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The HTML5 Canvas Second Edition Has Been Released (Deal of the Day, 50% off)
The Second Edition (so the 3rd book) I have written with my brother Steve, The HTML5 Canvas was released today by O’Reilly. If you are interested in this wildly popular subject (for tech heads), you can get the E-Book edition for 1/2 off by using the code DEAL on…
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The Run Cycle – Boston Thoughts
I was thinking about this while driving in this morning (I just saw that Colbert said something similar last night, but not exactly, so I’ll say it now). I am a runner, and I am constantly injuring myself just because I love the joy and freedom of sport. But, no…
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Micro Tank Maze (From HTML5 Canvas 2nd Edition)
A game designed to teach basic A.I. from HTML5 Canvas 2nd EditionClick image below to try the game.
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Comprehensive List of Lucas Arts Titles Released for Classic Atari Machines
By Jeff Fulton (@8bitrocket on twitter) To the majority of the public, Atari died in 1983 and is relegated to hipster t-shirts and trucker hats with ironic joysticks on them. While 90% of the USA and 70% of the UK gamers were playing with their C-64’s, Nintendo’s, Spectrums, Amigas, and…
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Corona: Updating Mobile Game Content in Runtime
The Corona Labs Site has put up a tutorial I wrote on the basics of updating mobile content at run-time: Updating Mobile Game Content in Runtime Here is a brief summary: We take the green tank tile sheet. And use it to place and animation on the screen: Next we use ad…
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HTML5 Canvas + Web Cam + Chrome = HTML5 Video Puzzle Of You! (Demo)
We are finishing up an update to our HTML5 Canvas book, and I wanted to share one of new examples. This one takes the Video Puzzle app from the first edition of the book, and adds web cam support. It only works in Chrome right now. You also…
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Enthusiasts Plan Kickstarter Campaign To Buy Atari Assets And Run It Like It’s 1977 All Over Again
The current company that holds the Atari brand and assets is filing for bankruptcy and planning to sell everything to the highest bidder That fact is not as much news as an update to the “when will Atari go bankrupt again” section of the Atari entry on Wikipedia. What…
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Vectrex Regeneration + iCade: Proof That “Retro” Gaming Is Alive And Well In The Mobile Era
I believe technology has reached the point where “retro” game collections can move beyond mere curious nostalgia, and truly return players to a specific time and place in their past. I recently experienced something akin to this while playing Vectrex Regenerations on the iCade. Back in the summer of…
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Book Review: Atari Inc. : Business Is Fun
My review of the new book, Atari Inc. Business Is Fun, by Curt Vendel and Marty Goldberg is up over at Gamasutra.com Here is an excerpt: Atari Inc: Business Is Fun is an exciting, messy, sprawling tour-de-force that fills in a lot missing gaps for Atari fans worldwide. The book reads…
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Don’t be afraid of Windows 8 Desktop
This (Windows 8 has problems, but it doesn’t deserve the dreaded Vista comparison)says that Windows 8 is only good for touch screens. He is wrong. Windows 8 is just Windows 7 with new “window” dressing and a few new good features. The backup and app search are 10X better…
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The Run Cycle – Running Sick After Christmas
The Literal Run Cycle – Running Sick After Christmas The Day After Christmas Run is never an easy one. This year it was especially difficult because I have been battling a nasty sinus infection over the last week or so and I have not run for 10 days (and only 2 times…
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The Literal Run Cycle #1
Jeff Fulton (8bitjeff) This is a blog that usually deals with game design / programming, retro-gaming and other nostalgia. It is not a fitness blog by any means, but since running and overall fitness is a big part of what keeps me going on a daily basis, I wanted…
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Friday was a Tough Day for a Deadline, but HTML5 Canvas 2nd Edition Is Nearly Complete
By Jeff Fulton (8bitjeff) Tough Day for a Deadline, but HTML5 Canvas 2nd Edition Is Nearly Complete There will be no Atari video game retrospectives this weekend on 8bitrocket. Far too many little ones will not get to experience their own version of the same thing, never have a chance…
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Back on the re-hab trail…literally.
