Mommy's Best Games, Inc. is an independent game developer founded in 2007. This is a view behind the scenes of our game development and marketing!

Nathan

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Even Up the Odds

Shoot 1UP on Windows Phone 7 is out now! It's got exclusive content like strange, new enemies, a new ship, a new game mode, Achievements, friends Leaderboards, and free ringtones! Get it here: marketplace link

In addition, we made a short, live-action commercial called "Even Up the Odds" to mark the release. Enjoy!



Game press kit for WP7:
http://www.mommysbestgames.com/Shoot1UP_WP7_PressKit/

More game details here, including the original Xbox 360 link:
http://mommysbestgames.com/shoot1up.html

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Help Microsoft Fix the XBLIG Forums



About a week ago, Microsoft split the XBLIG and WP7 site back into two sites. One for Xbox LIVE Indie Games and one for Windows Phone 7 development. This is nice... actually it's more funny than anything as originally the XBLIG had it's own site.. but anyway.


UPDATE (September): Looks like the forums and searching is working again. Hooray! Thanks Microsoft for getting it fixed.

ORIGINAL STORY:

After that change it turns out that doing a search for information on the forums does not work. Let that sink in. Search is broken.

Doing a search for most things on the XBLIG development forums fails. What happens is you are redirected to a pretty page that asks if you want to make an Indie Game or WP7 game. Even if you click on the Indie Game, it ignores whatever you were looking for and just takes you to the main XBLIG. Search aborted. Can't find the help you're looking for. I've found a few things that work, but the vast majority of searches fail.


We need to get that fixed, and that means writing "creators@microsoft.com". If you develop Xbox LIVE Indie Games, let's get this change happening.

Here's the body of an email I've sent. Please write your own, or use mine as a starting point or wholesale. I'd keep it short, polite, and say what's broken.

Hello team!
After the transition from pulling the XBLIG site back out of the apphub/phone site it seems the forwarding links when doing a search for information don't work. I was hoping this was just a short matter of time, but it's still not working.
This is critical for the site to be useful. That impedes not only seasoned developers but especially new developers which will crush growth.

Can we please get someone on this?
Thank you!

In any case developers, it's up to us to help convince Microsoft this is an important issue. Please write them!
I love playing and developing XBLIG as I'm sure you do as well. Keeping the forums in a healthy state is critical to the platform's ongoing growth and development.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Shoot 1UP Yours August 22nd

You can Shoot 1UP your phone on August 22nd for $2.99!
New gameplay video extolling its exclusive virtues:

 New features include:
  • A new weird level, enemies and extra bosses!
  • Extra unlockable ship!
  • Exclusive game mode called Score Tilt which utilizes the phone's tilt sensor!
  • Free sci-fi-techno-catchy ringtones!
Just twenty days to wait till your phone gets a new workout!

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Gunstacker Upgrades Explained

I love the Gunstacker feature in the current release of Serious Sam Double D on Steam, but we can push it further. There's definitely some neat strategy you can get out of the current version, but obviously with more weapon variety the player has even more options on how to tackle a tough fight.




That's where the XXL comes in, for the new version of the game coming to XBLA later this summer. The new game has an extra suffix (Serious Sam Double D XXL) denoting new content, and one big aspect is Gunstacker upgrades! There will be two types of modifications "Ammo" and "Upgrades".



For each of the 8 gun types (Tommy Gun, Rocket Launcher, etc), there is the ability to increase the amount of ammo the guns can carry. This general modification is applied to an entire 'gun type' (like all variations of Tommy Guns). As you buy Ammo+1, you get an extra clip which gives you about 20% more ammo for that gun type. Any Tommy Guns for which you buy Ammo+1 can now carry more ammo. That opens up Ammo+2, and then Ammo+3, each costing more, but letting you carry a lot more bullets in the end.




Buy gun-changing upgrades for particular guns.

The second, and biggest area are the specialty "Upgrades". These are applied to one specific gun which you'll select while buying things in the new store (the first Tommy Gun, your third Shotgun, etc). That's right, you pick one specific Shotgun, and then buy an expensive upgrade for it. But why? Because the specialty Upgrades basically turn that particular gun into a whole new weapon!

These range in complexity, from an upgrade to the Machine Pistol that increases the damage dealt by all guns in your current stack, all the way up to entirely new weapons like an upgrade to the Shotgun... that turns it into the legendary Serious Sam Cannon!

You'll also be able to revert a specialty gun back to it's original form, and get a little bit of money back in the process.

Stay tuned, as over the summer I'll be detailing some of the various new guns you can get in XXL.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Mission Small Business

UPDATE: We've gotten enough votes to enter the contest, thank you all!

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We're working towards a grant from Chase bank and Livingsocial for $250,000, but we need your vote of confidence!

In order to be officially considered, we need 250 votes by June 30th. Please do us the honor of voting for Mommy's Best Games for a chance at this excellent grant funding.

With this funding we would be able to increase the speed of our game development and expand releases to many more consoles and mobile platforms!

To vote you have to visit their site, search for "Mommy's Best Games" and click the "Vote" button.
It's quick and easy as 1-2-3, but it does require a Facebook login <wince> please bear with it!
 
Here's what to do:
1. Visit https://www.missionsmallbusiness.com/



2. Scroll down and click "LOG IN & SUPPORT" on the lower right. This will require a Facebook login. 

 

3. In the "business name" section (lower left) search "Mommy's Best Games"



Vote! 



Thanks so much for your help and time, and please tell your gamer friends!

Tech info:
Because the link to searching and voting is behind the FB login, there's no simple way for me to provide a straight link to the vote button. It's pretty obnoxious and we've tried for a while to suss out a link, but there's no way I can see. Thanks a ton for seeing this through!