Appy Outlook: July

It’s been awhile since we did an update, and we had a terrific sales day yesterday, so now seems a good time to bring the Appy Army up to speed on the latest doings here at the Secret Worldwide Headquarters of Appy Entertainment!

FACEFIGHTER

We’ve gotten a tremendous lift since being selected as a Staff Favorite in Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Austria. We picked up even more tailwind in the middle of this week, when our FaceFighter 1.1 update (featuring Enemy Mime!) was approved by Apple, meaning FaceFighter enjoyed a couple days on the “New” page on iTunes.

The results were high water marks for FaceFighter in several territories (all ranks represent the high point between 6/30 and 7/10):

United Kingdom: #7 Arcade, #8 Action, #16 All Games, #29 All Paid Apps

Germany: #8 Arcade, #9 Action, #17 All Games, #26 All Paid Apps

Australia: #10 Arcade, #11 Action, #22 All Games, #33 All Paid Apps

France: #21 Arcade, #29 Action, #61 All Games

Japan: #18 Arcade, #26 Action, #60 All Games

United States: #50 Arcade, #65 Action

And, plucking out one of the smaller markets … we’re the #2 Arcade game in El Salvador! Huzzah!

We can expect those U.K., German, and Australian numbers to hold through the weekend, as we are still a Featured App in those territories, but our performance elsewhere will likely decline, as we have moved off the iTunes “New” page in our game categories in those stores. Our Staff Favorite status will likely lapse early next week, meaning a decline in Germany/U.K./Australia as well, but we hope for a more gradual decline given that we’ve managed to vault into the top ten in those countries, meaning we’ll continue to enjoy some exposure in the top paid apps sidebars. Ideally, we won’t decline more than ten or twenty ranks before our next FaceFighter releases come out to give us further “New” exposure.

Two new FaceFighter releases were submitted to Apple last night. FaceFighter 1.2 includes another new character (and this one is a secret character attached to a licensed property that we’ll discuss in a minute), and also brings in a boat-load of new weapons and Immortal Judgment finishing moves, including things like rubber chickens, lightning bolts, and even a stampeding herd of wildebeests. The other release in the approval queue right now is FaceFighter Lite, which will be a free “try it before you buy it” version of FaceFighter. The release of FaceFighter Lite will also likely mark the end of our “Introductory Pricing” of .99, with the full version of FaceFighter settling in at the regular price of $1.99. (So if you want to jump on the sale price, click HERE to get FaceFighter now!).

Looking further down the road for FaceFighter, there will be continuing free content updates, but the next big release will be head-to-head multiplayer, which will be the tentpole of our FaceFighter 2.0 release. Multi-player is up and running here in the building, but we’ve still some significant testing and debugging to go before we can unleash it on the world. But we’re talking weeks, rather than months, before we submit this one to Apple, so hopefully it won’t be too long before you can try to beat the crap out of someone who is trying to do the very same thing to you.

The numbers above do tell us a couple things about FaceFighter. One, that this is a product the market wants more than Appy Newz (about which more in a moment), and two, Apple is still the kingmaker when it comes to driving sales of apps from micropublishers like Appy Entertainment. We aggressively advertised Appy Newz in places like Facebook and several iPhone review sites, and for a time even engaged a publicity firm to help push the app, but aside from some modest success when Appy Newz was a Staff Favorite in a few European stores, sales of the app did not meet our high expectations. With FaceFighter, on the other hand, advertising has been almost nil, but it has gone on to outsell Appy Newz by a substantial degree, and is hopefully poised for long-term success in the market, whereas its older sibling has settled into the lower half of the Top 100 in the Photography category. Endorsement by Apple remains the single most important elements in promoting an app.

