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5 Reasons Why Mobile Game Development Companies Fail to Win the Global Market

Posted on March 21, 2016 by Super Admin Testreveal

With abundant growth opportunities and involvement of multinational corporations, the track for mobile game development is lighted up. Asian countries are listed as toppers when it comes to playing mobile games throughout the globe.

A lot of mobile game development companies worldwide focus on the Asia-pacific market to pluck the fruits of their labor. Unfortunately, every release wouldn’t make it right away. Here, we are discussing about the top factors that hinder a mobile game from going viral in a foreign soil.

1. Failure to Plan Ahead and Do a Market Study

Every business ‘s success is the result of devising its own unique strategic plan and the effort taken towards its proper implementation. Each market will have its own peculiarities. The possibilities in each country can be largely varied. International promotion is a lot of hard work in itself.

You should study each market that you are planning to target individually. The tradition, language, culture, social acceptability, etc. will be different from country to country.

Public preferences may depend on factors like the additional gaming peripherals, existing trend for the type of game, cost of the similar products available in the market and much more. For e.g., in some countries there could be a greater demand for single platform games and in many others the preferences may alter.

So you should thoroughly evaluate the scope for your game’s survival in the new location. Analyze whether you are aiming for an already saturated market. Get an understanding about the budget at hand and decide if simultaneous release to numerous markets is a viable and profitable option.

2. Earlier the Better

Mobile game development cost is an important factor that affects profit. The most adopted formula of maximizing profit is to think of ways to cut down cost. One way is bringing to the table a plan that could accomodate localization from the beginning stage in development. The coding can be done from inception taking steps that will reduce bug fixing and modification later.

Localization is not just about translation of the language content. Everything from costumes to food to culture should be localized as a part of adapting the game to target the customers of a particular region.

3. Teaming Up with the Local Channels

The major part of the success of your game depends on the marketing strategies that you build. The markets on the opposite corners of the world can highly contrast with each other. If you aim for a neighboring country, it might be possible to take some advantages there, as too many similarities in the distribution channels may be found.

Recommended read: Mobile Game Market – Facts

It is easier said than done to study and devise all the necessary strategies that could concord with the unknown market demands in a new place. So, most international companies partners with local residents or companies who know how to play the game well and emerge successful.

4. Pricing Your Game

Once you’ve got your game adapted for localized distribution, the next thing that comes to your mind would be “PROFIT”. The common mistake that game development companies or single developers commit is pricing the game based on their country’s standard.

When the targeted country has a lower currency rate and per capita income, what you price could be way over the top for gamers to afford. The end result would be dissatisfied users and negative ratings. So when you aim the overseas market, your monetizaton model should be a fair one.

5. Testing Challenges

Even though you have got years of experience in testing mobile games, you could just stumble when it comes to testing adapted games. The nature of different languages are different. Sometimes, mere translation of a game to any other language with a long sentence structure can badly affect the UX. So, it is necessary to test the game all over again after localization on different devices.

The games should also be tested for compatibilty with additional accessories that are foreign to you, but popular in the targeted country. But as aforementioned under the heading “earlier the better”, localization is not just about translating the contents. Conformance to content regulations and recognition to cultural differences are important aspects that should be considered for scrutiny.

9 Reasons Why Most Mobile App Development Fails

Posted on March 17, 2016 by Super Admin Testreveal

Ranging from the demand and supply gap to available budget and marketing plan to sheer luck, there are many factors that contribute to the success of a mobile application.

Mobile app development companies should adhere to the industry’s best practices and ensure quality control standards are given necessary importance. This can make the difference between your app’s failure and success.

Here are the top reasons that concludes why mobile app development fails.

1. Absence of Purpose

All apps should have a solidly defined and useful purpose first of all, in order to target its market and be successful. Be it for entertainment or staying connected, apps should address a real-world situation.

Apps like Baby Shaker is a clear waste of money and time which will only earn you defame and rejection.

2. The Complexity of Apps

Don’t design your mobile app like your website. Developing good mobile apps means you go forward with simple tasks, well written functions, minimum navigation and enough white spaces.

Do not try to solve too many problems with a single app. Stick to the priorities and give specific reasons for users to open your app. Simplicity is the key to app success.

3. Study Your Market First

One of the most common reasons that mobile app development fails are because of poor or lack of any market research and failure to understand the potential audience expectations.

When you set out to popularize your product on an over-saturated market, it is undoubted that you are going to face a lot of challenges and risks on the way.

If what you build and give is just a copy of an already popular app, you are at imminent danger. A good app will provide users with something new; like a great idea, a new perspective or a new solution to an unsolved problem.

