Hey guys, I came across GameDev.net in a search to find a larger development community specifically to openly discuss some questions/ideas I had. For the past few years on my free time I've done pixel art for small & hobby indie 2d MORPG/MMORPG games. Here are some examples of my art style (raw, unpolished/unshaded): BETA (2008-current work) http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/7868/newhouseet2.png http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/7541/newhousedv1.png http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/3497/currentpdzh4.png http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/2665/newhouseep7.png ALPHA (2002-2006ish work) http://img399.imageshack.us/img399/2754/castlequ3.png http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/2082/riverjn8.gif As the subject to this post states, I am interested in the idea of a Homebrew MMORPG on a hand held system. Taking the Nintendo DS for example using SD/R4 cards, what do you think the possibilities are for a small team to create a functional MMORPG on the DS? Thinking small at first, likely working with Atari/Nintendo era graphics and very basic mechanics while developing the foundations of the engine (16bit + later on), exactly how difficult would you see the project being? Utilizing the DS' wifi, touch screen and controls? What are your thoughts?

Low. You require licensing from Nintendo before you can think about doing any real development work. And if you use homebrew stuff for it, you'll get shut down before you can get near "MMO" status.

If you are really interested in the idea, I suggest looking at smart phone development. You can get in on it for less than a grand if you have your PC already, and few to no questions asked by the host company.

Otherwise you are going to have to show that you know your stuff, and release a few indy titles as a start up studio. (Again I tend to lean toward suggesting cellphones for that, as I know several companies are have moved on to Wii games from cellphone startups.)

Make it for the android platform, only cost is 25$ if you want it up on the official market I believe. We need some good mmorpgs/rpgs :P

What about the Iphone? If I remember right, it is free to develop for and is a pretty small cost to publish games on (correct me if I'm wrong anyone). It would have the same touch screen capability you were looking for as well as being graphically capable. It also has a large audience so I would definitely at least give that a look.

You do really need a Mac though, which can be considered like buying a console devkit for $1000 if you normally work on Windows/Linux.

IPhone dev kits for non commercial ventures is $100 I think. More if you want it set up for a business. I'm not really sure what the requirements are, just a classmate was considering it as something to do for the summer, and was complaining about how expensive it is.


Plus you really want a Mac to run things on anyway.