dvertov

Last night’s livestream of The Storied Sword is now on YouTube. Thanks to everyone who showed up to participate in the chat!

Tonight! The Homebrew Game Club plays through swashbuckling platformer The Storied Sword for NES. Inspired by Ninja Gaiden and Sunsoft’s Batman, The Storied Sword is a fast-paced action game with tight wall-jumping mechanics. Just 13 days left to back it on Kickstarter!
 

Follow us on Twitch here.

Now live on the feed: Episode 17: Full Quiet!

Special guest host Chris (aka @Deadeye) joins Conor and Nick for a deep dive into Retrotainment Games’ brilliant but baffling Full Quiet for NES. Conor reveals his new game design concept (the F.A.R.T.W.A.L.K.), Nick dusts off his memories of Russian literature, and Chris… probably isn’t used to this amount of profanity in a homebrew podcast.

Our next Game Club picks will be Flea! and Tapeworm Disco Puzzle for NES and Dreamcast. Find links to both at ⁠Lowtek Games’ website⁠.

The full list of questions answered in our "Ask The Podcast" bonus episode:

Raftronaut: What is your desert island laundry detergent?

Dale Coop: What would be a good length of a homebrew game? (Does size matter??)

Matt Hughson: You should do an "extras" on the mario movie.  [ed: This is not a question.]

Eric Wilder: With the Atari release of the 2600+ are all independently made 2600 games technically no longer considered 'homebrew'?

Raftronaut: The frog from Frogger is clearly going to work based on the briefcase they’re carrying. What type of job do you think the Frogger frog is commuting to?

Raftronaut: What are the characteristics of a good instruction manual? What are some examples of things you like/dislike?

Dale Coop: What is your favorite(s) Homebrew? What homebrew would you like to have in your collection?

Raftronaut: What’s the podcast’s favorite movie about video games?

Wiedo: What do you think about physical-only game releases?

Now live on the feed: HBGC Answers Your Questions!

In this extra special bonus episode, Conor, Bart, and Nick scour the "Ask the Podcast" channel from the HBGC Discord server to catch up on unanswered questions over the last year. Questions like: How long should a homebrew game be? What's your favorite video game movie? Is Atari still Atari? And what's your desert island laundry detergent? The gang even employs artificial intelligence to answer the most pressing question of our day: What is the Frogger frog's job?

Nick also offers his extended take on Breath of the Wild. (It's long.)

Got your own question for us to answer? Head over to our Discord server and let us know in #ask-the-podcast!

Now live on the feed: Episode #16: Shmups!

The gang takes on three very short but action-packed shoot 'em ups: Omega Blast for the Mega Drive, Dangan GB2 for the Game Boy Color, and Flight of Pigarus for the Master System. We also reveal the winners of our 2023 shoot 'em ups high score competition.

Our next game will be Full Quiet for the NES. Find it on Steam, Nintendo e-Shop, or Xbox, or ⁠get the cartridge here.

Just updating this thread to say the leaderboards have been updated to show the overall tournament rankings as well as rankings for each specific game. Congratulations to WhiteHat94 for winning the overall competition, and to Wiedo for earning the random draw runner-up prize. WhiteHat94 selected a pint glass, so Wiedo gets to pick a game for us to cover on an upcoming episode of the podcast.

The full podcast episode about these games is available here or via most podcast apps (Apple, Spotify, etc). Thanks to everyone who participated!

Folks, just a reminder that you have around 24 hours from the time of this post to submit scores for the HBGC shoot 'em ups competition! WhiteHat94 has a solid overall lead on our scoreboard, but don't forget we've added a second prize tier you can win just by entering. Also, if you're not into pint glasses, we just released a couple of new mugs you can request instead, including the "We're Not Rebranding" mug pictured here. (All of this stuff is also available to buy at our online store -- you won't get it in time for Christmas, but you might be able to have one in hand after the holidays to quaff down any leftover egg nog.) Happy shooting!

