I Made a Game with Zombies in It!
Encyclopedia
I Made a Game with Zombies in It! (officially stylized as I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MBIES 1N IT!!!1), is a zombie
-themed action
shoot 'em up
game for the Xbox 360
video game console, available through the Xbox Live Indie Games
service. Released in 2009, it was developed by the independent
Ska Studios
and was designed entirely by company founder James Silva, previously best known for the Xbox Live Arcade
game The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai
. 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 error
s.
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-up
s. It features a rock
-style background song sung by Silva himself with lyrics about the game itself. The song, which shares the same title as the game, was made available for download on the official Ska Studios website. The song was also released through the Rock Band Network, about a year after the game's release. The game was available for 80 Microsoft Points
on Xbox Live
. 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."
The game was ranked 2009's most popular Xbox Live Indie Game based on connectivity. It sold 160,000 copies by January 2010, making it the top-selling Xbox Live Indie Game by more than 40,000 units. Zombies went on to sell 200,000 copies by March 2010 and jumped to 308,000 in sales by August 2010 making Silva roughly $215,000 after Microsoft
's 30 percent revenue fee. The game became a favorite with critics, and was noted for its quirky sense of humor and theme song. IGN
ranked it the best independent game of 2009. IGN writer Erik Brudvig said the game was extremely entertaining and "somehow about as insane as its title", despite the simple controls. I Made a Game with Zombies in It! won the 2009 Inside Gaming Award for Best Indie Game.
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
-themed action
Action game
Action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, shooter games, and platform games, which are widely considered the most important action games, though some...
shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up is a subgenre of shooter video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player controls a lone character, often in a spacecraft or aircraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The genre in turn encompasses various types or subgenres and critics differ on exactly what...
game for the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
video game console, available through the Xbox Live Indie Games
Xbox Live Indie Games
Xbox Live Indie Games are user created video games released on Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace for the Xbox 360. The games are developed using Microsoft XNA, and developed by one or more independent developers that are registered with App Hub...
service. Released in 2009, it was developed by the independent
Independent video game development
Independent video game development is the process of creating video games without the financial support of a video game publisher. While large firms can create independent games, they are usually designed by an individual or a small team of as many as ten people, depending on the complexity of the...
Ska Studios
Ska Studios
Ska Studios is an independent game developer founded by James Silva in 2001 as Totally Screwed Software. The name was changed in 2005 to Ska Software, and then in 2007 to Ska Studios....
and was designed entirely by company founder James Silva, previously best known for the Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
game The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai
The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai
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.-Gameplay:...
. The game was developed using Microsoft XNA
Microsoft XNA
Microsoft XNA is a set of tools with a managed runtime environment provided by Microsoft that facilitates video game development and management. XNA attempts to free game developers from writing "repetitive boilerplate code" and to bring different aspects of game production into a single system...
, 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
Leet
Leet , also known as eleet or leetspeak, is an alternative alphabet for the English language that is used primarily on the Internet. It uses various combinations of ASCII characters to replace Latinate letters...
, overuse of exclamation marks, and typographical error
Typographical error
A typographical error is a mistake made in, originally, the manual type-setting of printed material, or more recently, the typing process. The term includes errors due to mechanical failure or slips of the hand or finger, but usually excludes errors of ignorance, such as spelling errors...
s.
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-up
Power-up
In computer and video games, power-ups are objects that instantly benefit or add extra abilities to the game character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a benefit and can be used at a time chosen by the player...
s. It features a rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
-style background song sung by Silva himself with lyrics about the game itself. The song, which shares the same title as the game, was made available for download on the official Ska Studios website. The song was also released through the Rock Band Network, about a year after the game's release. The game was available for 80 Microsoft Points
Microsoft Points
Microsoft Points are the currency of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Games for Windows - Live Marketplace, Windows Live Gallery, and Zune online stores. The points allow users to purchase content without a credit card and to reduce the number of small credit card transaction fees, which Microsoft would...
on Xbox Live
Xbox Live
Xbox Live is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Corporation. It is currently the only online gaming service on consoles that charges users a fee to play multiplayer gaming. It was first made available to the Xbox system in 2002...
. 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."
The game was ranked 2009's most popular Xbox Live Indie Game based on connectivity. It sold 160,000 copies by January 2010, making it the top-selling Xbox Live Indie Game by more than 40,000 units. Zombies went on to sell 200,000 copies by March 2010 and jumped to 308,000 in sales by August 2010 making Silva roughly $215,000 after Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
's 30 percent revenue fee. The game became a favorite with critics, and was noted for its quirky sense of humor and theme song. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
ranked it the best independent game of 2009. IGN writer Erik Brudvig said the game was extremely entertaining and "somehow about as insane as its title", despite the simple controls. I Made a Game with Zombies in It! won the 2009 Inside Gaming Award for Best Indie Game.