I Made a Game with Zombies in It!

Last updated
I Made a Game with Zombies in It!
I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 cover.jpg
Developer(s) Ska Studios
Publisher(s) Ska Studios (Xbox Live)
Microsoft Studios (Windows Phone)
Designer(s) James Silva
Programmer(s) James Silva
Artist(s) James Silva
Composer(s) James Silva
Platform(s) Xbox 360, Windows Phone 7, Windows, Linux, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
ReleaseXbox 360
August 16, 2009 [1]
Windows Phone 7
November 29, 2011 [2]
Windows, Linux
November 11, 2021 [3]
Xbox One, Series X/S
October 31, 2022 [4]
Genre(s) Multidirectional shooter
Mode(s) Single-player, Multiplayer

I Made a Game with Zombies in It! (officially stylized as I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES 1N IT!!!1), is a zombie-themed multidirectional shooter video game for the Xbox 360, available through the Xbox Live Indie Games service. Released in 2009, it was developed by Ska Studios and was designed entirely by company founder James Silva, previously best known for the Xbox Live Arcade game The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai . [5] [6] The game was developed using Microsoft XNA, though its tongue-in-cheek description claims it was made using "Hypermagic Engine 3.0 and the Megacore X parallelization processor." The game's title makes excessive comic usage of features of Internet writing, such as leetspeak, overuse of exclamation marks, and typographical errors. It has since been re-launched through Steam in November 2021 and through Xbox Store in October 2022, and is currently still available for download.

Contents

Gameplay

The game features one to four protagonists viewed from an aerial perspective. Using two analog sticks, the players shoot droves of attacking zombies while collecting power-ups, with the objective of surviving until the game's background song ends. [7] [8] The game is timed by a 13:37-minute rock-style background song sung by Silva [9] with lyrics about the game itself. [10] The song, which shares the same title as the game, was made available for download on the official Ska Studios website. [11] The song was also released through the Rock Band Network, about a year after the game's release. [5] [7] Silva said Xbox Live's indie game price point inspired him to make "a $1 experience that delivers." He did not expect it to be a success, and that he was "half-expecting it to fail for being too stupid of a game." [6]

Reception

The game was ranked 2009's most popular Xbox Live Indie Game based on connectivity. [5] [12] It sold 160,000 copies by January 2010, making it the top-selling Xbox Live Indie Game by more than 40,000 units. [5] [13] Zombies went on to sell 200,000 copies by March 2010 and jumped to 308,000 in sales by August 2010 [14] making Silva roughly $215,000 after Microsoft's 30 percent revenue fee. [13] The game became a favorite with critics, and was noted for its quirky sense of humor and theme song. [5] IGN ranked it the best independent game of 2009. [15] IGN writer Erik Brudvig said the game was extremely entertaining and "somehow about as insane as its title," despite the simple controls. [7] I Made a Game with Zombies in It! won the 2009 Inside Gaming Award for Best Indie Game. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microsoft XNA</span> Freeware set of tools by Microsoft

Microsoft XNA is a freeware set of tools with a managed runtime environment that Microsoft Gaming developed to facilitate video game development. XNA is based on .NET Framework, with versions that run on Windows and Xbox 360. XNA Game Studio can help develop XNA games. The XNA toolset was announced on March 24, 2004, at the Game Developers Conference in San Jose, California. A first Community Technology Preview of XNA Build was released on March 14, 2006.

<i>Mass Effect</i> (video game) 2007 video game

Mass Effect is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare and published by Microsoft Game Studios, originally released for the Xbox 360 in November 2007. It is the first game in the Mass Effect series, and takes place within the Milky Way galaxy in the year 2183, where civilization is threatened by a highly advanced machine race known as the Reapers. The player assumes the role of Commander Shepard, an elite human soldier who must stop a rogue agent from carrying out the Reapers' galactic invasion. The game involves completing multiple quests that generally involve space exploration, squad and vehicular combat, and interaction with non-player characters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xbox Live Arcade</span> Digital video game download service

Xbox Live Arcade was a video game digital distribution service that was available for the Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. It focused on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers. Titles on the service ranged from previously released arcade and console games to brand new games designed for the service, and were priced from a range of 5 to 20 US dollars. While originally requiring a disc to gain access to the service on the original Xbox, the Arcade was integrated into the Xbox 360 along with the rest of the Xbox Live Marketplace with the launch of the new console.

