McDonald's just dropped a brand new Game Boy game
retrododo.com
retrododo.com
[0] https://github.com/binji/binjgb [1] https://github.com/binji/pokegb [2] https://binji.github.io/raw-wasm/badgb/
https://itch.io/games/made-with-gb-studio
725 listed so far (lots of asset packs and tech demos I'm sure, but still.)
Really cool to see GB Studio being used for this.
It just doesn't make sense, not even morally.
That developer is more directly profiting from the tools. If you want to make a moral argument, surely it's them that should be passing money down the chain.
If I buy something from Amazon, should it be on me to identify the open source projects they use and pay them? Further where does it stop? Someone presumably used Linux in all this, do I need to send Linus a cut? Which driver writers do I need to support? How many copies of busy box were used in all this?
Commercial use is something devs are more torn because they feel they're being exploited while the client is not doing anything wrong inherently (doing business).
And in that case, you have to adjust your expectation to be exactly the same as the license you put in to resolve such cognitive dissonance.
Very nice work and congrats on taking this on successfully.
Alas our cultural narrative frames achievements as products of genius individuals existing in a vacuum rather than celebrating them as accomplishments of humanity or at least the societies that enabled them to be brought about.
So yeah, legally it doesn't make any sense. Morally it's highly debatable.
Maybe just the fact that their software is now used by millions of people is cool enough?
How about the hundreds of open source contributors to web browsers? What about the children of the people who clean the offices of the studio that made the game? I bet I could identify about a million people who deserve a bonus here.
We are talking about a giant multinational corporation here, or did you miss the context?
The fact that your friends in this scenario would weirdly shower you with expensive gifts after inviting them to watch a street musician perform doesn't negate the free advertising you've provided.
You’re missing the point of open source if you think it’s quid pro quo.
Oracle v Google also comes into the picture.
Treasure is an influential game development studio that did a lot of really interesting work in the mid to late 90s, responsible for games like Gunstar Heroes, Radiant Silvergun, Ikaruga, Bangai-o, Silhouette Mirage, Dynamite Headdy, Mischief Makers, Alien Soldier, and others. They were a bunch of ex-Konami developers (who had worked on games like Contra 3, Axelay, Super Castlevania 4, the arcade Simpsons) who were tired of making license games and wanted to make their own original games. A few of their games did well in the market, but they and their particular approach to innovation in action game rule systems has had a much, much bigger impact on other action game developers since.
And their very first game when they left Konami and started their own studio, the game they had to make to stay afloat to make Gunstar Heroes, was... a Sega Genesis McDonalds game, the 1993 "McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure".
Longplay here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNbmJyL872c
I've never played it, but it looks really solid and vastly better than it has any right to be.
A cool game, fun and dynamic, with a bonus stage where you have to pick up garbage falling from the sky faster and faster, and sort it for recycling.
Because, yes, it was a game that wanted to brainwash you into thinking McDonald = environmentalism. What a joke.
Also let’s not forget about the long tradition of Pepsi video games including the interesting Japanese Pepsiman and the PlayStation release!
(2016: https://youtu.be/C33Xo1hE9XE 13:00 for the quote)
>I, for one, will NEVER stop eating McDonald’s. You have my word.
Uh... hail marketing! Nothing quite like getting nostalgia exploited for corporate profits. But hey, its important to support... uh... 'retro gaming?'
The anti-corporatism shtick is so lame. Just because something is done by a massive corporation doesn’t make the thing bad. Just because something is an advertisement doesn’t make it bad.
I think this is pretty cool. Maybe I’ll buy some McDonalds today too.
> Just because something is done by a massive corporation doesn’t make the thing bad
I don't think anyone was saying this. Some airlines plant trees. That doesn't make planting trees bad.
But massive corporations (with maybe ~1% or fewer exceptions) don't base their practices on anything remotely resembling bad or good, and this leads them to profit-seeking behaviours that harm people on an individual level (which I think is a "bad" thing), as well as the planet, the environment, the economy, their competitors.
McDonalds is not a good or ethical company. The corporate apologism is "so lame".
Then you misunderstood the comment in question. It was quite clearly saying this. We're reading an innocuous blog post, and this person is aping reddit /r/hailcorporate language to vilify a marketing ploy by McDonald's, "exploiting nostalgia blah blah blah."
