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View Full Version : Spb Software releases Pocket Highscores


marlof
01-14-2003, 12:18 PM
<a href="http://www.softspb.com/press/pressreleases/2003/jan13.html">http://www.softspb.com/press/pressreleases/2003/jan13.html</a><br /><br />Hi, I'm Marlof, and I'm recovering from being a Spb Lines addict. For a while all the pauses in my day were filled with one goal: to get as high a Spb Lines score as possible. I thought I was pretty good at it, until I learned from Vassili Philippov of Spb Software that there were people much better at it than I was. That could mean two things: practice more or give up. As I needed to do a hard reset on my main Pocket PC, I've chosen the latter by not reinstalling Spb Lines again. It simply was too addictive for me. But imagine having the worldwide highscores available, at all times. Wow. In my playing days, that would have been something!<br /><br />And now you can! "Pocket Highscores, a*free application available from the <a href="http://www.softspb.com">Spb Software Web site</a>, is*what users will install on*their desktop PCs to*enable this process. Once installed, this application will retreive high scores from supported games installed on users' Pocket PCs and upload them directly to Spb partner site, <a href="http://www.pocketgamer.org/scores">PocketGamer.org</a>. Once uploaded, the scores are displayed in*descending order along with the name the user entered into the game scoring system. From the PocketGamer.org Web site, users can sort by*game, username, and anywhere from five scores to*all on*record. The PocketGamer.org High Scores page also includes a*leader board where current champions are listed."<br /><br />Supported games include <a href="http://www.softspb.com/products/arkaball/index.html">Spb Arkaball</a>, and the games that are available individually and in the <a href="http://www.softspb.com/products/gamepack/index.html">Spb Gamespack</a>: Spb FreeCell, Spb Lines, Spb Minesweeper, Spb Pong, and Spb Xonix. And there's good news for developers too: they can offer the same functionality in their games, for free! "Spb Software House will be*releasing a*free development library so*game developers can quickly add this feature into their Pocket PC games. As*more games support Pocket Highscores, the Pocket PC*gaming community will be*able to*better compare scores from among their favorite games."

Pony99CA
01-14-2003, 02:58 PM
I'm glad to see something like this, even though I'm not much of a gamer.

My previous company was setting up a service called Global Rankings to support rankings for games (but it probably wouldn't have supported the Pocket PC). They even had a fancy launch party in San Francisco for the service; two months later they got out of the gaming business entirely. That was the start of the dot com crash for me. :-(

I hope we'll see more games that support this. I also hope they have considered the implications of cheating....

Steve

Mike Wagstaff
01-14-2003, 03:52 PM
Well, we might not have held a San Francisco launch party - but I did crack open a bottle of Fanta to celebrate (well, to be honest, I was feeling thirsty, but that spoils the story). ;)

If you're a developer who wants to add this high scores service to your game, the article explaining how to do it is now up:
http://www.pocketpcdn.com/articles/pockethighscores.html

As the code is freely available, we'll hopefully see a lot of games supporting it in the future.

Venturello
01-14-2003, 05:32 PM
Wow, my score in Xonix is waaaaay higher than the high score they have now on their website. Seems to me I am on my path to fame!!! 8O

Fzara
01-14-2003, 07:34 PM
I have to give much Kudos to Spb. I have Spb Pocket Plus v1.1 (awaiting v1.2), and I have to tell you I have great trust/confidence in Spb. Their products are simple, cheap, and get the job done.

Thankfully I havent experienced their tech support, but I like Spb, and their other numerous products they have out. GO Spb!

Jason Dunn
01-14-2003, 11:04 PM
Wow, my score in Xonix is waaaaay higher than the high score they have now on their website. Seems to me I am on my path to fame!!! 8O

Go man go! Upload 'dem 'der scores!! :rock on dude!:

Jason Dunn
01-14-2003, 11:05 PM
Oh, FYI, I'm "Kensai" in the rankings, and I hereby challenge any/all of you to beat my utterly pathetic high scores! :lol: