How to get on "New and Noteworthy" - experiences shared

[Liv Games]

Originally Posted by Foursaken_Media

Well, I think quality and presentation have a huge deal to do with it, first of all. If you make a quality, well made game I really think you are likely to see it on there.

HOWEVER, note that there is a HUGE distinction between being on the N&N overall app list (which is what shows up on the main list on the phone), vs just being listed in the N&N games section (where you are essentially in a subcategory on the phone itself). Mind you I'm not talking about subcategory N&N lists like for Adventure and Action... I'm talking about overall games.

The whole system unfortunately is very cookie cutter and predictable. If you are listed in the first ~8-10 slots of the N&N games section (slightly variation from week to week), then you will show up on the main phone N&N list. If you show up on the phone list, you will automatically move to the "Whats Hot" list after the 1st week is over. The "Whats Hot" list has nothing to do with sales or anything else like that... if you make it on the overall N&N list on the phone, you move to that list next. Also note the Whats Hot list doesn't have even CLOSE to the impact that the N&N list has in terms of sales, but it will slightly help in preventing your app from immediately dropping off HARD, as games tend to do when not on the Whats Hot list.

If you make it to the main phone N&N list, sales will be significantly higher then if you're just on the N&N overall games list. In fact, I only saw 1-2 games listed with Bug Heroes that weren't on the overall N&N phone list even break the top 500. In contrast I think every game that was listed on the phone itself broke the top 100.

Furthermore, it seems they tend (not always) to pick casual/cartoony games and large company games for these important phone slots first. To be honest, while grateful that Bug Heroes was featured on the N&N games list at all, I couldn't help but be pissed that for ex the illegally copied and ported games like "The Blocks Cometh", and a few of the other games made it on the phone N&N list over Bug Heroes, which had 70+ ratings and a 5 star average by the time we were featured, full 3D graphics, very good sales, and tons of content...

Which brings me back to my original point. I truly think you'll make the list with a quality game, but I also think there is HUGE favoritism and subjectivity when it comes to choosing apps for the overall N&N list (those first ~10 spots).


But all of that being said, I also want to point out the N&N list is not the end of the battle... in fact, if you hang all your hopes and dreams on this list you are likely to fail in the long term, even if you do get on the list... bc that will just account for a week or 2 of your games many months lifespan (unless you are one of the VERY few and lucky games which can catapult up into a top 10 spot from this). You need to have a comprehensive, long term plan in order to SUSTAIN sales... the long tail of your app is definitely the most important thing to consider, not the quick burst of success you may get from a feature (though it sure is nice ).

With N.Y.Zombies for ex we have managed to stay relevant 9 months after release thanks to a variety of updates, sales, and free campaigns.

That's great advice on that last paragraph. We made Legendary Wars exactly with this in mind and I couldn't have said it better!

[mochibits]

Hey guys, thanks for the great thread! Congrats on Ramps, Legendary Wars, BallsFallDown, and the other great games. Love them all.

Our app SwipeTapTap just made the N&N this week! We squeaked out the 14th spot on the iTunes app store overall list. 8th spot on the Games N&N list. =)

Our sales went from single digits wednesday to mid-triple-digits on Thursday. Very excited to see what happens over the next week.

Would like some opinions, but right now, I'm planning on riding out the N&N and keeping our pricepoint at 1.99, since we have a unique game. Luckily, I submitted an update AND a Lite version of the game early this week, so they will both be available next week.

My plan is to make the Lite version available next Wed. so that it has a day with STT on the N&N to get some momentum. I'm hoping the free Lite version will boost the paid version when we finally get taken off the N&N list. After the boost from the Lite version falls off, I plan to reduce the price to 0.99. Similar to how BopIt and Legendary Wars reduced their prices.

Already have a bunch of updates planned and also some sweet IAP.

Would love any comments or suggestions you may have.

Thanks. Cheers.

[tofusoup]

Excellent post, and replies.

Our first game Chicken Escape (iPhone/iPad) was on N&N for its categories for awhile and I will confirm that we got almost no sale increases. We have been slowly disappearing into the abyss of the appstore.

