Windows Phone game developer interview - Windows Phone 7 General

I've just done an interview with 2 Ton Studios (developer of Akiak and NinjaBoy for WP7) and he has some interesting stuff to say about the current state of gaming and the Marketplace, it's on my site here if you'd like to take a look:
http://www.blitterandtwisted.com/2011/05/windows-phone-game-developer-interview-2-ton-studios.html

^ nice read

Related

Will WP7 have games like god of war or streetfighter4?

Will WP7 have games like god of war or streetfighter4. I seen what they have already and Iam not impressed at all.
zarpy said:
Will WP7 have games like god of war or streetfighter4. I seen what they have already and Iam not impressed at all.
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If someone makes a game like god of war or street fighter 4 then sure it will. The hardware is quite capable of running some pretty intense games they just have to be made.
Actually it probably won't have god of war but potentially streetfighter. Not for technical reasons but there won't be any "M" rated games in the store. Microsoft is going with a PG13 strategy. It was mentioned that this is even a problem for MS as there is some wanting to bring Halo to the platform.
So much for the gaming platform. Not that I personally care much, but that's a strange attitude to a phone with that XBox logo on the homescreen.
PG13? Sounds quite dumb because exceptional majority of WP7 phone owners will be grown-ups.
Yea, I'm thinking that they may open it up more once they can get parental controls in a "future release" but for now it's the more family friendly variety.
This makes sense. (Market for under-18s) > (Subset of gamers that need >PG13 content). But it will be good when the platform gets more security features / parental controls.
kids with money?
CSMR said:
This makes sense. (Market for under-18s) > (Subset of gamers that need >PG13 content). But it will be good when the platform gets more security features / parental controls.
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At the prices that Microsoft will charge, what parent will give thier child a windows phone7? If thier marketplace is PG-13 then they wont release the game that Microsoft has been showing Harvest . I think this is a way so that Microsoft can approve thier own developers but not indepent developers. Microsoft already has a built in excuse now. What a shame!!
zarpy said:
At the prices that Microsoft will charge, what parent will give thier child a windows phone7? If thier marketplace is PG-13 then they wont release the game that Microsoft has been showing Harvest . I think this is a way so that Microsoft can approve thier own developers but not indepent developers. Microsoft already has a built in excuse now. What a shame!!
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Harvest is extremely tame. Seems pretty PG-13 to me.
RustyGrom said:
Harvest is extremely tame. Seems pretty PG-13 to me.
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But twin blades isnt...your cutting people up & you have guns, with blood splashing on the screen...where is the info that says the games will be limited to PG-13?? indie games arent ever rated on the xbox, plus it would take to much to scan every game
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZksE...22E6E0454&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=9
Remember, MS is separating the game marketplace from the app marketplace, so the same rules may not apply to the game store. Besides, there won't be a God of War game on WP7 anyway since it's a Sony exclusive.
lordcanti86 said:
Remember, MS is separating the game marketplace from the app marketplace, so the same rules may not apply to the game store. Besides, there won't be a God of War game on WP7 anyway since it's a Sony exclusive.
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maybe it will be but exclusive to sony branded wp7
Halo was specifically mentioned as being a "problem" since MS is enforcing a PG-13 policy. I'm sure there's public sources but this was from a talk I heard in person at TechEd.

WP7's shorter development times paying off?

From Pocket Gamer:
"Puzzle Quest 2 will hit Windows Phone 7 before the year is out, says Namco, and an Android version will release in early 2011."
Looks like we're starting to see new output coming to WP7 before Android nowadays. Could this be due to the development of WP7 apps being so much easier than for Android?
In talking to a few studios, this theme is becoming quite apparent...
yeah it is pretty simple to design easy and cool apps
They did a contest once to see who developed the best app in a specific time and wp7 won ^^
Not surprising.
Microsoft did a very good job embedding XNA in to Windows phone 7. If you guys have followed the demonstration of WP7's game development videos, you will see that exact code to code in a simple Xbox 360 game is in used the WP7 verson.
I think devs are cottoning onto this and in a few months most if not all new games and apps will be out for WP7 way before rival platforms. The next big game to supplant "Angry Birds" may have Android users fuming while their WP7-toting mates are already playing it.

Review : XBox Live For Windows Phone.