There should be something that is interesting for the customers who have landed on your app for the first time to stay on it- something that will compel them to use it over and over again. It is important to build what people want, and not what you want them to use.

4. The Problem of Resource Scarcity

Apart from the acquisition of budget, there are still many other affairs that mobile app development companies need to look into while developing your app.

The app development costs are huge and can range from $1K to 15K for basic apps. To complicate things up, finding talented workforce is a Himalayan task.

Experienced mobile app developers are too picky about the projects they wish to work with, as the market bears a high demand for their services.

When in-house developers are not available after signing up for a project, they will be forced to settle with less talented or beginner level developers.

5. Security Concerns

Monitoring whether all the security protocols are met is a headache that mobile app development companies face throughout application development. The app should be carefully tested for any security vulnerabilities and issues must be rectified.

There is a high risk for failure, unless apps ensure a safe a secure experience for their customers. 2019 is predicted as a year when more businesses are going to adopt better security practices.

Read also:Top Emerging Trends in Mobile App Development

6. Why Customer Feedback is Valued So Much

It is very important to track the feedback you receive from customers and take immediate action on any grave problem.

Even if you employ the most extensive and rigorous testing procedures, it is only natural for minor bugs and errors to show up during the alpha and beta versions or when the app is finally released to the public.

So the app behavior should be monitored soon after your app is launched.

As per statistics, over 75% of mobile apps are downloaded once and then never used again. If you receive a lot of negative ratings and reviews and are still not keen on taking any corrective measures, it will eventually lead to a very low number of app downloads.

For e.g., if your app is too slow to load or is too hard to use, users will turn away and look for other faster-loading and easy to use app alternatives.

The more frequently you release updates, there are more chances for its success. It is very rare that users will give a second chance for an app. Mostly, they will only keep using it if they have no other options available.

7. Spreading the Word about Your App

You may be relieved after months of hard-work, dedication and testing that you’ve finally transformed your app from a bare idea in your mind into a proper money making business. But that belief is very far from reality.

What your app needs next is the right kind of exposure to keep it well ahead of competitor apps. No, your app is not alone in the market.

8. Ignoring the backend support

You need to have a robust backend support to make your app more stable. Scalability is yet another feature to consider when looking for a robust backend.

In fact, a scalable backend service will adapt according to the traffic influx over a period of time. One of the finest examples of a scalable and strong backend is Twitter.

9. Making apps so complicated for users

While enhancing the user experience, app creators usually make it a complex affair for the users. If a user cannot locate the right buttons in your app in one attempt, then definitely the app is not serving its purpose.

Nowadays, people around the world are busy. No one have the time to sit back and learn how to use your application. If you want them to make an effort to do that, then you are certainly investing in an unsuccessful app.

You need to ensure that the design of your mobile app justifies its business value. In order to make an app compatible with the user, you need to analyse your target audience’s intellectual understanding and their compliance towards changing trends. Design intricacies also cause mobile app development, fails.

Read Also:Top 10 Reasons For iOS App Rejection From App Store

Conclusion

The most harmful mistake that could be made while marketing is giving your customers the impression that, “we are selling this app to you because we want your money”.

Even though monetary benefit is the sole and ultimate purpose behind most of the app development endeavors, it is not fit for you to openly advertise the idea.

The market is saturated, and marketing is a tough job. You can’t risk all your investment money with poor marketing efforts. The best thing to practice is make avail of every possible and available method for putting your app in the limelight. Before enter into mobile app development, aware of these reasons why they fails.

10 Stupid Reasons Your iOS App is Getting Rejected

Posted on March 14, 2016 by Super Admin Testreveal

In 2016, the global app economy is expected to raise up to $143 billion. The average number of app submission per day in the iTunes App Store for the first month of the year 2016 is 2,261.

It could really stress you out waiting for Apple’s approval when you have already spent months or years of development time before launching your app. One critical error, and you have to start over again with app store submission.

It is important for an iOS app development company to have a clear idea about Apple’s technical and design criteria for app review. Following are some of the most common reasons associated with app rejection that should be taken careful note of in order to avoid approval delay.

1.Say no to crashes and bugs – Apple is renowned for rejecting apps on the basis of crashes and bugs present. Sometimes, iOS app development companies do not make proper use of the testing facilities available. Apple suggests the application to be thoroughly tested before submitting it for the review process.

2.Privacy policy – Apps that try to use private data without acquiring previous consent immediately falls outside the list of apps that can be approved by Apple.

A privacy policy should be in place to use account information of users.

Read also: Is iPhone App Development Profitable?