You're right, they are not a good or ethical company. If it's corporate apologism to disagree with this complaint about "exploitation" of nostalgia, count me in as an apologist too. This doesn't register on the list of corporate misdeeds for me to be mad about. I'm more upset with "flushable wipes" that end up clogging local sewage systems.
The point I get is not that "advertising from any large corporation is Bad" but instead that advertising from a corporation whose operations are Bad is Bad (because that specific corporation is Bad). It reads to me as an uncharitable take that OP is saying "making retro video games is Bad" (because large corporations are Bad) when I read "McDonald's being McDonald's is Bad" (because McDonald's is Bad).
(where Bad = "not good or ethical")
I agree with your point. McDonald's value meals have been a staple for low income households for a long time, and from what I hear the app provides daily deals that can mean the difference between someone going hungry or not.
Of all the corporations a person could get mad at, choosing one that is well known for feeding low income families is an odd choice.
The behaviour you’re describing as profit seeking is also really just value seeking, as in providing something that their customers value. I don’t think there’s substantial moral consequences one way or the other for a company to do this, but there’s nothing wrong with enjoying or commenting on a corporation providing a product that you value.
Exactly - they base it on profit and people who think this is good react accordingly
Moral objectivism is more popular than moral relativism.
ie Some good does not outweigh lots of bad.
> Their profits pay pensions of the ordinary people. How is that not a good thing?
It's difficult to take your comment as anything but raw trolling, as it intentionally chooses to strawman limited benefit by ignoring obvious consequence.
You can hold an illegal gay rave under a bridge, and in response mainstream media figures will write articles demanding the permit process be made easier, then McDonald's will retweet photos of your ravers eating a meal the morning after. This is...okay, I guess. Social permissiveness is the circus, and it's still good even though our share of the bread is constantly shrinking.
Like Winston at the Chestnut Tree Cafe
Those kids on the streets protesting most recent excesses of multinational corporations? The hoodies and Guy Fawkes masks they're wearing, the signs they're holding, the chains they're rattling - all bought on Amazon, happily providing specialized merch for the "fuck the system" market niche. And what do those kids achieve? Mostly they generate attention that moves newspapers and keeps millions glued to where they can be best exposed to ads. Etc.
Yes, the suits love the anti-corporate movements. They are a quite profitable form of entertainment.
If you feel slightly put off by the memes you see and/or discourse around them, it's sort of by design. It's meant to differentiate.
I've only recently realized this though (as I've expanded my perspective), and I think for the most part, this is something that largely happens subconsciously. If you ask someone gen z or younger, they won't know what you're talking about if you ask. That's mostly because your baseline of edginess/weirdness is defined by relative experience, and someone who's grown up perpetually online is likely to be skewed much more differently than someone who hasn't.
Back in the edgy days, I never thought I'd find blanket-corporate-hatred becoming quite so lame, to the point of even taking on its own corporate-style blandness, in the 2020s...
Corporate blandness has infected us all; from my reference frame you’re just some bland text on a corporate website that silences spicy discourse.
Are others lame or is that all you feel given hypernormalized routines?
Look at the rebels willing to risk going against this thread by eating McDonalds; highway to the danger zone.
How bold
Plenty of people will have plenty of issues with a major corporation. But it's worth pointing out that McDonald's is one of the most prominent fast food chains which has no problem with animal abuse in terms of products from horribly treated livestock animals. They have trouble even making their french fries livestock-torture free .
Maybe this issue doesn't personally matter to you, but it does create a huge problem for a company that does something so shamelessly unethical.
They haven't cooked their french fries in beef tallow since 1990.
No one needs to "support McDonalds", and no one needs to be encouraged to. It'll do fine.
One time I asked for McChicken sauce packets and they gave me three. I said, "Wow, three for free!" and the nice friendly McDonald's worker laughed and said, "I'm going to call you 3-for-free!".
Now the staff greets me with "hey it's 3-for-free!" and ALWAYS give me three packets. It's such a fun and cool atmosphere at my local McDonald's restaurant, I go there at least 3 times a week for lunch and a large iced coffee with milk instead of cream, 1-2 times for breakfast on the weekend, and maybe once for dinner when I'm in a rush but want a great meal that is affordable, fast, and can match my daily nutritional needs.
You probably already know this, but fast food 5 times a week is basically putting in a request for health problems.
e: Wow, I got sniped big time.
https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca/product/mcchicken-sauce-p...
Huh. My experience with McDonald's: never met daily nutritional needs, no longer affordable and struggling to be fast.