As posted on L337Ware
Function : Provide gaming hub for Windows Phone.
Pros : Many of the features of XBox Live on the 360 are here such as text messaging amongst live subscribers, avatar customization, achievements, and leader boards.
Cons : Well to put it bluntly it's a little bit of a tease. Voice messages and voice chat are clearly absent though well within the capabilities of the phones. The avatar marketplace is a no show. True multi player gaming is pretty much non existence here. No access to videos and additional content available on the 360. No support for themes. No option to choose placement of apps outside of the hub.
Recommendation : You really don't have a choice here. If you want to game on a Windows Phone or even use certain applications that are even mildly related to gaming you will end up dealing with this hub. It's a severely crippled version of the Xbox Live you've come to know and love on the XBox. The glaring lack of functionality to include the lack of multi player titles and social tools inside of the games themselves are pretty unforgivable considering appearances of such features in games on other platforms. In the end I can't say I'm not left simply disappointed at this take on the Xbox Live brand.
L337Ware said:
As posted on L337Ware
Function : Provide gaming hub for Windows Phone.
Pros : Many of the features of XBox Live on the 360 are here such as text messaging amongst live subscribers, avatar customization, achievements, and leader boards.
Cons : Well to put it bluntly it's a little bit of a tease. Voice messages and voice chat are clearly absent though well within the capabilities of the phones. The avatar marketplace is a no show. True multi player gaming is pretty much non existence here. No access to videos and additional content available on the 360. No support for themes. No option to choose placement of apps outside of the hub.
Recommendation : You really don't have a choice here. If you want to game on a Windows Phone or even use certain applications that are even mildly related to gaming you will end up dealing with this hub. It's a severely crippled version of the Xbox Live you've come to know and love on the XBox. The glaring lack of functionality to include the lack of multi player titles and social tools inside of the games themselves are pretty unforgivable considering appearances of such features in games on other platforms. In the end I can't say I'm not left simply disappointed at this take on the Xbox Live brand.
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Maybe I got you wrong, but just tap and hold any icon in the games hub will bring up the menu where you can choose to pin it to the homescreen.
Did you just buy your phone? Because we've all been saying that for 6 months now and there are threads about it. Unless you just need traffic...
Sent from my Omnia 7 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
I've been playing Game Chest: Logic Games Chess against my wife over XBox live for months now. I play my moves on my WP7 and she plays on XBox.com in a browser-based copy of the game.
Isn't that multiplayer XBox-Live? Or am I missing something?
Actually, voice messaging/chat isn't well within the capabilities of the phone. Until Mango is released all network traffic is done thru HTTP which adds way too much lag to use for live voice chatting. Messaging would work, but why re-invent the wheel when full socket support is coming later this year?
The lack of true multiplayer gaming is due to the same reason - http just isn't a viable alternative to raw sockets. The best you can really do at the moment is turn-based games, and they do exist.
Adding content to the home screen is, as someone else already pointed out, as easy as long pressing the title and selecting pin to start.
This is one area where I can truly appreciate peoples comments about this being v1 of a new OS - no other mobile platform has done this already and what's already on WP is pretty damn good considering the current platform limitations.
Remember, all we've seen of Mango at Mix 11 was the developer-centric stuff. MS have yet to announce all the consumer-centric goodies and I bet XBox-live multiplayer realtime will be a part of that.
I'd really like to see a multiplayer Halo game on WP7, controlled by a bluetooth XBox-controller.
The HD7's kickstand would enable use of that while the phone is stood on a table (e.g. when on the train)
How cool?
Jim Coleman said:
I've been playing Game Chest: Logic Games Chess against my wife over XBox live for months now. I play my moves on my WP7 and she plays on XBox.com in a browser-based copy of the game.
Isn't that multiplayer XBox-Live? Or am I missing something?
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It is called turn based not multiplayer
Sent from my Bionix powered Vibrant
lqaddict said:
