The Old Yeller Method of Game Development
Once every couple weeks we meet to review each project in development at Appy Entertainment. We call these our, “Go/No Go” meetings. Every product under review — be it a paper concept or an Alpha build — faces the same verdict at the end of the session. We either agree to “Go” to the next stage in development, or it’s “No Go,” which means work on that project is suspended, perhaps forever.
When a project gets it’s first “Go,” it’s a happy event. It’s a new idea! We’re going to make this thing. It’s so cute!
(learn more about this cute devil here)
We don’t adopt every puppy that shows up on our doorstep (some are left out in the snow), but when we decide to “Go” with an idea, everyone is happy. The new puppy runs around the house, we’re energized, and everyone has fun thinking up names for our bundle of joy:
“Skip!”
“Scout!”
“Shu-Shu!”
“Shitface!” (Ignore me, I’m a cat person)
Anyway … that little puppy of a product quickly grows into a dog. Hopefully, he’s a faithful, friendly, easy-going example of man’s best friend.
Like this happy guy:
(learn how to adopt cool dogs like this fella here)
But sometimes … sometimes things don’t go so well. Sometimes the puppy is never fully housebroken. Or maybe you come to hate him after he chews up your Stradivarius. Maybe he’s bitten by bats and goes rabid. Maybe he’s just plain bad … but you couldn’t see it when he was a happy, floppy little puppy.
That’s when your project starts looking like this:
And when that happens, you have to grow up quick. Yes, you loved that puppy, but now you have to be a man. You gotta be like Travis from Old Yeller … you have to lead that hound out behind the shed and blow his doggy brains out.
I guarantee that just before you pull the trigger, an image of that cute little puppy is going to flash through your brain.
But that puppy is gone, baby. He’s never coming back. If you don’t do the right thing, that project is going to kill your company.
No one is going to shoot your dog for you. The competition will just wait until he kills your whole family, and then they’ll move into your shack for free. You have to do the right thing.
It’s the Old Yeller Method of Game Development. Embrace the good, and sniff out the bad. Remember who is the master, and who is the dog.
Love those puppies! Don’t be afraid to adopt them — you know what you are doing, and you should be able to raise them into Good Dogs. Just be ready to … do what must be done. Which is what we did last month. I didn’t blog about killing our first project, but believe me, it happened. And it wasn’t a half-grown mongrel, either. It was a freakin’ expensive purebred showdog. We invested a lot of time, money, and love in that dog, and it hurt like hell to pull the trigger. But we did the right thing.
After that, we drank a lot, and decided how we were going to raise that dead dog’s puppy into our next project (he’s so cute, he has his sire’s technology, but only the good parts … don’t worry about that crazy glint in his eye, a little bit of spirit is a good thing!)
At today’s review, we were delighted to see that puppy from a couple weeks ago had grown into a mature App. A little obedience training, and he’ll be ready for you to purchase in the App Store.
So it’s a happy day here at the Secret Worldwide Headquarters. We finally know which App will be our first in the market!
More to come …
Explore posts in the same categories: product development
February 25th, 2009 at 11:19 am
[...] Social Media Explorer put an intriguing blog post on The Old Yeller Method of Game DevelopmentHere’s a quick excerpt…we’re energized, and everyone has fun thinking up Bnames/B for our … Anyway … that little puppy of a product quickly grows into a Bdog/B. [...]
February 25th, 2009 at 11:35 am
Normally I’d nuke a spam link like the one commented above … but the notion of a pet spam site linking to this article was just too funny to shoot down. And so it goes.
February 25th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
You’re building up a lot of buzz with these posts. Are we going to get a screenshot or short vid soon? Or are you taking the Apple approach. “We’ll show it when we’re ready to ship it.”
February 25th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
I’m tempted to send out a news release — “iPhone pundit compares Appy Entertainment to Apple!”
We will drip feed information as release date appears, but most of our info won’t be released until the game itself is available. Unlike the console business, where you have to build up plenty of product awareness well in advance of shipping, the iPhone market strikes me as impulsive. I wouldn’t want a customer to see something about our game and then be unable to buy it, because it is not yet available. That strikes me as wasted effort.
So, nothing concrete any time soon, but saturation bombardment right about the time the App Store switches us on.
February 25th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Can’t argue with that strategy. Good insight on the buying process on App Store vs. Console. I would still argue that it follows the Apple strategy. Announce and make available on the same day. Get lots of attention. Print money.
February 25th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Yes, we’re following the Apple model, but that is making a virtue of a necessity. Apple can afford not to talk about themselves because everyone else will do it for them. We don’t have that luxury … we are depending heavily upon grassroots support (from guys like you — thanks!) and a limited and precisely targeted advertising spend, so it just happens that the Apple model lets us maximize our efforts by making a publicity push all at once.
February 27th, 2009 at 9:27 am
[...] The other little puppies that have come along since have almost all been taken outside and dealt with, Appy-style. [...]
March 1st, 2009 at 1:18 am
Just passing by.Btw, you website have great content!
March 22nd, 2009 at 7:49 pm
[...] wasn’t a case of taking Old Yeller behind the shed. The app was looking good. Really good. And it wasn’t just a puppy, but a fully grown, [...]