They did something cool and now you want to give them money. Why is that?
Maybe there's merit in asking why I think it's cool to begin with (and in this case I hardly think mcdonalds is responsible for people who like gameboy games), but there doesn't seem to be much to gain in asking myself why I want to spend money on things I like. What else should I spend my money on?
They made a Gameboy game and now you're buying hamburgers.
If you're doing a 'vote with your wallet' thing to try to convince them to make more retro games that at least makes sense, even if id argue it's a little naive, but that's not even what were talking about. They made a videogame and now people are pledging to buy their hamburgers.
McDonalds obviously made the game in the hope that it will sell more hamburgers. If you buy a hamburger, their strategy worked, which means they (and other companies that are watching) have a reason to do similar things in the future.
What’s weird about incentivizing behavior you like in the hope that you get more of that behavior?
I’m enjoying the corporate apologetics personally. I’ve heard there is a Christian resurgence among the youth, and this makes me wonder if there will be a resurgence of pro-capitalism sentiment as well. Ideas, values, culture: it all evolves with time.
My source for this is an elective class I took at Oregon State University a few years ago, taught by a professor who is deeply involved in fishery research and management. So perhaps he was biased, but from what he presented I was thoroughly impressed with the sustainability practices of the seafood industry. One of my big takeaways was that wild Alaskan halibut in particular (which is what McDonald’s uses) is among the best seafoods, and one of the most sustainable foods in existence.
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cypress_Island_Atlantic_salmon...
> Say "McDonald's" to end commercial
> "McDonald's!"
[0] https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/sony-patent-mcdonalds/
Who knows, perhaps one day we'll look back on modern day fast food ads and consider them equivalent to cigarette ads.
There are a lot of autists on social media, sadly not excluding HN.
I think it's because every sentence is pretty short.
These sentences end up being related, and should probably be just one paragraph.
The writing style seems to separate everything out, I can say this might be what gives the impression of a LLM gluing parts together!
I wonder if they received a McDonalds presser, and I wonder how much of those are still human-in-the-loop.
I know I sound bitter but it's because retro dodo used to be a high quality production shop (still mostly is, to be fair). Though I understand that it wasn't sustainable for the original two guys to do everything alone (they've branched from blogging to youtubing to even book publishing after all)
Artificial limitations encourage the use of short and snappy communications.
Also, who can be bothered to read through a paragraph today?
I live my life one sentence at a time.
Songwriters write songs when they haven't got anything to sing about.
Directors make movies when they haven't got anything to make a movie about.
Copies of copies of copies... It's no wonder people are tired. Where is the substance? Where is the risk?
I like to make sure my main points are easily readable.
These sentences end up being related, and should probably be just one paragraph.
The writing style seems to separate everything out, I can say this might be what gives the impression of a LLM gluing parts together!
If the logo is missing, it would still boot on an emulator that doesn't emulate the boot ROM (which is most of them) and probably most flashcarts, so there's no need for it to be in their release. But it's still possible that whatever build system they used automatically inserted the logo.
There's no way Nintendo would bother McDonalds legally over something like this if the logo's in there, but I'm still curious if it is.
Looks like it is using a separate tone for the initial kick, and then a sweep an octave lower, it really sounds huge. This is the first time hearing a Game Boy game through nice headphones though, so I'm not sure if this is also present in older games.
The accompanying website is a blast from the past too,
Limited Run Games does runs of physical Gameboy cartridges still. They have to restyle things to not have Nintendo branding, but it can be done.
Edit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_v._Accolade?wprov=sfti1
It was used as a way to prevent anyone unauthorized making games. If you copy the logo, you have violated trademark and copyright law, and if you don't copy the logo, your game won't run.
Detail here: https://catskull.net/gameboy-boot-screen-logo.html
That's why all modern consoles use digital signatures.
But couldn’t you also write an exception in the emulator itself? (I’m actually not sure - just genuinely curious!)
The most modern gaming system in our living room (if you don't count the Steam Deck) is a Wii which is legitimately a retro system these days and I get a little grumpy every time I am reminded of this.
So... Xbox One and PS4 launch games?
A Pentium II would be a better example for both: Not too old, not too recent. Yet it suits as retro and a usable machine. Enough to render some XVID videos at 360p and 420p with a good video card. Slackware, NetBSD and lot of distros would still run fine. TLS under Lynx and Gopher would still work, the same as a Gopher client.
