Your cheeky queries answered by Nitako's Noam AbtaEarly last week we asked you for a few questions to put to Nitako Games, developers of iPhone / iPod game Rasta Monkey
Being the obliging team that they are, Nitako's Noam Abta stepped into the breach and tackled AATG's acute grilling. Here's what Noam said in response to your quessies:
AATG - Roughly how long did take you to make the game?
Noam - Well. Roughly about 8 months, but a lot of this time was invested in experimenting with ideas and learning the Unity platform, on which we developed our game.
AATG - How easy is it to make a game for the iPhone / iPod? Does it require a lot of pre-knowledge?
Noam - Well, everything you do in every area is a combination of past knowledge with more learning. We actually come from the fields of animation and programming so we had a good base of helpful knowledge that made it much easier to start. I still think that even if you're just starting out, today you can acquire the knowledge pretty easily. What you really need to have is passion, discipline and patience (and some good ideas too:)
AATG - Can you send me an iPod so I can play your game? :)
Noam - Why not, that's a very interesting business model:)
AATG - Was the lack of real buttons a challenge or an opportunity for you?
Noam - Great question! when we started thinking about the controls, it seemed like the lack of buttons was a problem, but after fiddling a lot with all kinds of different possibilities (including trying to use the accelerometer) we finally found this sort of weird point and click system that in my opinion is much better than using buttons, so you can definitely say that the lack of buttons was in fact an opportunity to invent something new and unexpected.
AATG - Do you think you would have been able to release the game on any other platform?
Noam - Well, yes it's possible, but it would have been a very different game, and we would have to rethink a lot of things in order to fit it into the new platform. The most important feature of any game in my opinion is the game play experience, and that experience is highly influenced by the controls you have available. That's why even on a PC, playing with the keyboard and playing with a Joystick is a totally different experience. The iPhone controls are highly innovative and different, and it gives you a chance to do something that is really new and unique.
AATG - Given the number of applications/games on the store do you find it difficult to get a game noticed?
Noam - Yes, the store gets bigger every day and the games there just keep getting better. Even games that are already for sale get better thanks to apple update system which allows developers to improve their game and post updates (we are actually working on our first update now, using the great feedback we got from beta testers and players). So yes, it's hard to get your game noticed, especially if it's no good. Luckily enough we got some buzz before launching when people from the Touch Arcade forums noticed our gameplay videos and loved them. Now, only a week after the launch Rasta Monkey is number 40 on the UK store top paid apps. You definitely have to put a lot of thought into how your game will get noticed and spend time marketing using all kinds of classic marketing techniques (PR, social marketing, etc...) but most importantly - improve the game constantly according to user feedback!
AATG - How would you change the store layout if you owned Apple?
Noam - I would put a big image of Rasta Monkey all over the front page:) Now seriously, I think the Apple system is working great, so I have nothing bad to say about it. Thing is that the Apple philosophy as far as I understand it, is not to flood the users with tons of possibilities and decisions, and by doing so the make browsing and buying a pleasant experience. It's very different from a lot of Internet sites in which you have so many possible ways to view the information, that in the end you just can't remember what was that you were looking for. So all I can say is that I'm to humble to know how to make it any better, but I bet a lot of people would have lots of suggestions.
AATG - How many of Steve Job's turtleneck sweaters do you expect to be able to buy from the success of Rasta Monkey?
Noam - At least one, my old sweater has a huge hole in it:) I don't wanna make statements about numbers since I'm very superstitious, and besides, we don't make games for the money, we love making games and we love it when people play them (If we were in it for the money we would buy real estate, especially now, when prices are down:). All we expect is to return our investment (mostly our work time) so we can make another game, and an even better one!
AATG - How does Rasta Monkey like his sandwiches?
Noam - Usually rolled... but he doesn't eat carbs anymore, he's into this health food thing now:)
AATG - And finally...Is rasta monkey a proper rastafarian or does he just pay lip service to it?
Noam - I'm glad he didn't hear this question... All I can say is that he praises Jah every day, Respecta!
Once again, our thanks to Nitako / Noam for showering us in monkey love. Respecta indeed!
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(1) (30/07) 
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#1 - Syrok - on 23/03/2009 at 14:21 wrote:
Almost didn't notice it here in the news section. ;)
#2 - peej - on 23/03/2009 at 14:23 wrote:
#3 - Syrok - on 23/03/2009 at 14:41 wrote:
#4 - Trip SkyWay - on 24/03/2009 at 13:36 wrote: