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TUAW TV Live: Sande and Schramm talk CES, Macworld/iWorld
CES 2013 is a memory now, but for those in the Apple world we have a big event coming up in just two weeks -- Macworld/iWorld 2013 in San Francisco. The event is part conference, part expo, part three-ring circus, and it's also the place where TUAW readers can join up with the staff to talk about all things Apple. For those of you who won't be able to make it to San Francisco's Moscone Center West this year to join us, we'll have plenty of coverage. Today on the show, my guest and fellow TUAW blogger Mike Schramm will join me to talk about what he saw at CES and what we should expect at Macworld/iWorld. Below, you'll find a Ustream livestream viewer and a chat tool. The chat tool allows you to participate by asking questions or making comments. You'll be watching the show in glorious HD! Fans of IRC can pop into the chat on server chat1.ustream.tv, chat room #tuaw-tv. If you're driving somewhere and would like to watch TUAW TV Live while you're stuck in traffic, please don't -- keep your eyes on the road! However, if someone else is doing the driving, you can watch the show on your iPhone and join the chat by downloading the free Ustream App. It's a universal app and is wonderful on an iPad, both for viewing and participating in the chat. In addition, the live stream and chat will be available through our Facebook page. Just point your browser here to watch the show and chat with other viewers while you're on Facebook. We'll start at about 5 PM ET, so if you're seeing a prerecorded show, be sure to refresh your browser until you see the live stream. For those of you who are not able to join us for the live edition, you'll be able to view it later this evening on our TUAW Video YouTube channel and as part of the TUAW TV Live podcast viewable in iTunes or on any of your Apple devices.
TUAW TV Live at 5 PM: Post-CES, pre-Macworld/iWorld episode
Later today on TUAW TV Live, fellow blogger Mike Schramm will be joining me to talk about what he was able to see at CES while fighting the flu, and what we expect to see at the upcoming Macworld/iWorld event in San Francisco. As usual, I'll be starting the show at 5 PM EST (2 PM PST / 10 PM GMT) sharp, and we'll take a few minutes to chat before the demos start. To join in on the chat and watch the live streaming video, drop by TUAW about five minutes before the start time to get your instructions on how to participate. If you're unable to join us for the show, remember that you can always subscribe to the video podcast and watch the show at your leisure in iTunes or any other favorite podcatching app. The past shows are also available on the TUAW YouTube channel. The chat is on IRC: join us on server chat1.ustream.tv, chat room #tuaw-tv.
Best of the Rest: Mike Schramm's picks of 2012
Joystiq is revealing its 10 favorite games of 2012 throughout the week. Keep reading for more top selections and every writer's personal, impassioned picks in Best of the Rest roundups. Puzzle CraftFirst, I'd like to take a quick bow. Last year at this time (while lauding the great Jetpack Joyride), I pointed out that we'd never chosen a first-released-on-mobile game for our top 10 list, and that 2012 might be the year it would finally happen. And as you've seen on our final list, we did finally pick a game that fits that definition in 2012.But it wasn't my pick: For my money, Puzzle Craft is the best mobile game of the year, and definitely in my top five overall. Right now it's free on iOS, and offers a gorgeous and polished mix of casual puzzle gameplay that slowly gets more and more rewarding and complex as you level up and stockpile farm-based goodies. I love the "days of the year" time mechanic, I love the way that the rules change as you grow your town, and I just plain love this game. Hopefully we'll see new content in the new year, because I've been at max level for a while now. Max level, that is, on all three devices I've installed it on.
TUAW's Best of 2012 Personal Picks: Mike Schramm
2012 was one heck of a year for me -- I released my first iPhone app, went to Europe for the first time, spoke at the 360iDev convention in Denver, and spent most of the latter half of the year traveling around the country talking to iOS developers about the App Store, the company that runs it, and where both are headed. I've played with hundreds (if not thousands) of apps this year, and covered almost one every day for our daily app feature. So I've used plenty of great Apple and Apple-related products this year, and here are my picks of the best. Puzzle Craft (Free for iPhone and iPad) I've played (and loved) a whole lot of games from the App Store this year, but Puzzle Craft stands above them all as my favorite of the bunch. It's extremely well-designed, beautifully polished, and it has both a very simple and accessible game mechanic (similar to, if not borrowed from, iOS' great Dungeon Raid) and a very complex and deeply addictive progression system behind it. The story is mostly nonexistent, and I am a little disappointed the developers haven't followed up the app's success with any more content just yet. But especially for what is now a free game, there isn't a title that I loved more or played as much of on the App Store this year. I don't beat iOS games often, just because there are so many of them to play, but I leveled up to the max in Puzzle Craft, and then kept on playing. Puzzlejuice ($1.99 for iPhone and iPad) All right, so I've got a type -- you can tell by the word "puzzle" in two of my favorite games this year. But it's true: There's nothing I love more than an endlessly intriguing puzzle game, and Puzzlejuice gets this nod because in a year of less-than-special word games, it's the only one that really brought me back to keep spelling, over and over again. I do love the game's bro-ish voice (you don't just quit a session, you "rage quit"), and seeing behind the scenes of development in the Puzzlejuice emails was fascinating for me. But this is just a great, wonderful game, from design to gameplay to the various powerups and everything in between. Among word games (a genre which I'm tiring of, at this point), it's the B-E-S-T. Fairway Solitaire ($.99 for iPhone, $2.99 for iPad) I didn't think that Fairway Solitaire