• An Interview With Electrotank’s Jobe Makar

    Jobe Makar is is one of the people who inspired 8bitrocket.com the most in the past 10 years.  From his multiple Flash game books, to his 100’s of games,  Jobe has reached a level of success matched only by a very few.   We caught-up with Jobe last week and…

  • AtariMania.com has full PDF editions of all Atari User Magazines

    The awesome, though seemingly under-appreciated site, Atari Mania, has hand-scanned (a lot of f***ing work I might add)  versions of the entire 43 issue series of the UK-based Atari User magazine. This is of special interest to USA-Based Atari 8-bit computer fans because just as the 8-bit range was dying here, it…

  • Top-10 Game Predictions for 2010-2011

    It’s prediction time again.  First, we need to run-down our 2009-2010 predictions and see how we did.  Here they are: 10. Microtransactions In Flash Games Will Struggle. Too many games, too few people willing to pay. The most successful service will be Mochicoins, but it will still struggle with quality…

  • A look at the IE 9 HTML5 Canvas Spec

    With much curiosity I took a look at the recently published IE 9 HTML5/CSS3 spec specifically to find Canvas support information. Its no secret that Steve and I are deep into a book for O’Reilly on the Canvas and IE has been a major sticking point as we progress through…

  • What ever happened to Steve Moraff?

    His name might not spark wild-eyed fascination with many retro gaming enthusiasts, but Steve Moraff was a little bit of a legend in his own time. When we first got a PC (non-Atari machine) in the early 1990’s, we jumped on the early CD-Rom craze.  The best use of CDs…

  • Flash CS5 + Project Panel + Developer View = Pretty good way to code

    I have been a Flash Develop devotee for that last 3 years. Even after I bought my Mac I made sure to install and keep Parallels updated as to not lose the feature-set I love so – Flex asset compile-time embedding, custom class and package recognition,  a unified project work…

  • One Last Flash On The iPhone Update…

    An Apple rep called Jeff today to confirm Jeff’s business’s license and his participation in the iPhone developer program. Jeff asked him flat-out if they were “accepting Flash made apps” for the iPhone, and the rep told him “absolutely, yes”. So there you go.

  • 8bitrocket Indie Game Interweb Mashup – Monday, September 13, 2010

    Here is the old 8bitrocket Flash Indie Game Interweb Mashup reborn (ever so slightly) as an all-encompassing Indie-Game mashup. The focus is on Flash games development, but I will cover and will continue to cover all of the subjects that I am interested in: retro games, HTML5 and other game…

  • 10 Good Things For Game Developers About Flash Being Allowed On The iPhone.

    Adobe has restarted  working on their iPhone packager for Flash…again for CS5.  This pretty much confirms that Flash->iPhone conversions are allowed.    One wonders, why Apple made the change.  Was it because they could not single out Flash and allow other tech like Unity?  Was it because Flash apps performed…

  • Update: Flash Exported Apps Being Approved In The iTunes Store

    Word has come through that Flash exported apps using the CS5  iPhone packager are now being approved by Apple for the iTunes store.  Many of the apps have been waiting in the queue for months. This is good news for Flash devs, but maybe not so good news for iPhone…

  • Apple Appears To Have Relaxed Their Rules On The Flash iPhone Packager

    It appears that Apple has relaxed their rules on iPhone apps developed with Flash.  You still can’t run the apps in Mobile Safari, but it looks like apps made with the CS5  iPhone packager are now OK. The Wall Street Journal has the news. So what does this mean for…

  • The Forums Are On Fire!

    OK, maybe not “fire”, but we are getting as steady stream of posts now, which is really cool.  Thanks to all the new users who have come around and started participating.  It’s really starting to get fun. In case you have not looked, here isa run-down of all the forums…

  • Poll: What do you Think Of Google TV?

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  • Beta Forums Testing

    We are testing the new forums here: http://www.8bitrocket.com/forum/ Please test them out and tell us about any problems you might have. thanks, – Management

  • 8bitrocket.com Video Podcast Returns!!

