igor pusenjak
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Lima Sky responds to trademark battle around the word 'Doodle'
This one's complicated but interesting. A few days back, it was revealed by the developer of an app called Doodle Monster that Doodle Jump creators Lima Sky (we've talked to founder Igor Pusenjak before) was trying to enforce trademark rights against any app on the store using the word "Doodle" in its name. That creator originally planned to step down and change the name, but the creator of another app called Doodle Hockey instead spoke out to say that Lima Sky had no business claiming the word "Doodle" itself, that there were pre-existing properties and trademarks on the word, and that "everyone with an app containing the word 'doodle' in the title needs to stand up to Lima Sky's threats." Now, Pusenjak himself has spoken out on the issue, and he says that he's retracting the original notice from the App Store. But he does hold his position on the word "Doodle," saying that "there was absolutely no rush to call a game 'Doodle Something' until Doodle Jump became famous. Then many developers began jumping on the bandwagon whether their game had any doodled elements in it or not. They were simply trading on the fame of Doodle Jump, for which Lima Sky has a trademark." Pusenjak admits that there is a trademark in the system before Lima Sky's, but says that the company's complaint on the App Store was designed to protect Doodle Jump against anyone else's attack. At any rate, legal action aside (and it doesn't appear as if there will be any), Pusenjak has agreed to step back from the restrictions, which even he agrees went too far, and says that he's simply trying to avoid customer confusion -- any developers creating games that might be confused with pre-existing IPs should simply have to change them, not remove games entirely. That seems to make sense, so hopefully that agreement will stand without further clashes.
Doodle Jump gets a Retina Display update
Doodle Jump has released a free update, available now, that not only brings out that underwater content that Igor Pusenjak promised us in that interview a little while back, but also updates the graphics on the app to take full advantage of the iPhone 4's Retina Display, so you can see the little doodle jumping up those platforms clearer and sharper than ever. Only three stages have been updated with Retina Display graphics so far, but Pusenjak says that "the rest of the Retina Display graphics is almost done and we'll be releasing it soon!" The update is of course free for the game's owners, or you can pick up the "Insanely Addictive" title for just 99 cents. Pusenjak also told us that after the water-related content was done and out, the iPad version of the app would be next up for development, so we'll keep an eye out for news on that soon. Good to see that just because this little game is so popular, its developers aren't taking success lying down.
Interview with Doodle Jump's Igor Pusenjak, part 1
There are a lot of successful apps in the App Store, but perhaps there are none more successful than Doodle Jump. Igor Pusenjak and his brother have propelled their simple game about a doodle flinging himself into the sky, platform by platform, all the way up into the top of the App Store charts. They've stayed there longer than any other app, pulling in almost as many sales as there are iPhones to go around. Now, in addition to all of their monetary success, Pusenjak and his brother have also picked up an Apple Design Award; this simple little game is now critically acclaimed as well as being one of the top-grossing iOS titles of all time. I sat down with Pusenjak last week in Los Angeles (just a few miles away from where the traditional game industry was holding their E3 expo) to talk about the past and future of Doodle Jump and how they've found such great success. This is part one of the interview, and it talks about the business of the App Store and how Lima Sky has done what they've done. Part two will be posted on the site later today, and will explore future updates to the game and the long-awaited Doodle Jump for iPad.
360iDev: Marketing and promotion on the App Store
To start off day 2 of 360iDev here in San Jose, California, Henry Balanon hosted a panel to discuss the marketing and promotion of iPhone and iPad apps. Panelists Brian Chen of Wired, Rana Sobhany (author of "Marketing iPhone Apps" from O'Reilly), Doodle Jump creator Igor Pusenjak, and Playhaven's Raymond Lau held court and spoke to developers about how to promote and market their apps, both, with the press and on the App Store. The suggestions ranged from the broad ("have a good idea") to the specific ("Use the What's New section in the App Store to promote your other apps"), but over the hour or so, the panelists came up with a lot of solid advice for developers looking to get the word out about their App Store offerings.
