Archive: : 2024

  1. 2024 wrap-up

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    We feel like we say this every year, but wow, did this year fly by! It’s been the busiest year by a fair margin among a pretty busy past few years, so maybe that’s part of it. We can’t fully talk about why just yet, but as we’ve alluded to in posts this past year, we’re cooking up something we think you will really like, so stay tuned for news! 😀 You can sign up for our newsletter (which we send very rarely, so when you get one you know it’s big news) at the bottom of this page, or you can join the discord too.

    In possibly related — but also possibly not related news, just to keep you on your toes — next year is the 10th anniversary of N++. Can you believe it’s been an entire decade since N++ first came out?? That’s bananas. It’s been a pretty incredible decade for the game, with a growing base of players and a community that is richer than ever; the list of 100%ers continues to grow, with 5 more this year for a total of **48**. Every year we get a little more amazed that people are still pulling off something we once thought impossible. 😉

    (Thinking of attempting your own journey to 100% and getting a certificate of your own? That’s awesome! We and others will cheer you on in the N++ discord, if that helps!)

    Last year may have been the Year of the Map Pack, but this year has some solid entries in that category as well, notably NateyPooPoo’s EON tab, which re-imagines the game as a classic side-scrolling adventure game in a terrifically creative and inspiring way, across 600 contiguous levels. Check out this amazing trailer!

    In other N++ news, skippy7552 made this in-depth and insightful look at the game, and the history of the series. Well worth a watch!

    So what else has been happening during this extremely busy year? Well, we celebrated some pretty big milestones. It was the best of times (the 20th Anniversary of N, and Metanet Software) and the… well not worst of times, but the less-best of times (the end of XBLA and sunset of N+). We made some super cool new merch to celebrate the anniversaries, which you can get from our Etsy shop here! We also listed some of the last few copies of the physical version of N++ for Switch there, so check that out if you’re interested.

    The new batch of corporate fat-cats are doing great, and are very helpful — reducing our stress levels from work, if nothing else, though they have had a few interesting game ideas we’d love to explore (and they’re good playtesters) 😉

    And finally, to round out the year we thought we’d recommend some things we tried this year that we really loved, that you may enjoy too.

    First up, this book of essays on video games written by our friend Mathew Kumar: https://www.amazon.com/Every-Game-Ive-Finished-14/dp/B0DJPFPVFT It’s insightful and thoughtful and superb to read if you’re interested in games or game design.

    Finally, here are a few games we enjoyed this year:
    Leap Year https://managore.itch.io/leap-year
    Mosa Lina https://stuffedwombat.itch.io/mosa-lina
    SylvieRPG https://sylvie.itch.io/sylvie-rpg
    Utopia Must Fall https://pixeljam.itch.io/utopia-must-fall
    Stray Shot https://punkcake.itch.io/stray-shot

    Happy Holidays to all of you and those you care about; thank you again for being kind and cool people. <3 We're looking forward to 2025, and hope it's a good one for everyone!

  2. The End of The Start of An Era

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    As you may have heard, the start of this week was the final day for the Xbox 360 marketplace and Xbox Live Arcade. It’s the end of a pretty significant era in video gaming: the triumphant return of small creative teams, from the fringes outside of the mainstream/commercial industry (fringes to which they had largely been relegated since the mid 90s), back into the beating hearts of a new generation of consoles and players alike.

    Videogames, from their very start with Spacewar — or Tennis for Two if you prefer — have always had at their core a vibrant contingent of tiny low-budget teams making cool interesting things. The beauty of XBLA was that it opened new doors for such teams, and provided a fertile patch of soil where a greater variation of games could find a much larger audience than they otherwise might have.

    We want to take a moment to talk about the history of N+, and the impact XBLA has had on our lives.

    After we created N in 2004, it won the Audience Choice Awards at both IGF 2005 and Slamdance 2006; by then word was starting to spread about N, and the idea of making a sequel and bringing it to new platforms was pitched to us from several different directions.

    Having no concept of how to go about doing that, we started working with Warren Currell of Sherpa Games; Warren seemed to get who we were and where we were coming from at the time, and used his industry experience to help us interface with the business people — people who we, as young just-out-of-university types with very little experience, had no sense of how to approach.

    Warren had other clients such as Jamie Cheng of Klei Entertainment; as mentioned on this blog previously, we heard that while they were pitching a Klei game to Ross Ericson at Microsoft, Ross asked whether they’d heard of this game N that he was addicted to — that really got the ball rolling!

    N+ for Xbox 360 came out in 2008; we developed it in partnership with the incredibly talented Nick Waanders of Slick Entertainment (who Jamie connected us with). Microsoft had mandated online multiplayer for all XBLA games, and so that led us down a very interesting design path, figuring out how best to make multiplayer work in N — something that we had never before considered.

    Development of N+ was difficult and stressful, as is the development of most games, but Nick is such an amazing and multi-talented programmer, he was able to solve problems creatively and got the multiplayer working in an ingenious way. The art by Jeff Agala and the music by Joris de Man really changed the look and sound of N, and made N+ feel like a proper sequel.