    The 8bitrocket.com Video Podcast Returns!!  We cover the new 8bitrocket.com, The Game Ray Quest, the Flash version of The Great Giana Sisters, the Flash game Chain the pixel, plus the retro music stylings of The Icarus Kid!

  • Mobile Web Games In HTML5 – Hit and Miss

    I have spent the first three days of this week working on a couple HTML5 games that will eventually make it into our book on the Canvas and will also probably show up here in some form or another (and maybe even in the various App Stores). I chose to…

  • Spil Launches $50K HTML5 Game Contest

    The Spil Group thinks HTML5 will surpass Flash on the web very soon, and they are willing to put money where their mouth is: specifically $50K! Here is a link the the article: HTML5 Mobile Game Sites and an HTML5 Developer Contest. Here is what you need to know: HTML5…

  • Atari Greatest Hits Finally Coming to the Nintendo DS!!

    I have been waiting for a good version of some Atari retro c classics to hit the DS for a while now. The old DS Atari pack is a pathetic POC, but this new one looks to make up for it and more! This $29.99 pack has about 50 games…

  • Commodore To Make PC in Classic Commodore Case: Pong Ball’s In Your Court, Atari

    It turns out, a company has bought the “Commdore” name and is planning to create a PC housed in a Commdore 64 case. that’s awesome. However, personally can’t buy one as it is simply against my Atari sensibilities to do so. However, if Atari would do the same thing, with…

  • Does The Droid-X Blockbuster OnDemand Commercial Make Sense?

    I have seen this commercial quite a few times and have always had a little “itch” in the back on my mind as I see it. I didn’t have much time to ponder this “itch” until this morning. I can’t find the commercial on-line (but I see it in online…

  • (not) Royalty Free H.264 (Might) Boost HTML5 Video & The Canvas, But Flash Still Has A Chance (Analysis) : Updated

    Yesterday it was announced that MPEG LA, the patent holder for H.264 (MPEG-4) will “never” charge a licensing fee for video encoded as H.264 and delivered for “free” over the internet. What does this mean? Well it means that Firefox and Opera, two browsers that have so far held-back implementing…

  • Going Solo (from the corporate beast) #6 – The First Month

    Working at home and on your own without a corporate sponsor has its advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are that I am home every day and can work the hours I choose. I get to see my family much more than ever before and even a couple times a week…

  • More Games I Might Play Again (Flash Game Micro Reviews)

    Ahh, here I am, its a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Southern California, and I am in doors, playing YOUR games. God I hope they are good this time… Hikouki Tomodachi (FGD) (82% Retrotastic) – A very fun, and well done 1 or 2 player vertical scrolling blast-fest. Darts and Beer…

  • Vacation Game Brainstorm: Mark Twain was here…?

    So I’m on a short trip with my family on California Highway 49, in the Gold Country.  Specifically, we have been roaming Calaveras County, the very same county made famous by a certain Samual Clemons in his story the local Frog Jumping Contest. Now, there is a lot of history…

  • Tutorial: Turn Your Flash Game Into A Google Chrome Web App (beta)

    While the Google Chrome App Store will not be available until October 2010, you can still package-up your apps and test them as Chrome Web Apps.   Google has some extensive documentation on the subject, but we are going to slice it down and show you the easiest path to success.…

  • Atari Nerd Interweb Mash-up

    Here are some of the more interesting Atari related retro gaming related tidbits I found while trolling across the infobaun. The Classis Game Room HD Reviews Atari 2600 Video Olympics – The only way to play pong on the 2600! (literally and hyberbole). Who doesn’t like Ice Hockey Pong with…

  • The Future Of Web Games: The Google Chrome App Store

    1Up.com is running a story from GDC Europe about the Google Chrome App Store.   From the details provided, it looks like Google has a real winner on their hands.  Here are the highlights from the article. Google Chrome App Store Launch Date: October 2010 Supported Technologies: Flash, HTML5/JavaScript, C++ Installation:…

