HAPPY NEW YEAR! 🥳 🎉
After much consideration, a plan for 2025 has begun. The big project is to create a new book — A Book About Making Web Games. The decision to move ahead with this plan involves two main ideas. The first, I always wanted to run my own arcade. The second, it has to do with tech education.
Looking at that first idea, running a 1980s styled arcade would be incredibly tedious… the noise, the constant counting of quarters, the sitting around. But with today’s tech, every pocket across the planet is a potential arcade. In other words, an average smartphone can play lots of video games.
With Progressive Web Apps, there are no barriers. This was tested with the Christmas Card (2024). People could save the virtual card directly to their iPhone home screen or macOS Dock. I even tested the Christmas Card on Linux and it simply worked. There were no app store rules to content with. It was just fun!
To properly create “A Book About Making Web Games”, that means improving the “Games” section of this website. That’s the arcade. The idea is that these new games could help to promote the book — and it could be a lot of fun to play those games. While the original dream involved a brick and mortar building, this virtual approach can reach way more people.
That’s the second point. While I was originally cautiously optimistic about the Elon Musk and Donald Trump alliance, now I’m not seeing enough love for humanity. Even before inauguration day, the conversation about H-1B visas devolved into insults on 𝕏. (That’s the website formerly known as Twitter.)
Looking at the problem objectively, there are issues on both sides. Elon Musk was not born in the United States, so it’s easy to see how he could take the issue personally. Would Tesla and Space X be as successful, or would they exist at all, if Elon Musk didn’t become an American Citizen?
Yet, the counter argument is how companies exploit H-1B workers. The phrase “Indentured Servant” is being used to describe the people who are paid less and can’t quit as easily. Simultaneously, American tech workers are being laid off and arguably some are replaced with H-1B workers. The debate has put Tesla under a spotlight, with its mix of layoffs and H-1B hiring. That doesn’t appear to be the application of the “America First” motto, which was a big theme of Trump’s presidential election campaign.
Meanwhile, Americans do need improvement with technology. It’s not just education, but the passion to take an interest in “STEM” jobs. Can a book really fix that problem?
It’s not enough to tell people, “Learn to code!”
How does that happen exactly? 🤔
Well, after converting A Book About Hype and Revisions to ePub, it was surprising to learn the true power of that format. Previously, I used iBooks Author to create interactive eBooks. It was a disaster! Apple abandoned the app. Even before that, the iBooks format was severely limited. But today, I better understand the web technology that powers an ePub. A much better book could be built.
It’s not just about interactivity though, as a printed version of the book is still being considered. Actually, that part might be essential. Digital books have advantages, but they’re not so great as gifts on Christmas morning. That’s why it’s not necessarily the format that will make this book special.
The real angle of this book involves something that the newer generations are missing. They’re starting in the middle of the fray. They didn’t get to see the rise of the Internet or the rise of video games. It’s difficult to gain perspective in the center of such chaos. By taking the learner through a guided tour of retro-styled gaming and vanilla web tech, a strong foundation is built. It’s learning to code while having fun.
There is another benefit to this approach. It could be great for classrooms and schools. Expensive software isn’t required. Expensive computer hardware isn’t necessary either. The focus will be on building extremely lightweight games. It won’t matter if you’re using a Raspberry Pi 5 or an M4 Mac mini. The lessons will essentially be the same. That’s the beauty of web tech.
Photics.TV is trending towards games. That’s another reason why this project was selected. If even just a smaller percentage of those viewers decide to be more than just players, if they decide to learn web/game development, then the project could be successful.
YouTube is also in the process of rolling out the “Courses” feature. If that feature is added to the channel in time, perhaps there will be such a playlist to better promote the book.
Yet, the year is not just about a book project. More videos are planned for the YouTube channel. A Crossy Road — Chicken Tournament is being prepared.
During recent livestreams about Crossy Road, a common question was asked. “What’s your favorite character?” Well, what if the entire community could answer that question? Using a tournament format, weekly polls in the community section will be used to determine the best Crossy Road chicken.
There’s also a plan to launch an “All Exits” guide for Super Mario World. That project is taking much longer than expected…
While all of the footage has been recorded, the narration and editing is approximately 33% complete. The video is up to the Red Switch Palace. If at least 1-2 additional exits are completed every day, the video should be ready for Mario Day. That’s March 10th.
A previous attempt at such a long video was not successful. The New Super Mario Bros. Wii All Star Coins guide underperformed. Yet, the idea is to expand the channel beyond Crossy Road. There have been a lot of rumors about the successor to the Nintendo Switch. Is it arriving in 2025? If it does, then it could be an exciting year for gaming. By adding additional Nintendo content to the channel, there’s a greater chance of expanding the audience.
So, that’s the plan. There are three New Year’s Resolutions…
- Publish a new book — A Book About Making Web Games: Using Vanilla Web Technology As A Fun Way To Learn To Code
- Crossy Road — Chicken Tournament
- Finish the Super Mario World video before Mario Day
Turning Photics into a tech variety magazine was seriously considered as this year’s project, but politics quickly became a problem. Many tech issues are politically charged, as shown in just this post. And even though the Photics.TV community voted 2-to-1 in favor of a tech magazine, the book has a greater chance at success.
It is a year of Jubilee, so the focus is on fun projects that bring people together. This might be considered a reset of the 10-Year plan, but it depends on the success of these projects. Specifically, if the book does well, there are ideas for other books. Hopefully these ideas are successful and are helpful to a lot of people. 🙂