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Late last night, I published my very first Windows Phone Game to the Windows Phone Store.  It is available for Windows Phone 8.0 and Windows Phone 8.1 devices in over 140 countries.  I’ve personally tested the game on 3 Windows Phone Devices (not just the emulator) – Nokia Lumia 520, 1020, and 1520.  My next post will provide the details on how I created the game, the challenges I faced, and some information that may be able to help you expedite your game creation idea.

Just to set the record straight, I am a Microsoft employee… and am a hobbyist developer and graphics artist (at best).  In fact, I am probably insulting the true developers and artists.  Nevertheless, I love the Microsoft platform and am very excited that I was able to get my first game published.

You can read through the details about the game regarding the Description, Game Play, Scoring, etc. from my Office 365 Externally Facing website.  If you are reading this post (and have a Windows Phone), I would love for you to install and play it… I have a personal goal to see if I can get 500+ installs.  If I can get 500+ installs, I would like to create a monthly contest around High Score (i.e. if you have the high score for the month, you will receive a prize).  In fact, I created a Twitter Persona for this very purpose.

So, what is the game?  Yes, it is another one of those Flappy Bird knock-offs (with a small twist).  First, I played the Flappy Bird clone on Windows Phone and I hate it… maybe because I’m not that good at it… I can’t get past the 3rd obstacle.  Second, I wanted to make my version of Flappy Bird but make it a little easier to get past the obstacles.

I decided to create this particular game for two reasons:  1) I wanted something simple to create as I didn’t want to get involved in my bigger idea and be bogged down with learning the tool(s), and 2) most importantly I wanted to go through the experience of exporting the project from Scirra’s Construct 2 tool and going through the Windows Phone Store app submission process.

So, here is my game:  Factory Frenzy

For the game play, you control a bee that has been trapped in the factory avoiding obstacles as they come at you.  The differences from Flappy Bird are:

• Bee vs. Bird.
• Easier navigation (the gravity is more subtle than Flappy Bird)… you can actually score points.
• Light Bulbs and Boxes on a conveyor belts vs. the Super Mario Brothers knockoff obstacles.
• Every star (up to 5) that you collect increases your point value.  You start with one star and as you pass a light bulb you score 1 point.  When you collect your second star, you score 2 points… up until you get the maximum number of 5 stars.
• Once you have all 5 stars, every additional star you collect provides a bonus of 10 points.
• Once you gain 150+ points, the speed of the obstacles increases by 33%.

I know it is an overly simple game but I hope you will at least do me the favor/honor of downloading the game… and hopefully you can provide a favorable rating.  The game is FREE with built-in Advertising that I hope isn’t intrusive.

If you are willing to go the extra step, I would be grateful if you would share it on your Facebook Page or Twitter Page.  You could use something like:

Check out @FactoryFrenzy on Windows Phone Store http://t.co/Kid8lck3u8 #FreeTheBee

Sincerely,

Stephen Legler
http://www.twitter.com/smlegler

I love seeing the Windows Azure stories come to life… is there anything bigger than the Winter Olympics?

NBC Olympics, a division of the NBC Sports Group, and Microsoft announced that Windows Azure Media Services is being used to publish and stream all 98 events of the 2014 Sochi Winter Games, through Feb. 23.

Watch the video

And read the story… Going for gold: Windows Azure Media Services provide live and on-demand streaming of 2014 Olympic Winter Games on NBC

This is a quick post. My apologies for being gone for so long… so much has been happening lately. I want to quickly check in as it is being reported that Windows 8 has sold more than 200 million licenses. This is another huge milestone.  There have been many things that have transpired over the last few months; I’m excited to begin posting about my adventures.  Until then, take heart that Windows 8 is growing.

I first saw this announcement from Mary Jo Foley and her article posted on ZDNet – Microsoft: More than 200 million Windows 8 licenses sold.

From the article, this looks to have been supported by Microsoft:

Update: A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed Reller’s 200 million Windows 8 licenses sold figure with the following statement:

“Windows 8 has surpassed 200 million licenses sold, and we continue to see momentum. This number includes Windows licenses that ship on a new tablet or PC, as well as upgrades to Windows 8. The figure does not include volume license sales to enterprise. Windows is a central part of life for more than 1.5 billion people around the world, and we are looking forward to the future.”

The Verge:  Google will start using your picture to sell products to friends

Source

Google users will soon find themselves unwittingly advertising products for the company, thanks to a massive change Google is making to its terms of service. First reported by the New York Times, the change categorizes a user’s follows, comments, and +1s as “shared endorsements” for a product or service. These shared endorsements can be used to build ads across the platform, pulling in a user’s profile name and photograph to help boost the ad’s credibility.