rolled onto the App Store this year, but I'm told that it did, and 2012 was definitely the year in which I played the most of it. Developer Big Fish Games made its name by cranking out casual titles on PC, and this has been its first big hit on the App Store (which it's followed up with a solid set of updates and content releases since around May). Like the other games on my list, Fairway Solitaire takes a fairly mindless mechanic (card solitaire), and makes it much more interesting with various other power-ups and game tricks. And a huge amount of unlocked content (not to mention the hilariously absurd golf commentary jokes) has kept this one popping up on my iPad's screen again and again. Kingdom Rush (free for iPhone and iPad) Like word games, tower defense is a genre that's overdone on the App Store at this point -- there are a billion tower defense games out there, and there are only a few that do anything really interesting with the genre. The just-released Anomaly Korea is a great example of really switching tower defense up, but Kingdom Rush is the best traditional example that I've come across this year. The combination of colorful graphics and deep strategy (complete with a fully unlockable talent tree) hit the target perfectly, and elevate a much-traveled genre to reveal the reason why it's so popular in the first place. I'm not a big tower defense fan, but I love Kingdom Rush (especially on the iPad), and that right there is enough reason to recommend it. Runmeter 5k ($4.99 on the iPhone) It's hard to describe just how helpful this app has been for me -- I used it every day for about three months earlier this year, training up to my very first half marathon. Runmeter was already a great app, but the 5k variant (which included actual 5k, half marathon, and full marathon training plans in the app itself) served as the perfect coach for me, providing direction, feedback, and even some motivation as I worked my way through a running plan. The GPS is so well implemented, the app tracks so many things effortlessly, and little fun bits like changing the app's alert voice or tweeting from the app (and reading you back replies as you run) make it clear that if you exercise with an iPhone or iPod touch, you should really have this app with you. The amount of features Abvio has crammed into this app is really staggering when you start to explore them, and for my money, there's no better running app or fitness system out there. Slacker Radio (free with ads, extra charge for subscription) There are obviously a number of cloud music services out there at this point, but Slacker Radio has muscled its way past the others in my view, to the point where I listen to it almost more than any podcasts or even my own music collection. Especially with a subscription, Slacker can seem like magic all too often: Just type in a song or artist, hit play, and you get to listen to exactly what you want. The curated stations are well-designed by professional music pickers, and there are even non-music stations that talk sports, news, or comedy when you're in the mood for that. There are a few holes in the library (mostly obscure songs that I really want to hear but aren't available due to royalty issues), and of course you need to be connected to the Internet to listen (which made this a no-go during most of my trip to Europe, unfortunately). But in the car, out running, or just sitting at my desk, Slacker's been an almost constant companion this year, and I've been glad to have it. iCade Mobile gamepad ($80, available now) Steve Jobs famously told us that we didn't need more than one button on his iOS devices, but we gamers know that sometimes, buttons come in handy. The flat glass of the touchscreen just doesn't fly in terms of precision or responsiveness in some games. And while there are a lot of bad Bluetooth-based game controllers out there, my favorite this year was the iCade mobile, a huge contraption modeled after the Sony PSP, which you can clip your iPhone into and then button away to your heart's content. It's not stylish or tiny by any account, and it probably won't fit into your pocket along with your iPhone (the ThinkGeek 8-bitty is probably more your style, if that's what you're looking for, though get ready for muscle cramps after just a few minutes). But it is durable and dependable, and it feels more like a controller than anything else I tried this year. Yes, $80 is expensive, but if you're going to bypass Steve's wishes for your own gaming enjoyment, you'll have to pay the price. iPad (from $499) I bought my iPad back at the end of 2011, but 2012 was the year of the tablet for me for sure. Before I bought my iPad, I was one of those who believed I just didn't need it -- my iPhone 5 is awesome, and I have a MacBook for all of my portable computing needs. Why would I need another computer in between those two? But over the course of this year, my iPad has become more and more helpful, and not necessarily in the places I've expected it. In truth, it's not a portable computer for me. I can move it around, but it's been much more of a homebody than I ever expected: I still probably take my laptop out of the house more often than I take my iPad. But it has definitely become my device of choice for more than a few of my favorite pastimes, including browsing the Internet, gaming, and reading. I've never been more productive while in bed: Every night I read a few chapters of my book of choice (I've read so many books this year!), and every morning, I grab it off the nightstand to check email and preload the day's news. And it's a second screen for me while watching TV or movies on the couch for sure -- I look up game hints while playing Xbox, browse IMDb when I want to know who that actor is that I recognize from that movie, and play great games on it, brilliantly made for a bigger touchscreen. In short, my iPad has carved a way bigger place than I expected into both my workflow and my free time this past year. I don't know that I couldn't live without it (although I wouldn't want to go back to reading without it), so it's still a supplementary device, aside from the great iPad-only game experiences. But 2012 was definitely the year of the iPad for me, the turning point at which I realized just how important and useful the tablet form factor could be.
