Downloaded and installed Steam on my Linux box last night. (Ubuntu) I had to update my video drivers, but after that the process was quite smooth.

Only a few of the games in my Steam library were Linux-compatible. I went ahead and gave Superbrothers: Sword and Sorcery a try. Loving the art style and humor so far.

The code was fine, it was crashing on:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>

I'm pretty sure that's the wrong way to specify the xml version in an HTML file, or in an XML file, or in a PHP file.

"?>" is a closing bracket for code in PHP. It shouldn't be used as the closing tag in an XML definition.

The "lingo" for what you're describing is a "dual-stick shooter."  "360 degree" would be a good term to use for anyone not familiar with video game tropes.

Also, how exactly would the player destroy their first enemy if all of their offensive and defensive capabilities are derived from defeated enemies? It's not a bad idea, and there is plenty of back-and-forth balancing you could play around with. But it does still have a logical inconsistency. You could cook up a mechanic to overcome this, but it might be necessary to spell it out in your pitch.

Is that a pitch to potential players or a publisher?

Definitely a publisher.

If I was making the pitch to a potential player I'd say it was collectible cards meets tic-tac-toe. Gotta know your audience.

Here's my elevator pitch...

A collectible card game with rules largely identical to Triple Triad from Final Fantasy 8. Built in Unity for cross-platform support and largely targeted at mobile phones for the single-player portion. Export it to the Unity Web Player for integration on Facebook. On-line version will be free with competitive rules that allow for the loss of cards. Micro-transaction will be fore new card packs. A deck of 24 basic cards will run you $1. Local multiplayer edition of the game will be free, with possible micro transactions for licensed card packs. Local multiplayer will also allow for local trading and competition for cards, Pokemon-style.

i bought pokemon black for nostalgia's sake and tried playing it as a normal singleplayer rpg. i didn't even make it to the 3rd city before quitting out of boredom lol.

Now imagine that a trading game you enjoy playing was available for every iOS and Android device out there. A scenario like that could turn your family, friends, neighbors and coworkers into players.

That is actually a fine point.

Your best bet for changing this is to actually make a collecting/trading game of your own.

I'm actually working on something similar at the moment. I haven't actually gotten to experimenting with local multiplayer though.

EDIT: But it is odd that NVidia would help tune the Ouya as well as release their own console with a stronger GPU... Maybe they don't intend for it to compete with the Ouya at all?

Given the current specs of the Shield, I'm imagining that it will be considerably more expensive than the Ouya. Not to mention the fact that one is a console permanently tethered to a TV while the other is a handheld with its own dedicated touchscreen. Then there's the simple economics of the situation. NVidia is going to be making money off of selling Tegra 3 chips to the Ouya developers. The Ouya team is essentially an NVidia client, and providing proper support for your clients is just good business. And then there's the cross-over factor. If the Ouya does well it will mean more Android-optimized games available with a controller focus. And if they'll run on the Ouya, they'll certainly run on the Shield. Convincing developers to port those titles over will be a walk in the park.

I certainly would like to know what that is. is it meant to function as a replacement for your gaming pc? or is it going to be it's own thing with it's own games? or is it just a luxury secondary pc that one would have in their living room in addition to their desktop gaming pc?

It's a gaming-focused PC designed with a minuscule form factor for people who want a small gaming rig but don't want to bother with assembling it themselves. If you were willing to go the Apple route, you could get a Mac-mini. Of course, the Mac-mini is in the same price range but isn't really optimized for games.

Hobbyists aren't going to be nearly as interested in this manner of box. But general consumers are going to find it much more appealing. It's tiny enough to fit conveniently in most entertainment centers, and gives you immediate living-room computing. This could be especially popular with older, lapsed PC gamers.

I don't think many people besides developers will buy this. They seem to be the only ones interested.

That's kind of the point though, isn't it? I honestly don't think NVidia is expecting to be going head-to-head against the iPhone or 3DS. They are a company known for producing high-end 3D cards. They sell their products to PC enthusiasts who pay upwards of $500 for the latest and greatest graphics. NVidia is no stranger to selling advanced, experimental hardware to a small, niche audience. The Shield probably isn't ever going to be a mainstream success, but it could still be profitable.

Game enthusiasts need to acclimate themselves to the idea that not every initiative has to be the next big thing.

The copy of Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward that I had ordered on-line came in on Saturday. I've been playing it ever since and it has been a lot of fun so far. Though clearly not for everyone, it is definitely for me.

I have noticed that the Vita's screen is not always the optimal way of playing the game. The collision for the various in-game objects seems to be based on the models' polygons. For touch-picking this can make things a bit more hit-and-miss when using your finger. A stylus would probably make the experience a bit smoother, but you would need a capacitative stylus, due to the nature of the Vita's touch screen. Not a deal-breaking gripe, but something I noticed while playing.

The visuals for the game are terrific. The Vita's screen is huge, bright, and does a great job with the vibrant, colorful characters. The backgrounds are a bit more drab than I would like. The 3D models for the characters work a lot better than I had been expecting. Using 3D models for character representation in what amounts to a visual novel breaks from tradition. But I think it paid off for them here. The texturing of the models does a good job of simulating an anime style. The greater degree of animation for the characters that the 3D models permit help add to the presentation.

Overall I'd say I'm very pleased with the game. It is a great option for anyone interested in a visual novel/point-and-click adventure experience. I did find the availability of the game annoying. I couldn't find it at any retail establishments, and was eventually forced to purchase it directly off of Aksys' website. I don't mind giving the publisher my money directly, but going to such trouble for a physical copy of the title was an annoyance.