By Jeff D. Fulton Back on the re-hab trail…literally. From June through July of 2012 I was cooking through a training plan that would have had me doing a personal record time for a 1/2 Marathon. The race was the Rock N Roll LA 1/2 and I was really looking…
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A young Chris Crawford teaches the Magic of Atari 8-bit computer graphics (3 videos)
By Jeff Fulton (8bitjeff) Way back when Atari was trying to capture home computer market share from the Apples and Commodores of the world, they created the first ever Evangelist Position in consumer software development. Chris Crawford was tasked with informing the world about the magical capabilities of the Atari…
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Atari 400/800 8bit computer games released by Atari in 1981
By Jeff Fulton (8bitjeff) Atari 400/800 8bit computer games released by Atari in 1981. Atari was still not on board with the 400/800 as entertainment machines (mostly because of cost), so only 4 titles were released, 3 arcade conversions and an Atari Program Exchange edu-tainment title. Games in this video…
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Retro Atari 8-Bit Computer Gaming – Commando for the XE Game System
By Jeff Fulton (8bitjeff) Retro Atari 8-Bit Computer Gaming – Commando for the XE Game System Commando for the Atari XE Game system was supposed to be released in 1989 by Atari for the limited re-birth of the Atari 8-bit computer systems. Sculptured Software developed this game, Crossbow, Dark Chambers…
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Atari 400/800 8-bit Games From 1980
[iframe width=”480″ height=”360″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/h2dM3wjEqF0″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen][/iframe] Most of these games were hold over releases from the 8-bit computer launch in 1979. Some might have been finished in 1979 but were not available until 1980. Includes the unreleased demo of “Saucer”. Check out the links to the AtariMania.com pages for these…
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Retro Atari Lynx Gaming: Zarlor Mercenary
By 8bitjeff (Jeff D. Fulton) One of the first games we had for the Atari Lynx was Zarlor Mercenary. I remember purchasing it at the Manhattan Village mall in the B-Dalton Software Etc when they still sold Atari products (they even had a shelf of Atari ST and Jaguar games!). Zarlor Mercenary is…
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Video: Atari 8-bit Computer Games From 1979
[iframe width=”480″ height=”360″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/cwbwM-J31Pk” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen][/iframe] When Atari released the 400 and 800 computers in 1979, they were afraid they would not be taken seriously, so they did not emphasized the game playing ability of their machines. These first five games (Basketball, 3D Tic Tac Toe Video Easel,…
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We are looking for Paid Technical Reviewers for the 2nd Edition of The HTML5 Canvas book on O’Reilly
By Jeff D. Fulton (8bitjeff) We are looking for Paid Technical Reviewers for the 2nd Edition of The HTML5 Canvas book on O’Reilly press. We have added about 150 new pages that need to be reviewed by 2-3 people with knowledge of Javascript and or the HTML5 Canvas. We’ll offer…
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Today only, O’Reilly media is offering 50% off on all e-books
Our Book Publisher, O’Reilly Media is selling all e-books at 50% off today only. They have a lot of great stuff, including our HTML5 Canvas Book. @OReillyMedia *Free to Choose* – Save 50% on ALL Ebooks & Videos #CyberMonday Only
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Retro Atari 8-bit Computer Gaming – Arkanoid
By Jeff D. Fulton – 8bitjeff What a pleasant surprise. Arkanoid for the Atari 8-bit computers is a very well made game. Note: My brother Steve and I owned pretty much every Atari game system and computer until the company closed in the mid 1990’s. Using emulation, I am going…
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Retro Atari ST Gaming – Tempest
By Jeff D. Fulton (8bitjeff) Atari UK released a lot of arcade conversions for the ST line of computers in the late 80’s. Many of these were packed into “gaming” bundles sold at shops all over Europe and via mail order in the USA. I am not sure…
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What Was I thinking? The Existential Cognitive Dissonance Of Updating Old Code
My new blog on Gamasutra: What Was I thinking? The Existential Cognitive Dissonance Of Updating Old Code “Updating old code, especially code I have not touched in nearly a decade is like a ride in a time machine. A really crappy time machine that only highlights my mistakes makes me feel…
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Xbox 360 Internet Explorer Plays HTML5 Games…But Not Flash
This morning I work up early to download the new Xbox Live update that includes Internet Explorer. My goal was to try out some of our HTML5 Canvas game experiments to see is they work on the new I.E for the Xbox. To my surprise, they work fairly well.…
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Brick Basher Progressive (HTML5 DEMO)
An HTML5 update to Brick Basher to create a progressive version of the game like the one found on in Super Breakout. I’m not sure why this was never finished. The controls are very weird. I probably kept iterating on them before I gave-up. Otherwise it appears to be a…
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Full Versions Of Professor Palindrome! And Professor Zombie! Now Available In The Amazon Android Store
Last week we implemented the the new Amazon in-app payment system into the Android and Kindle versions of Professor Palindrome! and Professor Zombie! Each now include ways to remove adds, purchase extra “Instant Solves” and add extra time. The Amazon In-App Payment system uses Amazon.com accounts to…
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Professor Zombie! Released For iOS, Kindle Fire, Android – Plus Professor Palindrome! now On Kindle Fire!