3. Quality user interface – The apps should follow the guidelines for user interface given by Apple. What Apple recommends are clean, refined and user-friendly interfaces. Follow Apple’s design guides and UI Design Do’s and Dont’s before coding. They have directions for formatting contents, touch controls, spacing, resolution etc. For more excellent tips and concepts, Apple recommends to read their article titled, iOS Human interface guidelines.

4. In sufficient information – Incomplete and defective information could be a reason that will get you rejected by Apple. All missing information should be updated before submitting for review as specified in the App Review Information section of iTunes Connect. Proper and accurate details should be given for your application features, procedures, special configurations, contract information, and other required particulars. Demo videos are encouraged for complicated and perplexing concepts.

5. Advertisements – If your app makes room for advertisements it will be using IDFA, which is an identifier for advertisements used by Apple. It should be properly indicated whether your app use or don’t use this identifier. If you haven’t specified that your app uses IDFA, but it does, your app will be rejected from being submitted to the store. Also, the ads should be checked for any working error.

6.Compliance to specifications and standards – The apps submitted should comply to several standards and specifications provided by Apple Store Guidelines. Applications should not contain defamatory or offensive content. For e.g., apps should not contain references that may defame a religion, or culture or ethnic group.

It should abide by the legal terms and conditions as per Apple’s trademark list and copyright guidelines. Imitation of names, icons, and themes of any Apple products are highly discouraged.

7.Flawed descriptions – You should be careful to provide descriptions that could accurately match with your app’s functionality. Irrelevant descriptions could give you hard time getting inside the app store. Don’t copy the name and description of other applications.

8. Do not mislead users – Always remember to publicize only what your app provides. If your app mislead users by advertising features that are not included, it is certain to get discarded.

9. Avoid duplicity – Do not submit similar apps for review repeatedly. Apple suggests you to combine all of them into one. Also your app shouldn’t look like duplicate copies of existing successful apps. Even if you’re going for an old idea, something new should be offered like a fresh function or design.

10.Maintaining lasting value – Sometimes, without any visible reasons your app may be disallowed to the app store. An app without much functions or engaging content are the ones that may not interest users for long. Apple doesn’t find such apps to be of enough value to be approved.

The bottom line is that iOS app development companies should take every measure to get approval in the first chance by adhering to Apple’s review guidelines, thereby preventing additional costs and delay in product launch.

Mobile Game Market – Facts [Infographics]

Posted on March 10, 2016 by Super Admin Testreveal

We played brick games earlier and now we love the games on our mobile phones. Currently, the total number of mobile devices worldwide are around whopping millions.

Mobile games have come a long way from the first one of its kind, Tetris aboard Hagenuk MT-2000 cellphone in 1994. The assortment of functions new gen mobile games incorporate are enormous. You will just go wow playing them!

Major speed increase and simulation of real world ecosystems are just two colors in the big picture. Hardware enhancements and improved tools of technology in mobile game development make way for exceptionally brilliant game features such as cloud gaming and virtual reality. The demarcation line between real world and virtual world games is fading nowadays.

The journey is unending and the scope for improvement is immense. Mobile game development companies are blooming up globally. There are tremendous opportunities for game developers and testers. In fact, the race is on to catch young talents.

This infographic contains a few informational facts about the mobile game market at present.

9 Mistakes Beginner Indie Mobile Game Developers Should Avoid

Posted on March 10, 2016 by Super Admin Testreveal

What experience does to your career is amazing. But it doesn’t come without its challenges. You fail more times than you succeed. Yet, every failure is your stepping stone to success.

Nevertheless, it will save you a good amount of time and money, if you stick by these golden advice for beginning with mobile game development as a career. Otherwise, you might learn it the hard way.

1. Don’t be Biased

We are easily motivated by success stories. It will make you optimistic. The more you hear about them, the more you want to get out there and achieve it yourself. Well, this temptation is at the same time good and bad for you.

We already saw what’s good in it. The bad thing is that you are blinded from perceiving the reality. You wouldn’t stop to analyze the failure stories or associated risks. Ultimately, things might turn out very bad for you.

For a beginner in mobile game development, the first few years are very important. It is the time to take advice, learn from own and other’s experiences, and reflect on oneself and one’s work. But most importantly, it is the time to practice patience.

2. Avoid Too Much Expectation in the Beginning

The beginners in mobile game development often only have the few basic skills that is needed for game development, combined with lack of any significant experience. They start their career with high hopes and great expectations.

Conversely, what actually happens is that soon after they start, they get defeated too easily and too frequently. This is because the awareness they have regarding the effort that is to be put behind the actual process is too little. Often, these successive failures will lead to disappointment and drain confidence.

It’s always better to start on smaller projects or concentrate on a certain division of a large project in the beginning. This way, it is easy for a beginner to tackle the problems that they come to face and progress forward.