TUAW TV Live: The impact of WWDC 2012
Welcome back to TUAW TV Live, our weekly live streaming video chat about just anything dealing with the world of Apple. Today on the show, my guest will be TUAW and Joystiq editor Mike Schramm, fresh from the streets of San Francisco where he reported on this year's Apple Worldwide Developer Conference. Below, you'll find a Ustream livestream viewer and a chat tool. The chat tool allows you to participate by asking questions or making comments. You can also choose to watch the show on Justin.tv if you wish, by visiting our portal at http://justin.tv/tuawtvlive. In either case, you'll be watching the show in glorious HD! If you're driving somewhere and would like to watch TUAW TV Live while you're stuck in traffic, please don't -- keep your eyes on the road! However, if someone else is doing the driving, you can watch the show on your iPhone and join the chat by downloading the free Ustream App. It's a universal app and is wonderful on an iPad, both for viewing and participating in the chat. We'll start at about 5 PM ET, so if you're seeing a prerecorded show, be sure to refresh your browser until you see the live stream. For those of you who are not able to join us for the live edition, you'll be able to view it later this evening on our TUAW Video YouTube channel and as part of the TUAW TV Live podcast viewable in iTunes or on any of your Apple devices.
TUAW TV Live at 5 PM EDT: Talking WWDC with Mike Schramm
The 2012 Apple Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) may be over, but the event is still stirring up a lot of discussion on blogs and podcasts. Fellow TUAWer Mike Schramm was part of the TUAW contingent at the annual nerdfest in San Francisco, and today he'll be my guest on TUAW TV Live to discuss the impact of the announcements made at the event. Mike also interviewed scores of developers at WWDC, and we'll find out what's new and cool in the Apple development world. As usual, I'll be starting the show at 5 PM EDT (2 PM PDT / 10 PM BST) sharp, and we'll take a few minutes to chat before the demos start. To join in on the chat and watch the live streaming video, drop by TUAW about five minutes before the start time to get your instructions on how to participate. If you're unable to join us for the show, remember that you can always subscribe to the video podcast and watch the show at your leisure in iTunes or any other favorite podcatching app. The past shows are also available on the TUAW YouTube channel. The chat is on IRC: join us on server chat1.ustream.tv, chat room #tuaw-tv.
Developing my first iPhone game: the inside story
Editor's Note: From time to time, TUAW does cover commercial apps developed by our staffers, although it is relatively rare for individuals to write about their own projects (with some notable exceptions). In this case, Mike's experience of his app development process -- going from a code-naive start to a spot in the App Store -- is definitely worth sharing. Last Tuesday, having covered the App Store for TUAW since before there was an App Store to cover (remember the "sweet solution"?), I finally did something I've been thinking about doing for a couple of years now: I released an iPhone app. I write about lots of apps every day here on TUAW, but I'm a writer by trade, not a programmer. I used to code as a kid in BASIC, but before this app, hadn't ever written anything in an object-oriented language, or put together a piece of software with a graphical interface at all. I don't have a computer science degree or a background in coding -- I have what I call a "BS" degree, in media production. But last Tuesday, thanks to Apple's App Store platform, I became a published app developer. From start to finish, I've learned a lot. My app, Antithesis, is a simple affair, a twisted take on an old arcade form with (hopefully) just enough depth to keep it interesting. But even that simple app has taught me lots and lots of lessons, about everything from game and art design to how to develop in Objective-C and Xcode, and just what kinds of challenges and questions independent game developers on iOS face every time they come up with a new title. It would be impossible for me to convey everything I've learned in just one blog post, huge as this one is -- this whole process, of learning iPhone development to the bare minimum point that I now know it, has taken at least a couple of years, and just working on this app specifically took a period of about eight months. I originally started Antithesis back at the 360iDev Game Jam last year (while attending the conference for TUAW), and I wrote up my earliest thoughts about the game over on my personal blog. To convey everything I've learned in that time would probably take just as long. But I did want to try and share a few different big lessons I've learned here, and hopefully give you a glance at some of the insights and experience I've picked up from my (admittedly still very limited) foray into app development. Here's a few things I've learned from publishing an app on Apple's App Store. 1. It's not easy. But it's doable. There is a kind of a mystique to being an app developer, apparently. By far, the number one question people have asked me once I tell them about the app is, "How did you do it?" Unfortunately, looking back, I can't really recommend the path I took. I basically learned by trial and error, by jumping into the process of development at different points, seeing if I could do what I wanted to do, figuring out that I couldn't, and then stepping back in the process even further. So given all of that frustration, here's how I recommend you learn iPhone development, if you want to: First, learn Objective-C. This is the language on which all Mac and iOS development is based, so it's very important to know the ins and outs as best you can. If you already know C or C++, this will be easier, though there are quite a few quirks to deal with (or so I'm told -- I never learned either of those languages independently of Objective-C). I will echo Aunt TUAW's great advice (to me, actually) and say that if you want to learn this language, Stephen Kochan's "Programming in Objective-C" book is the way to go. Read that book a few times, learn what code objects are and how to manipulate and deal with them, and that will give you a good foundation. Then, learn how to use Xcode. Xcode is the IDE (integrated development environment) that Apple provides its developers to use to create apps, and even in my limited scope of knowledge, it seems to be to be the best way to go about core development (if you want to do cross-platform development, there are lots of other options, but that's not what we're talking about here). Aaron Hillegass' book "Cocoa Programming in Mac OS X" was helpful here for me, but it's not strictly about iPhone development. It does, however, teach you the structure of iOS and Mac apps, and it will let you in on all of the little hooks and levers Apple has built in to its operating system code for you to manipulate in your own apps. Honestly, the biggest education I got in just how Xcode works with the iPhone was browsing through all of Apple's sample code, and seeing what worked and what didn't there. The documentation for Xcode and the iPhone is top-notch, so if you ever have a question, there's usually an answer on Apple's site. For non-programmers, some of even Apple's walkthroughs can be a little