  • Games I’ll Play Again #3 – Flash Game Distribution and Mochi Reviews

    I find it easier to get into my day if I play a few games first.  Digging through the Mochi Latest and Flash Game Distribution feed, here are some games that were good or bad enough for me to want to take a second look (at some ethereal unspecified future…

  • 8bitsteve Interviews Steven Levy, Author Of The Classic Computer Industry Book: “Hackers”

    Steven Levy is one of my heroes.  He’s genius author who has the rare ability of making technology subject not only palatable, but down-right fascinating.   He has written tons of great books, and written for magazines such as Wired and Newsweek. Steven Levy’s book, Hackers: Heroes Of The Computer Revolution…

  • Games I’ll Play Again 8/16/2010 – Flash Game Distribution and Mochi Reviews

    It would be easy to just go to the Mochi featured game list and hit those as they have been pre-screened for me. No can do, bud. That would leave out the wonderful world of games that don’t get much attention (most deservedly so). Today I will be going through some…

  • See It Quick: Actual Deleted Scene From Return Of The Jedi: Luke Becomes A Jedi

    I know this is totally off topic, but it will probably be removed very soon.   This is an actual deleted scene from Return Of The Jedi that shows Luke’s transformation into a Jedi.  It’s less than 1 minute and better than Episode I-II-III combined. Note: Try this link if the…

  • Games I’ll Play Again #1 – Flash Game Distribution Reviews

    Using the last few days of the Flash Game Distribution feed, here are a list of games that I played quickly and were interesting enough for me to want to play again. I have given each a quickie  grade based on my first impression.  Take the grades with a grain of…

  • Going Solo (from the corporate beast) #5 – A Valuable Lesson Learned

    I knew it was going to happen some time, but I didn’t think it would be so soon. I don’t want to give out too many details, but I just want to say that getting taken by a  client is no fun. I guess everyone must go through this, and…

  • 8bitrocket.com Interviewed!

    Steve Savage over at Fan To Pro took the time to interview us last week about all things 8bitrocket.  If you are intersted in that sort of thing, go over here and take a look: http://www.fantopro.com/blog/2010/08/an-interview-with-steve-and-jeff-of-8-bit-rocket.html#more Also, we have added  the Fan-To-Pro RSS feed to our Industry Feeds page…

  • HTML5 Canvas Resize On The Fly, In An HTML Page

    I’ve been playing around a lot with the HTML5 Canvas lately, and I discovered some very interesting things that about the size of Canvas as displayed on an HTML page. The best way to show these is to show a demo of what I’m talking about first.  Here is a…

  • Space Gate Enemy Path Tutorial by Barnaby Byrne

    Barnaby Byrne (Aka Badger Manufacture) has just released is latest retro inspired Flash Masterpiece, Space Gate, at Odo Games. I was some impressed with the games and the intricate enemy patterns within that I asked if he would be kind enough to explain to our readers exactly how it is…

  • Featured New Flash Retro Game: Space Gate

    We are incredibly proud to present our first new featured retro Flash game on the re-vamped 8bitrocket.com: Space Gate by Barnaby Byrne (AKA Badger Manufacture). As the first ever sponsored game by the wonderful new portal, Odo Games (run by Richard Hoddinott), Space Gate is one of my favorite Flash…

  • 8bitrocket Industry Feed Page

    One of the new features we implemented when we moved to WordPress was a GameTab-like page that lists the latest posts across a number of our favorite Flash and other game blog sites. We call this the Industry Feed page and you can access it here (along with the top-nav…

  • Killa Appz By Dave Berzack : I Laughed, I Cried

    We need more stuff like this.   The thing made me laugh out loud about about 20 times.  Bravo.  I hope Dave gets some consulting work out of it. “Props to Adobe” “My mind on my mark-up and my mark-up on my mind” – classic.

  • Intel/TheGameCreators Game Development Contest (Dark Basic)

    Intel & The Game Creators (Dark Basic) has a new Netbook Game development contest.  Games must be written in Dark Basic.  First prize is $5000. The competition opens on 4th August 2010 9AM GMT. The closing date for entries is 3rd October 2010 at 12PM GMT. You can check out…