    Plus (oh yes, pun intended), by then we had learned even more about level design, having worked at it for several more years — and with the addition of new game modes such as Co-op, we were more excited about making levels than we ever had been before. It was an exhilarating time!

    Just look at this trailer (from back in the days of 4:3 aspect ratios!), by Craig Macnaughton, plus Jim Munroe, Chris Locke, Max Stussi, and Marc Ngui:

    When we made N, we were driven purely by curiosity and passion. We wanted to play something we’d never played before, and had such a strong idea of what that was, we knew that the only way to make that happen would be if we made it ourselves. We had played a ton of shareware and freeware games during university, and really appreciated the energy and ideals of the freeware movement — that was a large part of what had inspired us to make and release N for free in the first place.

    The idea of charging money for N+ was a bit daunting, but eventually we realized that putting N+ on XBLA was an opportunity to show a larger, more mainstream audience something a bit different from what they might have been used to — adding some quirky left-field indie attitude to a new and burgeoning digital platform.

    To say that making N+ for Xbox 360 changed our lives would be a huge understatement. We were completely unprepared for the reception N+ received, and our perception of the world and what it meant to make videogames shifted dramatically. That was the year we first heard the name “Kotaku”, when Warren told us that N+ had made the front page — we had no idea what that meant, or whether that was a good thing or not! 😉

    Over the years, fans have let us know about their fond memories playing N+ with friends and family, and we appreciate that so much. People have told us that N+ was a big part of their childhood, and when we think about the games of our own childhoods — and how special they are in our memories — we feel incredibly proud to have been part of creating something that resonated so strongly. Our games tend to fly a bit under the radar, and spread largely by word-of-mouth, so we don’t usually see too much about them out in the broader world of videogames — thanks so much for sharing. <3

    (Having said that, we recently learned that N+ was apparently the 34th best-selling XBLA game of all time, which is flat-out incredible if true.)



    Xbox Live Arcade was one of those touchstones, a huge moment for the video game industry which was bigger still in hindsight. Its closure was perhaps inevitable, but still stings. It’s sad that N+ is no longer available for sale, but it had a great run, and we’re still proud of it.

    The good news is, N+ gave us the opportunity to keep doing what we love, and, years later, to make the (in our opinion) even better N++, which is available right now on all platforms! 😉

    Even more exciting: we’re cooking up something that we think captures the magic of N+, so watch this space — and sign up to the mailing list at the bottom of this page, so that you hear about it first! 😀

  3. The N-iversary merch is finally here!

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    Yes, the merch we had made (and in some cases, handmade) is ready, and it looks great! 😀

    Here’s a quick preview of the limited-edition merch pack, you can find the listing over on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/1117482027/n-20th-anniversary-special-merch-pack

    We had two stylish and high-quality hard enamel pins made featuring the N logo and the Metanet Software logo, and each comes on their own special backing card. The Metanet pin backing card was handmade by Mare using Print Gocco and 3 fluorescent inks — each card is slightly different in colour but each is equally beautiful.

    This merch pack includes 2 paper stickers featuring the N 20th Anniversary logo and its inverse, plus a smaller, shiny foil sticker printed with the same design as the N logo pin backing card.

    To round the collection out, every order will include a Metanet 20th Anniversary postcard with a handwritten message from us to you on the back.

    You can also grab a tshirt and/or tote bag featuring the image at the top of this post.

    Note, if the country you live in isn’t listed as available for shipping to, just message us on Etsy — we have to look into the packaging regulations for each country individually to make sure we’re able to ship there. If we determine that we can, we’ll add your country to the shipping profile and will keep you posted either way.

    We hope you like this merch as much as we do, and celebrate your enjoyment of N in style!
    Thanks for playing <3

  4. 20 Years

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    2004…can you believe that was 20 years ago?! It was a pretty big year for us, as it was the year we incorporated Metanet Software Inc. (we founded the company in 2001 (as mentioned in previous posts like this one* which you should really stop and read right now, it goes over the whole history) but only “got serious” about it in 2004** 😉 ), and also released N v1.0, the very first version of N.

    Yes, it’s the 20th anniversary of N and Metanet. Time sure flies! To celebrate this momentous occasion, we created some cool N merch — you can find this awesome t-shirt and tote bag in our Etsy shop:

    As well as this limited-edition N merch pack including 2 enamel pins, plus special stickers and a Metanet post card:

    We hope you like everything! 😀 Now on to the post.

    Quick notes:
    *If you haven’t already read it, that previous post is pretty great — it details our history and musings on game development in a way that still resonates strongly with us today (plus it has loads of pictures!), so seriously, do go read it. 😉 https://www.metanetsoftware.com/2019/happy-15th-metanet-software-inc

    **we actually incorporated the company because we thought it would be hilarious for university students to also be President and VP of a corporation…it was a very different time! Also, we learned that corporate taxes are no joke, so it really wasn’t all that funny. 😉 Anyway it turns out it was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made, as it allowed us to meet so many inspiring people worldwide, and gave us the opportunity to focus on creating and working on things that we care about, so it all worked out in the end. 🙂

    ————————————————————————————-

    And since the post for the 15th anniversary gave such a good summary of the past 15 years, we’ll just do a quick recap of the past 5. What’s changed, in the past 5 years? Well, we moved from our home city, Toronto, to a new one, Montreal. Sometimes you can tell yourself it’s not a big deal, it’s just moving cities within the same country…it’s not really. Lots of big changes, but most of them positive — and we have the space and flexibility we need to work on lots of creative projects, so that’s been wonderful.

