Nintendo World is one of my favorite places in New York City. I was in the neighborhood today, so I thought I’d checkout the new Nintendo 3DS. It’s the latest portable gaming system from Nintendo. The main feature is that it has three-dimensional effects, but without the need for special glasses. This is not something that can be photographed or recorded by conventional means. I had to see the device with my own eyes. After having done so, I’m surprisingly disappointed. The 3DS just wasn’t that impressive to me.
Continue reading “Nintendo 3DS — A Surprising Disappointment”
I’ve been trying to learn Corona. The plan was to write a new textbook about Ansca Mobile’s software. But learning Lua has been a bit tricky for me. That’s why I’ve stopped the project. Before writing a book, one should master the topic. I’m not anywhere near as skilled with Corona as I am with GameSalad. However, I was at least able to produce some new educational material — a Corona Sound Effect Tutorial. That’s what what this article is about. The free .WAV Wednesday series returns, with a simple lesson on using sound effects in Corona.
It can be tough being a developer. You can work for months on a project and then nothing happens. Your app can be buried by thousands of other apps. Which is worse — to be ignored or to have mean things said about your app? While it might feel better to be left alone, rather than being abused by harsh words, a bad review can actually work for you. I was recently reminded of that fact when 148apps.com reviewed 
I’m having another one of those Obi Wan Kenobi moments. Star Wars fans likely know the scene. Luke Skywalker doesn’t start out as a knight. He’s a beginner. In one of his training exercises with Obi Wan, Luke is able to deflect laser blasts with his lightsaber – without being able to use his eyes. Obi Wan congratulates Luke by saying, “That’s good, you’ve taken your first step into a larger world.” Yesterday, I took a step into a larger development world. I downloaded and installed the Corona SDK – which uses Lua. Mastering this programming language is necessary to complete my next project – The Unofficial Corona Textbook.
The GameSalad forums seems to be growing more grumpy lately. Since that’s one of my favorite spots on the Internet, I’ve decided to give the developers something else to fight — instead of each other. Game development can be pretty competitive, but there’s something else that’s more important than making hit games. Living a healthy life, that’s more important. You can’t make games if you’re too sick or dead. But not everyone is a scientist or a doctor, so how can a bunch of game developers save lives? That’s where the Photics Team gets involved with a new contest!