From this we take a couple lessons, the most important of which is that games are where the action is, and that’s where Appy Entertainment will be devoting the majority of our attention going forward. But not before we hit the Entertainment category one more time with our …

UNANNOUNCED LICENSED APP

While our soon-to-be-released licensed app isn’t likely to make Mr. Jobs’ next stage presentation (although you never know …), we are really excited about this new project. It will be a .99 Entertainment app based around Appy Newz’s “Shake It To Make It” functionality, developed in partnership with the publishers of an internationally-known property. The app has been in approval at Apple for about two weeks now, and we’d hoped to be able to announce it by now, but, well, stating your plans is a way to hear God laugh. So, we wait … and hold out high hopes that this app will surprise and entertain and break through. The property also features an iconic character that will be an opponent in FaceFighter 1.2. Watch this space …!

APPY NEWZ & APPY NEWZ LITE

The current version of Appy Newz (1.3)  is compliant with Apple’s 3.0 OS upgrade, and loaded up with more content than most folks can use. We’re proud of the app — it’s a quality piece of work, and the people who like it love it, which is the kind of brand attachment we were aiming for in our first product. We’d like to do additional Appy Newz updates if sales warrant … and given the rumors swirling around a possible camera for iPod Touch, the Photography category could hot up in a hurry, so stay tuned!

FUTURE PROJECTS

Which brings us to the future.

We have an original game in alpha right now. It’s an arcade/puzzle game with a great theme that shows off Farzad’s amazing artwork in ways that our photo-oriented apps could not. The Ulm is leading development on this one, and we’ve been getting daily builds and playing the levels like mental patients. Fingers are crossed for an August release, but see our comment above about release dates and God’s laughter.

One more generation out from there, we have five internal concepts under active consideration. We’re marshaling documents and visualizations this week, and next week will select the single idea that will enter development (out of a process that began with about one hundred concepts). Each idea is worthy, and even those that don’t enter development will receive concept treatment for later evaluation, so we will eventually have some more iPhone-specific Farzad concept art to share here at Appy Place. All of the ideas are games, all are rich in theme, and each is unlike anything Appy Entertainment has done before.

And so the future for Appy Entertainment remains just as bright, frightening, positive, perilous, planned-out, and unknown as ever before, but we do know a bit more about our market, and we know a lot more about making these kooky games, so it is with confidence we can say the best is still to come. Onwards!

Free FaceFighter!

Our friends at the iPhone Games Network are giving away a few FaceFighter promo codes. Click HERE to join the fun.

Winners will be chosen Friday, so get over there quick. You need to post in the comments and call out who you want to beat, and an ugly mob is already gathering, howling for blood!

Some good choices so far … including our own renewed call for the head of Dr. Phil!

Thanks to Nacho and the guys at iPGN for their continued support of FaceFighter!

Thus Spake Ulm

Several weeks ago, Appy Entertainment CEO Chris Ulm made some waves when he opined on Apple’s “inevitable” future as a console game manufacturer.

Now, those comments are illuminated and expanded upon in an article published by Digital Spy UK. Check it out!

So what do you think? Will Apple step up to challenge Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony for domination of the living room, or does the Ulm have a cloudy ball? Comments welcome!

Introducing … Enemy Mime!

Joyous news this morning that our long-in-review version 1.1 of FaceFighter has been approved by Apple and is now appearing in App Stores worldwide!

Not only does this FREE update fix a nasty crash bug that rendered FaceFighter all but unusable for users who had upgraded to Apple’s 3.0 OS, but the latest version of FaceFighter also introduces the first of many new opponents for your first-person fighting pleasure …

… ENEMY MIME!

Show of hands, please. Who doesn’t want to punch a mime?

Especially when they do their annoying little “trapped in a glass box” business:

All right … go get him. FaceFighter 1.1 should be ready for you to download as an update via the App Store.

And if Enemy Mime is what it’s taken to get you off the sidelines and buy FaceFighter, then click the button below. FaceFighter is still just a dollar, but that will be changing shortly. Get it while it’s cheap, and enjoy all the hot, Mime-slapping action you can stomach!

MJ

(Editor’s note: Today at Appy Place, Project Director Emmanuel Valdez shares his personal reminiscences of the late Michael Jackson)

On the day of his memorial at Staples Center, I thought it would fitting to pay tribute to the one and only Michael Jackson. I was fortunate to work with Michael on a videogame called Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2 for the PS2 and Sega Dreamcast back in 2000.