It is called turn based not multiplayer
Sent from my Bionix powered Vibrant
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Or more accurately "turn based multiplayer" you still have more than one player which makes it multi, even if that isn't quite what you wanted in multiplayer.
Can I just point out that the "hub" isn't the "Xbox Live" hub it's actually called the "Games" hub.
I also want to say that while I tend to agree that it is vital to the success and pricing of Live titles to incorporate more features, I whole heartedly believe that they are coming sooner than later. People continuously call me a fan boy, but I'm more of a realist in the case of this OS, and realize that Rome wasn't built in a day. I see the effort, and if you don't, you're blind. And I see the potential. So much has been said about the lack of updates, and "oh, I'm God, so I demand updates on my schedule in small packets or I'm going to Android" that nobody has realized the reality here. Features, like the ones discussed here, are going to be so tightly integrated it's going to be amazing. Just watching MIX, you see WHY they haven't released small updates yet, and I've said this in other threads. One feature links in 13 different areas, it's all integrated. So we see this with the socket support, and multitasking, and the ability to control background processes... When these are released, I think we are going to see a wave, and I mean WAVE, of new applications which will completely revolutionalize WP...
^ maybe you're right. However, if and when Microsoft introduces true multiplayer gaming in 2012 or later. It will more than likely be for Windows Phone vs Windows Phone only.
vetvito said:
^ maybe you're right. However, if and when Microsoft introduces true multiplayer gaming in 2012 or later. It will more than likely be for Windows Phone vs Windows Phone only.
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I disagree, I see no reason why someone on an XBox shouldn't be able to play against someone on a WP7 in realtime. This is going to be killer, MS will not miss this opportunity to outdo iPhone (for which there is no equivalent games console) and Android (closest thing is Xperia Play which is a bit poo).
I don't see any logic in your prediction.
^ maybe you're right. However, if and when Microsoft introduces true multiplayer gaming in 2012 or later. It will more than likely be for Windows Phone vs Windows Phone only.
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<br />
<br />
I disagree, I see no reason why someone on an XBox shouldn't be able to play against someone on a WP7 in realtime. This is going to be killer, MS will not miss this opportunity to outdo iPhone (for which there is no equivalent games console) and Android (closest thing is Xperia Play which is a bit poo).<br />
<br />
I don't see any logic in your prediction.
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Yeah they WP with Kinnect. However my point is in the mobile world. WP vs iPhone or WP vs Android, as we already have iPhone vs Android games(they're awesome).
Since the Xbox Live brand is involved I'm sure the chances of WP vs anything not Microsoft related are slim to none.
If you haven't noticed 360 users haven't been running in droves to purchase these phones. The average 360 user isn't of contracting age.
vetvito said:
Yeah they WP with Kinnect. However my point is in the mobile world. WP vs iPhone or WP vs Android, as we already have iPhone vs Android games(they're awesome).
Since the Xbox Live brand is involved I'm sure the chances of WP vs anything not Microsoft related are slim to none.
If you haven't noticed 360 users haven't been running in droves to purchase these phones. The average 360 user isn't of contracting age.
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I have to disagree there, especially considering that playing online on a 360 console actually costs money, and usually requires you be an adult... I have no idea where this misconception comes from that all Live players are kids, or even that half of them are... I'm assuming from people who have never played a day online.
I also don't see this phone as just "Live" services, there are other games that will go cross-platform... Has Apple developed a game that interacted with Android users? How about Google with iPhone? All the games are third party, aren't they? The Live games will interact with other Live games, obviously, I don't see why there would be any surprise or negative feedback there... But I do see third-party, real time multiplayer coming sooner than 2012, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of them get released once Mango goes live, as they would have been developing for a few months by then.
