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Disney's Bart Decrem on the holiday lineup: Monster's Inc Run, and new Avengers and Wreck-It content
Disney's mobile game division has had one heck of a year. "I feel in general that we're executing very nicely on the vision we laid out a year ago," senior vice president Bart Decrem told TUAW this week. "Among media companies, we are maybe the most successful on the App Store and Android. I really feel like we are winning, and our vision and our strategy is working." It's hard to argue with that. The company has had quite a few number one games on the App Store this year, between the enormously popular Where's My Water, the Disney cartoon spinoff Where's My Perry, Decrem's own Tap Tap Revenge series, and the popular Wreck-It Ralph movie-tie in title. Disney's mobile division was already growing last year around this time, and Decrem says it's still growing, with the company seeing a peak daily user number of around 6 million. The company's found a formula for its popular characters and quality titles that's apparently working, and it's not slowing down anytime soon. Decrem filled us in on a ton of new content that's set to arrive on the App Store from the House of Mouse this holiday season: The company is putting out four major content updates and three new titles, all set to arrive by the end of the year. Content updates first: Wreck-It Ralph is getting a fourth game added to the trio of titles already included in the app. Turbo Time (as you'll know if you've seen the movie) is a retro racing title that got supplanted by newer games in the old arcade, and it'll be another minigame added to the current offerings. Both Temple Run Brave and Where's My Perry are getting new content as well. Temple Run Brave (which of course is based on a mashup between Imangi Studios' Temple Run and the recent Pixar flick) is getting a new in-app purchased character in the form of King Fergus, Merida's father, and a new mechanic to play with as well. And Where's My Perry is getting Dr. Doofenschmirtz as a playable character via IAP, and a number of new levels for free as well. Finally, Avengers Initiative (which is a Marvel game developed by Disney's internal Wideload Studios) is finally getting its first big content update, featuring none other than Captain America. The game, which uses Infinity Blade-style mechanics to tell an original Avengers story, has only featured the Hulk so far, and debuted to less-than-impressive numbers. But Decrem says Disney is supporting the title. "We believe in the game, it's a great game," he says. "We think we have a plan for getting millions of users into the game" in the next few months, including a major upcoming marketing plan that we can look for soon. Disney's also got three new titles incoming. The first is a Finding Nemo-related "reef builder" called Nemo's Reef, which sounds like a free-to-play Farmville-style game featuring those familiar fish. That one will be out for iOS and Android within the next week or so, so we'll look for it then. The second game is Where's My Holiday, a special holiday themed version of the popular series, which will connect the crocodile Swampy with the cartoon character Perry in the same game, and offer a combination of levels from the two big games. And finally, the other new title is called Monster's Inc Run. Disney has teamed up with Get Set Games in the same way it did with Imangi Studios, and has combined the Monster's Inc. movies (which are about to be rereleased in 3D) with the popular app Mega Run. This will be a 99 cent title, and will aim to share the Monster's Inc brand with the already huge Mega Run audience in the way Temple Run Brave combined a Disney property with that app's user base. So that's what Disney's planning for the rest of this year. As you can tell, Disney's strategy is clear: It's leveraging its most popular brands as much as possible. Decrem agrees that his division is definitely leaning hard on Where's My Water, but he says that "when you have a big hit like Where's My Water, you have a holy obligation to make the most of it." Yes, Disney is spending a lot of time reworking its hit titles to try and make more hits, but Decrem says it's being done in a very strategic way. "We're not just doing reskins or franchise plays," he says, "but when you've got them, you invest in them aggressively and you evolve them aggressively." And the company is definitely doing that. The ironic part, of course, is that much of Disney's mobile success came from the originality of Where's My Water, and it's used that success to make sure that there are now three games almost exactly like it on the App Store. But Decrem says Disney still appreciates original titles -- the Where's My Water team has mostly been working on levels for Where's My Perry, but he says they're still around, and we should see new games from them soon. Not to mention that because of all of this commercial success, future original games should be even better served. "It's a huge priority for us," says Decrem, "and I feel like we're getting more organized so that we can go do that." There was one more pressing question for Decrem and his games: How about that Star Wars acquisition? Decrem laughs and points out that the acquisition hasn't been approved just yet, so no one in Disney games has any Star Wars projects in the pipeline just yet. "But we're super super excited about the Star Wars universe and all of these characters," he tells us, "and we'll jump in as soon as the acquisition is completed." In that case, we'll keep an eye out for Where's My Watto coming out as soon as possible.
