Archive for the ‘General’ Category

Back from summer holidays

Sunday, September 5th, 2010

August is over and far, far away… or so it seems. Medusa is back to work, though we didn’t really spend the whole month on the beach, sipping margaritas. Not at all. We spent most of our time around a table, brainstorming new ideas. Sipping beer and smoking, sure, but brainstorming.

If you are also looking for a superb source of inspiration, far away from alcohol or drugs, do not miss this collection of 235 free indie games (thanks to Pixel Prospector).  If you like a game, simply roll the cursor over the bottom part of the video to check its name and click to watch a longer version.

But first try letting your brain absorb all that indie awesomeness… some moments are truly inspiring!

Found on Twitter…

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

So funny finding this with Twitter-search:

keyultd iPhoneの「Oddy smog misadventure」というゲームが楽しい! 見た目と音楽の美しさに惚れました。ゲーム的にもシンプル故に熱中してしまうタイプ。リンク先は海外のレビューです。http://bit.ly/a7Gpbj  59 minutes ago

Is guess it’s Japanese, and it coincides with Oddy Smog being #39 in Games-Arcade in Japan… What does it say? I don’t know. I hope that something nice about Oddy. It would be great. Someone in Japan, the cradle of video games, saying something good about our game…

Increasing your App sales for free*

Monday, June 28th, 2010

Hell, that was quite a pretentious title for a post… But I’m serious: there’s a way to increase your game/application sales in the App Store that does not require more budget on advertising, more press releases or a parade down Main Street with elephants and clowns. Although that would be funny…

And I am not selling anything here, just giving a good piece of advice: you want to sell more apps?  Then work harder. That’s all.  That’s the trick, which works for everything else in this life.

So stop whining, roll up your sleeves and create new Apps.

I’m talking about visibility. Many App customers consume just what they see, what the App store reveals on the New Apps and Top lists of each category. If your application is not there, it’s  more than probably dying out soon. But the good news are that it will remain in the App Store, waiting for someone else to re-discover it!

And that’s when a new App comes to the rescue. Your new App, when published, will appear in the New Apps list. With a little bit of luck it may even be featured in the ‘New and Noteworthy’ section in iTunes, or someone in a forum may write a post about it… If your applications include a link to your website where your previous products are shown, you have a powerful advertising mechanism that creates a feedback loop with one application bringing potential customers to every other application.

Here are some numbers, nothing really conclusive, but they support this ‘theory’. We released our first title,  Sound Juggler, six months ago. During its first days it was sold a few times, but after some weeks numbers dropped to one or none sales per week. Meh.

This past weekend we released our second title, Oddy Smog’s Misadventure, which was featured by Apple in the ‘New and Noteworthy’ section. And guess what? Sound Juggler also increased its sales! Now it’s in the Top-100 charts of Games-Music in a few countries, including Japan, USA and Canada.

These charts were build, by the way, using MajikRank:

Oddy says: "Thank you, Italy!"

Sound Juggler was certainly not there last week!

So the  feedback loop seems to be working, even with just two games in the App Store. Of course, you will still have to send press releases and show your App wherever you can.  But clearly, the best way to be found in the App Store seems to be… being in the App Store.

Now go, produce!

*Note that we said ‘for free’, not ‘without effort’ : )

Oddy Smog’s Misadventure

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

Meet Oddy Smog, nothing but a tiny bit of the Smog that Engulfs Everything. He used to be part of the System, but his desire for freedom pushes him to run away from everything he once knew.

Oddy Smog's Misadventure

Jump and climb towards freedom!

Help him in his quest for a new life! Climb the entrails of the same machine from which the Smog erupts and free those who are still enslaved. Rumor says that there is a blue sky up there where the Smog is white…

· Combine jumps and wall climbing to make the most out of your journey.
· Freeing prisoners may be risky, but it is worth it!
· Use headphones! You will enjoy a much more intense and immersive gaming experience.

Working on IOS4!

Monday, June 21st, 2010

We have just tested Sound Juggler on a 3GS that has just been upgraded to IOS4… and it works flawlessly! Phew!