Could somebody answer a few questions for me?

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by orseoste7o, Oct 8, 2012.

  1. orseoste7o

    orseoste7o New Member

    Oct 3, 2012
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    Hi there.

    My name is Adrian Manser, I am a student at the school gleeson college, currently in year 11. A subject for year 11 is the research project, where we are to come up with and answer a guiding question in an outcome and folio. My guiding question is; what makes a successful iphone game?
    So, if somebody could please answer a few questions for me, it would be just great. Thanks.

    What do you think successful games have in common?

    How important do you think graphics are in iPhone games? Why?

    How would you go about marketing your games, and do you believe marketing plays a big part in what makes a iPhone game successful?

    How did you go about choosing the music in your games? Do you believe music and sound played a big part in how successful a game is?

    Now, everything in this interview will be used in my research project, and I will be annotating this interview. If you could answer these questions as soon as possible, it would be great.

    -Adrian
     
  2. Rasterman

    Rasterman Well-Known Member

    May 10, 2010
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    Game Monger
    Tampa, FL
    First you should define success, the answers are different. Most: downloads, grossing, awards, people playing? And these I came up with in only 20 seconds.
     
  3. AR Studio

    AR Studio Well-Known Member

    Jul 5, 2012
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    Yep, a lot depends on what actually success is.
    From our point of view, game development is a complex system with various aspects that need to be taken into account.
    First and the most obvious, the game itself should be fun; otherwise its promotion will be difficult.
    Before starting developing your game, you need to define who is your target audience, what do they like, what do they lack in already existing games... Based on this you will define what can you offer to them.
    Marketing is also extremely important in game development. The game can be really unique and well-polished. However, there are already 700 thousand apps in the App Store, which means that you need to tell the world about your project; otherwise it simply won't be noticed.
    Music and sounds are also important elements. The most successful ones can really stuck in people's heads and can even become the hits :)
     
  4. #4 BlueSpiral, Oct 8, 2012
    Last edited: Oct 8, 2012
    I'd say uniqueness is what gets you noticed. In marketing it's called USP (Unique selling point). As an indie developer this is most important as you simply don't have the resources to compete against larger companies. However, the great thing is, you don't have to be big to have a great idea that could take off. You just have to execute it well enough and get people interested.

    Unfortunately, even if you come up with something fresh and original, you've only got a small amount of time to make the most of it before everyone jumps on the bandwagon. First to market is always advantageous and can lead to success if capitalized upon and progressed.

    Graphics / sound etc are all nice, but you see some games that don't have these eye catching features but rely on uniqueness, fun and provide a new experience. Playability out ways a lot of things. In life we get tired of the same old, same old. In business many go for the tried and tested to make money, less of a risk and increase their chances of getting a return on investment. If you're a small independent, innovation can = SUCCESS. But, as has been said before, success means different things to different people. Depends on what you wanted out of it in the first place.
     
  5. Snozberry

    Snozberry Well-Known Member

    Jan 21, 2012
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    What do you think successful games have in common?

    High polish. But also simple, but fun and addictive gameplay. A unique idea which is simple to learn, and executed greatly. Clones never seem to go mainstream. For example, angry Birds went mainstream, now there are a million AB clones on the AppStore, yet those clones never and will never go mainstream cause we already have angry birds as the leader and considering angry birds is 99c... It's not like a clone could compete price size because it's already at the lowest price point. (psangry birds is already a clone itself, crush the castle was first, however crush the castle wasn't on iOS, so angry birds beat them to it and got the big chunk of the money pie.. So when I say no clones make it mainstream, I mean no duplicates on the AppStore)

    How important do you think graphics are in iPhone games? Why?

    Extremely. Casual gamers want shiny things. Every game that's ever gone mainstream to the casual market had to be extremely polished. Angry birds, cut the rope, fruit ninja, to name a few.

    How would you go about marketing your games, and do you believe marketing plays a big part in what makes a iPhone game successful?

    Marketing is the most important thing. I've seen crap games be marketed heaps, and become popular, and I have seen many brilliant games slip right under the radar. If no websites are talking about it, then how will people know it exists? It's like having an absolute brilliantly talented singer locked in an empty room. Yes she has an amazing voice, but no one is around to hear it. Just like iOS. Too much crap gets through the gates every day.. It's impossible to rummage through every release to find the good ones
    There would be SO many hidden gems out in the AppStore that'll never be found.. The first few weeks of a games release is crucial. There should be no rush. Wait until you secure some PR before releasing your game, and only bother with spending big money on PR if your game is polished top notch,and is actually fun and unique. Get random people to play the game first and get honest opinions. Take it to a game festival or something and have people play it and give you their honest opinion to decide if it's worth spending money promoting it. If you have a winner onnyour hands, 20k promotion will pay off when you rake in hundreds of thousands. Obviouksy don't spend 20k promoting a crappy game you made with game salad for your first project.

    How did you go about choosing the music in your games? Do you believe music and sound played a big part in how successful a game is?

    Music is important, but not mandatory. I've seen a few games get white popular with no music at all, and only minimal sound effects.
    I think polished graphics, and unique, fun and simple gameplay is the most important, but a game could get away with having no music if absolute necessary. (run out of budget maybe?) just don't put horrible cheap music that might annoy the players, I've seen many people on here actually delete a game because they couldn't stand the music.
    It would be best to budget correctly to have music that fits the game nicely, but again, I still believe graphics and a great gameplay idea is completely mandatory for success. No ifs or buts.
    Instead of creating a crappy angry birds clone, it would be better making nothing and just taking notes and coming up with ideas. The idea is the main thing, dont just rush in to make a game thinking you might get lucky, the AppStore isn't about luck, it's about good and fun ideas. Take time out to make one great release instead of a crapload of halfassed clones.
    JMO
     
  6. orseoste7o

    orseoste7o New Member

    Oct 3, 2012
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    Thanks so much for the detailed answers, that was incredibly helpful! Exactly the kind of answers i was looking for.

    I mean successful as in, the game would make you enough money to keep developing games as a full time job, without a different job on the side.
    BlueSpiral and AR studio, thanks for replying as well, its great seeing alot of different dev's opinions about different subjects.
     
  7. First few weeks

    Hi Snozberry, first, thank you! What you said make me think about a lot of things. I'm releasing our new game this november and I would like to know why you said that the first few weeks on App Store is crucial? I know about the "sort by date" , but now on iOS 6 there isn't this feature more, right? Thanks

    Best!
     

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