Web HTML5 version of Bastion hits Chrome web store

Bastion, the popular action RPG noted for its fantastic art and narration, is now available to play in-browser through the Chrome web store. It's built as a HTML5 app with the Native Client SDK, so Flash is not required—even if a browser that automatically installs it is.

• [benjymous]

  “It’s built as a “HTML5″ app”

  No. it’s a “Native Client” app – basically the game is just a x86 compiled browser plugin that draws into the browser’s window.

  (It’s odd that when Google does this, everyone shouts from the rooftops, yet ActiveX, Microsoft’s version that did pretty much the same thing, was universally derided for breaking web standards, etc)

  • [Patrick Mylund Nielsen]

    One of the big points from the “etc” is that ActiveX was an absolute security nightmare. Google’s NaCl is still kinda scary–anything that allows you to run arbitrary native code is–but by any measure it is significantly more secure than ActiveX was.

    What I particularly like about Google’s approach is that 1. their NaCl implementations are open source, and 2. they host hackathons where everyone is invited to try to break out of their “double sandbox” environment.

    • [David]

      It’s open source as well.

      • [Patrick Mylund Nielsen]

        Wow. I JUST edited my comment to add that.

        Indeed, that and the fact that they’re inviting anyone to break it for a prize makes me more comfortable with NaCl than with similar solutions.

        • [Robert Baart]

          I’m also quite comfortable with table salt. 
          Have to love acronyms.

    • [Palomino]

      @google-1d6e110a7936de6a7b30106495613f27:disqus 
      I love it when you guys force  me to do research, it’s a blast. 

      “Pepper” is an interface that web browsers (specifically, Chromium) provide for implementing browser plugins. Pepper started out as an extension to Mozilla’s widely-used NPAPI interface, but Pepper v2 provides a new API that is not an extension to NPAPI. 

      SALT – Standard AutoHotkey Library Transfer

      May not have been what you meant, but it was still fun. 

  • [Eric]

    Native Client is part of Google’s world domination strategy: http://www.hackerspews.com/     (dons foil hat)

  • [echolocate chocolate]

    That’s kind of an oversimplification. Chrome’s native client treats x86 binaries similarly to how Java treats its bytecode–it runs static code analysis to make sure it isn’t doing anything naughty. It also puts restrictions on what instructions you can use and how your code is structured to make it harder to break. In the end you get something closer to the JVM (Java) or the CLR (C#)… i.e. mostly secure most of the time, fingers crossed. Expect frequent security updates.

    ActiveX just transparently installed native code on your machine without any kind of security sandbox at all, in an operating system with next to no security controls.

• [Henry Pootel]

  The voice FTW in that game.  I could imagine a Firefly styled game with Mal narrating it.

• [Palomino]

  I don’t know if it’s the same thing, but I love the Epic War games. 

• [cymk]

  Bastion was truly on of the cooler games I’ve played in a while.

• [OriGuy]

  Am I missing something?  I installed it and started the game. I heard the narrator and the background music, but all I see on the screen are lights (stars?) moving on a black background. I tried using the AWSD keys to move, but the view doesn’t change. At one point, the narrator says, “and then he falls to his death.  Nah, I’m just foolin’.” Am I doing something wrong?

  • [John Fleming]

    The same thing happened to me when I tried it on my (ahem) work PC, but it worked fine at home.

    • [OriGuy]

      Hmmm.  Same here. Maybe a firewall issue?