So, the working name for my homebrew videogame system for infants is now InfraBaby. If anyone has any better suggestions, I would love to hear them.

Though I can't test it until my IR receiver arrives in the mail, I've built the core of the system. I've got a small Python program that reads data from LIRC, and, based on a configuration object, presses keys in Windows. Obviously I've still got some work to do to discover what codes the V.Smile emits, but I'm hoping that'll end up being relatively straightforward.

Now, if everyone was happy writing python code to configure their games, and starting up three programs whenever they wanted their baby to play a game, I'd be done. But no -- I'm coming to the realization that I've got a frontend to write, which lets you set up configurations for your games, and has one-click (or one-press-the-orange-circle) launching of games. I'm really, really itching to give the program a try, but at least a proper user interface will give me something to do while I wait for the damn sensor to come.

So my son turned one year old yesterday! We got him a videogame console for babies.

Now I dare you to look at that thing and not immediately think "Baby Pop'n Music." It is obvious that the giggly Baby Einstein "smartridges" (Seriously! That's what they call them!) are only of limited interest. I'd originally thought that it might be interesting to write software directly for the unit, but it soon became clear that I would have to do a LOT of reverse engineering work -- something I don't have the time or experience to do properly before my son grows out of the thing.

Then I realized that the interesting thing is not the system itself, but the controller. The controller is a very simple IR transmitter, like a remote control. And you can pick up IR receivers for PCs for under $10 on eBay.

So if I pick one of these things up, and write a simple program to convert these IR signals to keystrokes, I could very well make videogames for my 1-year-old son in Klik & Play. For that matter, so could all of you! Kirk just DID!

You guys, you have no idea how exciting it is to think that you could make toys for your child that aren't obnoxious. Every toy on the market has a sound chip in it that talks to my son in a sing-song voice about how fun counting is, and about how fun the alphabet is, and about how fun opposites are, and about how fun manners are. They repeat themselves endlessly. They stunt the imagination. Some of them even tell my son they love him. I have inanimate objects in my house that tell my son they love him!

I can do better. This is my next project.

So here it is. It kind of only works for part of the map for some reason, so I'd need to find a more object-efficient technique, I think, if I wanted to continue working on this.

Having been thoroughly inspired by snapman's brilliant Tek Demo, qrleon's glorious cracktro, and the recent discovery of some excellent Vic-20 demos, I have come to the startling conclusion that it should actually be possible to create a raycasting engine in Klik & Play.

WATCH THIS SPACE.

So, I finally got around to finishing up and packaging up the game that I'd intended to submit to the Poppenkast 3-hour game-development competition. I think it's actually pretty much the best game I've ever made, from a mechanical perspective.

It's called fragment, and you should totally check it out.

Do you love Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!?
Do you have a Wii that can run homebrew?
Do you have a pair of Gamecube bongos?

THEN PREPARE TO EXPERIENCE THE GLORY OF MIKE TYSON'S JUNGLE BEAT -- THE ONLY NES EMULATOR WITH BONGO SUPPORT!

CONTROLS
Each bongo has a top and a bottom button. These naturally correspond to high and low punch.
To dodge, clap.
To use your star punch (or to "Press Start"), hit both top buttons.
To block, hold the start button on the bongos.

Unfortunately SD card support does not work in the latest development copy of FCE Ultra that I used as a baseline, so you will have to run the included injector program with your legitimately acquired Mike Tyson's Punch-Out! ROM. Fortunately, this means that running the game from your Wii takes you DIRECTLY INTO THE ACTION!

Download mtjb.zip to get started!
mtjb.diff is the patch from the SVN trunk as of today (June 27, 2008). The hack is pretty straightforward, so it's not very large.
InjectorSrc.zip is the source code for the injector program, in case someone wanted to compile a Mac version or something.

iMovie is SLOW AS BEJESUS and my built-in MacBook webcam can't take pictures of my TV for shit :(

Hopefully you'll get the jist, or else take higher quality video footage of your own.

OH MY GOD
(hopefully not disgusting)

Mike Tyson's Jungle Beat is more or less complete! I still have to poke at it a bit to make a version that's legal to download, but it TOTALLY WORKS.

I will offer a download link at the same time as its official unveiling via YouTube. Filming is currently in progress.

Here's a little something creepy and unrelated to tide you over until then.

Last night I decided that my SECRET PROJECT is being shelved indefinitely in favour of small, fun projects that don't resemble my job so much and can be finished in a reasonable amount of time without ruining my life.

To help with the crushing disappointment surely felt by all of you, I will announce the working codename of the (non-KotMK) project I am working on next:

MIKE TYSON'S JUNGLE BEAT

Oh, yes. I see the gears turning in your mind.