For Immediate Release : 9/25/2012 Producto Studios Releases Professor Zombie! For iOS, Android, and Kindle Fire Redondo Beach, CA: Today Producto Studios released their newest game for iOS, Android and Kindle Fire: Professor Zombie Unscramble! Just in time for Halloween – a sequel to the hit iOS game Professor Palindromes!…
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What Is A Game Box Worth?
I have a new blog over at Gamasutra named “What Is a Game Box Worth“: “… when I finally went “indie”, thrust into a world where everything is digitally delivered, you would think that I would feel at home, right? The truth is , I still longed for that…
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Announcing Professor Zombie! For Android Devices! (Plus a new Free Version of Professor Palindrome!)
Today we launched Professor Zombie!, a reworking of Professor Palindrome! with new puzzles and a mock-horror theme. In this version of the game, you must unscramble the words as fast as possible before the Zombie eats the professor’s brain. Here is our promo video: [iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/1-p5ChGWHgc”…
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A Completely Anecdotal Account Of Why The Wii U Might Not Matter To The Next Generation
Another Gamasutra blog went up today : A Completely Anecdotal Account Of Why The Wii U Might Not Matter To The Next Generation Usually when I write Nintendo stuff, fan boys get enraged…. -8bitsteve
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Tongva Chief : Game Design Diary #1 : Gamasutra Blog
8bitsteve Here. I was invited earlier this year to create an expert blog on Gamasutra. So far, I’ve mostly posted “greatest hits” from the past few years of this site. however, today I posted my first original blog about a new game I am designing named “Tongva Chief”. I’m not…
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Christmas Bytes Film Kick Starter Campaign
Christmas Bytes Kick Starter Campaign. Steve and I are involved in a Kick Starter Campaign to get a movie developed. It is NOT our movie, but we have been asked to help out. It is set in the 80’s and the goal of the protagonist in the film is to…
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O’Reilly Back-to-School Special Includes Our HTML5 Canvas Book
September 4-11, our HTML5 Canvas Book is part of O’Reilly Back to School Promotion:Back-to-School Special: Save up to 50% on Books, Videos, Courses – One Week Only http://oreil.ly/SUPaaT via @oreillymedia (Twitter)
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Freelance Flash Games Interview with Steve and I on the Future of Flash and HTML5
Freelance Flash Games Interview with Steve and I on the Future of Flash and HTML5 Read It Here Thanks, Ryan for the opportunity.
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One Of The Masters “Speaks” On Game Design : Dan(i) Bunten (Berry)’s Archived Web Site
It’s no secret that we here at 8bitrocket.com have a few very distinct heroes, and Dan(i) Bunten (Berry) is one of them. Bunten was the designers/programmer of the classic, unparalleled games M.U.L.E. and Seven Cities Of Gold. An archived web site of Bunten’s exists and it contains some of the only known…
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Vectrex Regeneration Closes The Loop On My Retro Game Needs
One a summer day, just like this one, nearly 30 years to the day, I bought a GCE Vectrex with money I made from selling my Atari 2600. At the time, it felt like an investment in the future. The Vectrex had a black and white vector screen…