Softbank unveils Disney-themed Android handset in pink and white
Softbank unveiled a bevy of new phones for its winter and spring lineup, and among the raft of new hardware is a Disney Mobile Android handset. Clad with a white or pink back, the smartphone's rear is emblazoned with the smooching likenesses of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, who also make an appearance on live wallpaper. A cutesy motif may pervade the cellphone, but its specs are a sign that the mice can hold their own. The waterproof device packs LTE connectivity, a 4.5-inch display (1280 x 720), 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 13-megapixel camera, 8GB of built-in storage and a microSD expansion slot. Currently, the phone runs on Ice Cream Sandwich, but an update to Jelly Bean is coming down the pike. Unfortunately for avid Mouseketeers in other territories, the mobile is only slated for a launch in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Daily Update for June 4, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Disney taps indie studio for Temple Run Brave
Disney Mobile has made a number of really smart moves over the past few years (starting with acquiring Tapulous, all the way up to allowing a game tester to make them a great game). Now here's another brilliant move: they've signed a deal with developers Keith Shepherd and Natalia Luckynova (also known as the very nice married couple behind Imangi Studios) to help them make a Brave-branded version of Temple Run. The game itself is actually being put together by a third-party game developer, but Imangi had input on the finished product, and the deal has actually been in the works for quite a while, even before Imangi saw all of its astronomical success with the golden idol running game. Imangi told me at GDC this year that they were being careful about choosing partnerships, but apparently this partnership with Disney met with their approval. Temple Run Brave should be in the App Store for 99 cents on June 14 (though my guess is that given how popular Temple Run has been as a free game, it'll drop to free soon after that). Disney has shown a lot of insight into the App Store in the past, and this latest deal with a very hot indie studio is no exception.
Disney Mobile on DoCoMo brand launches with two new Android phones in Japan
It appears Disney's mobile efforts in Japan are going pretty well, and with the help of carrier NTT DoCoMo they're expanding under the joint "Disney Mobile on DoCoMo" brand name. The partnership is kicking off with two new Android-powered handsets launching over the next couple of months that pack in access to exclusive content from Disney like full-length animations, games, wallpapers and more. First up is the F-08D (left), a "luxury smartphone" that features silhouettes of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, a 4.3-inch HD (720x1280) LCD display, dual cameras and 1.2Ghz dual-core OMAP4430 CPU available in pink or white next month with preorders opening up February 17th. Next up is the P-05D (right), which has a slim 7.8mm thick frame, rear camera and 4.3-inch 540x960 res OLED screen all powered by a dual-core 1Ghz CPU that will launch at some point in March. Check out the press releases after the break for a few more details on each of these Japan-only cellphones, or hit the source link for even more specs -- no word yet on pricetags or which version of Android these will end up launching with.
Disney reports 40% jump in iOS downloads from holiday 2010
Disney is the latest company to announce some crazy numbers from last year's holiday season (with Rovio having announced big numbers earlier this week, and the App Store overall seeing a big boost in sales over the holiday). The biggest title in the company's catalog was Where's My Water, which saw more than 6 million downloads over the holiday week, across both iOS and Android. And Disney Mobile saw a 40% increase in iOS downloads overall, as compared to the same period last year. TUAW previously spoke with the creator of Where's My Water, who started out as a QA tester at Disney and moved up the ranks to create hit iPhone games. This time around, we heard from Bart Decrem, Disney Mobile GM (and former CEO of Tapulous, the company that Disney acquired a few years ago). He says that "freemium" is the current word in mobile gaming: "2012 will see freemium models around many types of gameplay -- as is already being shown by the success of Temple Run." Temple Run isn't a Disney Mobile game -- it's created by a two person husband and wife team at Imangi Studios, and despite its relatively humble origins, it recently landed on the top grossing pile over this past holiday season. So if Decrem is right, we'll see more titles like it; games that intelligently combine solid gameplay with a very lucrative in-app purchase system. Disney itself says more updates are planned for Where's My Water and its other titles, and we'll have to wait and see what else the House of Mouse has up its sleeve for iOS this coming year.