I don't get why people are so negative about things, as it is now, developers have pushed the available apis to their limits, why would that suddenly stop with a larger user base and greater access? I expect these sorts of post from certain biased users, but not users that appear to have brains most of the time.
I would also take the time here to note that if Google, or any other random developer, released a brand new desktop OS at this moment, version 1.0, would the same retards in this forum who are so Anti-Microsoft/Pro-Google be quick to say "this is trash because it doesn't live up to Windows 7 of today" or would they be hypocrites and label it a first release and state it has more features than Windows 95 did? Because I guarantee you it would be the latter, as we saw when Android was released in its G1 form far behind iOS.
Version 1 where is it? Please show me version 1. Get over it, this is a continuation.
I'm not being negative, just realistic.
How much do you want to bet Microsoft wont allow third party multiplayer games? They will have to go through Xbox LIVE.
Xbox LIVE users are different than the average 360 user/owner. Matter of fact I haven't met a person on Xbox LIVE who knows what WP7 is. Get on there and ask people yourself.
vetvito said:
Version 1 where is it? Please show me version 1. Get over it, this is a continuation.
I'm not being negative, just realistic.
How much do you want to bet Microsoft wont allow third party multiplayer games? They will have to go through Xbox LIVE.
Xbox LIVE users are different than the average 360 user/owner. Matter of fact I haven't met a person on Xbox LIVE who knows what WP7 is. Get on there and ask people yourself.
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I wasn't specifically talking about you, but this isn't a continuation, nowhere near it, and as long as you guys continue to paint it as one, you'll have ignorant, biased opinions...
And you're making assumptions, they allow games like AlphaJax right now to utilize what they can, I don't see why they wouldn't in the future. You guys create these scenarios where a lot of users come, think you know what you're talking about, and believe this bs... I can't keep track of how many people said that most of the features announced for Mango would take 2 years to implement...
A lot of people had no idea what Android was until Verizon joined the party, and even still, 8 out of 10 people will call any Android phone a Droid, and tell you that their Droid Does... Expecting overnight success isn't realistic, and neither is making assumptions when you have no idea what you're talking about, or have any type of track record to go off of...
I also only brought up 360 because you made the point of the user age... I don't see many people buying it just because of that from a platform standpoint because this isn't called "Xbox Live Phone" it's called Windows phone... I know a crap load of Live players who own Macs...
By the end of this year, I think we'll be looking at these devices entirely different. Both from a gaming standpoint and functional standpoint. Though, the phone is more than functional 99% of the time for me.
What number comes after 6?
I'm ignorant though.
vetvito said:
How much do you want to bet Microsoft wont allow third party multiplayer games? They will have to go through Xbox LIVE.
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Why would they not allow it? They allow you to make them today and will obviously continue to do so once there is raw socket support. They are however rolling out more support for indie developers to gain access to XBL as well, so I wouldn't be surprised to see more and more of the great games we have today become XBL games with achievements and whatnot - this does command a minimum price of $2.99 however.
vetvito said:
Xbox LIVE users are different than the average 360 user/owner. Matter of fact I haven't met a person on Xbox LIVE who knows what WP7 is. Get on there and ask people yourself.
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Really? Don't know who you've been speaking to, but everyone I've gamed with knows very well what it is. Hell, you must be a real ignorant bastard not to know it considering they've been showing loads of WP commercials on the 360 dashboard since launch.
--edit--
Oh and come on, WP7 is obviously a v1. Sure, it's built ontop of the same old WinCE kernel (well, an updated one) but it has absolutely nothing in common with the previous Windows Mobile versions. You couldn't even take a native WM6 app and run it on WP7 without heavy modification - and that's not just because of the locked down nature of WP.
Well done guys, insults are the way to go. I wonder more and more how old people on this forum are.
Sent from my Omnia 7 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
vetvito said:
What number comes after 6?
I'm ignorant though.
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WP7 is version 1.

