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Cartoon Network announces browser-based MMO
Today at Comic-Con, Cartoon Network has announced the release of the first-ever MMO for kids which will be entirely browser-based. Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall is a futuristic adventure set during an alien invasion of the Cartoon Network universe. This means that players will not only be able to team up together to defend the universe from this alien invasion, but the game will incorporate all of Cartoon Network's most popular characters including stars of Ben 10: Alien Force, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Ed, Edd n Eddy, Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls and more!This game will consist of 60 play areas and utilize the Unity Technologies game engine. This engine has been the cutting-edge choice for several gaming projects such as Freeverse, Shockwave.com, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Flashbang Studios and more. Look for FusionFall to release later this fall.
Unity engine to power iPhone gaming
At this time of year, every press release must be taken with a grain of salt, but sometimes products announced on or around 4/1 can prove to be real even when they seem a bit unlikely (1GB of free email? Must be a hoax). It's in the vein of strange-but-true (I hope) that Unity Technologies announced a beta program for Unity 3D on the iPhone.Unity's dynamic game development system (used by some fairly big names), if it makes the leap to the iPhone and iPod touch successfully, will give game creators a spectactular platform for rapid development. Hopefully that will include the unique interaction modes (multitouch, accelerometer & maybe even location awareness) that we saw at the SDK announcement. Can't wait!Thanks fursund
Current and future gaming on the Mac
MacNewsWorld has a pretty good in-depth overview up about Mac gaming: where it's at and where it's headed. The basic story is that the three things that have historically held Mac gaming back behind PCs (the technology differences, the OS, and the smaller installed base) are slowly disappearing. With Apple's switch from PowerPC to Intel, the introduction of Boot Camp and increasingly easy development in OS X, and the growing popularity of the platform, gaming is actually bigger on the Mac than it's ever been.But there is still a huge obstacle, and that is DirectX. Though there are ways around it (Freeverse actually mentions the Unity engine in the article), many developers are stuck developing in DirectX, and that leaves the Mac platform out of the loop. And there really isn't anything comparable to it in OS X, either. Graphics hardware remains a problem, but that just harkens back to the biggest problem of getting games on the Mac: support from Apple. Some developers say that there aren't games on the Mac because Steve doesn't want them there, and until Apple shows evidence to the contrary, PC will always be the gamers' platform of choice.[Via IMG]
Jaffe comes out for a unified game console standard
Vocal support in the industry for a single-console solution continues to gather steam, with roustabout game developer David Jaffe airing the case for an uber-system on his blog. On the surface, his arguments have some merit, but we feel the the case for a "unified" console begins to break down when you really examine it. If you will, let us play a bit of devil's advocate with Jaffe's case:"We have it with DVD, we had it with VHS. We have it with televisions (in the sense that- for the most part- every TV is capable of broadcasting the same signal). So what do we lose by having it for game consoles?"Jaffe seems to be forgetting that VHS only became the monopoly "standard" after a bloody battle with JVC's Sony's competing Betamax format (edit: brain fart). There was no consortium of companies deciding what would be "best" for the market -- competition simply decided that one format was overwhelmingly better for the price. Sony had similar near-monopoly control in the PlayStation 1 and 2 eras, and it was competition, not cooperation, that brought it about. And for every cooperation success story like DVD, there's a flop like Phillips/MCA's LaserDisc format.As for television signals, they require a monopoly of sorts because of the limited broadcast spectrum. When you take that away, you get the channel-building, selection-expanding competition between cable, satellite and FIOS TV services.
AT&T Unity subscribers get more freebies
With the way carriers tend to nickle 'n dime us all these days, you won't find this camp complaining about anything offered up gratis. AT&T's latest round of freebies does require you to be an AT&T Unity subscriber -- meaning that you rely on AT&T for wireless and landline service -- but affords those who are in the loop free calling to and from any AT&T phone number. Moreover, it allows AT&T wireless customers to keep their rollover minutes fresh for 12 months, prevents anytime minute usage when phoning another AT&T customer, and includes unlimited night and weekend minutes. Best of all, these gifts are also being given to current Unity customers in addition to newcomers, so make sure you eye your next bill extra carefully.
WWDC Video: Unity 2.0 sneak peek
The gang from Over the Edge gave us a sneak peek of two new features in Unity 2.0: a cool terrain tool and real-time dynamic shadows. Check out the video, but also check out their page of all the other features coming soon to Unity.[Note: we'll have all these WWDC videos available for direct download soon!]
Video: Unity, the game dev tool for Macs
Click To Play We've covered Unity before, but video speaks louder than words, so we were happy to have a demo of some incredible features in the latest version. Unity is a game dev tool, only for Macintosh, that allows you to create Mac games, Dashboard widget games, PC games, web games embedded on a page and (eventually) Wii games. What's really impressive about Unity is the ease-of-use. The FPS you'll see in the video was created by a 15-year-old with no previous programming experience-- using an eMac. Also, be sure to stay tuned on Monday for another video with team Unity as they unveil some amazing new features.Again, here's the .mov version for everyone to enjoy in stutter-free format.
Open Fire, a free casual Mac game
BlueTorch Studios in partnership with BlueGill Flame have released the final version of Open Fire, a casual top down shooter similar to the Linux game Barrage. Open Fire, which has been created using Unity's game editing software, was the winner of Unity's Dashboard Widget Competition. Keeping with the theme of the game's widget beginnings, the developers plan to create a widget version of the game so that office workers can play while their boss isn't looking. Currently the game is available in both Universal Binary Mac and PC versions. One of the coolest features of the game is its online top ten leaderboard which you could, at the very least, consider a (weak) justification for spending so much time playing the damn thing! Must. reach. top. ten.
Create universal games with Unity
Unity is the game development platform for the Mac that really does make the job of building games (and Dashboard widgets) kind of fun. Today, Unity announces the availability of version 1.2.2, which will allow you to make sure that all of your projects are universal binaries. So go out and build the next best thing, and then run it on your Mactel.Unity requires Mac OS X 10.3 or later, and features two pricing options: $250US for the "indie" edition, and $1,000US for the Pro version.Incidentally, we posted our interview with Unity's David Helgason back in October.[Via MacNN]
Give the gift of Unity
As the Unity team prepares a new 1.2 release with mondo new features, like full-screen graphic effects, and a drop-in FPS controller, just in time for the holidays (hopefully), consider giving the game development tool as a gift. In fact, the Unity site posted a how-to on creating your own boxed version. Just print the templates, grab some scissors and blank media, and voilá! Unity, and perhaps a book on game development, would make any wanna-be game developer in your family happy. Except that most game developers use PC's. And since Unity can only deploy games on a PC, not create them, you might need to pick up a shiny new Mac for that loved one as well. No, I don't work for Unity, but I am a big fan.
Unity Dashboard widget contest winners announced
Unity recently held a contest that challenged developers to create Dashboard widget games, using their development environment. Today, they have announced the winners, and they're all definitely worth checking out.The widget Open Fire Beta 12 won the People’s Love category. From your perch high atop what looks like a Thomas the Tank Engine train table (what can I say? I have kids), you can blast away at a hapless parade of tanks and jeeps. Hint: If you can't hit them, at least cause a multi-vehicle pile up. The good news is that they can't fire back. It's like shooting fish military vehicles in a barrel.The Grand Prix of the Jury winner was Overwhelmed Arena, a good, old-fashioned shoot-em-up in space. Choose from four ships, fly around the space station and blast bad guys out of the sky. Go into full screen mode and you forget you're using a widget.There are more, of course, and they all deserve your attention. Check them out and have fun.
