Handheld Homebrew Thread

These days, homebrew games seems to be a legal term used to talk about piracy, but it didn't always mean that. I remember a while ago seeing a guy who ported Quake to the DS.

Now, clearly this kind of thing still happens. I games like Diamond Trust of London, or any number of small team DSi games get made somehow. Yet the homebrew scene seems to have vanished, or at very least been taken over by talk of piracy. Maybe that's because these system have been locked down to where it's impossible?

Uhh, kind of. But it's not really an issue of end-user piracy but a safeguard against non-authorized parties developing games for your console without conceding some profits. The video game crash did result from years of underhanded and exploitative products that destroyed user faith in both the games and the devices.

For a modern comparison to the younger readers, just go play some random flash games and see whether you'd call it a reliable platform for games and whether you'd pay for it.

That's still the case sometimes, even with licences. Look at the Wii, killed off by shovelware.

Also, somewhat related, but off topic, how do these companies know? If I used, say, UDK, and made enough money to where I have to give Epic a cut, is it an honour system, or do they monitor sales, and so on?

I don't really follow modern consoles but I'd dispute the notion that the Wii fell from relevance because of shovelware. Consider that the PC has always been plagued by it.

I think you'd have to sent them quarterly reports of your earnings, they can always launch a financial inquiry when they get suspicious.