Several months ago, Apple sent a request asking for a special build of Air Hockey that they could put on devices in their Apple Stores. They offered no extra money for us – this was to be a mutually beneficial arrangement. If all went well, people could walk into an Apple Store, pick up an iPhone or iPod touch & play Air Hockey. Hopefully, just after that, they’d fall in love & buy both.
We jumped on it. That day we cooked up & tested a special version of Air Hockey made just for Apple. It looks & feels almost exactly like our full version of Air Hockey with a few minor changes. Since lots people would be playing it from the same device, all the options get reset to their default values every time the game launches. Consistent user experience. Instead of all 6 difficulty levels, it includes Kiddie, Easy & Medium games. Medium is challenging enough to beat most people their first time playing the game. With the 1 or 2-puck option, that will let pretty much anyone tailor a challenging experience for their first crack at Air Hockey. Challenging, consistent, engaging…done.
There have been several sightings of Air Hockey in several Apple Stores in the US over the last week. We have no idea exactly how many stores have installed Air Hockey, so do us a favor. If you see Air Hockey installed in your local Apple Store (or any other iPod/iPhone retailer), send us a note. Better yet, send us a photo. Twitter works great (@GrouchoDuke or @acceleroto). Leaving a comment here would also work well.
Over 500,000 people have downloaded Air Hockey & Air Hockey Free. Now over 8 months since its launch, Air Hockey is still averaging 100 copies a day in sales.
So where’s the new game? It’s on the way. After going 10 rounds (and 4 months) with a game engine, we put an exciting project on the shelf until the technology matures. Instead of releasing something we weren’t 100% happy with, we started an entirely new game a couple months ago. It’ll be a fun, fast-paced shooter. We’ll begin the beta testing process soon. Stay tuned!
Get Air Hockey here: http://tinyurl.com/airhockey