsoft's demonstration of how not to lock down a platform. Expect shifting requirements, app-breaking security updates, complete incompatibility with Win 9 and the endgame: MS screwing homebrewer, developer and gamer alike when they pull the plug on their ill-conceivef monstrosity.
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