This site lists some of the new reviews: http://www.apptism.com/reviews?x=20&y=5&price=all&category_id=1&price_range=&review_type=external&order=recent&query=&type=&user_id= 04/08/2009 AppCraverAlpine RacerAlpine Racer Shows Promise ... 04/08/2009 Slide to PlayFlight ControlFlight Control Review 04/08/2009 MacworldThe Oregon TrailReview: Oregon Trail for iP... 04/08/2009 AppCraverInvasion of the ZakksInvasion of the Zakks: ItÂ’s... 04/08/2009 148AppsChromazoneChromazone 04/08/2009 Slide to PlayThe New York Times Crosswor...New York Times 04/08/2009 MacworldGalconReview: Galcon for iPhone Most of the games are over a month old..
I know, we all are reviewers if you think about it... We're the early adopters, the free beta testers, the vanguard of development, as it were... you simply need to present your game/app here and odds are we'll end up looking at it and many are consistently reliable for reviews!
I currently head up corporate communications for a tech company, but I used to do PR for EA, Sony and Labtech. What you're struggling with right now is not unusual by any means. The iTunes store is flooded with new game releases every day, and many good games get buried and overlooked. Does it suck? Yes, it sucks big time when you see lousy games and apps (won't name any) hit the top 100. Having said that, sending codes to major gaming pubs is not going to work because undoubtedly, the big gaming houses will get most if not all of the attention. So you need to be creative in who you target and develop a more viral approach to getting your name out there. Think a little more broadly if that makes sense. Remember the audience matters and you may be limiting yourself if you think it's just gamers that you should reach out to. Also, take a measured approach because even though the shelf life of a game these days is measured in short months, you do have time. PM me if you're interested and I can share some ideas.
The site I run is definitely not considered a big site per se but in defense of the the big sites (148, STP etc), I don't think they necessarily ignore smaller/indie devs because they definitely cover them. I think sending emails to them and interacting with them directly (twitter, conferences etc) gets you noticed. Preview versions/ad hoc builds also help so they can put up a review as soon as you app goes live. Do you have a twitter page? facebook page? What other social networking tools do you use? --- Yes. You'll have a review from us.
They don't necessarily ignore you, but you can't rely on them as your sole marketing outlet. I just replied back to your PM so I hope that helps.
thank you police officer awesomeness, he was responding to a post on how to get on the bigger sites I don't know that it is really worth a scolding. why don't you tell the same thing to the 3 or 4 other people that did it in this thread as well.
guys, just posted a new topic over at STP. http://www.slidetoplay.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1649&p=3514#p3514
Hi Jane, I run TouchArcade and here are my thoughts on this both specifically to your app and in general on app promotion. So, first of all, I played Uggles and simply didn't enjoy playing it. As you note, we get many App review requests, and our primary filter is "would I recommend this game to someone else"... and the answer for your game was simply "no". (We have other reasons for posting games as well -- first in genre, other notable reasons, etc... -- but that's the most basic one.) Now - more in general - I'll speak to the major publisher bias or not. I find that a lot of smaller developers are quick to blame sites for having a bias towards major publishers over "indie" developers, but for the case of TouchArcade, this is not necessarily true. The term indie developer is a bit of a broad term and gets used a lot -- especially in this scenario. By having a staff of 2-3, you are a bigger outfit than many of the developers we've covered. John Kooistra (Blue Attack, Blue Defense), Imagni Studios, Starscene Software (Realmaze 3D) are (or were) one person outfits when we covered their games. Even studios like IUGO (Toy Bot) and Firemint (Flight Control) are still technically indie studios. The bottom line is, we don't look at the size of the studio or the name of the publisher when evaluating games. If we did, our job would be far easier. Recent games we reviewed include ones from unknown companies who brought us 2XL Supercross, Abigale, Doodle Jump, iCombat, Neocell Fighters, Gravball etc... If you do create a game we love or a few games of high quality, yes, we pay attention. When Kooistra comes out with a new game, we will write about it instantly. If Subatomic Studios (a two man group) releases a followup to Fieldrunners, we'll post about it instantly. Gameloft and Ngmoco get a lot of coverage for the same reason. So, bottom line - make a game we love, and we'll post about it. Arnold Kim TouchArcade.com
Note: to be completely accurate, we do have a "bias" (if you want to call it that) about posting about major franchises that are coming to the iPhone. Myst, Metal Gear Solid etc.... stuff that a lot people are naturally interested in. not sure I'd call that a "bias", but it's there. arn
That is true.. over 2100 reviews on that other site.. less than 100 are under 2 stars. The reviewers don't review games they don't like to play.
What do you consider a big site? 148apps,TA, Appcraver? Or are you talking 1Up, IGN or other general gaming sites? We have gotten reviewed on all of the "Bigger" app sites except the biggest, TA , and too tell you the truth it hasn't helped our sales at all, and they were all glowing reviews(and very much appreciated). I think if your on the top 100 or any of the featured lists you have hit it bigger than getting reviewed by any number of the app sites (not sure never been in that situation). If you are trying to get on some of the bigger general gaming sites, I think we are talking about something else all together. Getting reviewed on an any of the larger game sites would probably be a GREAT thing! But at those sites your gonna have to stand head and shoulders above all other apps because you are competing side by side with Halo, Street Fighter and all the other major titles that are spending millions of dollars on their games. If you do get reviewed on one of those sites please let us know your tactics.
Oh, forgot to address this issue. Yes, if you've been featured by Apple, you've "made it". While I'd love to tell you that TouchArcade can drive more sales traffic than Apple -- we can't. No one can. Apple "featured" is the single biggest traffic driver for app sales. One of the big benefits from being featured on review sites is that it helps you get noticed by Apple for the purpose of featuring. We've heard that this is the case with TouchArcade (apps have been featured after been seen specifically on TA). And you've already made it from that stand point. arn
One point to highlight is that reviews alone do not drive sales. I know that many devs that to be the case, but it's simply not true. What will drive sales is a coordinated effort that focuses on your target audience. Video game sites and reviews are just one tool in the marketing tool belt. Viral marketing, PR in other outlets that reach your audience, social media are other things to drive sales. This needs to be an ongoing and sustained effort, and reviews are not the magic bullet devs think they are. Also, in general, if the game isn't very good (btw, I actually think Uggles is pretty good), no reviewer will touch it. Reviewers do not like trashing games if the game is fundamentally terrible.
Arn,could you offer some feedback to jane other then, " I don't like it" and an example of review on toucharcade then feature is thesues.
Also TanZen got a mention on touchArcade back in August, and got featured by Apple the same week. I certainly can't prove they're related, but I'm sure it didn't hurt!
You can add me to the spooky coincidence that means nothing category... currently in "What We're Playing" in iTunes, and on the TA homepage Of course they are unrelated. Now, can getting a decent review help you? Sure doesn't hurt, but it won't help as much as being featured, which actually in my case also doesn't help as much as you think! The only true big-time categories you should be praying for each night before bed are the "Featured: New and What's Hot" that appear directly on the iPhone and iPod... those are where the crazy stuff happens! Oh, Jane- you can do decently well without the best graphics (or 'kiddie' graphics too I'd imagine)... I'm proof! As you said, it is tough getting people to take the chance and realize you've got something good. Even I'm not sure the best way to do that... I'm making my marketing strategy up as I go!
sorry about that. in general, we allow links to anywhere, but a few sites have been censored due to spamming. arn
You can see here how a review on TA helped Theseus http://forums.toucharcade.com/showpost.php?p=132721&postcount=18