Only one week left to enter the HBGC 2023 shoot ‘em ups tournament! Scores are due next Monday, Dec. 18 at 11:59pm UTC. I've updated the scoreboard to show current overall leaders across all games. @WhiteHat94 is currently on top, but only one point separates our top two players. Also remember the runner-up prize is awarded by random draw among all participants, so you can get a prize just for entering!

Edited to add info about a random draw for the runner-up prize! 

Edited the rules to specify we're playing Dangan GB2 at the normal difficulty setting.

Hi all! Our picks for the December 2023 Homebrew Game Club podcast episode are three short-format, scoring-focused shoot ‘em ups. In the spirit of these games, we are hosting a high score tournament on our Discord server through December 18. Scoring will be grand prix style with 10 points awarded for each first place, 9 for second place, 8 for third, etc. Whoever has the highest overall scoring rank across all three games is the winner.

Overall winner gets their choice of two prizes: an HBGC pint glass (as seen here) OR the chance to pick a game we will cover for an upcoming numbered episode.

Added 11-28-23: To make this more competitive, whatever prize the overall winner doesn’t pick will be awarded to one other participant from the tournament, drawn at random. Participants must submit scores for all three games to qualify.

You can find free ROMs for all three games at these links:

• Omega Blast (Mega Drive / Genesis)
• Flight of Pigarus (Master System; play the 5 minute version)
• Dangan GB2 (Game Boy Color; play at normal difficulty)

Contest rules are as follows: 

- This contest is open to any member of the HBGC Discord server. (If you're not a member yet, here's an invite link.)

- HBGC podcast hosts will participate in the tournament but are ineligible to win.

- Submitted scores cannot be achieved via use of save states, slowdown, or other external tools to make the game easier.

- Post photos of your score to our #16-shmups Discord channel or send them to me via DM and I will add them to the leaderboard.

- Photo evidence is encouraged, but the honor system applies here, so if you weren’t able to get a photo we’ll still accept the score. Note however that tiebreakers will be decided in favor of scores with photo evidence.

Leaderboard is viewable here.

Scores must be submitted by 11:59pm UTC on Monday, December 18 to be eligible. Good luck! 

Just updating this post with our latest episodes! Find each of them on your favorite podcast app of choice, or click the titles below for direct links:

HBGC Interview: Ben Jelter

Game Boy developer Ben Jelter joins the gang for a wide-ranging discussion on… Lots of things. Things like: Game design, GB Studio, his favorite homebrews, how to stay productive as a creative professional, hacker movies, the illusion of choice, Just World Theory, and what retro console he’s interested in developing for next (you won’t guess what it is). Oh, and we also talk about his excellent game The Machine, covered in depth on Episode 13 of our podcast. It’s a good time!

With Twitter's Decline, What's Next for Indie Game Developers?

Twitter, now rebranded "X," has been an important avenue for homebrewers and other indie game developers to connect with each other and promote their work. Tech industry veterans Conor and Nick discuss the decline of the app under Elon Musk, the rise of alternative platforms, and what it might all mean for the homebrew community.

Episode 14: Anguna

The Game Club takes on three iterations of Nathan Tolbert's Zelda-inspired Anguna series on the Game Boy Advance, Atari 2600, and Nintendo Entertainment System. Conor attempts to define the "walkie-pokey" genre, Nick has a question about where those arrows are coming from, and Bart shares a wholesome story about George Clooney and a litter box.

Episode 15: Doodle World and Kubo 3

The Game Club takes on Doodle World and Kubo 3, two NESmaker games created with contributions from children. But are we the right audience for this type of game? We invite some guest experts on the show to discuss.

Announced yesterday, AtariAge is pulling nearly 100 homebrew ports, hacks, and repros from their store due to concerns about potential IP issues, so these games are on sale until they get delisted on July 23rd. Here's a link to the store page for the affected games.

9 hours ago, the_wizard_666 said:

once an entity is incorporated, they become traditional developers and lose the indie developer tag.

