G-rated rejection #1

When the flood hit the other day I found myself running in place like Barney Rubble. I was even making the skidaddle coconut noise. Minor brain lock, panic decisions were made, I was lucky. Today, I was caught by surprise a little bit.

I just received an e-mail that my app had been rejected by Apple for having obscene material or excessive violence. They also included a few screenshots that I submitted. That's it, no other directions. They give you a wide variety of reasons, so you have to play detective. E-mail is your only communication.

Really looking at it, it is my own fault. Not paying attention to detail. One of the things you have to do is rate your app. I had it rated 4+? That is a G rating. This is probably the reason the screenshots were rejected too. They show fighting...my bad.

I did a minor skidaddle and called Lenny at Apalon. Olga tweaked the descriptions, we changed a few screenshots and Mahesh uploaded the new binary. My mistake was rating the game too low. A more adult rating and a few tweaks may get it through. We'll see.

Do U H8 Your Boss?

Finishing the final files has been elusive. I want all the similar screens in the Free and Paid game identical so it looks pro. Sooner or later this thing is going to get finished. I have honed in the YouTube ad to be more specific. (Do U H8 Your Boss?)



It is almost time to submit the app. Marketing efforts start now. The next addition will be a FaceBook fan page where people can post their "Bad Work Stories".

www.BeatTheBossGame.com is the hub for all things related to the game.

Promotional Video

Now it is a new year, thank the Lord. The delays releasing Beat the Boss have been necessary. The market has changed, having to wait created deeper understanding of the situation. There are 125,000 apps at this time, there are 100,000 developers. I believe many thousands have dropped out of the game. Making a profit creating an app takes experience combined with a good product. The days of iFart are over. The average guy does not want to go through the pains of creating a hit and sustaining it. Quality iPhone entertainment will take careful preparation and skillful promotion. Personally, I am not planning on luck.

Marketing a game is like promoting a new song. You have to tell your exact audience that you exist and how they can buy your game. You have a short time frame to get this done. It is not a slow building process, you have to come out throwing punches.

Now I am in the process of creating a promotional video the IndiaNIC will use to talk up Beat The Boss. I purchased a Flip HD Video recorder, set up a tripod and had Marianne interview me over the weekend. I also got Final Cut software to edit the piece together.

Now I am my own client. All aspects of the project need attention at the same time. Having programmers and marketing help makes the task a little easier.

New Directions

Thinking about it, I wanted to make the directions clear but still leave
room for specifics revealed on the website and using Twitter.

1. Use your thumbs
2. Aim for the face
3. Smack him silly
4. Before time runs out!

Solar, Propane & Water

Christmas Eve dinner was a little different this year. Marianne and I went to Mexico to spend a few days by the beach in a house that runs on solar and propane. We were prepared, but not quite prepared for the condition of the house. We couldn't figure out most of the details. We had no water, electricity, toilet or gas. We had planned a feast, instead we ate soup and a bagel heated up over a Coleman lantern.

After driving over 400 miles we were not in the best of moods. We began to argue. "Beat the Boss" came up in our discussion. At this point I am over 7 months in development. I am 95% done and just about to submit, but the beginning of the game bothered me. It took too long to load and a still frame was necessary. I went to sleep angry and thinking. Sometimes I come up with good ideas when I'm ticked. I wasn't mad at Marianne, I was mad I haven't finished. While laying on a plank listening to waves it came to me. The directions take a few seconds to read. Why not start with the directions and learn how to play while you wait.

Patience - waiting for the New Year

I had no idea when I first started that "Beat the Boss" would take 8 months to develop. But when you think about creation some projects take weeks, some take years. This one will be somewhere in the middle. What has been interesting is that during the last 8 months the mobile world has changed at an amazing rate. I am OK with that. More people have iPhones than ever before and the little guy making a game like me is going to become more rare. I have been watching the App Store looking at what is popular. "Beat the Boss" will be pretty unique. I think the artwork and style of play will set my game apart.

While studying martial arts we would have to always say "Osu!"(Pronounced ohs) meaning "have patience". The game is really close and I don't want to rush it out. Patience is the key. Osu!

Apple is closing down iTunes Connect for re-tooling so we will test it after the New Year and see if an approval happens faster.

We will celebrate the New Year watching a guy named Travis Pastrana jump a Subaru onto a barge in the Long Beach harbor. I will consider 2010 my "Nascar New Year"!

