the most retro feel is obviously the third icon but all of these icons don't seem too appealing to the general public imho but I do prefer the first icon
i like the 3rd icon, but it looks way similar to what you've already got now except for being green another app name idea: "AbsoluteZero"
absolutezero is perfect as it will keep you top of list and is not a bad name but I would still conder a different icon
TouchDown and AbsoluteZero will be my two choices here.. Also vote for the 3rd icon but only coz the choice is limited and it`s kind least worst of the lot +1 for better screenshots in iTunes page. You need better artwork for the games grafix and the menus IMO.
I find the Timer idea interesting but I need better graphics to have an idea of the final product. I don't like Pixel. My first thought about the 3rd was "wow this one is good". I'm not sure that's because of the drawing, it's maybe because it looks like more professional than the one you have for the moment. And I like Countdown Another idea for a arrow : it touches the bottom and has a decrease of the color since the top (like a gradient). That gives the feeling it's falling down. The problem is too find 2 colors (arrow and background) with a good result...
The name is good as it is, don't worry about changing that. The icons are terrible, though. Sorry, thats just how it is. Look at Apple's default icons on the home screen, and design something like that. Keep the gradient background and the shiny overlay - don't use a nonstandard look.
i like the originalname but if you really wanted to change it then absokute zero would be my choice for the all the reasons posted here. i also liked the original icon it s very clean and the red is very eye catching. i dont suggest changing that.
DownToZero looks like a GREAT app. I saw it on the iPhone-Roundup podcast -- it was actually on the same podcast as our app, Word Solitaire. Good luck with the experiment and I hope it works out well but we tried the same experiment back in March with one of our apps and it had "zero" effect, pun intended. The app was called "Doodle Bug" and we rebranded it to "Tilt 'n Sketch." It had almost no effect on sales.
thank you for the input everyone. The more we think about it, it seems that a base problem with the "mass appeal" of the game is the retro-styled graphics. I think to make this experiment most effective, we should completely redo the graphics with a different look that is more appealing... We've tried 1 pass at a new set of graphics today (new tile textures, and a new font). The screens will have to be cleaned up more than this, but this gives you an idea: and an icon mockup: With a look like this, we think a title of "Countdown" is probably the best fit... "AbsoluteZero" is a great title (and starts right at the top of the alphabet), but we're not sure if people will get an idea of the gameplay from it...
not bad on the icon, good choice on name(even I prefer absolutezero lol), and imho the tiles are a little too plain for me
The font appears to be one pixel too small - it is off center relative to the tiles, too far to the bottom right. The tiles themselves would look better with a smaller bevel - try a 1 pixel or 2 pixel bevel. It looks like you're using a 4 pixel bevel right now, and you will not find a single graphic in the entire iPhone that looks even remotely similar. The icon looks better now from a consistency standpoint, but it just doesn't look very good from a design standpoint. It has some sort of strange angle on it, and seems to have a vanishing point in the back-left. No other icon in the iPhone has any sort of vanishing point at all, so if I were you, I'd rethink that part of it. If I were designing the icon, I think I'd try four tiles stacked together, similar to the calculator icon. Add a 4 pixel dark gray border around it, and have the shine overlay cover the four tiles in the interior.
I'd say absolutezero as well and I bet you could bribe MidianGTX for an icon - he has some great graphics that he produces. The blocks are not very appealing to me - they look very plain. Maybe some thing shimmery like the blocks that get used in BoXiKon? - they are not numbered, but you would get the idea of some classy looking blocks - or the octagon shapes like in Treasures of Montezuma? I think that the looks need some WOW factor...
The New York Times had an interesting article on how iPhone users find new apps. It supports your idea that most App Store consumers purchase apps using their devices. http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2009/08/11/11readwriteweb-how-do-iphone-users-find-new-apps-82184.html I like the name "Absolute Zero". We also discovered, after releasing Earth Vs Moon, that an app's icon is critical and it actually rouses a lot of strong opinions. So we changed ours too. Good luck with your experiment!
thanks again for the feedback everyone. today we tried a few other art styles for the tiles, and everything we tried turned out much worse than the current "bevel tiles" from above. We'll work to improve these and make them look even better. we changed up some of the tiles slightly, and also took another stab at an icon, the icon seems to be an improvement... what do you all think? does it catch your eye?
we took another pass at the tile art today, I think we're settling on a style for the experiment: we now need to clean up all of the other game screens to look nice with the new font and art style, and get this thing re-submitted to Apple.
Submitted! We've submitted the update to Apple, with the name on the App store set to: Countdown - quick reflex puzzle and here is the final icon: Countdown (it displays as just "Countdown" on the springboard, and in-game) the tile set is the same as the screen we posted 2 posts above. Of couse we'll post here once it's approved and we have some results. Hopefully it will be approved on a Friday to give us a clear comparison to the last update...