Strangely enough the game is now in What's Hot for its categories starting yesterday, and sales actually went down for Thursday.... doh! Also wanted to mention our overall ranking has gone up but sales down heh.

We did get more media attention as reviews finally started to come in. Our update 1.1 has been uploaded...

With 1.1 I think our game will be at its best in terms of polish. Our next step here is to launch an Easter version of the lite version and try to climb the charts again. Also do a bunch of cross promotion with my 2nd game and my friends new games....

[LaughingPanda]

I'm hoping Bouncing Birds! will get on new and noteworthy.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bouncing-birds!/id449095015?mt=8&uo=4

Does anyone know when Apple refreshes the list? Like every Tuesday or something..

[mochibits]

Originally Posted by LaughingPanda

I'm hoping Bouncing Birds! will get on new and noteworthy.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bouncing-birds!/id449095015?mt=8&uo=4

Does anyone know when Apple refreshes the list? Like every Tuesday or something..

Thursday Noon PST.

[tigranvn]

Originally Posted by M of IMAK

As we all (should) know, being featured in the New and Noteworthy section will result in a significant increase in sales. How much of an increase? It doesn't matter - you want to be featured in this section. An analysis of apps featured will show that any size developer can have their app featured, and almost any app has a chance to be featured. So, the obvious question is:

"How do I get my app selected as one of the chosen 8?"

This thread attempts to answer this question. If you have ever had an app featured in the New and Noteworthy section, please share your experience.

Here is mine:

IMAK Creations has had two apps featured in New and Noteworthy.
1) Our first was ColorTilt, a finger painting app. It was featured in July, 2008. We released it the opening day of the store and priced it at $0.99. It was moving up the top-100 list on its own (oh for the days of only 500 apps on the store). I think it hit 40 or so when it was featured. It then moved quickly to #3 before fading back down the list. Because of this ride, it became one of the top 50 apps for 2008.

Recommendations based on this experience are:
a) Price your app at $0.99 (or at least low enough to generate high sales)
b) Have an appealing icon (Apple likes the ColorTilt icon. If you look closely, you can find it in the iPhone Apps from the TV Ads picture, even though it has never been featured on TV, afaik).
c) Have a unique feature - the 'tilt to select drawing color' was something people wanted to try out

2) We also had a 2nd app make it. I'll save that story for later if there is enough interest in this topic.

Well I was trying to understand how the featuring works for iTunes seams like nobody has any idea.
I think My experience will give a piece of clue which right now I can't process. My app is going slowly to the top although now it is in 400-500 places in entertainment. so recently it started to get featured in 10-15 countries in "what's Hot" from which in one of them (UK) in top 100 What's Hot. that seams legit because my second source of downloads comes from UK (after US) . so this goes back and forth for couple of days. Today I noticed my app is featured in 17 countries from which 2 of them in top 100 "What's Hot" one of them as usual UK (some#39th place) and the second one is Armenia (#59), what is weird is that I don't have any downloads from Armenia for last couple of weeks and what is even weirder that my app's developer name is my name which is armenian name (I live in US), so I can't understand the connection here, is iTunes looks where the developer's from and try to feature app over there or is it just a coincidence which makes no sense because I have no downloads from Armenia at all ...
My app's name is Camera Hoax. it looks like this
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/camera-hoax/id529389932?ls=1&mt=8

[AlienSpace]

Both Alien Space and Alien Space Retro were featured in New & Noteworthy, and they have since been featured in other sections like "Galactic Games".

I think the main thing to getting selected is to have a good game with a good icon. That's pretty much it. It doesnt matter how you price it or any of that other nonsense. Where price will come into play is in how many downloads you get once you're featured. When Alien Space came out in 2010 it was priced at $3.99. The boost in sales from being featured was definitely there, but in retrospect I think it would have done much better if it had been cheaper. I really hate the "race to the bottom", but I have no doubt if it had launched at $0.99 that it would have gotten many more sales. And, capitalizing on that initial N&N boost is critical to making a big splash in the App Store.