Where's my Water creator goes from QA to hit game designer at Disney Mobile
Tim FitzRandolph joined Disney Mobile's gaming team from the lowest rung possible: The Quality Assurance department. Game testers often work long hours on early versions of unfinished games, and FitzRandolph's first job was no exception. "I studied film studies and nothing to do with games, and also studied the Japanese language. And I had lived in Japan for a couple of years, so I was fluent in Japanese," he remembers in a recent interview with TUAW. "I didn't know what to do, and I settled down on a job listing on Disney for QA testing on an upcoming game, and they wanted someone bilingual. That was actually my kind of thing, my way in the door. I got to work on this game called Spectrobes, which was a DS game that Disney created with a team in Japan, so they needed someone to help do the testing and translate the bugs and communicate with the dev team." But FitzRandolph was also working on his own titles, continually trying to get into actual game design at Disney. When the App Store was announced, FitzRandolph decided to try and make his own iPhone games. One of those games was eventually picked up by Disney and became the very popular Jelly Car series. And FitzRandolph's second, original game for Disney Mobile, in the position he eventually earned as Game Design Director, is the critically acclaimed and top grossing puzzler Where's My Water. It took a little while for FitzRandolph to join Disney's mobile gaming department, however. From his position as a go-between for the US and Japanese devs on Spectrobes, he first got offered to go work on the console version of the Toy Story 3 game in Salt Lake City. He says that position taught him a lot, but Salt Lake City didn't turn out to be the place for him. "I didn't really enjoy living in Salt Lake very much, so I came back to California," he says. "And somewhere in that timeline I had also pitched the idea of doing a sequel to Jelly Car, which I had made on my own time as like a hobby project." FitzRandolph had been working on Jelly Car on his own for a while, and says it was first concieved as a project in Microsoft's XNA development system for the Xbox. "I was like, maybe I can try making a physics system that would sort of create a custom car, just experiment. When I got it working, I just did a lot of experiments with it, but I didn't really have an idea for a game. Except for making a little test for a car, create a little object to do the physics work. So I thought you might have a little object and you can make obstacles and get across gaps and stuff like that." When the App Store finally opened up on the iPhone, FitzRandolph says he felt it might fit the system that he'd made, so he went out and bought an iPod touch to develop on. "I got it working on the iPod touch, and it worked well enough." He then showed it around Disney, and when he pitched the idea of a sequel to the mobile division, which was looking for games to make at the time, Disney agreed to make and publish the title with him. FitzRandolph says it was exciting to have a famous company like Disney working on something he'd created himself, but that it was a little overwhelming as well. "I had never thought about what was Jelly Car, like what are the rules or style or whatever. In the first round of assets, I'd look at it and say that doesn't look like Jelly Car, and they'd ask what it was supposed to look like. I'd not really thought about that stuff, because it had always been this really personal thing. But it was really exciting, and it's really cool to be a part of that." FitzRandolph's team not only finished up Jelly Car 2, but then went on to make Jelly Car 3, both of which did well for Disney. And after that, he and the team (which they call "Creature Feep," after a problem many devs will find familiar called "feature creep") started thinking about what to make next. They wanted to make a physics puzzler, given how popular those have been on the App Store, but coming up with the actual gameplay involved a lot of brainstorming and iteration, says FitzRandolph. "We had a whole bunch of ideas, and at some point along the line, it kept coming back that water, water was very fresh and people hadn't done a lot of physics around water," he remembers. "But it was also really successful in that we all know how water splashes and flows and it might be fun to make a puzzle game around that." The team put together a prototype based around diverting the flow of water with touch controls, and of course that eventually became Where's My Water. "People liked it, really loved the prototype, and then we got enough response on that that we started making the actual game." The other elements of the game, involving a cute backstory about underground alligators who need water to take a shower and stay clean, came later on. "We basically realized that this stuff was directly connected to earth