Freelance Flash Games News

Christmas is just weeks away, and with Newgrounds giving out Bamboo Fun tablets every day until Christmas I thought I’d give you some of the options that are out there when you’re out looking for a tablet.

Manhattan Graphic Tablet

This is a tablet brand that you’ve probably never heard of, but at $90 this is one of the cheaper tablets out there. Don’t be fooled by the price either, this tablet is good. It has 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity, 4064 lines per inch and programmable hotkeys on the edge. As an owner of a 6×8 inch Manhattan Graphic Tablet, I have to say, it works great. It works great and I’ve had no problems with it yet, but it does come with a lifetime warranty just in case.

Wacom Bamboo Fun

The Bamboo Fun tablet is made by the most trusted brand in tablets, Wacom. However, it is more than twice the price of a comparably sized Manhattan graphics tablet. At $199, the 8.5″ by 5.3″ version comes with a fairly large price tag. The pressure sensitivity is a respectable 512 and it has a resolution of 2540 lines per inch. But it is the cheapest version you can buy in the Wacom brand of tablets, so if you’re looking for a Wacom but don’t want to spend too much, give the Bamboo Fun a shot.

Wacom Intuos3

The Wacom Intuos is, arguably, the best and most reliable tablet out on the market. It features 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity and a resolution of 5,080 lines per inch; higher than any other tablet in this list. This Wacom does come with a high price of 329 dollars for the 8×6 inch model. But if you’ve got the cash to fork out on a graphic tablet, or are a graphics designer, then this is definately the tablet for you.

Wacom Cintiq 12WX

I know, it’s not even fair to put this one in here, as it blows the other ones away. But I couldn’t leave a list of the best graphics tablets without adding it in there. The Wacom Cintiq is essentially a computer screen that you can draw on. The setup lets you draw right onto the screen. The Wacom Cintiq 12WX weighs in at about 4.4 pounds and has a screen size of 12.1 inches diagonally across, with a 10.4″ width and 6.4″ height. The pressure sensitivity is 1,024 on both the pen tip and eraser. While it is expensive at $999, this tablet has no comparison. If you want a tablet that will let you draw right onto the screen, it may be worth it to take a look at the Cintiq.

There hasn’t been too much news lately in the flash game world, but I just came across this bit today. It seems Newgrounds will be giving away Bamboo Fun Medium (6×8) tablets every day from now until Christmas. Unfortunately, you can no longer apply for a free tablet at the moment. However, Tom did announce that they will continue giving away free tablets throughout next year, so don’t give up hope just yet.

If you’re not on the list of those who will be recieving a free tablet from Newgrounds, I’ll be making a post soon on the best tablets out there, and where to buy them.

Google has just announced their new flash game tracking system, called Google Analytics Tracking For Adobe Flash. The system can be used for any and all things related to flash, such as videos, sites, widgets, and games. What this means is that you can now track all your flash content from Google’s popular analytics tool.

One drawback is that the system can only be used in games or other flash content that use ActionScript 3. So unfortunately, ActionScript 2 users are left out. But if you do use AS3, you may want to check out the open source code that Google has released for their flash analytics here. To download the actual file for implementation, you can go here.

Kongregate just announced that a money system for the site is now available for use by players. The money, called Kreds, can be bought using paypal or a credit card. At the moment the only practical use for Kreds is to tip developers. This sounds like a good idea and it’s one that few, if any, sites have implemented before.

However, this is just the beginning of the ways Kongregate will use their new money system. Kongregate is already offering the ability to purchase Kongai cards, and soon will allow the purchase of other virtual items. As I mentioned previously, Kongregate has a couple multiplayer games under development that use Kongregate’s very own microtransactions system. The system will utilize Kreds as the means of purchasing in game content for those new and upcoming multiplayer games.

If you’re looking for to build a fun new multiplayer game, you may want to check out Come2Play. They have created an API for just that cause. Their API supports all types of multiplayer games, including real time and turn based.

Come2Play is offering a $1000-2000 sponsorship for multiplayer games made using their API, as well as allowing you to use CPMstar or MochiAds in your game. All you need to do to be considered is send them a pm on fgl stating your idea for a game. If they like it, they’ll try to work out a deal with you for the game. A contest is on the way soon, so check out their developers section to stay updated on the latest news.