intimidating (it's a lot of code jargon all strung together), but all of the answers are there, even if you sometimes have to ask questions in the very helpful developer forums. You get full access to all the developer forums with a $99 annual membership in Apple's iOS developer program. Finally, I used Cocos2D to make my game, and the great "Learning Cocos2D" book is primarily responsible for that one. Cocos2D is an open source framework that makes game development much simpler, allowing you to reuse code for standard objects like sprites and text labels, without having to build those things yourself. Ray Wenderlich is one of the authors on that book, and his site has an incredibly helpful and well-kept list of tutorials for working with Cocos2D. There is a lot of math involved in programming, and I am not good at math. There's also a lot of object-based thinking, and I've learned that I'm not too good at that either. So I won't say that development was "easy" at all -- it was often very frustrating, and there were many times when I'd spend hours trying to fix something simple, or I'd work hard on a chunk of code only to never actually use it in the game. But it is very doable. If you are interested in development, and passionate about making an app, and you keep at it even when the impulse to quit arrives (as it probably will many times), it is very possible to make and release your own iPhone app. Apple has lowered the barriers to entry on the App Store so much, so that even if you have a (more than) full time job, like blogging on a popular website, you can build and develop an app in your spare time on nights and weekends. 2. The iPhone succeeds because it's so frictionless. I could probably write books on what I've already learned about game design, and I'm sure there are still whole libraries left to learn. But the biggest lesson I took away from actually making a game (even after writing about them for so many years) is that iPhone users want and even expect direct, immediate access to whatever they're doing on that touchscreen. When I first put the game together, I did it using Apple's iOS simulator, which is a little app that comes with Xcode that lets you run iPhone software for testing on your Mac. So for most of development, I ran the game using a mouse or my MacBook's trackpad, not the actual touchscreen. Once I actually paid the $99 to join the developer program and gained the ability to run my software on my iPhone, however, the experience was completely different. I was surprised by just how intimate and direct the touchscreen is. And my "beta testers" (friends and family who I gave my iPhone and told to play my game while I silently watched) had the same experience. When I first made the game, I designed it so that the onscreen "paddle" (that the player controls) had to be touched directly. But from the first person that played it, I realized that didn't work: Users sometimes couldn't hit the relatively small paddle with their fingers, and having to connect with it was just a chore. So I changed the game, allowing the player to touch the screen anywhere to control the paddle, and that little fix removed that friction and made it much more accessible. Later, I added the ability for your paddle to fire a projectile, and a button to fire with, but players didn't get that you had to first lift your finger up and then touch the button -- they just expected multitouch, so I had to implement that as well (a little difference, but one that caused some headaches for me in code). In short, users expect direct, clear interaction on the iPhone. I'm sure that's a software rule in general, but on that touchscreen especially, I was surprised by how simple, clear, and direct everything really had to be, and how when I made changes in that direction, how quickly and clearly users responded. In the end, I strived for an experience without any instruction at all -- something that anyone could pick up, and eventually figure out without help. Even developers can learn a lot there, I think: Apps like Angry Birds, Jetpack Joyride and Temple Run succeed in large part because they are so exceptionally clear and straightforward. Everything you put in your game or app that impedes that connection between what users want to do and what they're doing will cause problems. When my beta testers played with the app for thirty seconds and then put the iPhone down and told me, "Well that's fun, good luck with that!" I knew I had things to work on. And when I got the game going so that people were playing for three minutes or more without taking their eyes off the screen, I knew I was doing it right. 3. Play to your strengths and weaknesses. This is one of the most surprising things I have heard about my app: People really like the graphics. My biggest drawback as an app developer (aside from the fact that I'm still a beginner, of course) is that I have no real sense of design or style at all. I've never been good at putting visuals together, and that's been a source of frustration over the years, given that I've worked on the web so much. So it's very interesting to hear that people like the graphical look of Antithesis. The night before I started putting the app together, I went to a bar in Denver full of old arcade machines, and I kind of marveled at those, at the experiences that old-school game developers were able to create with just a few pixels and one or two colors. That's what fueled my design more than anything else: How could I, as a guy with no artistic skill, still create something that was visually interesting. In the end, Antithesis only uses about four graphics (and -- spoiler -- three colors), but I tried to put them together in a way that got people interested. That visual choice turned out to be one of the most striking things about my app. So this is good advice for any endeavor, I think: Know yourself, know your weaknesses and strengths, and work in harmony with them. 4. Apple runs the show (but does it well). I haven't ever developed software for other platforms, but I can tell you that on iOS, at least, it's Apple's game. I've heard many stories over the years about the app submission process, and how closed-box it all is, and as far as I can tell, the stories are all true. When you're finally done with coding and designing your app in Xcode, you enter the world of iTunes Connect, a separate site which serves as the backstage, so to speak, for the App Store. This is the clearinghouse where you sign all the documents you need to set your app's price and make sure you can get paid when the app sells, and then create all of the screenshots and the metadata required to go on the App Store itself. The whole process is actually surprisingly rote at this point -- you realize just how much of an equalizer the App Store is when you find yourself writing up an app description, entering up to only five screenshots (it doesn't matter if you're EA, a one-man shop, or Rovio; five screenshots per listing is all you get), and setting up localization data for all of the various App Stores you might sell your app in around the world. Once you have entered all of the required metadata for your app, you upload what's called a "bundle" (created by fixing exactly the right settings in Xcode and then uploading what's basically a zip file of your app through Apple's software), and then the waiting game begins: Your app is boiled down to