and dirt, and there were a lot of little gameplay cues that we felt like were going to be hard to explain," FitzRandolph says, "so we stopped and brainstormed about the story and what the visual elements could indicate." The team wanted to use the water to fill something underground, perhaps to a certain line, but struggled to figure out what logically would need water in that way. "What kind of things could we fill up underground? A bathtub would be cool but that doesn't make any sense underground. Well maybe it does," laughs FitzRandolph, "What about alligators living under the city? And it sort of snowballed from that." Where's My Water has done really well for Disney, so much so that the company says it has found a new official Disney character in Swampy the Alligator, probably the first time Walt Disney's legendary studio has taken IP directly from an iOS game, instead of the other way around. FitzRandolph says coming up with a strong character was part of development, but not just because Disney wanted IP. "We wanted to come up with a really good character that had a lot of personality -- it brings a lot of life to the puzzles. But also hopefully will have a big enough world that we might want to do a story about it that's not just our game, also in another format." "We were concerned," he adds, "that maybe alligators in general are not the most cuddly animals, but we felt like hopefully it will work out." And so far, it has, as the game still continues to do well on the App Store. What's next for FitzRandolph and his team at Disney? He says they're still working hard on new content for Where's My Water. The game has just recently gotten a big new update, "and we have plans for several more of those, so we're all coming up with new gameplay, new levels, and things like that. Especially as the game continues to do well," he says, "we want to continue to support it." Presumably he will eventually release another title, but right now it's all followup on the current release. As for FitzRandolph, he says he's happy to be doing what he's doing. Disney Mobile obviously appreciates having him around these days, making hit games for them, even if he did first get his foot just inside the door of the QA department.
GDC 2011: The latest from Disney Mobile
Disney's mobile gaming division had a table claimed in the company's hotel suit during GDC 2011, and I stopped by to see Disney's Jeff Nuzzi and check out the company's latest offerings. There were a few titles on display to be revealed later this year, but the current focus was on JellyCar 3, the latest in Disney Mobile's most popular line of casual gaming apps. The game (the original version of which was designed by a Disney developer in his spare time) is due for an update very soon, which will add new cars, the ability to import your own pictures for cars and a new level pack called "Time and Space" to play around with. Nuzzi also talked to me about the Tron app (released with the movie last year) and how the company's general strategy around iOS apps is going. Read on for more.
Disney to sell Android phone in Japan, apparently Apple doesn't care
Disney has decided to debut a new smartphone in Japan, and given Steve Jobs' presence on the company's board of directors, we are surprised to find that the handset will run Android instead of iOS. The phone is essentially a Sharp Galapagos 003SH with a Disney-fied version of Froyo that comes with a Disney email address, exclusive content, and optional custom Disney-themed cases for users who wish to broadcast their allegiance to Mickey Mouse and company. The device is slated for release next month at an undisclosed price, but is only available to our friends in Japan. There's no scheduled US release, so stateside fans will have to look elsewhere for their Disney fix.
Bart Decrem on Tap Tap Revenge 4 and the Disney acquisition of Tapulous
Tapulous (purchased by Disney earlier this year) has released Tap Tap Revenge 4, the fourth iteration of the extremely popular iOS music game, and the new version brings a whole lot of new features to the series. The game is now compatible with the Retina Display, includes Game Center integration, and has quite a few new social modes that let you "like" various songs, as well as see which of your friends have also "liked" that same music. Like Tap Tap 3, it's a free app that sells music packs and avatars as in-app purchases, with music from artists in all genres, from Linkin Park to Rihanna, The Killers, and quite a few more. Earlier this week, TUAW sat down to chat with Tapulous CEO Bart Decrem about the new game, and how his company has changed since it was not only acquired by Disney, but since he was placed in charge of the entire Disney Mobile operation. Read on to find out just how well Tap Tap Revenge 4 is doing (it's showing "the biggest download numbers ever," according to Decrem), and how he sees Disney's future in the mobile app space.