So this was likely a reasonable investment. You're going to get YouTubers covering it, people doing speed runs, blogs and news aggregators. Good return.
https://web.archive.org/web/20010708042828/http://www.yahool...
yeah a lot of people in this thread seem to be completely unaware of GB Studio's existence, which is funny because a lot of people learn to make games in GB Studio nowadays. The GB Studio scene is pretty active.
> But today, twenty five years after the Game Boy Color was released, we can play Grimace’s Birthday for free on our web browser.
> It is unclear if McDonald’s hoped to keep the game locked on their website or if there’s any particular reason they wouldn’t want us to have a ROM. (I would assume something something emulator, something something copyright infringement.)
> But needless to say, the internet was very quick to rip the file and share it online.
Now I want to track it down so I can tell what's different when I play the inevitable rom hacks.
- retro games cater to the demographic who would know who Grimace is.
- it makes news for novelty, if it was just another webgame there probably wouldn't be articles about it
- the target platform has virtual machines for every modern OS and the web, so maximum reach.
- the target platform has had decades of enthusiast development support, making IDEs and libraries.
- the target platform is fixed. No fear of some instruction or device being deprecated during development or in the future.
- the devs you could contract this out to would most likely have a depth of knowledge on the system. And any of their portfolio could be evaluated against others in a 1:1 fashion.
- It has "just enough" capability to make a game that can entertain a broad audience for the time it needs to.
- why not? just some fun.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e6xOBCAVvA&ab_channel=NickR...
[2] https://kotaku.com/we-can-all-finally-learn-how-to-make-big-...
Oh it isn't a physical cart run. I was curious about the logistics of such a thing. If it were a physical cart I'd like to take a peek inside and see the board.
Why GBC? Did someone have a canceled but mostly finished mcdonalds game laying around since the late 90's and finally the right person at mcdonalds heard about it and got corporate to let them publish it as a marketing tie in?
It really only makes sense to me if someone on the corporate ladder was already a fan of the gbc homebrew community, or close to someone that was.
So are they targeting retro-clone handheld owners or what?
What would you say is the best retro-clone handheld console to play Gameboy games?
Strikingly prescient
It looks like everything is implemented inside a WASM blob, containing what looks like binjgb (based on the strings).
I'm assuming the game itself is also included in the data section at the end of the WASM blob. Are there any good tools for reverse engineering that? (Or am I missing a more obvious way of extracting the ROM?)
https://tonedeaf.thebrag.com/mcdonalds-million-dollars-vinyl...
Edit: The game page itself doesn’t mention it but the article has information on how it was made and by who so they must have got the information somehow, maybe the developer talked about it
Though they could have. Limited Run Games does Gameboy cartridges. I'm not sure what kind of tooling they use for it though.
In fact, I'm pretty confident that a competent DIYer could 3D print a cartridge shell, flash a ROM, and etch a PCB in an afternoon or two.
For games more complicated than a simple ROM chip, the Game Boy presents an interesting challenge: the cartridge is both very small and it needs to be able to run off battery power. That excludes using both a high-power-consumption modern SoC or FPGA, or using lots of discrete logic.
But if it'll fit in 32 KB, it's 3D print a case, order a PCB, and program a standard Flash chip.
We've actually come full circle on this one. If you ever disassemble a Nintendo Switch Game Card that has a black area above the metal contacts, it doesn't even have a PCB. It's just a ROM chip, with metal contacts on the bottom shaped differently than your standard BGA pattern, contained in plastic. If it has a green area above the metal contacts, it's a PCB with the chip on the other side.
You can get brand new Atari 2600 cartridges in boxes and everything.
Though, I think the shells are actually scavenged from old games.
Yup, new titles still being made. There's even Halo for the 2600.
Tons of titles currently being manufactured for a lot of vintage consoles/computers: https://atariage.com/store/
Def in moderation tho.
McDonalds turned out to be the easiest to get a healthy meal from at the time. They had things like salads, apple slices, and a much wider variety of items than other fast food restaurants meaning that if you were to eat there every day it was much easier to make different healthy meals than it was at the others but like an order of magnitude.
Basically just skip the soft drink and only occasionally order the fries and you'll be fine.
>McDonalds turned out to be the easiest to get a healthy meal from at the time.
The McDouble is "The greatest food in human history" <https://nypost.com/2013/07/28/the-greatest-food-in-human-his...)
"Big Mac®, World Famous Fries® (Medium), undefined"