Monday, April 6, 2009

Couple More Quick iPhone Thoughts

Thanks for the great comments on my iPhone post. I did want to quickly address two points people made.

It's so agonizing missing a Gold Rush. The New York Times is taunting me with tales of untold wealth I have missed. But I still think I made the right call.

First, some pointed out that the iPhone has some people who play it seriously, like multi-hour sessions on a train or whatever. I have no doubt that there are a number of users who play long sessions, but the apps that are selling like crazy really seem to lend themselves to short sessions.

When in doubt, my main business rule is this: I always make the sort of game I would want to play. If I don't do that, my heart isn't in it. Even if a large percentage of iPhone users wanted highly-involved 40 hours games (which I still doubt), I sure don't use my iPhone that way.

Second, someone suggested that I write a quick app for the iPhone, to try it out. Throw something together and see if it floats.

Here is my bit of advice for aspiring developers:

NEVER, EVER JUST THROW SOMETHING TOGETHER. IF YOU CAN'T GIVE IT YOUR ALL, DON'T DO IT. BECAUSE THE PEOPLE YOU ARE COMPETING WITH ARE GOING TO COME AT YOU WITH EVERYTHING THEY GOT.

It is theoretically possible to put a small amount of time into something successful. But when that happens, you will have made something very easy to rip off, and your profits will eventually fade. So I really hope you had a Tetris-quality idea makes you a millionaire quick.

As for me, I write RPGs. And I don't think it's possible to really quickly write a Diablo or Rogue clone which will hit the sweet million dollars spot.

Of course, I might just be whistling past the graveyard, trying to convince myself that I didn't just pass up on a chance to make a fortune. But I, like all small business owners, have to make lots of decisions all the time. At some point, you just have to live with the calls you make and go on to the next thing.

15 comments:

  1. Now that you've established a name for yourself Jeff in my opinion it's important to maintain the very high quality of your products. Doing something quickly just to see if you can make a quick buck could have serious side effects on your reputation. I completely agree 100% with only doing something if you are going to put in as much time and effort as you can - Chenoa

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think you're right not to go for the iPhone, but there is a lot of evidence for long play sessions on handhelds:

    - The GBA was awash with 'tactics' games that lasted hours at a time
    - Advance Wars is a turn- based wargame that sells millions.

    I mostly play long games on my handhelds, usually sitting on the sofa at home just feet from my consoles. Books are handy and portable, but it doesn't mean that you only use them for quick sessions.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think what you're missing is that RPGs are probably currently the lowest ranking income generation out of all the genres. Let's take a look at the hot games out there right now:

    -Rock Band
    -GTA
    -MMOs
    -Wii Games
    -FPS Games

    These are the hot titles and genres right now. The only thing that makes a dent (and is reflected by the "hot apps") is MMOs. Single player RPGs have been going to the wayside for a while, and only crop up as popular when someone like Bethesda releases another Elder Scrolls game or Square-Enix comes out with another FF.

    While that being said, I took a look at the games in the RPG section and was not overall impressed. Out of the top 20, EIGHT, almost half, of the games were clones of Drug Wars with (insert random theme here) slapped on top. You could pretty easily slip in there if your game was halfway decent.

    However, if you don't want to take the risk, as in development time to do so, that's your call. However, I would be wary of how long your quality games are going to hold out against a tide of easier to access and market graphical "one up" games. I'm sure you've got plans for the future to move out of the graphics and play style you have now, but I hope you implement it before it's too late.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Warren Buffet would call this "staying within your circle of competency", a mindset he claims to have helped him gain his fortune.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think there would be a business model if:

    (1) it was viable to translate BoE (I'm assuming BoA would be too graphically advanced/too large a screen size) to the iPhone, enabling touch screen controls with whatever redesign that took

    (2) it was possible for you to monetise the hundreds of existing scenarios out there - maybe with a 50:50 income split between Spiderweb and the scenario writers (and presumably Apple takes its 30% cut upfront)

    The reason I think BoE would work is because of the more "short burst" play in many of the smaller scenarios. That said, I've spent at least 20 hours or more on each of Vay, Innotia, Arvale, Dungeon & Hero and Quest. I would also point out that I had *already* played Arvale and Quest on Palm, yet I still rebought and replayed them on iPhone, and enjoyed them just as much. I know I would repurchase and replay Spiderweb games for iPhone.

    Either way, I don't think you are "missing" the gold rush. It isn't going away. The iPhone is only growing as a platform in terms of user numbers, and users have an ongoing appetite for new games when it comes to apps.

    Some app categories are things that you'll probably invest in once, like reference books. You buy one weather app, one finance app, one dictionary, one encyclopaedia at home (or you did before Wikipedia arrived).

    But when it comes to games, they're like novels. Endless, continual consumption and appetite. So that "gold rush" is going to be around for a long time. Maybe biding your time is the best strategy - you may never end up making a game for iPhone, but when and if you do, you'll have a much better idea of what might work and what would or would not be commercially viable.

    ReplyDelete
  6. "When in doubt, my main business rule is this: I always make the sort of game I would want to play. If I don't do that, my heart isn't in it."

    Totally agree.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am one of the people who would play a good full-length RPG on the iPhone as long as it could be done in short sessions. I do have to acknowledge, though, that I am probably one of the very few, and it might not be worth your time.

    ReplyDelete
  8. It website is really excellent. I have very great hours with this website. It webpage now have various and different categories. Even all of the online games are freegames77. When you are bored you can discover enjoyment. Additional bike games

    ReplyDelete
  9. There is noticeably a bundle to know about this. I assume you made certain nice points in features also.

    Newcool
    Carefever

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks for all your efforts that you have put in this. very interesting info. Using Deskgram you can upload photos to instagram from PC/MAC, like and comment on post, follow unfollow profile, check news feed and many more.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I think that you could do with some pics to drive the message home a bit, but instead of that, this is wonderful blog. A great read. I will certainly be back.

    Images.google.bf
    Search.posttoday.com
    Fooyoh.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. I assume you made certain nice points in features also.
    film plus app for pc

    ReplyDelete
  13. Highly Recommended!
    Very insightful, i will also say this here. Investment is one of the best ways to achieve financial freedom. For a beginner there are so many challenges you face. It's hard to know how to get started. Trading on the Cryptocurrency market has really been a life changer for me. I almost gave up on crypto at some point not until saw a recommendation on Elon musk successfully success story and I got a proficient trader/broker Mr Bernie Doran , he gave me all the information required to succeed in trading. I made more profit than I could ever imagine. I'm not here to converse much but to share my testimony; I have made total returns of $20,500 from an investment of just $2000 within 1 week. Thanks to Mr Bernie I'm really grateful,I have been able to make a great returns trading with his signals and strategies .I urge anyone interested in INVESTMENT to take bold step in investing in the Cryptocurrency Market, he can also help you recover your lost funds, you can reach him on WhatsApp : +1(424) 285-0682 or his Gmail : BERNIEDORANSIGNALS@GMAIL.COM tell him I referred you

















    '






    Hello, as a newbie to cryptocurrency trading, I lost a lot of money trying to navigate the market on my own, then in my search for a genuine and trusted trader/broker, i came across Trader Bernie Doran who guided and helped me retrieve my lost cryptocurrencies and I made so much profit up to the tune of $60,000.

    ReplyDelete