(Blog-Off II Entry) Inspiration to create an iPhone/ iPod Touch game

Every artistic venture starts with inspiration. Something or somebody moves you to be creative, then you choose your vehicle and do your thing. That's what artist's do. My mother would always say, "To each his own". If you are so inclined, you can choose an iPhone / iPod Touch as an interactive canvas, but after your idea takes shape you have to turn off the right side of your brain and think business. Ignore this step and you are wasting your time.

Looking at demographics, who is holding an iPhone?  What do they have in common? What do they want in an app? Most apps fill a need...measure this, find that, on and on, 125,000 times and counting. Being a cartoonist / animator I had to assess my skills and see where I fit in the App market. I tested my ideas by answering the who, what, when, where and how.

I decided to make an app/game aimed at the office worker. Everyone holding an iPhone pays about $80 a month. They either have a job or don't have a job which means they want to smack their current boss or the one that fired them. "Beat The Boss" will be a game where you take out your corporate angst on a fictional character. Here are the real people that influenced the creation.

Bernie Madoff

Watching TV, I saw a segment about a guy that made statues of Bernie Madoff that you would destroy with a gold hammer. He was selling them for $100. I don't know how he did but it got me thinking. My first experiment was designing a game where you could beat the crap out of Bernie. I thought twice after making the demo. As an artist, I have learned to stay away from current events, spicy foods, pyramid schemes and celebrities. Beating up Bernie Madoff would be breaking almost every rule I wrote down so I decided to skip it…but he was an early influence for the creation of Beat the Boss.
 
George W. Bush

"W" also played a role in the creation of Beat The Boss.  When journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi fired a size 12 at President Bush, he dodged it like a prize fighter. That movement made me think about my game. I had Bernie standing still, I decided to make the Boss move like George after he dodged the shoe.

Jerry Springer

Jerry Springer is smart like a fox. He stages fight situations, stokes the fire, then rings a dinner bell for two hillbillies to fight. I will use a bell like a prize fight to trigger the action in my iPhone app. I will also add music to the scene that urges the player to fire punches. Now that I think about it, a Jerry Springer version of Beat the Boss would be a good thing. I need to hire large security guards to stand on either side of anyone playing the game.

Kidney Stones

I had kidney stones a little over a year ago. When you go through the process it is extremely painful plus you spend a lot of time sitting if you know what I mean. I played a mindless $5.00 electronic poker game over and over till I recovered. I wanted a better device and a more interesting game. I bought a PS2 with Madden football returning it the next day.  A few weeks later I switched from Centro to iPhone to explore making an iPhone app.

My daily blogs in this contest will follow the creation of "Beat the Boss", an iPhone app that really kicks butt. The game was designed in Long Beach, CA and programmed in Mumbai, India. The marketing will be engineered out of Belarus, Minsk. It is truly an international effort. The game is planned for release at the beginning of the year.

I started blogging the game's creation over 3 months ago. Here is the link if you would like to know more.

http://mike-browne.blogspot.com/




Animator / Producer Mike Browne is an artist first, Mac geek second.  His work has appeared in numerous venues including newspapers, magazines, TV, big screen, video games and now almost exclusively on the mobile phone and the web.

As an illustration (pardon the pun) of the quality of his work, one of his wallpaper designs had over 100,000 downloads on AT&T 1st quarter 2005. His new animated iPhone App, "Beat the Boss" will hit the App Store early January 2010. 

Comments

[laurie]

Quite frankly - the old 'boss key" trick had no violence to it - and however useful, not fun. I love the shoe duck incorporation into the game. You've got a good one here. Add me to the list on the heads up. I'm at @ldillonschalk.

I see a future just white labelling the game. Something for accounts receivables...

[Marguerite K.]

Mike, you are at it again - kudos!

[Mike]

Thanks, Bill, Tim, Mark, Hector, Lenny, Jordan, Persik, darlene, Jacqui, Tina and Twinky. When the game comes out I'll let you know. The release is delayed to improve the game.

[Jacqui]

If I had an i phone I would definitely want to try this game. Is there a way we could get different looking bosses so the one we beat looks most like our own?

[Tina Martin]

I actually got to test the gameout before it was finished, and I loved it. I don't own an iphone, but if I did I would have this on there so fast. It was hilarious and challenging at the same time.

[Mike Browne]

Mark, The BBS (Boss Beaters Society) approves of Beat the Boss. As well as the NBA (National Boss Assault) You will have to take your beating.

[Twinky]

I love the charactures! You draw a mean wingtip. Is that spikey-looking thing what a kidney stone really looks like? OUCH!

[Darlene Sabella]

Hi Mike, you are a great writer and you are also funny, I don't know if you mean to be but, just thinking about Bush dodging that shoe, makes me LOL....I would also like you to have my email, I want to discuss something with you pearl_sab@yahoo.com Keep up the great work.

[Persik]

I'd pay a lot to see real employees of Medoff and Bush playing with this app )))

[Jordan]

This game sounds better than Solitaire.

[Lenny with Apalon]

In my opinion, this game would be a nice way to blow off some steam. With economy in slump plenty of people are under pressure from their bosses (who, in turn, most likely have bosses who pressure them).

So this could be a very nice escape valve from all the tension and stress - pound them hard!

[Hector Herrera]

I would like to kick my boss' ass. This is an awesome game! It's a safe way to release frustration without having to go to jail.

[Mark Levine]

I definitely want to "Beat the Boss", wait I am the boss. I'm not sure I like this app! Lol. Looks great, I think you definitely have a winner here.

[Tim]

I don't have an Iphone, however I do like your writing skills. Keep up the good work. Follow me on twitter.com/gpidmls

[Debi Martin]

Your creative mind lets you see things from a new perspective. Keep up the good work.

[billy frank]

This is great. I would download this and play this more than often.

Billy Frank