CUSTOMISATION / HOBBY TECH
I
n thedimanddistantpast,if you
wantedtoplayvideogamesoutside
thelocalarcade,youhadtohavea
homecomputer.Theserelativelylow-cost
8-bitmachines– fromCommodore,Sinclair,
Acorn,Amstradandthelike– allhadonefeature
incommon– whenyouswitchedthemon,they
dumpedyouata programminglanguage.
Whenthefirstcartridge-basedgames
consoleslanded,computergamersviewedREVIEW
Fuze4 Nintendo Switch
themwithderision.If youcan’tprogramyour
owngamesonthem,what’sthepoint?
Thebirthofthegraphicaluserinterface,
desktopenvironments,andallthebitsand
piecesthatmakesthemodernoperating
systemlevelledtheplayingfield.Now,neither
homecomputersnorconsolesbootintoa
programminglanguage,butthatdoesn’t
prevent people from installing their own.
Regular readers may remember the
Fuze (reviewed in Issue 124), a BBC Micro-
inspired metal housing for the Raspberry Pi,which introduced the world to Fuze BASIC
as an educational-focused programming
language. Fuze4 Nintendo Switch isn’t a
case, and it isn’t quite Fuze BASIC either.
However, it is a fully functional programming
language for Nintendo’s popular convertible
handheld console.
Fuze4 has undergone a wealth of changes
since its original white-on-black Fuze
BASIC days. Firstly, it’s no longer quite as
tied to the conventions of BASIC. Fuze4 is an
in-house mashup of a range of programming
languages, taking what it needs from BASIC,
Python and even C. Like its predecessor, it’s
entirely text-based; there’s no block-based
editor here.
There is, however, a neat graphical
interface that adapts a text-based
programming language to the vagaries of
the Switch. The on-screen keyboard can
be modified, along with the rest of the user
interface, using built-in themes, including
ones inspired by the BBC Micro, the ZX
Spectrum and the Commodore 64. It also
allows for text entry, but for any programming
except the simplest programs, a USB
keyboard is a must.
Sadly, Nintendo’s decision to place the
Switch’s only USB port on the bottom of theInstead of
playing games
on the Switch,
Fuze4 aims to
get you making
your ownBundled assets, including 2D, 3D and audio files,
enable you to get started quickly