pmfa - Slashdot User

Microsoft Shows Full 3D XNA Games On Windows Phone 70

Posted by Soulskill on Thursday March 11, 2010 @04:31AM from the xbox-live-mini dept.

suraj.sun writes "Microsoft has shown off XNA games running on Windows Phone; full 3D is a go. From Engadget: 'Microsoft just showed us a pair of 3D games running on its ASUS Windows Phone prototype and built with its brand new XNA Game Studio 4.0 9. The two titles are The Harvest, a good looking touch-controlled dungeon crawler with destructible environments, being developed by Luma Arcade; and Battle Punks. Microsoft spoke to the ease of its Direct3D development platform, which was built by the same folks responsible for the first-gen Xbox. What we saw of The Harvest was built in "two or three weeks," mostly from scratch, and folks who've already built games for XNA in VisualStudio shouldn't have much trouble with a port from the sound of things: "very, very easy," said Microsoft. Right now developers can do their testing in Windows, but there should be a Windows Phone 7 Series emulator out for devs eventually.'"

Ubuntu Gets a New Visual Identity 683

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday March 03, 2010 @10:00PM from the it-cleans-up-well dept.

buntcake writes "Canonical has launched a new visual identity for the Ubuntu Linux distribution. Ubuntu is shedding its previous brown look and adopting a more professional color scheme with purple and orange. The colors will be used in a new GNOME theme and boot splash for Ubuntu 10.04. According to updated design documents that were published in the Ubuntu wiki, 'light' is the underlying concept behind the new visual identity. It displaces the 'human' concept that has been part of Ubuntu's theming and brand vernacular for the past five years. Ubuntu community manager Jono Bacon has posted a screenshot and additional information."

Comment A lot of engines are going down this road (Score 2, Interesting) 200

by pmfa on Wednesday February 24, 2010 @06:16AM (#31257320) Attached to: DirectX 11 Coming To Browser Games

The Panda 3d engine has a BSD license, and you use python to develop the games. They recently released a browser plugin too. Their runtime works in Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, and of course the iPhone.

This is the way to go, to get the most platforms covered as possible. Everyone is drooling about their new iPhone/iPad or Android phone or whatever. Mobile is not the next big thing, it's the big thing right now. With a Direct X 11 browser plugin you're achieving very little, what's the use? Halo, the Internet Explorer edition?

Comment Re:Times have changed (Score 2, Interesting) 180

by pmfa on Friday January 15, 2010 @08:45AM (#30777652) Attached to: Former Exec Says Electronic Arts "Is In the Wrong Business"

It seems he was more happy when EA was the company that didn't create much of new IP or games, but just milked the old ones every year with new versions.

You completely missed the point of the article. Maybe you're a fan of some of the games and you feel that the guy is attacking those, but he doesn't have a word to say about game quality. His main concern is EA's failure to adapt to digital distribution, and the reshaping of a game as we imagine it. In fact a lot a people are failing to see the point, that's the reason there is a follow up post named Packaged Goods to explain game unbundling. It's all about choice. Nowadays instead of spending 60$ on a box and get 40 hours of gameplay, we the gamers, want to select our experience. If I only play on my iPhone during my daily commute I can spend a buck once in a while and I'm happy. The freaks that spend their every waking hour in some corner of a virtual world can pay a monthly subscription and be happy.

Comment Could everyone please RTFA? (Score 2, Interesting) 330

by pmfa on Friday August 07, 2009 @03:26PM (#28989509) Attached to: Ubuntu's New Firefox Is Watching You

Quoting from the linked bug report:

"We've made some changes in the Alpha 3 version of Firefox related to how and where search queries are processed. We've introduced the changes at this time in an experimental vein in order to explore and understand the user experience and usage patterns. We plan to use this experimental code at least until Alpha 4.

Note that we did not necessarily foresee Multisearch as code that we would ship in a stable release. Whatever actions we take in response to the information and feedback will depend on the information and feedback that we collect from this effort."

This is a test feature directed at exploring ways of improving user experience, nobody is spying on anyone. Maybe there should have been a better P.R.strategy, like communicating this experiment on advance, and requesting feedback. That would avoid some moron misinterpreting the whole thing. Now can we all go back to doing useful stuff?

Submission + - Microsoft Patents Crippling Operating Systems 1

Submitted by

theodp

on Tuesday May 19, 2009 @03:20AM

theodp writes: "On Tuesday, U.S. Patent No. 7,536,726 was granted to Microsoft for intentionally crippling the functionality of an operating system by 'making selected portions and functionality of the operating system unavailable to the user or by limiting the user's ability to add software applications or device drivers to the computer' until an 'agreed upon sum of money' is paid to 'unlock or otherwise make available the restricted functionality.' According to Microsoft, this solves a 'problem inherent in open architecture systems,' i.e., 'they are generally licensed with complete use rights and/or functionality that may be beyond the need or desire of the system purchaser.' An additional problem with open architecture systems, Microsoft explains, is that 'virtually anyone can write an application that can be executed on the system.' Nice to see the USPTO rewarding Microsoft's eight problem-solving inventors, including Linux killer (and antelope killer) Joachim Kempin, who's been credited with getting Microsoft hauled into federal court on antitrust charges."

Comment What is going to be it's use? (Score 1) 823

by pmfa on Wednesday December 24, 2008 @08:15AM (#26222005) Attached to: Configuring a Windows PC For a Senior Citizen?

I think your question, and the answers you will get, would benefit greatly from a bit more of context. One important point is if the person that will get the PC has any prior experience with Windows and computers in general, and the intended use for the computer.

If he (or she) has used Windows in the past I would say install the exact same version they used (or the closest you can get your hands on, stay away from Vista) and do a security lockup on everything. Don't leave the possibility for software installation, install Firefox and ThunderBird, and Open Office. Hide or remove the icons for IE.

With no experience on Windows I would say that there are far better alternatives. If a PC is really needed there's Ubuntu. It is extremely easy to get around, easier than any version of Windows, and far more secure. However if the intended use is only browsing the web and maybe using webmail, a Nintendo Wii will perfectly fit the job and also give as bonus endless hours of fun.

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