an icon that's yellow, green or red. If it's yellow, the app is waiting for approval -- either you the developer or Apple's submission team needs to check and approve it somehow. If it's red, the app's been declined, and you the developer need to go fix a problem somewhere, and possibly resubmit. And if it's (finally) green, then app is finally good to go. My whole experience here was relatively painless -- I submitted my app on Sunday, March 18, and it finally went under Apple's reviewing eye last Monday, the 26th of March. Then, about eight hours later, Apple approved the app, and about 12 hours after that it appeared on the App Store. That's a pretty typical cycle, as I understand it. It can vary quite a bit (some developers say that if you've had multiple apps approved before, the process goes faster, and if it's a particularly busy time of year at Apple HQ, the process can be even longer), but it all ran smoothly enough for me. So there's two lessons here: First, it's Apple's show for sure. I could have asked Apple to hold my app, post-approval, for me to release when I want, but if I wanted to get it out early or somehow speed up approval, there was no chance of that. Once you submit an app, it's in their hands entirely, and though my app didn't get rejected, from what I've heard, all you get is an email asking for a fix. The App Store is Apple's game, no matter who you are, and every developer with an app out there is just playing along as best they can. But the second lesson is that Apple also has this whole thing down pat -- from start to finish, I never wondered what was wrong or got confused about what was happening with my app. I did grow impatient waiting for it to be approved, but Apple never passed off any mixed messages or let me feel lost in the system, somehow despite the fact that the App Store team is now overseeing millions of apps around the world. I was incredibly impressed with how smooth the entire process was. Yes, it was complex and complicated (there are an astounding number of settings in Xcode for export, and even the metadata setup in iTunes Connect has to cover every possibility for security), but the system is there, and it works. 5. It's a jungle out there. So: Sales. Originally, I was going to release my app for free, just because the only goal was to see what the development process was like. But the more time I put into development, and the more I thought about that $100 development fee, the more I decided I should really get something back for my time. Not to mention that I wanted to see how sales worked on the App Store, and see how well I, after covering all of these apps and their sales for so long, could convince users to spend a buck on me and my work. As it turns out, not very well. (I agree, sharing sales after only a few days of release is probably a little early. However, I'm about to head out on vacation for a few weeks, and as you can see above, there's already a trend. I will update this post if anything changes.) As you can see above, I had a nice big start in sales, but since then, as the app has slowly moved out of everyone's consciousness, sales have steadily dropped. You can count up the numbers on the side there, if you like, but so far, I have sold 511 copies of the app. At 99 cents a piece, that's about $506. Not bad, right? I might even be able to pick up that new iPad! Not so fast. 30 of those copies were from promo codes - I gave out quite a few to reviewers and press, as well as a few on my Twitter and Facebook accounts for promotion. And not all of those sales were in the US -- quite a few of them were overseas, which means that they actually sold for less than $1, especially after Apple takes out conversion rates and various charges there. Of course, Apple takes its 30% cut, so by the time I actually get my check (which I probably won't for a week or two at least), total gross profits to me probably won't be too much more than $300 or so. Which is great -- again, the goal for me was release, not to make a bunch of money. But after taking out the $99 developer fee, and remembering that I put in about eight months of work on this thing, that's not very much at all. I am lucky enough to have a job blogging here, but if I was an independent developer who'd quit his job to try and support a family by making iPhone apps? I'd probably start browsing the help wanted section, or at least start work on a Tiny Tower clone of my own. And here's the most interesting part of my sales: These are sales from a very successful launch. Because of my story as a "blogger who made an iPhone app," Touch Arcade kindly posted about Antithesis, as did 148Apps and a few other great app and iPhone sites. The buzz on my app has been great -- almost all of the reviews are positive, and I built up a nice chunk of Twitter talk as well. My app's even been featured by Apple -- after showing up in the charts in the Arcade and Puzzle sections of the App Store (I even cracked the top 200 chart in Germany for a few hours after some favorable press appeared over there), I was featured at the top of the App Store's Arcade page alongside much bigger releases. In short, as app releases go, this one's been about perfect. I've been very lucky, and everyone, from the press to my users to even Apple, has been very generous with their support. But that hasn't translated into sales at all. Certainly, the quality of the app could be better, but my best conclusion here is that even buzz isn't enough on the App Store any more. There are so many apps out there, and so many ways for users to split their attention, that you really need to hit it out of the park on everything from presentation to release timing to advertising in order to get those sales numbers moving. In that sense, then, as I understand it, the App Store is growing more and more similar to game development in general. (One aside about sales as well: As journalists, those of us who cover apps will sometimes use listings in Game Center or even iTunes ratings or reviews as ways to determine actual app sales. But as I said above, I've sold 511 copies, I've currently got only 19 ratings in iTunes, and Game Center lists 278 players on my leaderboards. So the next time you see a blog extrapolating sales from either of those stats, know that they don't have access to the whole picture.) I'm not quite done yet. I wasn't necessarily planning to update the app at all, but my biggest bug is that I accidentally put the wrong sorting setting on the Game Center leaderboards, so it turns out the lowest scores are appearing at the top, instead of the other way around. People have also asked for universal support, so I'm going to combine both of those things (and some other updates) into a version 1.1, which will be out as soon as I can get it done (probably in a month or so -- again, I'm about to head off to vacation right now). And I'll continue to watch sales; I think I'm done with promotion for now (and I haven't spent any money on advertising, obviously), but it'll be interesting to see if there's an audience wandering around the App Store itself, and if just having an app listed will bring users in. So there's lots more to learn for sure. But this has been quite an experience already. It's been invaluable for me as a writer to work on this project, and stay tuned -- I will do my best to share lots more of what I've learned in posts here going forward as well.