    Why don’t we retell the story of N for posterity! <3 So we (Raigan and Mare) met in a Computer Science course at the University of Toronto in 1998, where we were learning about terribly boring software programming but hit it off more or less instantly because of our shared love of games. We both had a number of other interests, such as art, music, and film, and we both loved playing and talking about games, so it was pretty natural to start to combine those interests -- fueled by a terrifically inspiring freeware and shareware game development scene that we'd discovered across the burgeoning internet.

    As opposed to what was happening in the mainstream videogames industry of the mid-90s (where videogames were becoming increasingly complex and being made by large, well-funded teams) the late 90s/early 2000s saw smaller teams, pairs, and individuals connecting with increasingly-accessible languages and tools to make games of their own, on their own. As we learned more in and outside of school, and read academic papers about realtime physics simulation (and other interesting subjects), discovered Macromedia Flash, and played lots and lots of games, we also started to experiment with programming some of those physics concepts in 2D, developing a set of collision and simulation systems that would underpin many more experiments, dubbed the NinjaEngine.


    In 2004, a Flash web game contest was announced in conjunction with the Flash in the Can conference, which provided an excellent deadline to get something together. And get something together we did — N v1.02. N lost the contest to Starsky and Hutch Pinball, but that did make sense as N wasn’t really a web-playable game — the physics and collision were too much for browsers to run at the time, so it really only worked as a downloadable game. Either way, many lessons were learned — among them that although the game didn’t seem to be what people were looking for visually, it was surprisingly fun, and addictive, and the friends that we’d sent it to sent back lots of enthusiastic feedback. So we pressed on, adding entities, fixing bugs, designing levels, and figuring out more about what the game could be. We infused it with who we were, and made subtle statements about how we felt about the world and the world of game development, in the game design, levels and graphic design. It became more than just a project; it became something we loved. We released it to forums around the internet and got even more feedback and enthusiasm, and so we continued developing and eventually released v1.4, the version that made such a splash that it won the Fans Choice Award for Best Game at the IGF in 2005 and the 2006 Slamdance Audience Award for Best Game.


    That was a shock, and a jolt of incredible validation. We were floored. We never would have thought that our little platformer with an even littler ninja could have resonated with so many people, and become an actual thing, a real game like the ones we grew up playing. The stories poured in from people who loved it, hated it, enjoyed making levels in the N-ed[itor] by themselves and with their children, played it in school on USB sticks, excitedly showed it to their friends, and laughed about the ninja’s ragdoll deaths. Lots of people found it incredibly difficult and frustrating — N is a polarizing game, and seemed to evoke a fairly strong reaction in players. People kept sharing it and it kept finding new fans, who created amazing spaces online to connect with each other, like dedicated forums, and NUMA, the N User Map Archive, and other shared online spaces that inspired the community to grow even more.


    We made N+ for XBLA and DS/PSP in 2008 (a story for another time), and returned to N to officially update it for the web in 2013, releasing v2.0. In its lifetime, N has amassed a mostly uncountable number of players — we once had some stats on the number of downloads from our old website which have since been lost to time; the web version found on Kongregate shows over 30 million plays. In short, it’s more well-known than we ever thought possible, and when we made N++ in 2015 and showed it at E3 and PAX, it was awesome to hear so many people say “Oh my god! I remember this game! I played it as a kid!”. It’s a fond memory, and one we’re proud of.


    Over the years we have had many ups and downs and opportunities and failures and successes and regrets, but also so many of those fond memories, so many connections with fans and friends from all over the world, and we appreciate them very, very much. We know we have been very lucky, and we feel that every day. We never could have predicted it, but N means a lot to a lot of people, and we want to keep that memory alive for as long as we possibly can. Seeing this Reddit thread pop up today really drove home for us how lucky we’ve been to make something that other people consider special — we both grew up slacking off playing games in computer class, and to make a game that the next generation used to play while similarly slacking off makes us unbelievably honoured and proud! <3

    And so, dear readers, that’s the story of N (abbreviated version). Thank you so much for finding the game and for playing it, for sharing it and for letting us know what you think. You rock! Of course the story is not over, the N expanded universe continues to grow in the + versions of the games (have you played N++ yet? You really should! Check it out here, click the links in the top right corner to get it on your fave platform: https://nplusplus.org/) and perhaps even more behind the scenes. N contains multitudes. We’ll just say this: the future is bright. 😉





    Happy 20th Anniversary to N, and to Metanet Software Inc.
    Here’s to 20++!

    ps want to share your stories and memories with us personally? We’d love to hear them! Please leave a comment below, join the N++ Discord or email us at metanetATmetanetsoftwareDOTcom!

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