TUAW's Daily App: Tron Legacy
Yes, the new Tron Legacy movie is out this weekend, and if you haven't heard about it yet, you probably will soon. There has been a free promotional app out for a while now (and it actually has a few little games to play with), but Disney has also released an official Tron Legacy game, now available on the App Store. This one's a full-fledged 3D game, featuring a Light Cycle racing mode along with an on-rails shooting mode that puts you behind a "Recognizer" (one of the big ships they fly around in the movie). The games in this one work pretty well, though the app itself is a little disappointing -- there's no real storyline or overarching campaign to the map you play through. You're basically just competing in a series of events (and even those are pretty inexplicable -- why are you piloting a Recognizer and racing Light Cycles?). But as a US 99 cent game, it's not bad, and the Tron stylings are enough to remind you how awesome the movie is. The app is universal and even has Game Center integration to track achievements (That's a first for a Disney mobile game; it's good to see them endorse Apple's social gaming network.) If you're looking for a nugget of official Tron goodness on iOS, the game is worth checking out.
Tron app updated with Light Cycles
Disney's Tron movie is coming up quick, and today, the official Tron app (which has been out since Comic-Con, hosting exclusive previews and news from the movie) has added another new feature: Light Cycle battles. Yes, you can download the official app for free, and play a fun little 2D version of the famous Tron Light Cycle battle game right there in the app. The whole thing is pretty simple -- just swipe to change direction, and of course the goal is to leave a light path that will block your opponents' bikes (or you can create a field trap by drawing a rectangle with your Light Cycle). When you add in the tank game that was released a little while back, the app is definitely worth a download. I got to see and play this app at Disney last week during an event there, and then talked to Disney Interactive's Jeff Nuzzi about the app and Disney's future plans for it. Disney already tried this "free app portal" method with Toy Story 3, and that one worked pretty well. Nuzzi said the same thing is happening with this Tron app -- "it's two great games," he told me, "wrapped around a lot of promotional content." Disney's original plan for Toy Story 3 was to include some premium experiences in with the free content, but that didn't work out as planned. "It was really a very complicated app, and I think the fans out there, the early adopters, people that are familiar with Toy Story, knew how to navigate and get through there, but then a lot of first time users and iPod touch users weren't able to connect to Wi-Fi and had trouble downloading the app." In the end, Disney sent the Toy Story 3 app completely free, and that's why this Tron app is a free download as well. Plus, Nuzzi and his company plan to keep updating the app with Tron content and information even after the movie releases. "As the movie goes through the box office and into more of a franchise, we can deliver news about the DVD or upcoming events," Nuzzi said. "It really is a portal for all things Tron and it's meant to live on beyond just the movie." The movie hits theaters on December 17, but you can download the free app with all of its extras right now.
A stroll through the MVNO graveyard
Back in the early days of Engadget, everyone -- including us -- thought mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) were totally poised to be the next big thing. And why not? You get to be a wireless carrier without having to operate your own infrastructure (which is by far the most expensive, difficult part). Just what the doctor ordered for the big, stodgy wireless carriers, each struggling to balance differentiating themselves while trapping their customers in their walled content and services gardens.What we got instead was failed business model after spectacular failed business model, leading to a domino effect of collapses that left just a precious few companies standing. Let's take a look at the carnage over on Engadget Mobile, shall we?
