Monday, February 16, 2009

iPhone Apps - The new money maker


iShoot, an iPhone game created by Ethan Nicholas, is a tank shooting game similar to Scorched Earth, an old DOS game (remember DOS?), and Worms. In a single month this independent developer managed to rake in $600,000 with this single iPhone game. Apple's App Store for the iPhone and iPod Touch lets developers keep a reasonable share of the profits of a game, unlike other major platforms. It may just be a clone of a classic, but it's simple gaming mechanics is hooking buyers, especially for those who've never played the games it was inspired by. At the moment, tower defense games seem to rule the iPhone charts and aren't those just minor deviations of each other? The gaming industry does have a new market to tap into, and it's interesting to see where this can all lead.

Original Article @ [WIRED]

16 comments:

ssSStancer said...

wow..i dl'd the lite version before..didnt think it was all that..

IamOSI said...

it's a trip right? a good number of apps on the iphone suck ass, yet are hitting specific markets that just haven't had much exposure. people are hungry for this kind of stuff. here's hopoing quality apps will take over.

GOODFOOT said...

Yup... The iPhone app scene has its own industry separate from the mobile game industry. Even my company ported one of our games over (Jewel Quest II), and we have a few more iPhone projects in production. I've been wanting to buy the full version of iShoot, but Tap Defense got me hooked on the tower defense genre so I recently bought The Creeps. I'm thinking of getting Field Runners or 7 Cities next. The iPhone is the perfect toilet and BART buddy, right?

IamOSI said...

yeah, been playing the full version of iShoot, way more weapons than the lite. if only they would implement p2p, itd be more fun shooting real folks.

dude, im hooked on fieldrunners right now. how's the creeps? only got the lite, pretty fun tho. that and 7 cities. havent tried tap defense yet. damn those td games.

nelsonious said...

I even downloaded the SDK application and watched some tutorials on how to make stuff. Way over my head. I would need hands on help if I were to make anything. I think I'm just good at making ideas. LOL.

GOODFOOT said...

The ideas and art of creating a game is always the easy part. Programming those ideas and art is the hard part. It's not easy developing software without a programming background, especially if you're starting from scratch. That's why developers sell their source code of their game so it can be reused to make another game similar to the original. Didn't Halo use the Quake engine?

nelsonious said...

I think Halo used the Quake 3 engine or something. Tina's boyfriend Josh knows how to program a little. I don't think he can fuck with graphics though. I keep bugging him to start something up since he got no job. Maybe I'll bug him a little more.

SillyCil said...

$600k?? there's money to be paid out there people!

IamOSI said...

im telling ya, something simple and stupid. that'll hook em. and before they realize they wasted their money, we're laughing to the bank. gotta find ourselves a programmer.

im pretty sure pokemon uses the quake engine.

nelsonious said...

Here's what we gotta do... What is that one app where it's like a slot machine and you shake it and chooses where you eat? Just replace the restaurant with articles of clothing or shoes that you own. Kinda chooses an outfit for you if you're undecided on what to wear.

GOODFOOT said...

E-Money: The Creeps is pretty fun and appealing for it's cartoony concept. My baby watches me play it because of it's cartoony and colorful look.

Nelson: I believe that app's called UrbanSpoon. I think for your idea, the slot UI is already a given function in the iPhone SDK. You (or Josh) will just need to play around with the other features you want like the shake function or locator function to randomize the variables. I haven't seen the iPhone SDK yet, but I'm guessing that there's a random number generator included. I'm investing on a macbook at the moment, so when I get my hands on that baby and when time permits, it's on like donkey kong.

GOODFOOT said...

I just checked the App Store and someone already attempted to make a clothing app called "What To Wear". It got lousy 1 or 2 stars from the reviewers, which means it's waiting for someone out there to make a better app. Do it!

IamOSI said...

jips - that's awesome. the graphics are kid friendly. we've got to make ourselves a TD game. even if it's just for the fun of it. get crackin once you get that macbook!

nelsonious said...

Is there a coin flipping application?

IamOSI said...

yeah, i have a free one called cointoss.

Hando Verfist said...

since cointoss is done, maybe a "twoface" version? hidden button so that you pick heads or tails.