Description: Flash this! is a small, free tool that can convert video files to flash (both FLV and SWF).

This program is a frontend to FFMpeg, the transcoding engine behind the majority of freeware video conversion programs. Here are some notes on this one:

• No decisions to make: except whether you want to convert to FLV or SWF. No resizing, changing aspect ratio or bitrate, etc. This is part of why I like this program. The resulting video will have the same resolution, aspect ratio, bitrate … etc, as the original. For a more ’transformative’ FLV conversion use Super, Internet Video Converter, etc.
• Super fast: probably because it is not re-encoding individual video and audio tracks but simply creating a new container.
• Supports SWF: which is simply fantastic, and another reason why I decided to feature this program on Freewaregenius.
• Memory use: a nice compact 8 megs.
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Description: F-ab is a player for online videos and other flash animations where, instead of a URL, you literally ’tune into’ channels that are broadcast over the internet in the manner of a radio dial. It offers more than 1200 such channels as of this writing, with the possibility of adding your own (including YouTube channels) to the mix. F-ab also has a flash-based videoconferencing component.

This program, as you might have surmised from the text above, is somewhat hard to describe. I knew instantly that I wanted to post it on Freewaregenius if only because of being so interesting, although for all intents and purposes it is hard to see why a user might be inclined to be browsing channels on F-ab rather than on a video sharing site or any of the free video/TV broadcasting programs that have proliferated recently. There are a number of ways in which this program is unique; here are some notes on this program:

• What it is: F-ab downloads and delivers specific content in the manner of a video sharing service. It is not a player for SWF or FLV player.
• Interactivity: Has an interactive dimension beyond the experience provided by video sharing, as it not only broadcasts flash video (FLV) but flash animations (SWF’s) as well .
• The content: there are 4 categories: advertisement, art, science, and sport. I wasn’t really able to see any single thread that connects the different channels on offer, except perhaps that the animations tend to be artsy and “hip”. A lot of the flash advertising animations seem to be there because they are interestingly made rather than as ads.
• Changing the channel: you can do this by moving a dial. F-ab can support up to 10,000 channels (from 0000 to 9999 on the dial); it currently is up to the 1200 or so channels. It doesn’t really work very well when most channels do not have content. The best way to browse F-ab is to go to the public “search” section and browse the categories/channels there, which are displayed in a list.
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Rating: 5 pick

Version tested: 1.0.23.707

Description: AuthorPOINT Lite is a freeware program that can convert Powerpoint presentations into flash. It offers a number of interesting features such as the ability to define quality output settings, a handful of output templates to choose from, and the option to upload your presentations for online viewing using a platform which the developers call “authorSTREAM”.

If you have been looking for a simple way to convert Powerpoint presentations to flash then you’ve found it. AuthorPOINT Lite is a program that does this in a straightforward and efficient manner (don’t let the “lite” in the title put you off; I like this program enough to give it a “pick” rating). Here are some notes on this program:

• The user interface: is simple and functional. Converted presentations are shown as thumbnails in the left hand panel, and clicking on any of these will display the individual slides as thumbnails in the bottom panel. Its rather nice.
• The conversion process: authorPOINT Lite imports your presentation one slide at a time, and conversion is relatively quick. A 30-slide presentation with charts and images converted in about 4 minutes. Once imported, the flash presentation is saved in the default folder and needs only be re-saved once/if you change your desired settings. One cool feature is that you can point authorPOINT to a folder full of Powerpoint presentations and it will import all of them at once.
• User interaction: once imported into AuthorPOINT Lite, there are 3 things you can do with a slide (a) edit its settings (more on this below), (b) edit presentation details including description and keywords (you would do that in order to make presentations accessible to search engines like Google once you publish them), and (c) create/edit a presenter’s profile, information which can be included/displayed in your output presentation.
• Settings: you can define desired image quality (0-100%), audio quality (4 point scale), choose whether or not to use narration if found, allow/disallow speaker notes, and choose output template (more on these below). Read more »

Rating: 5

Description: “Game, game, game and again game” is a flash platform game that looks like it is played inside somebody’s stream of consciousness or an artistic scrapbook of doodles, poetry, and philosophical musings.

Despite the name this one can more accurately be described as a toy rather than a game, as the its major draw, as far as I am concerned, is the show of images and words that unfolds as you progress through the various levels. In theory the objective is to progress through the various levels by making it to the exit; however, it is not clear what the various objects and creatures that you encounter are or what effect touching and/or interacting with these will have on your in-game sprite or the game environment. In truth, this hardly matters, as being a platform game in the traditional sense is not what this game is about.
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Rating: 5

Description: Makibishi Comic is a point and click flash adventure/puzzle game that features beautifully drawn and atmospheric levels. It was created by Japanese outfit Makibishi studios to provide, as they put it “an entertainment experience” and “a strange and fascinating world online”. It is playable in Japanese and English.

In many ways this is a very typical point and click flash adventure/puzzle game. It scores a lot of points by virtue of the gorgeous scenery and graphics that they have managed to pack into a browser-based flash game. It also has a very distinct Japanese/anime feeling, most prominent in the visuals but also in the dialogue.

The storyline has to do with what seems to be a ninja order of sorts (supported by little dispensable robot ninjas) which apparently shies away from confrontation in adherence to some sort of code of ethics. The game starts with the ninjas conferring amongst themselves regarding a monster named Asahi who apparently is after them and whose arrival at the scene is imminent. They decide to hide, each within one of the five different levels of the game.

At first it was a little bit confusing to me as the player as to what my role was and what I was trying to do, but I realized midway through that my task is to find and capture the ninjas, that I was in fact the ’monster’ Asahi and not a sort of director if the ninjas as I had at first assumed. Oh well, I guess you do what you have to do.
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Rating: 5 pick

Description: Samorost is a point and click flash adventure game. Since its release in 2003 it has become synonymous with the genre of point and click flash adventure games. It also inspired a host of similar titles.

