Platformer Game Maker – Flash Game Maker on Sploder!.
I made a very simple platformer, but my elevator floated away and never came back. 🙂
It’s cool to see so many of these sorts of sites come out of the woodwork in the last year.
Did you know there is an American Journal of Play? Me neither. Anyway, apparently there’s a new theory published there that boils down to “play more!” And specifically, engage in free-form social play, non-competitive stuff, because (the theory says) it’s how hunter-gatherer societies tended to play.
Gray figures hunter-gatherer children in early human history developed into cooperative adults with the help of a type of play similar to that which once characterized American children’s summers and after-school hours in contemporary culture. This play is freely chosen, age-mixed, and, because it is not adult-organized, non-competitive, he explained. This “free play” is distinct from leisure pursuits such as video games, watching TV, or structured extracurricular activities and sports.
Of course, plenty of video games do in fact provide this style of play, though it can be drowned out by the constant emphasis on numerical achievements.
Blog regular Morgan Ramsay is getting a lot of ink for the newly announced Entertainment Media Council. I had to tell him I was too busy to participate on any boards in formal fashion, but I think the goals are great — it’s worth checking out at their site.
Today’s nifty indie find: (Don’t) Save the Princess! is Chu-Chu Rocket meets platformer, sort of.
(By the way, has anyone remade Chu-Chu Rocket onto a more modern platform? If not, could someone get it onto XBLA, please? One of the best party games of all time.)
Not Possible IRL has a great interview about Blue Mars up, with tons of details on how they plan to work.
In a lot of ways Blue Mars looks like this generation’s try at the original There.com model, with some evolution. Themed zones based on corporate partners, lots of pro-only pathways for content but not UGC, pretty graphics and lots of friendly interface. It’s got great partnerships and visuals, so it’s worth keeping an eye on.
