Good news everyone!

[Tank Program]

I was under contract forbidding my active participation in the forums, but that's no longer the case! I can finally reveal that I've spent the majority of last 6 months working in Japan. I was contacted by Nintendo (!) for a software development/consultancy type position. This was a fantastic opportunity for me, so I took a hiatus from my PhD and went and did it. It was unfortunately that there was potential overlap with my activity here, which was the contract bruha, but that's run out now. It's good to be back. The work was tough, but worth it as I was doing some interesting stuff...

This year the Wii hits the 6 year mark, which is about the life cycle of a major console. At that point they're usually relegated to the second hand market, which is typically untapped by the console maker. For a change that's not happening. Nintendo is going to extend the life of the Wii by releasing an GCC based IDE called GWiiWii. This will allow for a second generation of new games and other new software, powered by open source, to be developed - significantly extending the life of the Wii. My work was helping to develop the software development framework based on my experience in opensource work. The new software based on GWiiWii will help get more consoles into homes and invigorate more people without the actual need for a new hardware release. Legal homebrew.

As part of this new push I've done a bit of work on what will be one of the initial GWiiWii releases. I'm proud to be introducing Mariogetron. As one of the zero day releases for GWiiWii, it'll be available on a hybrid Wii Optical Disc/DVD like those CDs. with audio and PC content. Insert into the Wii to play. Insert into the PC to develop - source available. Fun for everyone, which has always been a Nintendo thing.

So yeah. TL;DR - New Armagetron based Wii game, coming out later this year. As that work is done things have settled and so I'm back.

(And congrats Lucifer!)

[Slov]

that is awesome!! congrats!

[Z-Man]

Tank!

[Hoax]

Wow I can't wait I'm going to buy a Wii especially for this!

[Word]

I like the idea and it's nice to see back you here.

[matchbox53]

Welcome back Tank!

Great news man

[DDMJ]

Damn this is so sick I can hardly wait!

[AI-team]

omg people don't you realise that this is an aprils fool!



Removed to keep the spirit and added back in later.

[Slov]

noo AI you ruined it!! everybody here thought it's real!

[Phytotron]

Terrible. Just what this game needs, another gimmicky game mode, now with damn power-ups. And, what, is Mario going to be shooting zones or something? Jumping cycles at last, pff. Ruining two classics! All because kids can neither be satisfied playing one or the other in its own right, nor can they be creative in coming up with a new concept. Just shove two existing games together, and voilà, new game. What the hell. I can't believe you.

Seriously, to hell with this, I'm quitting. This is going too far.

[Tank Program]

Thanks everyone. It was really fun.

And, what, is Mario going to be shooting zones or something?

How did you know? I mean, it is the logical replacement to shooting fireballs...

[Cody]

I'm still waiting on the New AI's

[theroze]

Seriously, to hell with this, I'm quitting. This is going too far.

Yeah, right that. You're insane.
Oh and by the way, I'll make all ladle server crash tonight.

[Jonathan]

Hey Tank! I'm glad you finally overhauled fortress to show that fortress isn't this Immutable Set Of Settings That Nobody May Alter. Making it single-player was just brilliant.

[Mkay1]

April fools? Well done tank, you real outdid yourself this time. First GLATIS, then this. This must have taken at least a few hours to come up with.

Removed to keep the spirit and added back in later.