I just saw this amazing video on Kotaku called "Making Metagun." It shows you exactly what went into making an entire game from scratch. Here's a link to the finished game, which is playable in a browser. As far as I can tell, it was built using Java and Eclipse.

Alcazar - The Forgotten Fortress
(Activision, 1985; ColecoVision)
via Retro UprisingI'd like to provide the latest update to my list of working emulator sites for various platforms. All of these enable play directly within your browser, so there's no sticky business of downloading software and finding the necessary game files to get it all going. These are all great sites and we should all show our support. This is the "July 2010" edition of the list and, naturally, I'd love to keep adding to it, so suggest away. Here goes:

* 2600online.com - Play various Atari 2600 Video Computer Systems games
* Another World (aka, Out of this World; 1991)
* Atari.com - Play select Atari 2600 and Atari arcade favorites
* BBC Micro News - Parrot - News stories and a speech synthesizer directly from a cluster of BBC Micros
* c64s.com - Play various Commodore 64 games
* First-Person Tetris (NES version)
* Freearcade.com (Scott Adams section) - Play various Scott Adams/Adventure International text adventures
* Google Pac-Man - The popular browser-based re-imagining of the classic arcade game
* JEMU - Emulate and play on the Acorn BBC Model B, Amstrad CPC464, Dick Smith VZ-300, Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48K, Sinclair ZX80, and Sinclair ZX81
* JSVecX - Play GCE/Milton Bradley Vectrex games in your browser
* nintendo8.com - Play Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)/Famicom games
* Play Infocom Adventures Online
* The Gallery of Zork - Play the Infocom games online
* Retro Uprising - Play a wide range of videogame and computer systems (arcade, Atari, Coleco, Nintendo, Sega, etc.) in your browser and through a custom software interface
* Sandy White's Ant Attack
* Sarien.net - Play Sierra adventure games
* SC-3000 Survivors - Play Sega SC-3000/SG-1000 games
* Timex/Sinclair 1000 Emulator
* Virtual Apple 2 - Play Apple II and IIGS games
* Virtual Atari - Play Atari 2600 games
* vNES - Play Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)/Famicom games
* ZX81 Software, Books and Hardware Collection - Play ZX81/Timex Sinclair 1000 games

I was browsing Rampant Games today and came across a great editorial called Games – Too Big, Too Hard?, which was itself a response to an article by John Davison of Gamepro. The idea is that while gamers will always say that they want bigger and harder games, what they do is quite different. In short, once you start observing their habits rather than just asking them about it, you find that gamers tend to play games for 4-5 hours before giving up. Most of us buy games, play them for awhile, then stick them on the shelf without completing them.

Tass Times in Tone Town (Activision, 1986; Apple IIGS): From Virtual Apple 2I'd like to provide the latest update to my list of working emulator sites for various platforms. All of these enable play directly within your browser, so there's no sticky business of downloading software and finding the necessary game files to get it all going. These are all great sites and we should all show our support. This is the "May 2010" edition of the list and, naturally, I'd love to keep adding to it, so suggest away. Here goes:

* 2600online.com - Play various Atari 2600 Video Computer Systems games
* Another World (aka, Out of this World; 1991)
* Atari.com - Play select Atari 2600 and Atari arcade favorites
* c64s.com - Play various Commodore 64 games
* First-Person Tetris (NES version)
* Freearcade.com (Scott Adams section) - Play various Scott Adams/Adventure International text adventures
* JEMU - Emulate and play on the Acorn BBC Model B, Amstrad CPC464, Dick Smith VZ-300, Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48K, Sinclair ZX80, and Sinclair ZX81
* nintendo8.com - Play Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)/Famicom games
* Play Infocom Adventures Online
* Sandy White's Ant Attack
* Sarien.net - Play Sierra adventure games
* SC-3000 Survivors - Play Sega SC-3000/SG-1000 games
* The Gallery of Zork - Infocom museum and plenty of games to play (click on "The Canon")
* Virtual Apple 2 - Play Apple II and IIGS games
* Virtual Atari - Play Atari 2600 games
* vNES - Play Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)/Famicom games
* ZX81 Software, Books and Hardware Collection - Play ZX81/Timex Sinclair 1000 games

My friend Matthew S.S. Johnson sent me a note to let us know that the deadline for Rhetoric/Composition/Play: How Electronic Games Mediate Composition Theory and Practice (and Vice Versa) has been extended to June 1, 2010. I've attached the PDF below, but here's a blurb describing the collection:

Rhetoric/Composition/Play will be an edited collection designed for scholars new to computer/video games as well as those who are more expertly versed. The book will consist of academic essays that assess, theorize, and contextualize computer/video games vis-a-vis composition-rhetoric. We invite 900-1200-word proposals for this proposed collection.

I intend to submit a proposal, though I'm not sure what I'll do yet.

In the interest of sharing, I'd like to provide my current list of working emulator sites for various platforms. All of these enable gameplay directly within your browser, so there's no sticky business of downloading software and finding the necessary game files to get it all going. These are all great sites and we should all show our support. I'm dubbing this the "November 2009" edition of the list and would love to keep adding to it, so suggest away and when I do the next edition, I'll expand it. Here goes:

* 2600online.com - Play various Atari 2600 Video Computer Systems games
* c64s.com - Play various Commodore 64 games
* Freearcade.com (Scott Adams section) - Play various Scott Adams/Adventure International text adventures
* JEMU - Emulate and play on the Acorn BBC Model B, Amstrad CPC464, Dick Smith VZ-300, Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48K, Sinclair ZX80 and Siclair ZX81
* nintendo8.com - Play Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)/Famicom games
* Play Infocom Adventures Online
* The Gallery of Zork - Infocom museum and plenty of games to play
* Sandy White's Ant Attack
* Sarien.net - Play Sierra adventure games
* SC-3000 Survivors - Play Sega SC-3000/SG-1000 games
* Virtual Apple ][ - Play Apple II and IIGS games
* vNES - Play Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)/Famicom games

Finally, don't forget the Games section right here on Armchair Arcade. Enjoy!

Bill Loguidice presents a quick game of "Name That Arcade Game", featuring Namco's Japanese Dotgraph arcade toys. Listen to the toy play the sound sample, pause the video, then try to guess the game before resuming the video and getting your answer.

I just came across this, don't know how long it has been or will remain available but I figured a great free game from a great site there is no better time to check it out/sign up. I did a video to let my Youtube subscribers know but they are doing site maintenance right now DOH! Thought I would fill you guys in to! Below my original post/info (On my Facebook group)
BENEATH THE STEEL SKY

Through our affiliation with PlayFirst, we are able to offer a 50% discount to our readers for the entire month of December for Sweetopia, the hilarious action puzzler from Gamelab that you can also try freely online. The following coupon codes expire December 31, 2007:

PC version - decsweet
Mac version - decsweetmac

In this fast-paced chain-popper, something in the candy factory has gone dreadfully awry. The latest batch of sweets on the conveyor belts has explosive potential and it's up to you and Kate to return the factory to the Sweetopia it once was. Simply stop the Sherbet Sizzlers from colliding before you enter a sugar shock!

Click here or on one of the links below to go to the PlayFirst Website and enjoy!