Wait, Wait, Break Wood

Finishing is an interesting topic. I have decided to work with Apalon out of Belarus to market Beat the Boss. Right off the bat there will be a list of 5-10 suggestions to improve the game. This is tough just from a human perspective. Anytime you have something reviewed and get edits it adds a little heartbreak to your creation. My next move will be to decide how much heartbreak I want to fix and how much it will cost me. The next adjustments have to be the final moves from a budget perspective. It is time to go to market.

Game quality is key. Most of the top ten games are established titles like Madden Football, Monopoly, Tetris and Scrabble. If my game is weak, the gamers will rip it. I need to reassess the playability. My guess, the changes won't be drastic and we will move forward.

My Christmas release may not happen but I am willing to wait. There will be plenty of new devices at the beginning of the year. Beat the Boss will kick butt on it's own time.

In my karate training we waited for one punch rather than going Jackie Chan. The release strategy will follow the same plan. Wait, wait, wait…break wood.

Touchdown

I have been involved with sports my whole life. I played a lot of ballgames in my day which shapes how you approach projects. In football, you play four quarters. Drives lead to touchdowns. You don't celebrate till you cross the line. Beat the Boss is finished both FREE and PAID and is ready for submission. I can finally raise my hands in the end zone signifying a score. The game isn't over but I have reached a plateau. Physically finishing the app itself is quite an accomplishment. Next up is submission and marketing. In football terms that would be kicking the extra point and continuing the game. The original of this picture was done in airbrush many years ago about 18"X24". It is not a photograph.

Headaches

An interesting phenomenon shows up just every now and then. This annoying occurrence makes me think my friend Mahesh has lost his mind. At the same time, he thinks I have lost mine.

Part of the difficulty about working long distance is understanding. I have contact with India, The Netherlands, Belarus and the US. I am getting used to working with people all around the world. There are some typical challenges including time coordination and the delay that I call "international art lag".

Today's discussion has relevance to my story about having a bad guitar wire. For three years I couldn't hear my guitar through my computer because of a bad cable. This is kind of happening again.

I just tested the final versions sent to me by Mahesh, both FREE and PAID versions. They were supposed to contain minor adjustments. The PAID reflected the changes, the FREE didn't. Interesting.

In normal procedure, I go to iTunes / iPhone / Applications and delete the present version of Beat the Boss, then I sync. After sync I add what Mahesh sends me and sync again. Then I test.

I loaded a FREE and a PAID version. The PAID looks great and reflects the changes I suggested for that current version. The FREE showed no changes at all. I sent a note saying great, but not quite there. I assume this is when Mahesh starts taking aspirin.

In the past we have run into times where I have to "Restore" my iPhone when it doesn't recognize the changes sent to me. That is what I did yesterday.

It ends up I have a bad cord again in a digital kind of way. It happens intermittently so you forget about the possibility.

Continuity between PAID and FREE versions

Part of the hassle of finishing is knowing when you are done. The reaction I have been getting when people first turn on the app is that they think it's stuck. They tap the screen almost instinctively. I don't want the first impression of the game to be negative.

To the programmer's demise I have changed the opening screen to include the text, "loading". I have also added "V1" and "Free" to the main screens. Now there is continuity between the two versions.

The free version is my main sales tool. At the end of the free play I have the Boss pitching to buy the paid version. If not play again. I believe the free game will be played 2-3 times then upgraded or deleted. The game is fun to play, I believe the upgrade percentage should be around 30 - 40%.

Howard Stern

I have established that I will go proactive in gaining recognition for Beat the Boss. Steve Ochs from HERO Entertainment contacted me about using my video "1982 Circus of the Farts" in an upcoming DVD. It meant no money to me, but the project will get some merit. Steve may get an audience with Howard Stern who will see another video series I made 4 years ago called "The CFC". One episode pits Howard against Anna Nicole Smith in the Celebrity Farting Challenge. While rendering the movie I included an ad for Beat the Boss. I want the name of the game as well as the icon to be memorable. Getting a plug from Howard Stern would be great, he's a major player.

Apple "Magic Mouse"

Just when you think you have learned something like "patience", you rush...at least I did. Apple announced this new mouse on the internet that has features similar to a touchscreen on an iPhone called "The Magic Mouse". They also sent me an invitation to go to an iPhone developer conference in San Jose. Between the two, it got me Apple crazy for a minute. I drove straight to Best Buy where they had no idea what I was talking about. I drove to the Apple store where the told me I can order it online and get it in a week. Part of the rush was to actually use the thing now. I forgot that Apple does this all the time, announce but not stock immediately. I can't wait to get this thing. http://www.apple.com/magicmouse/