indie(Radio) Returns – “Season II” of the indie(Radio) “game development talk show” began yesterday. The episode was scheduled to include an interview with Vlambeer but is not currently available to replay.

RedChu’s YoYo Games signature card generator has been updated with some new designs. The dynamically generated images can be used to display real-time information about games hosted on YoYo Games.

Are Indie Bundles Bad For Gaming? – Not many GameMaker games make it to well-known indie gaming bundle deals but the number of bundle offers around has grown rapidly. Pixelsordeath asks whether such deals are good for their creators and the industry.

Community Links: GM Version API, Indie(Radio), Signature Card Update is taken from: GameMaker Blog

Greg Froning has created a free GameMakerNews Android App. The App provides easy access to GameMakerBlog’s latest stories as well as a community area for discussions.

Community Links: Grave Maker Beta, GameMakerNews App is taken from: GameMaker Blog

The Game Maker Community Game has been released. The release is titled “GMCG: The Arcade” and is a collection of arcade mini games developed by different individuals and teams. Because of this the games don’t share the same look and feel – this is essentially a linked selection of games similar to those “100 Great Arcade Games” CDs you can pick up cheaply at electronics stores. Initially a single game was being developed for the Game Maker Community Game project but this was later revised to the collection of mini games.
GMC Links: Creations Forum Post | Announcement of Release

Adobe ceases development on mobile browser Flash, refocuses efforts on HTML5 – ZDNet
Adobe is to stop development of Flash Player for mobile browsers in favour of Adobe AIR packaged native Apps and HTML5.

Cactus Interview, GMCG Released, Adobe to Stop Mobile Browser Flash Development is taken from: GameMaker Blog

xot has updated his list of “Things that work differently” between GameMaker 8.1 and GameMaker:HTML5. Well worth a read if you are getting started with GameMaker:HTML5.

Some of the first entries in the Game Maker’s Developer Network have appeared online.

Community Links: Mac App Composer, GameMaker 8.1 & HTML5 Differences is taken from: GameMaker Blog

Game Maker Community member OMGCarlos plans to create the “Game Maker’s Developer Network”. The website will feature a redesigned help manual with interactive demos created using GameMaker HTML5.  [Example function | GMC topic]

Issue 16 of indie(Magazine) has been released, the first issue since the switch to fortnightly releases. Game artist Maple explains how to efficiently construct a sprite sheet for platform games and there is an interview with the creator of the Tululoo HTML5 Game Maker. Sqware by Rawr Development is the reviewed Game Maker game alongside those written in other languages. [indie(Magazine) #16 .pdf]

Community Links: First YoYo Games Facebook Game, Game Maker’s Developer Network, indie(Function) 16 is taken from: GameMaker Blog

RC has developed a signature “Game Card Generator” for YoYo Games. The dynamic signatures contain statistics about a chosen game on YoYoGames.com, a game screenshot and custom message.

A new Game Maker magazine, titled IndieGo, is due to release its first issue tomorrow. The team plan to charge 80p to download a .pdf version and £2.50 for a hard copy. A “demo” issue which was posted online and deservedly attracted criticism for its poor quality.
With the first issue due for release on the same day as the GameMaker:HTML5 beta goes public and YoYo Games’ Kirsty stating that they have been “involved with Indie Go” it will be interesting to see what the issue contains. But after seeing the the demo issue I doubt many will be prepared to pay 80p to see what’s inside!
Forum posts: GMC, YYGF

Community Links: GameMaker:HTML5 for $79, Signature Card Generator, IndieGo Magazine is taken from: GameMaker Blog

The 14th issue of indie(Magazine) has been released. Sadly it’s rather a sparse issue when compared to previous editions which editor Bret Hudson attributes to regular contributors being busy with school. If you’re interested in helping with the magazine I’m sure your efforts would be much appreciated by the current team.

YoYo Games helpdesk ticket gone unanswered? Perhaps you submitted it to the ‘wrong’ helpdesk? The one that’s linked to from the homepage of YoYoGames.com.  Until YoYo respond we won’t know for sure but Russell writes that there are “ too many reports of tickets being submitted and [being] unseen at our end”.

Community Links: Mobile HTML5 Compatibility, indie(Magazine) 14, Helpdesk Mix Up? is taken from: GameMaker Blog

Jeff Hangartner released an iOS game in June which “is down to basically around 2 sales a day”. In what will eventually become a 5-part article he writes about the techniques he has used to promote the game. The first part of the 5-post article covers social media marketing and discusses the pros and cons of various services, including how he managed to get a plug from the @YoYoGameMaker twitter account – for a game not made in GameMaker.

The Importance Of Game Jams – Adam Rademacher with some thoughts on Gamasutra after participating in the recent Ludum Dare 21.

Community Links: indie(Function), Indie Game Marketing, Importance Of Jams is taken from: GameMaker Blog

Issue 11 of indie(Magazine) was released yesterday (5.4MB .pdf). This latest edition includes reviews of the top 3 games from the recent GMC GameJam and an interview with Andrew Brophy. Uriel Griffin also writes that Jesse Venbrux’s You Still Won’t Make It has sold around 4,000 copies at the Mac App Store.

The mobile versions of Jesse Venbrux’s They Need to Be Fed have been updated and now feature an additional 32 levels. [yyg]

Jan Willem Nijman (half of Vlambeer creators of Super Crate Box) is the latest GameMaker user to be interviewed by QuoteUnquote.

Community Links: Look at GameMaker HTML5 Alpha, indie(Magazine) 11, Venbrux and Vlambeer is taken from: GameMaker Blog

Anna Anthropy and Rob Fearon have blogged about their disappointment regarding the pricing and focus of GameMaker.
“Unfortunately, in 2007 Mark Overmars sold Game Maker to a Scottish corporation called YoYo Games that has steadily mismanaged one of the most liberating creative tools of our time.” -Anna
“The past 12 months have shown me that there are people working at YoYoGames who get it, who understand the strength Gamemaker has. It’s also shown me that ultimately, it doesn’t matter.” -Rob

Game Jolt and indie(Function) are running a “Music Interpretation” contest which starts today and runs until 24th September. Full rules and details of the prizes (game features) are available at the GameJolt forum.

Community Links: Ludum Dare 21, Pricing and Focus of GameMaker, GameJolt indie(Function) Contest is taken from: GameMaker Blog