In October 1999, Midway published Ready 2 Rumble Boxing, a comical, arcade-style boxing game for the launch of the Sega Dreamcast. The game was an instant smash hit that resonated with hardcore fighting gamers and boxing enthusiasts alike featuring characters that had expressive, over-the-top personalities and a unique, hyper-realisitic visual style.

Several weeks after the release of R2R Boxing, the team received a call from a fan who enjoyed the game so much that he wanted to be in it.

That fan was Michael Jackson.

Now, like any rational person, I was excited to hear that a celebrity enjoyed playing a game that I’d worked on, let alone that he wanted to participate in the making of the sequel. But at the same time I was skeptical that the celebrity was the one and only “King of Pop,” and one of the most recognizable and famous celebrites on the planet!

All skepticism were put aside when we visited MJ at Neverland Ranch a few weeks later. That was where I met MJ for the first time. He talked about the fun he had with the first game and how much he wanted to be in the sequel. He refused to be paid for his participation and wanted to follow the process of making him into a boxer/fighter. This wasn’t the first time he was in a videogame of course, but it would be the first time he was transformed into a 3D videogame character. It was possible to now use a more lifelike likeness, motion capture his dance moves, and use his voice.

Michael was a gamer. He collected arcade games and had a building at Neverland Ranch that was a dedicated arcade, all on free play . He had classic 80’s uprights and sitdowns, special editions and customized cabinets, and even the latest ones. I even played his own classic arcade game, Moonwalker! MJ challenged me in Dance Dance Revolution, but I respectfully declined. He also had every known videogame console, most attached to the original in-store kiosk display. We spent hours taking about our favorite videogame experiences.

image from arcadeflyers.com

Over the next year, we worked on R2R Boxing: Round 2. As promised, we communicated with MJ closely on the process. I would be talking to MJ almost weekly and over time we became very good friends. Eventually, MJ came down to our development studio in San Diego. We closed off the studio and spent an entire day with him, recording dialogue in our recording studio, photographing him in costume for texture maps for our 3D character model, and capturing his full-body performance using motion capture. He was the consummate professional, that needed little direction, and performed with a tremendous passion to entertain and dazzle. It was a special day for the development team to have worked with a legend.

My most cherished experience that day was having to direct him in the motion capture shoot. I spent weeks hand drawing storyboard sequences that illustrated the kind of dance moves and motion performances we needed to bring his character to life for the videogame. I presented a binder full of these storyboards just before we began the shoot. He looked at it for a few seconds, closed the book and proceed to tell me that he wanted me to direct him by performing the moves myself. That moment I was overwhelmed with fear that I had to “demonstrate” dance moves to Michael Jackson and dread that the supposed “closed-off” set was packed with nearly the entire staff that worked at our studio that wanted to witness the master performer (MJ, of course) at work.

I remember walking up to him on the stage floor, closing my eyes, and executing the world’s slowest version of some of MJ’s most famous dance moves throughout his career in one, ten second dance performance. To my relief, he proceeded to replicate my moves, in the most amazing and beautiful ten seconds I ever witnessed on a motion capture stage. Imagine a videogame designer choreographing and directing the world’s greatest dancer!

When we released the game, the team and our families celebrated with a trip to Neverland Ranch. Over the next few years after the release of the game, I remained in close contact with Michael. I spent endless hours talking about our favorite games and even occasionally the work his was doing on the album he was working at the time, Invincible. He called my family regularly to give us holiday greetings and birthday wishes. My wife and I were given premium floor seating to see him in his tribute concert at Madison Square Garden back in 2001. Those were some of the most surreal and magical moments of my life.

