iPod Third Party iPod games

[timmillwood]

Now it is possible to play games downloaded from iTunes whats the chance of seeing third party games freeware or shareware?

 

[ghall]

I'm sure someone with too much time on their hands will find a way to do it.

 

[Benjamindaines]

It's very possible, the .ipg files are just zip files with the extension changed. All you would need to do is figure out the structure and language of the game and you're good to go.

 

[kainjow]

99% chance they're encrypted. Once the encryption is cracked (may take a while), someone has to then disassemble the binary file.. and then create a compiler for it.. not easy.

 

[nostaws]

did I hear Jobs say that the ipod games were flash based?

 

[mdickson]

Kind of off-topic, but wouldn't they be "second-party"?

 

[kainjow]

did I hear Jobs say that the ipod games were flash based?

Would be very surprised, but until someone decrypts/decompiles them, no one knows for sure.

 

[whooleytoo]

I think Jobs said during the keynote some of the games were developed by/with other companies, so it looks like they might be taking the first steps towards opening up the iPod API/releasing an SDK.

Hardmac had an article today about the .ipg format, suggesting at the very least it might be possible to 'hack' the games to provide different graphics and sounds - it's a start!

 

[kainjow]

I think Jobs said during the keynote some of the games were developed by/with other companies, so it looks like they might be taking the first steps towards opening up the iPod API/releasing an SDK.

Hardmac had an article today about the .ipg format, suggesting at the very least it might be possible to 'hack' the games to provide different graphics and sounds - it's a start!

Yes that's easy because the graphics and sounds are (for the most part) raw files.

But the format of .IPGs is just the same as the Dock connector specs - you have to contact Apple and prove to them you're a valid company and working or want to work on a valid product - and they will be glad to work with you.

 

[SkyBell]

Kind of off-topic, but wouldn't they be "second-party"?

No, seconed party would be game developing companies employed by the main company, Like Bungie is to Microsoft, Capcom is to Nintendo, and so on.

Third Party is just a bunch of people who make products that are not employed by the main company. You could have a Third Party mouse or keyboard or speakers, not manufactured by Apple or it's employed companies.

And yes, They will make third party games they've done it before.

 

[stevehp]

Kind of off-topic, but wouldn't they be "second-party"?

hahaha I was wondering the same thing!

 

[mdickson]

No, seconed party would be game developing companies employed by the main company, Like Bungie is to Microsoft, Capcom is to Nintendo, and so on.

Third Party is just a bunch of people who make products that are not employed by the main company. You could have a Third Party mouse or keyboard or speakers, not manufactured by Apple or it's employed companies.

And yes, They will make third party games they've done it before.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[DeFett]

Some interesting info from here:

http://www.oreillynet.com/mac/blog/2006/09/behind_the_ipod_games_whats_in.html

Behind the iPod Games: What's inside the ipg files
Tuesday September 12, 2006 10:02PM
by Erica Sadun in Technical
I’m moving this from the comment thread from the Announcements post because I thought it deserved its own post.
Anonymous asked: Will independent developers be able to program iPod games and submit them to the iTunes Store for sale?
To the best of my googling, there is yet no public iPod software development package. The games are stored, by the way, in the iPod Games folder of your main iTunes folder. They have an .ipg extension.
These .ipg files are actually zipped up. Copy one over to a spare directory, rename it to foo.gz and then unzip it, e.g. unzip foo.gz. (Yeah, I tried gunzipping first but there were multiple entities.)
The actual executable is a “.bin” file. There are iTunesArtwork and iTunesMetaData files in there along with language locatizations, sound files, and a Manifest which lists the files and their sizes and a p7b Manifest that handles Fairplay.

 

[balamw]

No, seconed party would be game developing companies employed by the main company, Like Bungie is to Microsoft, Capcom is to Nintendo, and so on.

Funny, I thought the end-user was the second party.

Party 1 sells product to Party 2, who buys accessories and add-ons from Party 3.

That said, I could be wrong...

EDIT: Dictionary.com seems to confirm my definition. http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=third+party&x=0&y=0

third party
n.

1. A political party organized as opposition to the existing parties in a two-party system.
2. One other than the principals involved in a transaction: I pay rent to a third party, not directly to the landlord.

B