Xbox Games Store was a digital distribution platform previously used by Microsoft's Xbox 360 video game console and formerly by the Xbox One. The service allowed users to download or purchase video games, add-ons for existing games, game demos along with other miscellaneous content such as gamer pictures and Dashboard themes.

<i>Viva Piñata</i> (video game) 2006 video game

Viva Piñata is a 2006 life simulation game developed by Rare and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360. The game revolves around the player tending to a neglected garden in Piñata Island, in which different variations of piñatas based on animals must be bred whilst fending off disruptive interlopers. The project was headed by Gregg Mayles and the team behind the Banjo-Kazooie series, based on an idea from Rare co-founder Tim Stamper. Microsoft wanted the game to become a key franchise for the platform, and developed a tie-in television show to accompany the series.

The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detailed launch and game information announced later that month at the 2005 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). As a seventh-generation console, it primarily competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii.

Ska Studios is an independent game development studio founded by James Silva in 2007 after winning a contract to publish The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai to Xbox Live Arcade. Ska Studios has released four Metacritic-aggregated console games since then, more than any similarly sized studio. Ska Studios currently consists of James Silva.

Xbox Live Indie Games were video games created by individual developers or small teams of developers released on Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace for the Xbox 360. The games were developed using Microsoft XNA, and developed by one or more independent developers that are registered with App Hub. Unlike Xbox Live Arcade titles, these were generally only tested within the local creator community, had much lower costs of production, and generally were less expensive to purchase. The service was released to widespread use alongside the New Xbox Experience, and as of November 2014, over 3,300 games had been released on the service, many receiving media attention. All Indie Games currently require the user to be logged into their Xbox Live account to initiate the start-up of each game. Indie Games were not available in Australia due to local classification requirements which were unable to be fulfilled, though there were workarounds which allowed Australian users to download them regardless. The Xbox Live Indie Games program did not continue with the release of the Xbox One, and the marketplace for these games was shuttered on October 7, 2017.

<i>The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai</i> 2009 video game

The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai is a beat 'em up game developed by independent software developer James Silva for the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade service.

<i>The Maw</i> 2009 video game

The Maw is an action-adventure video game developed by Twisted Pixel Games and released for Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. The game centers on the extraterrestrial Frank and a purple, amorphous creature called The Maw, who have crash-landed their spacecraft on an alien planet. The player assumes the role of Frank and directs The Maw—which can take on the abilities of objects and fauna it consumes—via a leash.

<i>CarneyVale: Showtime</i> 2008 video game

CarneyVale: Showtime is a vertical platformer developed by Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was initially released on Xbox Live Indie Games on Xbox 360. Players play as Slinky, "a circus acrobat trying to rise up the ranks by performing acrobatic tricks and death-defying stunts through increasingly complex arenas".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Windows Phone Store</span> Digital distribution platform for Windows Phone

Windows Phone Store is an app store platform, developed by Microsoft Corporation for Windows Phone letting users installing various apps on their device. It initially launched with Windows Phone 7 in October 2010. With the rollout of Windows Phone 7.5, Microsoft unveiled the online Marketplace that offers over the air installation of apps. In August 2012, Microsoft renamed Windows Phone Marketplace to Windows Phone Store. In 2015, Microsoft announced that Windows Phone Store would be killed out and replaced by Windows Store which would act as a unified store for all Windows-powered devices. This process was complemented by the Apps on Windows website, an interim solution before the unified Windows Store.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microsoft XNA Game Studio</span> Integrated development environment

Microsoft XNA Game Studio is a discontinued integrated development environment (IDE) for building video games on the Microsoft XNA platform. Such video games can run on Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Windows Phone and the Zune. XNA Game Studio is targeted at hobbyists and experienced programmers, and is primarily used to develop 2D and 3D video games for various Microsoft platforms. XNA games can be published for the Xbox 360 using an XNA Creator's Club membership, that has a yearly fee.

<i>Honor in Vengeance II</i> 2011 video game

Honor in Vengeance II is a 3D space shooter by American developer MichaelArts. It was released for Xbox Live Indie Games on August 5, 2011. The game follows the story of a Martian pilot named Leo Lucas, who is tasked with finding the remnants of a recon team that vanished near Earth.