Atari announces Pong contest for indie iOS devs
(Disclaimer: As you'll read below, I'm serving as a judge in this competition, though I'm not getting paid or compensated for any time I'm contributing to it.) Atari has been betting big on iOS lately. It recently released a Greatest Hits app with its own controller, as well as remakes like Breakout: Boost (our review) and Asteroids: Gunner. Now the original Atari classic, Pong, is being re-imagined and the company wants help from iOS developers. Atari is offering up to US$100,000 to indie developers who can put together an "original take" on Pong for iOS devices. The contest is essentially a publishing deal. Developers can make an iOS game and submit it to the judging panel, which includes Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, Pocket God creator Dave Castelnuovo and me, TUAW's Mike Schramm. The winner of the contest will be published by Atari on the App Store. In addition, community-based voting will help determine both a community winner and the overall winner, so you'll be able to have a voice in the proceedings as well. The contest's official rules are now available online, and it's basically an opportunity to do some spec work for Atari (some developers have objections -- see Update below). The winner gets a publishing deal with Atari, so part of that $100,000 prize is going to come from splitting up App Store sales, not just a giant check. Still, if you're an iOS developer who's been looking for an idea to jump on, and think you've got a compelling spin on Pong, here's your opportunity to work with a pioneering video game company. I look forward to your entries, and wish good luck to everyone who decides to compete! Update: The rules and regulations for the contest have made it online, and as developer Brian Robbins notes, they're pretty heinous: Atari is basically asking devs to make games for them on spec, with no real indication or guarantee that they'll make money, even if they win the contest (Atari points out that there are some cash prizes, in addition to the publishing deals: $50,000 for first place, $37,500 for second, $25,000 for third, and $5,000 each for up to seven more runner-ups. But obviously, this requires developers to "win" -- if a lot of work is poured into an idea that doesn't make it, there's no guarantee of any reward at all, and the spec couldn't ever be published separately without major changes.) I will say that even despite my reservations about a scheme like this, I am still behind the contest as a judge, and I still think it represents an opportunity to work with Atari that a lot of indie developers might not normally get. But devs, don't go into this thing blind: Know that by entering a contest like this, you're basically entering an arena in which Atari holds most of the cards. If you don't want to submit your game in this way, there's always the option of just publishing on your own. Show full PR text Atari Announces the $100,000 Pong® Indie Developer Challenge Winners Receive Cash Prize, Publishing Agreements and Industry Accolades LOS ANGELES – Feb. 28, 2012 – In celebration of Atari's and Pong's 40th anniversary, the company today announced the official start of its Pong® Indie Developer Challenge, calling on entrants to reimagine the classic game for a chance to win up to $100,000 and see their vision go from concept to market. Beginning Feb. 28, 2012, developers can submit their original take on Pong® for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices, with finalists launching their games on the App Store later this year under the Atari brand. Winning entries will also receive a long-term publishing agreement with Atari that includes development, creative resources and full marketing support. Submissions are now being accepted until March 31st, 2012, 11:59pm ET, at: www.atari.com/pongdeveloperchallenge Following the success of Atari's recent indie-developed mobile games including Asteroids®: Gunner™, Atari's Greatest Hits© and Breakout®: Boost, the Pong® Indie Developer Challenge opens the door for up-and-coming developers to deliver the next smash hit. The judging panel will include notable industry figureheads, including original Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, infamous Pocket God creator Dave Castelnuovo, TUAW's Mike Schramm, and select members of Atari's executive team. Atari fans can participate by submitting their own votes during the selection of an Atari Community Winner. An additional community voting period will also help to determine overall contest winners, details of which will be revealed soon. "The Pong Indie Developer Challenge is a great opportunity to celebrate the 40th anniversary of an iconic game franchise," said Jim Wilson, CEO of Atari. "We are enthusiastic about working with the independent developer community to evolve Pong through a wide variety of creative concepts and gameplay experiences that will further engage our Atari fan base and introduce new consumers to this pioneering video game franchise." For full details regarding the contest and rules, including how to submit, eligibility, timing of submissions and prizes, please visit: www.atari.com/pongdeveloperchallenge For more information about Atari games and the latest news: - Visit our website: www.atari.com - Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/atari - Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/atari - Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/atari
Best of the Rest: Mike's picks of 2011
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine This game was listed right after Skyrim, Batman: Arkham City, and Portal 2 at number four in my top five of the year, and I think it deserves that spot, even over higher-profile contenders like Gears of War 3 and Modern Warfare 3. The pitch-perfect pacing and incredible setting (I am now a die-hard Black Library reader -- start with the great Eisenhorn by Dan Abnett) elevate this one from just another third-person action game to one of the best video games of the year.