Disney Mobile intros its second phone for Japan, the DM002SH
Apparently satisfied enough with its first model to take another stab at the Japanese market, Softbank MVNO Disney Mobile is trotting out another Sharp-sourced model, the DM002SH. The Cinderella-themed flip is targeted squarely at the fairer sex, coming reasonably well-equipped with wide QVGA resolution on its 2.6-inch primary display, 2 megapixel camera, microSD slot, an OLED external display, and one-seg TV tuner. As far as we can tell, there's also precisely zero shortage of Cinderella media -- movies, ringtones, and the like -- so owners really need only to pick up the crystal slippers to complete the package. It'll be available starting June 7 in silver, pink, and gold, just like the original DM001SH.[Via Akihabara News]
Disney Mobile rises from ashes to invade Japan
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again -- preferably on a different continent. That's the attitude Disney is taking with its Disney Mobile MVNO, shutting down its poorly-received US service and heading over to Japan where Softbank is serving up the necessary airwaves this time around. The target demo is decidedly different now, too -- whereas the US service was aimed at families with young kiddies, the Japanese rendition is targeting women in their 20s and 30s, seen as prime consumers of Disney content. The first handset to support Disney Mobile will be the DM001SH, a reworked version of Sharp's 821SH for Softbank that features 3G data, a 2 megapixel cam, 400 x 240 internal and 60 x 32 external displays, one-seg mobile TV, FeliCa, and no shortage of Mickey Mouse branding. All told, we'd say it's just a tad hotter than the carrier's now-deceased US offerings. Look for the service to launch March 1.[Via Tech-On!]%Gallery-14721%
Disney Mobile, R.I.P.: 2006 - 2007
Perhaps Disney hoped that its MVNO bearing the corporate name would fare a little better than its doomed sibling, Mobile ESPN, but it was not to be. Making good on some ominous verbiage last week from CFO Thomas Staggs, Disney Mobile has announced that it will "cease its wireless operations" as of December 31, 2007. MVNOs have generally had a tough time navigating through the dog-eat-dog world of profitable wireless service, and Disney Mobile was dogged from the very beginning with tough competition on kid-friendly features and hardware from larger rivals and a dearth of quality handsets. Though it seems that existing subscribers will be able to continue to use most or all features of the service through then, folks are being encouraged to pack their bags and move elsewhere by November 30 to ensure plenty of time to get numbers ported. Furthermore, hardware purchased directly through Disney Mobile will be subject to a reimbursement of some sort, with details going up early next month.[Thanks, Paul D.]
Disney Mobile next to throw in the towel?
In today's day and age, playing the MVNO game is a bit of a challenge. Some can't keep their head above water, others need a life raft, and a select few can actually stay afloat on their own. Disney's CFO Thomas Staggs -- who spoke at Merrill Lynch's Media and Entertainment Conference recently -- alluded that Disney was in the process of evaluating "where it sits" because of "some challenges" having the Disney Mobile brand distributed. "It's still too early to determine any losses for the MVNO," he concluded. With a variety of services targeted at kids filtering through virtually every mainstream carrier these days, does Disney still have a solid business model to work with?[Via mocoNews]
Disney Mobile adds DM-S105, DM-S110 from Samsung
If these clamshells are looking a little familiar, that's because they are. Disney Mobile's new DM-S105 and DM-S110 are clones not just of each other -- the only difference is the color, it seems -- but also of Sprint's M300 released a couple months back. Features include a VGA cam, Bluetooth, and internal antenna (a first for Disney, believe it or not) with data topping out at 1xRTT speeds. By any other carrier's standards these suckers would barely be worth a mention, but for Disney... well, these are your new Cadillacs. Get 'em now for $20 after contract and rebate.[Via Phone Scoop]
Disney Mobile gets new Pantech handset
Not content to let the failure of ESPN Mobile and the recent bankruptcy of Amp'd Mobile affect it, fellow MVNO Disney Mobile has launched a new Pantech handset, model DM-P205. Disney Mobile has not been in the new lately (really, since launch in 2006), so the kid-friendly virtual carrier figured it had better release something to generate some news. Seriously, this entry-level Pantech unit with a 2004-era VGA digicam and Bluetooth should work for the target market Disney Mobile wants to recruit, but we're just wondering if the MVNO will be around post-2007.[Via Crave]
Disney Mobile customers to get "heap of new features"
We love when a carrier or MVNO announces that a "heap" of new features is about to be released; it's sort of like winning the lottery, but with more marketing mumbo-jumbo and less cash. It seems the kid-friendly MVNO Disney Mobile wants to sell more handsets to parents and is about to add several new handset features just in time for that busy summer mommy season. Among them are the new "scout" feature that will locate and show points of interest (using GPS positioning, we suspect), one-click photo uploading to a shared family photo area and a "family calendar" feature in late 2007 or 2008 that will push PC-created calendar entries and changes directly to the Disney Mobile handset. Disney Mobile still does not plan to add any EV-DO phones ($99 is the magic price point there, it seems), so your kindergartner's high-speed 3G data will have to wait for now.[Via mocoNews]