This game leaves a good taste in your mouth. Played entirely by clicking on objects with the mouse, the objective is to trigger a chain of events that enables your character to surmount obstacles and to progress further into the story. The strength of this game, in my opinion lies in (a) the unpredictably wacky logic of the sequence of events that occur to take you further, and (b) the amazingly beautiful illustration of the game world and characters. I might also add (c) general overall cuteness and a nice background story.

The protagonist is a small spritely character clad in white pajamas who peacefully inhabits his asteroid/planet/spaceship, floating happily in outer space. In this, the first installment of this game, our hero looks up into his periscope to discover another asteroid that is unwittingly travelling on a collision course with his own. He takes matters into his own hands, flying his little funky orange spaceship to the other asteroid in a bid to change its course and save both planets from certain destruction.
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Rating: 5

Description: Sprout is a small flash adventure/puzzle game with a little green seed as protagonist. It features a very original premise and very simple audio-visuals and game dynamics.

This game begins when coconuts drop off a palm tree on a small island off the coast. Except one of these isn’t a coconut at all, but a little green seedling who wants to be an acorn. Both the palm tree and the seedling are puzzled by this, but the palm (which apparently has a rather practical bent) points the little seedling to the spot over the horizon where the oak trees are. The seedling knows that it must travel over to that spot and take root with them.

You play the seedling and you have a very special power to help you accomplish your task. Once you run into other plants, you acquire the ability to morph into their seed and sprout as the new plant. In fact the entire game dynamic revolves around which plant to morph into in which situation in order to progress further.
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Rating: 5

Version tested: 1.25

Description: Rooms is a free point & click flash puzzle game where the goal is to find a way out of a mansion set in some sort of alternate reality. The game can be downloaded or played online in the browser.

In Rooms, your objective is to guide your character (a Keanu Reeves lookalike replete with a long black coat straight out of the Matrix) as you try to find a way out of a mansion which looks like it belongs in Sherlock Holmes’ victorian England. The mansion is made up of rooms that can be traveled through as well as moved around, sliding-puzzle style. Each stage consists of a handful of rooms that have to be arranged and navigated such that your character can get to the exit.

But there’s more; finding your way to the exit in each level is just one part of your mission. The other part consists of a sort of meta-puzzle, whereby the arrangement of the rooms for each level you complete is in itself part of a larger puzzle.
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Rating: 4

Description: Dad’n Me is a free beat-em-up side scrolling flash game where (you), the protagonist, set out to be the neighborhood bully, backed up by your father, bully-senior. (No it has nothing to do with the Bush family).

Not sure what to say about this that’s not said in the description…

• It’s got very cute visuals and big playable levels.
• It’s very well made, with obvious attention to detail.
• It’s a very quick game to get in and out of; no long-term commitment required.
• Employs the beat-em-up staple: combination of buttons/arrow keys will generate special moves. Read more »

Rating: 5

Version tested: 1.03

Description: Gamma Bros is a surprisingly playable free shoot em up game that is purposely ‘retro’ in its pixellated graphics and design. It is a flash game that you can play online in your browser, but is also downloadable if you would rather play it from your hard drive.

The storyline is as follows: the brothers Buzz and Zap Gamma need to get home to earth for dinner after a hard day’s work at a giant space station near Jupiter. The long float downward is fraught with hostile enemy aliens and ships, but luckily their little spaceships come equipped with a four-way laser (that can also be upgraded to much deadlier weaponry). Read more »

Rating: 5

Version tested: 2.31

Description: Movies Extractor Scout Lite scans the Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera caches for flash files (.SWF, .EXE, .FLV, and shockwave), enabling you to extract download links for them, play them, or export BMP images from these into your hard drive.

If you’ve ever wanted to download flash or shockwaves movies animations or games this program can help. Movies Extractor Scout Lite scans the Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera caches for all flash files and provides you with a download link where you can easily download them.

I have used this program to successfully download flash animations, and Youtube videos. I’ve had mixed results with Shockwave games; I was able to easily download some but not others (many shockwave games aren’t packaged neatly into a single file, making it more complicated to download them). Read more »

Rating: 5 

Description: Vixy is a website that provides 3 services; it can download YouTube and other embedded FLV videos straight into a number of different video formats, including Ipod MP4, and it can Generate video RSS feeds or video Podcasts using either a YouTube URL or keyword search.

I’ve been looking for a good solution for how to download YouTube videos into Ipod MP4 video for some time, and this is certainly it. I’ve found some software that does this, but the quality of the MP4 video was rather poor. I am happy to report that Vixy’s video conversions are simply excellent. Read more »

Rating: 5 

Description: Gorillaz Finaldrive is a little stunt-car-driving flash game.

Never thought I’d post a flash game, but this one is really well done and, well, very cool. Actually I’m not sure if there’s much of a game in there, but simply driving around in the virtual environment and trying to do stunt tricks is pretty satisfying.

This game was put together by the Gorillaz cartoon band as a kind of promotion. A great way to promote themselves in my opinion. I’m not much of a Gorillaz fan myself but I must admit the song is a really good one.

Click here to check it out. Read more »

Rating: 5 

Version tested:  1.0

Description: Apecsoft SWF2EXE is a simple tool that will convert your swf files into executables quickly and easily.

I guess now that the holiday season is upon us, we can count on the proliferation of those, ahem, cute flash greeting cards that everybody will be sending. With Apecsoft SWF2EXE you can convert your swf files into standalone exeutables; no need for browser or flash player. Read more »