TUAW TV Live at 5 PM ET: We look back at 2010, make predictions for 2011
For the last TUAW TV Live of the year, I've decided I want to bring in the big guns -- my fellow TUAW bloggers. You get to hear us just about every Sunday night, but you don't often see us in action. I'm going to tempt fate and try to bring Megan Lavey, Mike Schramm, Mike Rose (tentative) and more into a Skype 5 video chat. What are we going to talk about? The past year, like the biggest Apple stories of 2010, the best products and the worst nightmares. We'll also talk about what we think is coming up in 2011 that will be exciting and new -- will there be a killer product that nobody has thought about? Will the Mac App Store reinvigorate the development world for Mac software? You can join in as well through the Ustream chat tool. Ask the panelists questions, make comments and discuss our points with other people in the chat room. To join in on this fun and usually educational show, come on back to TUAW just before 5 PM ET (2 PM PT, 10 PM GMT), and you'll find a post containing the live streaming video, the chat room and instructions on how to join in if you're on an iPhone or iPad. See you later!
Why I didn't buy an iPad
Guest blogger B. Imei Hsu lays out the case over on Chris Pirillo's blog for "Why you don't want an iPad" -- she takes a few guesses at why you, dear Apple fan, may not have bought Apple's magical and revolutionary device this past weekend. She's actually a little venomous -- not only is there a bit of harsh language in there, but according to her, you're probably in denial or clueless about what the iPad actually is. Thanks for that, Ms. Hsu. Fortunately, I'm in a good position to answer this one -- I'm a lead editor on a major (unofficial) Apple weblog, and no, I didn't buy an iPad. Why not? Not because of any of the iPad's faults -- I got to play with one for an extended amount of time at an Apple Store on Saturday (there was a line building up behind me, and the Geniuses were starting to give me weird looks), and I think it's an amazing device. It feels solid and perfect, it runs even faster than I expected, and that display is just terrific. It makes apps, e-books, and the web look beautiful, and save for a few quirks with the keyboard (I often lay my fingers on the keys while thinking of what to write, and you can't have any stray touches on the iPad's keyboard), I think it's just as amazing as promised. But I don't have "a problem with desire," I'm not asking "the wrong questions," I don't "hate change," and I'm not envious. Ok, maybe I am a little envious, but not by choice at all. Honestly, I didn't buy an iPad this weekend because so far, I just don't need one.
Macworld 2010: TUAW talks to OpenFeint
On the day before Macworld last week, I got a chance to sit down with Eros Remini, VP of Marketing for OpenFeint, to talk about his social gaming network for iPhone apps. He shared with me that the network has claimed a gigantic 12 million users total, with about a million of them active in iPhone games from day to day. Additionally, the average user plays three or four games regularly -- unlike most other consoles, the iPhone is really a device that can split attention rather than have players dive deep in on one game. He also told us about the OpenFeint app that was released last month, as well as their popular free game of the day giveaway -- once per day, they give away an OpenFeint game for free right there inside the app. And we also talked about both how OpenFeint is serving as connection between developer and customer, as well as why Apple hasn't really shown an interest in an official iTunes gaming network like this. You can check out the whole interview on video right after clicking through the link below. Enjoy!
Macworld 2010: TUAW adventures, day 1
Yesterday was the first day in San Francisco here at Macworld, and while the show floor wasn't quite open yet, we were busy nevertheless. Lots of things go on outside of the meetings and the panels and the demos, and so to give you a little feel of what it's like covering a convention like this, here's a little look at what we did when we weren't taking notes or shooting coverage yesterday, from our early morning planning meetings, to the day full of booth setup, to the first evening of partying at last night's EFF anniversary bash. As you can see, TUAW works hard and plays hard, too. Macworld ahoy!
Macworld 2010: TUAW goes to the mothership
No Macworld is complete without at least one pilgrimage to the mothership in Cupertino, and so yesterday, before the meetings and interviews we're planning today, David Winograd, Dave Caolo, and myself made the trip to the Apple Campus. In the gallery below, you can see what we saw, from the boxed versions of Mac software -- Popcap games boxed! Pixelmator boxed! -- to the endless souvenirs and trinkets for sale in the company store ("There are quite a few of us who know your site," winked the unnamed cashier to us as we checked out), to the original iPod box sitting in the office window, and the office desks full of multiple 30" Cinemas. It was glorious, all of it. Yes, even the woman who shooed us away with a "No pictures!" warning when we tried to take shots of the multiple basketball courts and volleyball court on campus. Check out all of the sights of our walk all the way around the Infinite Loop in the gallery below. %Gallery-85064%
Talkcast this evening at 10pm EST: Best of the year
Our weekly talkcast (so called because you yourself can call in and talk with us live) is back on the virtual airwaves again this evening at 10pm Eastern, and the topic of the day is the topic of the year: we'll take a look at our top posts of 2009, from all the news surrounding last year's WWDC to our most popular tip of 2009 and all of the other stories on the site that floated your boat this (wait, we mean "last"!) year. And we'll of course talk about the year in apps, discussing both our favorite apps overall and our favorite games of the year. Should be fun, so join us, won't you? To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, the embedded Facebook app, or the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the "TalkShoe Web" button on our profile page at 10 pm Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (take advantange of your free cellphone weekend minutes if you like): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *-8. If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the free Gizmo or X-Lite SIP clients; basic instructions are here. Talk with you then!
