MSXdev08: #1 Peek-a-boo

It's been almost three months since we heard any news about the yearly MSXdev competition. Earlier today, a game by dvik & joyrex was announced to be competing in MSXdev'08, and as you are reading this, this entry is now official.

Daniel Vik and Vincent van Dam don't need any introduction. Known for their groundbreaking MSX1 demos, dvik's BlueMSX emulator, and several MSX1 games, such as Yahtzee, Sudoku, and their smooth omnidirectional scrolling racing game Lotus F3.

This entry could be quite embarrassing to play if you're not alone! While most of us are rather old'ish by now, late 20's, 30's or even older, this game is made for toddlers! Nonetheless, it's an MSXdev entry, showcasing the usual dvik & joyrex quality! This educational game for little kids features the famous muppet Elmo and includes two different game modes, each one focused on the player's age (Toddler Mode and Preschooler Mode). This game seems to be a fun exercise for little kids to be introduced in computers!

High time to send away your roommates or family, lock the door, and play this fresh new 32KB ROM!

Relevant link: MSXdev website

Comments (20)

By ARTRAG

Enlighted (6935)

23-12-2008, 00:02

Incredible to say, it is PSG only!! Animations and samples in parallel, cycle accurate code ? In any case great work!!
Now my 2 years old baby has a new reason to hammer my keyboard ;-)

By ARTRAG

Enlighted (6935)

23-12-2008, 09:27

hehehe, my baby is currently hammering on my poor TR with peek-a-boo
he did more than one hundred of "boo" and keeps pressing keys

By konamiman

Paragon (1198)

23-12-2008, 09:56

A nice alternative to Circus Charlie for introducing my little monster into the MSX world.

But of course I don't let him to smash my Turbo-R! He only has the right to use the Telemach.

By anonymous

incognito ergo sum (116)

23-12-2008, 11:35

hehehe, my baby is currently hammering on my poor TR with peek-a-boo
he did more than one hundred of "boo" and keeps pressing keys

So this game is part of plan to destroy the existing MSX?

By dvik

Prophet (2200)

23-12-2008, 19:52

Hehe, yeah our beta testers also enjoy beating on the keyboard and joysticks.

By Manuel

Ascended (19462)

23-12-2008, 21:51

Hey, where did you download it, ARTRAG?

By ARTRAG

Enlighted (6935)

24-12-2008, 00:55

msxdev site naturally

By Vampier

Prophet (2412)

24-12-2008, 05:41

now this is a game I won't train!

This game definitely is a keeper.

By Manuel

Ascended (19462)

24-12-2008, 16:58

So, what's your high score eh?

By dvik

Prophet (2200)

28-12-2008, 07:10

Anyone tried the game with their (or someone elses) kids?

By Huey

Prophet (2694)

28-12-2008, 08:46

My Daughter liked it! But I have troubles starting the mode where you have to click on Elmo.......

By dvik

Prophet (2200)

28-12-2008, 08:56

For that mode you need a joystick, and I believe that the only thing you need to do is to hit the joystick in any direction or press a joystick button. What setup are you using?

By Huey

Prophet (2694)

28-12-2008, 10:54

@Dvik: Meisei + usb gamepad

By Vincent van Dam

Hero (513)

28-12-2008, 11:05

Is the gamepad configured to use the joystick, or the keyboard? Any joystick action should start the pre-schooler mode. If the gamepad is somehow configured to the keyboard, that might be the reason it starts the toddler mode.

By MäSäXi

Paragon (1884)

30-12-2008, 12:55

Hopefully you dvik&joyrex are still reading these comments, as here comes one more.

At this morning my 2 1/2 year old game critic tested peek-a-boo on bluemsx, and he smiled everytime Elmo hopped up but my son didn´t say anything during playing, and after few minutes his smile started to wane, thought not completely fading off. He played the game thrice, at the first try he managed to shut down PC as the first key he pushed was non-msx key called "power-button". Then (after I rebooted this darned pc) at the second try there happened game over with score 15 but that was because that these damned PCs have non-msx keys, like the one, which opens some window and prevents playing emulator game until emulator is clicked with mouse. Third game was quitted in score 40 because I had to shut down PC because we needed to go to grandparents. But he didn´t whine at all that untimely quitting, just helped me to close the laptop cover.

I hope you take into account this important critic when designing next toddler/pre-schooler game!

By dvik

Prophet (2200)

30-12-2008, 19:04

I think thats a good sign ! My daughter also plays for 5 - 10 minutes or so and then she wants to do something else. But quite often she points to my laptop and says Elmo and I have to tell her that the computer is sleeping I wouldn't want to have a game that they can't stop playing, at least not at a very young age.

Not sure what to do with the keyboard though. My daughter also hit non MSX keys every now and then. So far hasn't powered off the computer but I see that coming eventually

By MäSäXi

Paragon (1884)

31-12-2008, 09:22

Same here! It´s much nicer to run after daddy who´s tryin´ to run and hide!

By dvik

Prophet (2200)

03-02-2009, 04:22

Today my daughter beat her record. She made Elmo appear 76 times before the neighbors cats got her attention.

I hope she'll keep up her interest for MSX as she grow older. But I guess that when she reaches her teens, she'd like more cool gadgets, but its at least nice to see yet another generation enjoy MSX

By Huey

Prophet (2694)

03-02-2009, 09:40

@dvik: My daughter (4) started playing Deep Dungeon when I left it the game alone for a few seconds. Once she knew how to move she kept playing. She didn;t understand the rules of the game but made up her own story. The goblins weren't attacking her but they followed her around the field to find a room to play

We need more kids-games for MSX

By MäSäXi

Paragon (1884)

03-02-2009, 11:46

But I guess that when she reaches her teens, she'd like more cool gadgets, but its at least nice to see yet another generation enjoy MSX

Maybe... "You´ll learn Z80 assembly and make Mega-Rom games for your daddy, or I won´t let you meet any boys..."

Maybe not....

Enchanting kids stories you have!

People, please tell more "MSX-kids" stories!!

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