Since then our relationship drifted apart. We hadn’t spoken to each other since 2001. Over the past couple of months I have been trying to reach him to wish him luck on his concert tour and just catch up with our lives. I really wanted to show him the work we did on FaceFighter and felt that he would have genuinely enjoyed playing the game as much as he did with Ready 2 Rumble Boxing games. So it was a real shock to me when he died, especially with the fact that I was trying to make contact recently. I was saddened with his death and have been mourning his passing everyday since the day he died by listening to his music and watching the countless hours of television coverage. Like a lot of fans out there, I too wanted to see him make a triumphant return.

My condolences go out to the Jackson family, his children, his closest friends, and the fans. Michael was an unbelievable talent and a kind hearted good friend that I will personally miss dearly. His legacy will live on through his music, charitable acts, his games, and memories with people like myself who can share personal and unforgettable stories of friendship.

Em & MJ, from the Midway team photo shoot

“The most I’ve ever laughed during an iPhone game. Period.”

We received very complimentary review of FaceFighter from Matt Dunn of the iPhone Games Network last week. They awarded the game 4.5 of 5 stars, and called us an “Editor’s Choice.”

Our favorite quote in a review laden with praise:

The most I’ve ever laughed during an iPhone game. Period. This game was a hit with every single person I showed it too, who all had an equally joyous response.

Following on the heels of iPGN’s mention of FaceFighter on their podcast, it looks like we’re the flavor of the month with the iPGN crew. Thanks so much, gentlemen! And hopefully you’ll like FaceFighter even more when our updates start rolling out later this month, feature new enemies, new weapons, and new finishing moves!

For those of your wondering what all the hubbub is about, hit the button below to buy your own copy of FaceFighter!

Dad Gets A Beat Down!

We get plenty of mail here at the Secret Worldwide Headquarters of Appy Entertainment, particularly since we started putting a feedback button in our Apps. We get the usual stuff — praise (thanks, Mom!), death threats (gotta keep my kids off the internet), and etc., but every once in awhile we get a message that really makes our day.

Like the note pointing us toward this FaceFighter video on YouTube:

Awesome! Thanks, Ned! As a father, myself, I can think of no greater expression of filial love than a fine FaceFighter beatdown!

Happy 4th of July from everyone at Appy Entertainment (even from our resident Englishman, Sarge!)

Radio Days

For those of you who didn’t tune in to our radio interview earlier this week, an archive is now available.

Mix up some Ovaltine and gather around the ol’ Marconi for an hour (39 minutes if you skip the commercials!), and listen to us Appy guys make dorks of ourselves.

Join us in the thrilling days of yesteryear by clicking HERE!

FaceFighter An App Store Staff Favorite!

We’re pleased to announce that FaceFighter has been selected by Apple as an App Store Staff Favorite in Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Austria, and the United Kingdom!

This makes Appy Entertainment two-for-two in securing this stamp of approval, as our first App, Appy Newz, was also selected as a Staff Favorite in many international App Stores.

(We have anecdotal evidence that our games are popular on Tatooine, Pellucidar, and the Plateau of Leng, but we haven’t yet secured a staff recommendation in those territories. If anyone has pull with Jabba the Hutt, the Mahars, or the High Priest Not To Be Named, please let us know).

Whatever your nationality, there’s never been a better time to try FaceFighter … it’s still introductory priced at a buck (which translates to .99 Imperial Credits, for our interstellar readers). Our 1.1 update is in the approval queue at Apple right now, which adds a new enemy to the game, and is just the start of a rich pipeline of planned new content, including enemies, weapons, finishing moves, and new game modes. So click the button below to get your copy, and if you’ve already bought FaceFighter, tell a friend (no matter where they reside)!

Appy Radio Interview TONIGHT!

Chris Ulm and Paul O’Connor will appear on Craig Grossman’s Computer America, tonight (6/29), for an hour-long interview starting at 8:00 PM Pacific Time.

Topics of conversation will include:

1. What does it take as a developer to get a game done and published in the iTunes store?
2. Talk about Appy Newz and Appy FaceFighter.
3. The migration of game developers to the Apple side and what the iPhone has done for developers.

An MP3 of the show will be posted here in a day or two, but the Appy Army is certainly encouraged to tune in and listen tonight!