<i>Charlie Murder</i> 2013 video game

Charlie Murder is a beat 'em up video game developed by Ska Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 and Ska Studios for Microsoft Windows. First revealed in January 2010 for Xbox Live Indie Games, the studio announced in May 2010 that the game would undergo a "complete overhaul" and be published in 2012 through Xbox Live Arcade for the Xbox 360. Charlie Murder was eventually released on 14 August 2013 to positive reviews, with critics praising the game's soundtrack and hand-illustrated visuals. Versions for Microsoft Windows, Linux, and macOS were released on May 12, 2017 via Steam.

<i>Ancient Trader</i> 2010 video game

Ancient Trader is a turn-based strategy video game developed by the Slovakian studio 4Kids Games. It was released in 2010 for Microsoft Windows, Xbox Live on Xbox 360, and iOS. The player controls a ship, allowing them to explore the world and engage in trading while seeking three artifacts that will help to defeat the game's main antagonist, a sea creature called the Ancient Guardian.

<i>Solar 2</i> 2011 open world sandbox video game

Solar 2 is an open world sandbox video game developed by Australian developer Jay Watts' video game studio, Murudai. It was released on 17 June 2011 on Steam for Microsoft Windows and on 19 June 2011 on Xbox Live Indie Games for the Xbox 360. The game was developed with Microsoft's XNA tools, and its development was inspired by indie games such as flOw. The game follows the player in their mission to accumulate enough mass to become several astronomical objects, eventually becoming a Big Crunch, which then produces a Big Bang.

Dream Build Play is an annual $75,000 Microsoft video game contest used to promote Microsoft XNA Game Studio and eventually Xbox LIVE Indie Games. It was announced in 2006, started in 2007, and ran until 2012. In 2008 and 2009 it spanned over 100 countries and in 2010 it spanned 110 countries. It was restarted in 2017 as the Dream.Build.Play 2017 Challenge. Notable winners include Dust: An Elysian Tail and The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai.

References

  1. ↑ "I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1". Xbox Live Marketplace . Microsoft. August 16, 2009. Archived from the original on March 29, 2010. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Z0MB1ES (on teh ph0ne)". Microsoft Store . Microsoft Store. November 29, 2011. Archived from the original on February 16, 2017. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  3. ↑ "I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES 1N IT!!!1". Steam . Valve. November 11, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Z0mb1es! Remastered". Xbox Games Store . Microsoft. October 31, 2022. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Hatfield, Daemon (January 25, 2010). "I MAED A #1 IND1E GAM3". IGN . Archived from the original on January 29, 2010. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
  6. 1 2 Reynolds, Matthew (October 21, 2009). "James Silva ('Dishwasher', 'Z0MB1ES')". Digital Spy . Retrieved March 29, 2010.
  7. 1 2 3 Brudvig, Erik (August 28, 2009). "The Best Way to Spend a Dollar". IGN . Archived from the original on August 31, 2009. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
  8. ↑ Acevedo, Paul (17 February 2012). "Z0MB1ES!!1 (on the phone): Xbox Windows Phone Review". Windows Central. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  9. ↑ "James Silva talks dishwashing, Zombies and XNA". Archived from the original on April 20, 2010. Retrieved April 7, 2011.
  10. 1 2 "2009 Inside Gaming Awards - Best Indie Game Winner". Machinima . YouTube. December 14, 2009. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
  11. ↑ Silva, James (August 26, 2009). "Download I MAED A S0NG W1TH Z0MB1ES 1N IT!!!1". Ska Studios . Retrieved March 29, 2010.
  12. ↑ Hryb, Larry (January 10, 2010). "The Top 20 LIVE Games of 2009". MajorNelson.com . Archived from the original on January 14, 2010. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
  13. 1 2 Graft, Kris (March 2, 2010). "I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES 1N IT!!!1... And Sold 200K Units". Gamasutra . Retrieved March 29, 2010.
  14. ↑ "GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES Infects Rock Band Network". Ska Studios . 23 August 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2010.
  15. ↑ "Best Indie Game: I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!". IGN . December 14, 2009. Archived from the original on March 8, 2010. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.