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.

Steve Jobs and tweet size headlines

I was sent an article discussing why Steve Jobs is a great speaker. He has been suggested as being "CEO of the decade". His secret has to do with simplicity and surprise. People were on their knees waving their arms in the air when he pulled a laptop out of a manila folder. Another thing he does is break down his message to visuals and simple quotes. He creates tweet size descriptions and people get it. Here is the list of tweets I plan to send out once the game is available.


A free iPhone app that really kicks butt - BeatTheBossGame.com
Beat the Boss on your iPhone for free - BeatTheBossGame.com
Kick Ass / Take Names! - BeatTheBossGame.com for the iPhone for free
Smack your boss in the chops with your iPhone! - BeatTheBossGame.com
Hit your boss without getting fired! - BeatTheBossGame.com for the iPhone
Suggest a weapon, win a free T-Shirt! - BeatTheBossGame.com
Take out your work frustrations on your iPhone! - BeatTheBossGame.com
Hate Your job? Have an iPhone? - BeatTheBossGame.com
Corporate anxiety therapy using your iPhone - BeatTheBossGame.com
Pink slip in your future? Have an iPhone? - BeatTheBossGame.com
Believe in executive punishment? - BeatTheBossGame.com
Ticked off at your boss?...hit it him with your iPhone! - BeatTheBossGame.com

Thousand Pound Gorilla

This project has been rather lengthy, over 6 months. It could have been done in much less time, but creating in the USA and assembling in India has it's challenges. Making a game is hard because in some ways you are never done. There are always things you can do to improve the experience. I don't want to make the game a thousand pound gorilla, but I also don't want to leave something out that is glaring. Sooner or later you have to put your foot down and say that you are done.

I want people to play the game and have fun. A time element adds to the game play, giving you a reason to beat the boss other than just primal anger. The game play gets kind of frantic as time gets close. I believe the element of winning has been included with the satisfaction of beating the crap out of your boss.

Next time CS5 will be used and ActionScript 3 will be the method. The more control I have, the less I am dependent on making changes that programmers consider a problem. I am very curious how hard it will be to create a similar experience using the new tools. My goal is to be able to create interactive iPhone entertainment with maximum control but still work with talented programmers.

Testing

Beat the Boss is getting closer to being playable. My goal is to make a game that is winnable but not too easy. Some games are technically on the money but not fun. The idea is to beat the living crap out of the Boss. The play is simple, throw enough punches to knock him out before time runs out. It does get a little stressful when you can't hit the guy. I am going level by level testing trying to make my phone blow up. One change I made is changing pencils to push pins, they are better to throw. What is cool is they build up on the screen. Things are moving on, soon will be time to divide between a free version and a paid version. All the little things need to be attended to including the ability to upgrade for $2.00. I also want to automatically ask for a rating after the second play. My YouTube commercials are ready to go, still too soon to start marketing.

Freebie, Upgrade, or "In App" purchase?

Beat the Boss is getting closer to finalizing, but there are so many details it may still be longer than I hoped till I hit the finish line. The timing of the game is good because the economy is bad, people will be pissed for a long time. The subject of hitting your Boss is nothing new, I am providing a 2010 delivery method. AT&T is running at 300 percent because of Smart Phone usage. The size of the app is an issue. I know for a fact that being under 10 megs will be essential for the free version. 10 megs is the limit for "over air" downloads. Previous apps I have made were too large and people gave up if they weren't at a Wi-Fi spot. My free version will have an option to remind yourself to buy the full version with an angrily written e-mail sent by the Boss. I have had thoughts of selling new levels as in "in app" purchase. From what I have read, people see a short sales spike right after you upgrade. Being my game is level dependent, I can keep adding levels indefinitely. Now my thought is, how often?