[Discussion] Games you want Ported to Windows Phone

On my blog, I recently wrote an article about games I would like to see be ported to Windows Phone. Mango is slated to be the biggest update to Windows Phone yet. With Mango bringing features like socket support, there is a huge potential for a whole bunch of games being made for and ported to the Windows phone platform. With that, do you know of any games that you would like to see a Windows Phone port of? Also, do you agree or disagree with the choices of games I made (in the blog post) that I would like to see be ported to the Windows Phone platform?
link to blog post: http://bit.ly/liEnaG
Anyone remembers Pathway to Glory for the original NGage ?
I'd like to see a remake of that game.
I had fun with Zenonia, Peggle, and so many other iPhone games. Sadly, doubt they will ever be ported to wp7. iOS gets all the best apps and games, just the way it is.
Oh, and they already have a few clones of the games you listed on your blog. Duck hunt and angry birds I know for sure have clones on wp7.
I treat my phone like my Kinect: it's nice to have around but I can only see myself playing casual games with it. So Halo, Final Fantasy or whatnot I don't care for. 3 games I'd really like would be Cut The Rope, Game Dev Story and Words with Friends (I don't think it's as good as Alphajax but it's cross-platform). There are probably others I can't remember (Angry Birds is out in 2 days).
To the above poster, Peggle is a PopCap game and given their great relationship with Microsoft I wouldn't rule it out for WP7.
HansHalber2095 said:
Anyone remembers Pathway to Glory for the original NGage ?
I'd like to see a remake of that game.
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nope, I've never actually heard of that game before (until now)
Age of Empires.
There are several games I'd really love to see ported to WP7. But what I would probably like best is a remake of good old Lemmings. And possibly Push Over. Hmm... Turrican 1 and 2 would be nice as well.
Forget ports, I want to see Microsoft treat this as a real Xbox portable and get their game studios working on games like PGR, Forza, Kameo, Perfect Dark, Banjo Kazooie, Halo etc. And also encourage other big developers on the platform to give us DS/Vita quality games.
Edit: Also are you not aware Angry Birds comes out Wednesday?
brummiesteven said:
Forget ports, I want to see Microsoft treat this as a real Xbox portable and get their game studios working on games like PGR, Forza, Kameo, Perfect Dark, Banjo Kazooie, Halo etc. And also encourage other big developers on the platform to give us DS/Vita quality games.
Edit: Also are you not aware Angry Birds comes out Wednesday?
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I was not aware until now about the release date of Angry Birds. As for everything else, Microsoft is promoting Windows Phone devices as having the ability to play games integrated with Xbox Live, but Microsoft is not promoting it as it's chief function (but I do get your point). I do agree that Microsoft, in the Windows Phone division of the Xbox Live department, should be encouraging game development companies to bring some of their popular games and game series to Windows Phone.
they should port minecraft
Steven855 said:
On my blog, I recently wrote an article about games I would like to see be ported to Windows Phone. Mango is slated to be the biggest update to Windows Phone yet. With Mango bringing features like socket support, there is a huge potential for a whole bunch of games being made for and ported to the Windows phone platform. With that, do you know of any games that you would like to see a Windows Phone port of? Also, do you agree or disagree with the choices of games I made (in the blog post) that I would like to see be ported to the Windows Phone platform?
link to blog post: http://bit.ly/liEnaG
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dosbox pls.
That one would fall under the category of Emulators, and as far as I know, Microsoft has not let any emulators into the marketplace yet.
brummiesteven said:
Forget ports, I want to see Microsoft treat this as a real Xbox portable and get their game studios working on games like PGR, Forza, Kameo, Perfect Dark, Banjo Kazooie, Halo etc. And also encourage other big developers on the platform to give us DS/Vita quality games.
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For sure!!! I would love to see forza, perfect dark and halo.
Hopeful with mango, developer tools will allow game studios to recreate those great games and other.
Steven855 said:
nope, I've never actually heard of that game before (until now)
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wow Pathway to Glory was really THE BEST mobile game ever, the graphical details, gameplay and background score were way ahead of time for a game released in 2004 on a platform with limited hardware capabilities.
sadly this is the only decent video I could find: http://youtu.be/6PYRx1Q9ltk
edit::
Limbo would also make an amazing port for WP7
http://youtu.be/Y4HSyVXKYz8
I would kill to see Gamevil's games ported to WP7. I played Zenonia 1 and 2 before making the switch and now I wish I could play 3. Unfortunately Gamevil let me know that Native Code isn't supported so they can't port them. Sad.
Peggle seems a must though.
My vote goes to the timeless classic Wonderboy, love the game and the retro soundtrack.
REAL RACING (iphone), great great game !
I dont see any decent racing car game on WP7
curtido said:
REAL RACING (iphone), great great game !
I dont see any decent racing car game on WP7
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Now that you mention it, Gran Turismo on Window Phone sounds like a good idea. For you Nascar fans, I'm sure a Nascar game could be made as well (pending popularity and demand for it, because low popularity + selling has made it a low priority for gaming companies).
Steven855 said:
That one would fall under the category of Emulators, and as far as I know, Microsoft has not let any emulators into the marketplace yet.
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true. though a few homebrew NES ones are already floating around here. once you have a dos emulator, imagine all the good oldies that you can play.
and com'on, it's a WINDOWS phone. can't we at least have some command line love?
I would like to see OpenTTD

WELOVEWP7 Fan Ads! Get more WP7 ads on TV!

Hey guys!
I'm sure we all have the same thing on our mind when it comes to Windows Phone. Better marketing! MS needs more effective marketing showing off the OS and not cheesy ads that don't show our gorgeous Windows Phone 7.
Windows Phone fan Brandon Foy has created an amazing 2 minute ad featuring, of course, WP7! The great news about this is that its an amazing ad. Better yet, MS has agreed that if the video reaches over 200,000 views on YouTube, they'll make it into an actual TV ad!
So watch it, get on YouTube, vote for it, share it on Facebook and Twitter! Lets help MS with a little bit of advertising!
Most of all, it needs more exposure worldwide. Countries such as France are almost "ignorant" to it's very existance.
Sent via my magical HTC Wildfire S.
@Gltokenskp06
You are aware of the fact that the video was first introduced on the mix11 event and that the offer made by Microsoft has already exceeded, right? The spot didn't reach its goal, but as far as I remember the guy who created it was offered a job my Microsoft recently.

			
				
I get email today from Youtube:
This one is awesome:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyU9wzYzyKc
I like this one:

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