WoW Insider Show Episode 121: So long and thanks for all the Fah-jords
Our podcast reached the end of part one last weekend, as both Turpster and I announced that we'd be leaving the show. But we didn't let it become a sad affair -- Matthew Rossi and Chase Christian both joined us for some Warcraft discussion (including when it's ok to votekick someone, and lots of Battered Hilt discussion), and we finally were able to have one of our favorite guys stop by: Scott Johnson from The Instance podcast. It was a great show, and as usual, you can tune in at all of the links below. Thanks again for everything -- even though Turpster and I are moving on, the podcast will continue, so be sure to come back and see what they brew up for you. But it's been a heck of a ride these past two-plus years, and we've had measurable metric tons of laughs and fun together. Thanks so much for listening and chatting with us and all the emails and excitement. Enjoy the show, and don't forget to grab your sword and fight the Horde. Get the podcast: [iTunes] Subscribe to the WoW Insider Show directly in iTunes. [RSS] Add the WoW Insider Show to your RSS aggregator. [MP3] Download the MP3 directly. Listen here on the page: <cke:object width="290" height="24" type="" application="" x-shockwave="" -flash"="" data="http://o.aolcdn.com/os/ab/audio_player.swf"> <cke:param value="http://o.aolcdn.com/os/ab/audio_player.swf" name="movie"></cke:param> <cke:param value="soundFile=http://podcasts.aolcdn.com/wow/podcasts/12-21-09-wow-E121.mp3" name="FlashVars"></cke:param> <cke:param value="high" name="quality"></cke:param> <cke:param value="false" name="menu"></cke:param> <cke:param value="transparent" name="wmode"></cke:param></cke:object>
WoW Insider Show tomorrow at 3:30pm Eastern
My last episode of the WoW Insider Show is on the air tomorrow afternoon -- it'll be sad (I really love doing this show for you all), but hopefully it won't be too maudlin. Fortunately both Matthew Rossi and Chase Christian have agreed to join us, and of course Turpster will be on with us as well -- whenever the T is around, you know it'll be a good time. We'll be talking about the most popular stories in Warcraft for the past week, including the arrival of Winter Veil, patch 3.3.0a and all of the other hotfixes this week, and just because I think it's interesting, we'll talk about the Battered Hilt as well. And as usual, we'll answer your emails and chat live with all of the folks in the chatroom. You can email us any time of night or day at theshow@wow.com, and you'll be able to listen in to the show on the feed over on Ustream itself, or right after the break below. Please do join us, should be fun.
Farewell and thank you, WoW.com
I've told this story a few times before: I actually started out on WoW.com as a comment troll. A few years back, Jennie Lees was the lead blogger here, and she posted something silly about a wallpaper or a plush doll, I don't remember. I was also reading the forums at the time, and Blizzard had just dropped new priest patch notes. "Why are you posting this junk," I commented angrily, "when the priest notes just dropped?" She was nice about it -- she actually emailed me and said that the priest updates post was coming soon. And I felt so bad about it, I never activated the comment. But a little while after that, when WoW Insider posted that they were looking for some new writers, I applied, and said that I was sorry for that comment, but that I was working on becoming a writer and could help out with posting on the site when needed. When I started writing for WoW Insider (now WoW.com, obviously), I was working retail in Chicago, writing part-time in the evenings. The site itself got only a few thousand hits a month, with one or two weekly features and maybe ten comments per post. Now, over three years later, I'm a fulltime freelance writer, I've been to three BlizzCons, I've written over 1.7 million words in over 3,300 posts here about everything in Azeroth, and the site itself rivals some of the best blogs on the Internet, routinely garnering millions of hits a month. I helped build this site with my own two hands, and while I definitely can't claim all the credit (there was and is a huge team of people who keep this thing running), it's with a fair amount of sorrow that I'm here to tell you today will be my last day on WoW.com.
WoW Insider Show Episode 120: Dungeon Findorama
The WoW Insider Show went on the air last weekend, and despite the fact that we started out down two voices, the discussion was fast and furious, as we all had plenty to say about patch 3.3 and specifically the Dungeon Finder system. Adam Holisky, Turpster, and I started off the show, and then Matthew Rossi muscled his way in (as only someone of his stature can do) to join us in discussion on finding dungeons, Authenticators and the Corehound Pups, and since Rossi made it, we had to talk some shaman and warriors as well. Bad news, all: we didn't win the podcast award we were up for (congrats to the 4Player Podcast, who won the award and are now our sworn enemies -- we're igniting the rivalry!). But as we say on this show, we'll still be doing the bedtime story for you all anyway, just because you're so great. And yes, above is the check I'm mailing to Turpster for guessing the patch 3.3 release date correctly -- don't let it ever be said that we here at WoW.com aren't men of our word. Get the podcast: [iTunes] Subscribe to the WoW Insider Show directly in iTunes. [RSS] Add the WoW Insider Show to your RSS aggregator. [MP3] Download the MP3 directly. Listen here on the page:
WoW Insider Show live today at 3:30pm Eastern
Our podcast is live on the virtual air today at 3:30pm Eastern (8:30pm GMT) over on Ustream, and it's an all-star show for sure. We'll have Michael "Belfaire" Sacco, Matthew W. Rossi, and Adam Holisky all on the show with us, so I don't expect to have to say anything. Maybe I'll just shout out something like "patch 3.3" and see what evolves from there. But Turpster and I will still be on, and if we can corral these guys, we'll be talking about how big a change the Dungeon Finder really is, Corehound Pups in the mail for Authenticator users, and this patch in general. Should be quite a show. And we'll be answering your emails -- if you have a question for any of us, feel free to send it along to theshow@wow.com. And of course we'll be doing the usual preshow and aftershow, so if you plan to turn up live after the break (or listen via the Ustream app on the iPhone), make sure to stick around for a little bit afterwards and we'll be chatting with you directly. See you this afternoon!