I get the gist of what you're saying, but you lost me here... A corporation or LLC can be as small as a single person, so per this definition a tiny studio like Mega Cat isn't even making "indie games" anymore. Also I think it's useful to have a term like "homebrew" to indicate that the game was designed with the limitations of a specific retro console in mind, even if it's just an informal term used by that console's dev community. So yes, I agree that all homebrews are indie games, but not all indie games are homebrews.

7 hours ago, dale_coop said:

Wow, I am very surprise that someone who make new games for an old console (like the GB/GBC) never heard of the "homebrew" term. It's like he went into it without searching what was already existing?

It's not that he'd never heard of it, I think it's just a more common term in some developer communities than others and he wasn't sure how it applied to his game. I've been lurking in the GB Studio discord for a while, and although it's a frequently used term I don't know if it's quite as common as in NESdev. Similarly, I get the impression Dreamcast devs rarely use it and prefer just calling their releases "indie games."

1 hour ago, fcgamer said:

I'm really excited to hear the interview, please let us know when it drops. 

Will do, thanks!

Late to this thread, but for what it's worth I have an upcoming interview (posting in the next week or two) with a developer who uses GB Studio, which I think has lowered the barriers to entry for the Game Boy scene even moreso than NESmaker has for NES development. Interestingly, he seemed somewhat unfamiliar with the term "homebrew" and wanted me to clarify the meaning. I think this dev sees his games as "indie games" that just happen to be playable on a retro console, which is how someone completely new to these communities likely makes sense of them -- especially when so many titles now go on to get proper ports to Steam and modern consoles like Switch, Playstation, and Xbox.

At this point I use "homebrew" as a term of endearment, almost like a nickname, although in my head I just think of them all as indie games, full stop. And also because "aftermarket" strikes me as a clunky, awkward word. And also because I am not rebranding my podcast, which would be a huge pain in the ass.

Now live on the feed: The Game Club takes on The Machine, a dystopian sci-fi dark comedy for the Game Boy Color with surprising depth. Conor theorizes on how to keep hippies from turning into cannibals, Bart clarifies that we’re not watching a completely unrelated movie, and Nick embraces ethically compromised decision making.

Now live on the feed: We interview NES developer and podcaster Kevin Hanley about his many games for the console, his advice for new indie retro creators, and why he thinks we're in a "golden age" for NES homebrew. Check it out at the link below!

We covered Kevin’s escape room game NEScape! way back on Episode 4. Check out that entry here. 

Haven't checked in here in a while, but I recently beat Cave shooters Mushihimesama, Dondonpachi Resurrection, and Espgaluda II, all of which got physical NA releases through Limited Run Games. ("Beat" in each case meaning "shamelessly fed credits until I got through the game.")

The Game Club takes on The Cursed Knight, a well-made Mega Drive game that really wants to give you a wedgie and stuff you into a locker. Bart defends his Nintendo bias, Nick rages about passwords, and Conor tries to stay positive. Bonus topic: What's your favorite food item in a video game?

I had a great conversation with Francesco Bacchelli, creator of the Game Boy series Flying Arrows, about his new Kickstarter campaign (live right now!) and his efforts to save a retro gaming community center in Bologna, Italy.

Grab your tweeter and channel your inner pirate radio broadcaster as the gang covers What Remains, a walkie-talkie adventure game for the NES. Conor digs the 1980s vibes, Bart gets duped by a false ending, and Nick brings back the beeps... or, at least, one big one.

New episode! This was recorded in mid-January and was supposed to go live several weeks ago, but circumstances led me to push off finishing the edit until this week. It's a bit less organized than what we usually publish but it's a good time regardless.

Conor seizes control of the host mic to send the Game Club on a long, rambling, lightly edited conversation about several titles we played in 2022 that deserve more attention. Old games, new games, indie games, mobile games, AAA games – everything is up for discussion. (We even throw some homebrew games in there.) Other topics include game preservation, preorders, a debate about Patreon, online gaming with kids, and... lots of other stuff we'd usually cut.