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Tony Barnes | RetroNinja

@retroninja.bsky.social

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Tony Barnes | RetroNinja @retroninja.bsky.social · 22h

Another thing I don't miss about AAA #gamedevelopment

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Tony Barnes | RetroNinja @retroninja.bsky.social · 1d

Yeah, except nobody stops, nobody reads, comprehension are at all time lows, while bitching about yellow paint is at an all time high.

I don't do yellow paint and flashing an entire side of a building, but I think I need to, because gamers just don't pay attention then blame the game.

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Tony Barnes | RetroNinja @retroninja.bsky.social · 1d

I try to make games that are like that, but today's gamers don't get it.

Tony Barnes | RetroNinja @retroninja.bsky.social · 1d

This is TOO TRUE.

I ABSOLUTELY HATE games that stop the game with a giant pop-up and require you to push a button to continue.

But it seems that today you HAVE TO do that, because nobody will read anything if you don't.

#gamedesign #gamedevelopment #ui #ux

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Tony Barnes | RetroNinja @retroninja.bsky.social · 3d

I love #Tron, but I know what Tron is and what it isn't. The problem is most people aren't old enough to have been through this before and it's vogue to hate EVERYTHING these days, especially Disney.

Tron is Tron and I'm here for it.

Tony Barnes | RetroNinja @retroninja.bsky.social · 4d

Tony Barnes | RetroNinja @retroninja.bsky.social · 9d

VectaGuard:Zero
Pure Arcade Action | Vector | Shmup

No grinding, no loot boxes, no rogue-a-like, just blow sh!t up!

Wishlist on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/2892200/...

#shmup #retrogaming #indiedev #solodev #indiegame #wishlistwednesday

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Tony Barnes | RetroNinja @retroninja.bsky.social · 9d

Tony Barnes | RetroNinja @retroninja.bsky.social · 10d

I've even had it out with some self-righteous devs telling me, "well, you worked at EA, you deserve all the hate".

No, I don't deserve jack nor shit. I'm a guy that made some games that people consider "their childhood" and I had to put food on my table.

But I suspect "cost cutting" is coming. 😥

Tony Barnes | RetroNinja @retroninja.bsky.social · 10d

Not "considerably bigger", but more than 3 people.

I caught the very tail end of the "Artist is God" era. I think ~93, they started saying, "Franchise is God", because they realized talent could come and go and they certainly didn't want to give someone like me any leverage, power or recognition.

Tony Barnes | RetroNinja @retroninja.bsky.social · 10d

Again, "late" means later, like recent or beyond. 91/92 wouldn't be considered "late" for a company formed in the 80's and still going in 2025.

But hey, tell me about the place I worked at and the game above that I made. Cheers.

Tony Barnes | RetroNinja @retroninja.bsky.social · 10d

Not sure how 91/92 was "late EA", but thanks.

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Tony Barnes | RetroNinja @retroninja.bsky.social · 10d

Cleared Hot is the only one I come close to endorsing.

There are plenty of fine homages and inspired-by Strike games out there, but Cleared Hot is closest to what I'd probably do as a "modern Strike", IF I were to go back and IF I were to stick to modern-military.

Tony Barnes | RetroNinja @retroninja.bsky.social · 10d

Yeah, the actual dev team was a bit bigger than that, but credits in games often are political. And in the case of Strike, the game engine programmer wasn't an EA employee and negotiated to have his name on the box and get royalties, which none of us ever get.

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Tony Barnes | RetroNinja @retroninja.bsky.social · 11d

Back in my EA days, we didn't buy other companies, we set-up internal teams to target and dominate them by making superior games for their market segment. 🤷‍♂️

Tony Barnes | RetroNinja @retroninja.bsky.social · 14d

And thank you for that very much 🙏.

I was trying to figure out the fastest way to say, “it’s an arcade game, it’s not procedural, it doesn’t have skill trees or Vampy Survivey upgrades. You just pop a quarter in and blow stuff up. 😆

Tony Barnes | RetroNinja @retroninja.bsky.social · 14d

👍

Tony Barnes | RetroNinja @retroninja.bsky.social · 14d

VectaGuard:Zero
Pure Arcade Action | Vector | Shmup
No grinding, no loot boxes, no rogue-a-like, just blow sh!t up!

Wishlist on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/2892200/...

#shmup #vectordesign #retrogaming #indiedev #solodev #indiegame

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Tony Barnes | RetroNinja @retroninja.bsky.social · 15d

Tony Barnes | RetroNinja @retroninja.bsky.social · 18d

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Tony Barnes | RetroNinja @retroninja.bsky.social · 19d

If you could bring back 3 artists for a concert, who would they be?

Prince, Bowie, Marvin

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Tony Barnes | RetroNinja @retroninja.bsky.social · 19d

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Tony Barnes | RetroNinja @retroninja.bsky.social · 22d

#indiegamedev #solodev #indiegames

Tony Barnes | RetroNinja @retroninja.bsky.social · 23d

VectaGuard:Zero

Pure Arcade Action | Vector | Shmup

No grinding, no loot boxes, no rogue-a-like, just blow $h!t up!

Wishlist on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/2892200/...

#shmup #vector #retrogaming #indiedev #solodev

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