ActionChess is free until the next version is released

As extra incentive for myself (and possibly to drum up some pre-release interest in the next version), I’ve changed the price of ActionChess in the app store to free.

The next version will have Game Center support, as well as retina display graphics and iOS 4 multitasking.

It’s really very close to complete. I just need to copy over all the achievements (there are over 50 of them) from OpenFeint to Game Center. I’m hoping to get to that this weekend.

Thanks for downloading!

iPhone Controller Roundup

Here are some pictures and links to the iPhone compatible game controller projects that I was able to find while searching today.

iControlPad

Of all the potential products listed here, the iControlPad seems most likely to actually be purchasable in the near future. (The creator is tweeting about his progress, and there is some amount of manual assembly required. He’s going for an initial run of 2000, and he’s at least partially completed with 500 of them.) In addition to the photo below, there is also a nice video of an iControlPad prototype in action.

Unfortunately, there are two main drawbacks to this device as I see it. Firstly, it’s jailbreak only. Now it may turn out that all of these devices are jailbreak only, but this one is very up-front about it. Second is the design itself. I don’t really like the form factor, and even in the demo video linked above, it looks like the user has his thumbs scrunched too close together to get at those analog sticks. I’m guessing the d-pad will feel more natural to use. Of course I reserve final judgment until I’ve actually played with one. ;)

GameBone

The GameBone also seems like they’re poised to release. The website says it’ll be available for purchase in Q4 2010. So far, the only photos are “artist renderings”, but the company have many other iPhone accessories for sale, so it seems likely that they’re the real deal. I also have some frustrations with their design, namely the lack of any analog controls whatsoever. Still, they are the only one of these projects that even mentions attempting to get the “Made for iPhone” seal of approval from Apple. That would go a long way toward making it a viable commercial product.

Controller or Bust

I recently saw the Controller or Bust Project featured on TouchArcade, (that’s actually what prompted this blog post) and after checking it out some, I do like some elements of their latest design more than the competition. For instance, the form factor is not that much bigger than the iPhone is already. The dual analog sticks are symmetrically placed (as they should be, IMHO), and you can potentially flip it upside down for the analog sticks on the bottom or the top of the controller. I also like how they’ve tackled enclosing the phone quite a bit. Unfortunately, this project is probably the farthest from an actual product at this point. They’re talking about using kickstarter, but I’d really want to see a prototype (at least!) before I committed to giving them any money.

iPhone Game Pad

Finally, It looks like the iPhone Game Pad is little more than a prototype at this point (but that’s more than the Controller or Bust project!), but as you can see, their demo video is pretty sweet looking:

Let us know if you have information about any additional iPhone game controller accessories, either in the comments, or by emailing us at info@chesstris.com.

iPhone Marketing Strategies

I’ve been brainstorming ways to overcome the visibility problem in the App store. When releasing an iPhone application, visibility in the app store is your biggest problem. It is very easy for an app to get “buried” in the store. There are literally hundreds of applications that are launched on a daily basis. How to get the potential customer to “discover” your application is the key question that must be answered after (or when considering) development for the iOS platform. It’s worth noting, however, that the vast majority of the applications released daily are really awful, so the sheer number alone should not be a deterrent. (Yet, those crap apps are often what pushes down the visibility threshold for the rest of us.)

I am not claiming that I came up with the following solutions and/or techniques, just documenting them here for my own brainstorming purposes.

Solution 1: Marketing a recognizable name. Having a title that people recognize is certainly key. In fact, that’s the basis for any marketing effort. Get more people to recognize your product, and they will be more likely to purchase it. If you start with an existing product, it’s possible you could leverage the community that is familiar with said product (for instance, fans of a board game, if that’s what you’re making). These fans would help generate “buzz” before the game’s release, as well as ensure you have some target market upon the game’s release. This also opens up an important secondary channel for application discovery, through traditional marketing to those existing fans, whether it’s in print advertising, or online targeted marketing. (Second to discovery in the app store itself, which is by far the most effective at selling your application.) Traditional board game marketing avenues, for instance, would include Board Game Geek, (of course) traditional board game review sites or blogs, (banner ads, or better yet, actually getting reviews). Even if only a fraction of your audience have iPhones, that visibility would not be wasted.

Solution 2: Getting reviews. Another important marketing strategy is to email and otherwise contact the large number of iPhone app review sites out there. (I personally maintain a spreadsheet with a list of over 100 iOS review sites.) The most important of these by far is Touch Arcade, who also maintain a fairly influential online forum with discussion threads on almost every game for the iPhone that is released. (I think this is probably the most well known and documented of my solutions, but I’m including it here for consistency. Even though I maintain that list, I still have never sent out the press releases required for this step for ActionChess. I keep saying I’ll do it after the next major update… and maybe I will!)

Solution 3: Visual affluence. Having a very “nice looking” game will have a couple of possible effects: 1) iPhone owners (as well as Apple computer owners in general) are probably biased toward excellent design. It is certainly how Apple have continued to differentiate themselves in the desktop market, and one of the key reasons oft cited for the iPhone’s runaway success. Simply put, Apple customers are more apt to purchase a game because of how pretty it looks. It’s obvious that Apple knows this, and that it contributes to the following secondary effect: 2) Apple is more likely to “feature” a good looking app than one with the same functionality that does not look as great. There is quite a bit of precedent for this, but essentially, if your app looks good enough, it is much more likely to make it onto the front pages of the App store. (See next solution.)

Solution 4: Getting featured by apple. This is the equivalent of getting your physical product into one of the major retailers. (Target or Wallmart, for example.) You will sell hundreds, or even thousands of copies per day. In fact, getting reviews onto as many review sites as possible is not so much to get customers aware of your product, although that certainly helps, but to get the folks at Apple more aware of your product, and thus, more likely to feature it.

There are probably a lot more solutions out there. Noel of Snappy Touch has had a lot of success with in-app purchases and setting the price of his app to free. He and some other indie developers do a lot of cross-promotion that has proven successful for them as well. (I’ve read someplace that having more than one app in the app store, and cross-promoting them has a very noticeable effect on sales. Wish I could remember where.) Anyway, this isn’t comprehensive. Feel free to post your suggestions in the comments here.