It's reminding me of the early 1990's when we had a lot of consoles on the market at the same time

There are certain parallels. The boom in the early 90s was a reaction to the quasi-monopoly that Nintendo had established, facilitated by the emergence of optical media. A lot of companies smelled opportunity and jumped into the ring at the same time. Some of them actually managed to rise up out of that chaos. (Sony, for instance, with the Playstation brand)

Now the emerging technology is digital distribution. The traditional retail model for distributing games is in serious decline, and companies are smelling opportunity again.

Well, Nvidia just announced a Tegra 4 based gaming handheld... And it looks dope... Thoughts on how this will effect Ouya?

It's competition. For the end consumer, competition is healthy, and should be encouraged.

It's starting to look like 2013 is going to be the year of the Android consoles. We're going to see several attempts at an Android-based gaming console/handhelds this year. This could just be a bump in the road of the video game industry. Or it could end up being a major disruptive force.

As usual, the real deciding factor of this scenario is going to be development. If current developers can step up their game and deliver some really solid titles for these Android "consoles," we might see them take off.

yeah, but perhaps the GameStick kickstarter exists because of the Ouya's success.

It's also possible that GameStick is intending to use Kickstarter more for marketing and publicity purposes than for strict funding. This would explain why they had a much smaller Kickstarter target. (which they've already reached) After the hub-bub surrounding the OUYA, it would make sense to use Kickstarter as a platform for pitching their product, garnering attention, and getting feedback from potential customers.

For what you are describing, Unity is probably going to be your best fit. Just change the camera to orthographic and you can get a 2D-like effect for your rendering and game structure. Even if Unity wasn't built with 2D in mind, it is still quite capable of 2D games.

The biggest drawback to Unity would be if you were attempting to make traditional sprite-art blitting. That wouldn't really work with Unity.

The GameStick is kind of a neat idea. An even more minimal hardware system than the OUYA, squeezing everything necessary for a basic game system into an HDMI stick. I'm assuming that its going to be able to draw power through the HDMI port in order to power the system? (and then the Bluetooth controller will have batteries of its own?)

The Kickstarter has already reached its goal of $100k. I'm not sure I'm going to drop money on this Kickstarter. But if they bring it to market, I will probably buy one.

I'm not sure I believe platformers are actually easier than most other genres.

I wouldn't say they are easier, so much as I would say that the tools already exist to create them. There are any number of easy-to-use engines that make platformers relatively simple to construct. And modern 2D physics and collision libraries make it much easier to integrate the necessary back-end calculations. If you are developing for Flash, you have Flixel and FlashPunk with everything you could possibly need to make a platformer right out of the box.

The platformer was such a popular genre in the past that a lot of modern engines provide the necessary features.

I'm just emphasizing the fact that ARM processors are embedded processors the main selling point of which is LOW POWER CONSUMPTION, and Ouya isnt a mobile platform, which leads me to believe the big wigs behind the project might not know what on earth they are trying to accomplish.

Manufacturing cost and complexity. A system with a dedicated GPU requires more complex system hardware to support it. An embedded processor like the Tegra 3 makes for a much simpler hardware configuration. Only having one primary chip cuts down considerably on production costs, and possibly production failures. (such as the XBox 360 suffered from) It also drastically reduces the need for bulky cooling systems. (also reducing cost and build complexity)

Low power consumption is also nice, if not quite as necessary. It would be smart for the Ouya team to bill their new system as the "green" console of choice. With its lowered specs and mobile-derived hardware, it will handily beat out all other current home consoles in terms of eco-friendliness. There's a marketing opportunity there.

Learn Unity first > Work on some demos or maybe a simple full game project there to learn the ropes. I wonder how many TIGforums members are familiar with this platform?

That sounds like a pretty good plan to me.

I started off trying to learn C++, but ran into a wall when it came to using it for object-oriented coding. Back then, there were very few examples on how to use OOP in C++ properly, most on-line tutorials focused on procedural coding.

I eventually wrapped my head around OOP when I learned Actionscript 3.0 and C#. Both of these languages made OOP much easier to understand, and I didn't have to bother with memory management.

For my current project, I am developing with Unity. I am using C# for the coding. (since I am already familiar with that language) For Unity, you can code using either C#, Javascript, or Boo. I would suggest either C# or Javascript. Javascript isn't taken quite as seriously as a language. But it is extensively used in HTML5 client-side programming. So learning to use it effectively in Unity would not be a waste.

C++ is best if you want to be independent of any existing software, frameworks, or platforms. It is one of the most widely accepted cross-platform languages. If you are capable enough at C++, you can do almost anything.

The obvious downside is that it can take years to become capable enough at C++ to do what most game developers actually want to. C++ is one of the slower options, and will require a considerable degree of technical skill and practice before you are able to capably produce anything. C++ is one of the slowest and most technically demanding options available.

The .NET framework would be a compromise, but still leans toward fairly heavy programming. This would include Java and C#. (there are several other languages that are .NET compatible, but these two are the most commonly used in game development) .NET framework languages are memory-managed. They require less technical overhead to learn and use, but are somewhat less powerful because of this.

C and C++ are often cited as good places to begin for programming. This is because they are ECMA script languages. Any other ECMA script languages will use the same programming logic conventions that you find in C and C++, and their syntax will have many similarities. Java and C# are both ECMA script languages as well. Learning C or C++ will prepare you for learning any other ECMA script languages.