3. Don’t Make a Simple Idea into a Complex One

The subheading speaks for itself. Never try to add inappropriate and useless content to your game. For example, do not complicate a kid’s game by adding too many buttons or violence and horror elements suitable only for the adults. The logic behind including the different components of your game should be to improve the user experience in the end.

4. Don’t Keep Prototyping Outside of Your Big List

Prototyping helps to save your valuable development time. Before starting anything, you have a complete working model on your hand.

It is a phase is where you can try out all your wild and creative ideas from your imagination and see if they fit into your game like a jigsaw puzzle. You can invite others to play your game and have their say. This feedback will be a useful resource while making improvements to your game.

5. Document Everything

Getting agreed upon an idea finally is a fairly complex task- you spend hours discussing, researching, experimenting and just in plain thought. It is not easy to remember everything that you’ve come across.

Recommended read: Mobile Game Development – It’s Past, Present & Future

Sometimes, even losing a single solution may disrupt your entire work. Also there is the risk of losing important information while the idea gets transferred from one person to another. This is where the importance of a proper documentation lie.

6. Don’t Skip Planning

Good planning is unavoidable to maintain the pace of your project’s progression. Planning allows you to allot specific time for all the things that needs to be done. You can focus on writing codes or fixing bugs at the right time.

Absence of a plan can get things messy and eventually you’ll end up taking too much time and spending too much budget on your project.

7. Market Early

Marketing should not be set aside for the last month of the release. It is never too early to start getting some good fans for your game. In fact, you can begin with basic marketing steps even before you actually develop any codes. Take the word out as early as possible, and you’ll save some bucks here.

8. Generate an Early Feedback

Most developers are of the habit of seriously thinking about play testing their game only by the end of their project. This is a very bad idea.

Show your game to people outside of your team and friends circle from the beginning itself. As soon as you build the prototype, it’s time for your game to get some attention and feedback from a large audience. You may even attend events and festivals and show your game to folks there. People can find out mistakes in your game that you can’t find for yourself. And the end result – scope for improvement and success.

9. Follow People with Similar Interests

As always, networking is an important part of the game. After all, you need your connections to get to know what’s happening in the industry. They help to know what’s trending and new, different views, ideas, and options and thereby benefits mutual growth.

How much does it Cost to Build an Educational App for Kids?

Posted on March 7, 2016 by Super Admin Testreveal

Educational apps are gaining prominence day by day, and a lot of schools are now seriously into developing kids educational apps.

Before moving directly into the cost estimate of an average educational app, it is important to get acquainted with the factors that affect cost of a project.

Is Every App Educational as it is Claimed?

Not really. Educational apps are not meant to be just a showy display or a mere kid’s mobile game with a lot of entertainment extravaganza. Though the fun element is something crucial to the success of an kids educational apps the people behind its development should know where exactly they should draw the line. The objective of the app should not be obscured by the overflow of non educational stuffs that go into the app.
An ideal educational app for kids will be a balanced amalgam of fun with education, a treat to the kids hiding the learning burden.

Read also:

How to be Successful at Educational App Development?

Educational app should contribute to all areas of a child’s development including creative, analytical, physical, social, and emotional development. All the phases in the app’s development should be continued taking advice from specialists such as a child psychologist, a child interaction specialist, a creative designer, a teacher and so on, when necessary. Each of the app elements should be designed taking into consideration the psychology of how kids learn.

Important Features of a Good Educational App

All beneficial educational app for kids will have several indispensable characters. Some are:

Short and simple apps.
No unnecessary distractions such as ads, pop-ups, links, social media, etc.
Adults control the levels in the app/ Locked menus and settings.
Speech included in aid of kids who are not yet fluent readers.
Music with a mute button.
Minimum number of buttons to reduce unintended actions.
Advancement should be flowing and mostly linear. It shouldn’t require kids to jump to and fro between pages. If that’s the case, they may lose focus easier.
Appropriate feedback should be given. Proper encouragement for incorrect answers is as important as positive feedbacks for achievements.

Importance of UX in a Kid’s App

When making an kids educational app, it is not enough that you focus on the graphics, sounds, and story. The picture is a whole lot bigger.

Designing a kid-friendly user interface that will not distract the kid’s attention, but keep them interested in the app is of prime importance. As it is mentioned earlier, the number of buttons made available on the screen should be limited and distraction elements such as social plugin, banners etc. should be avoided. This is because generally, kid’s are of the habit of touching everywhere on the screen. Accessibility of the buttons that are not strictly part of the app can be restricted to adults alone, by using specific unlock gestures or the double-tap-unlock method.

The Cost Factor

The cost of developing any kind of mobile app is just the same as developing for the web. There is nothing easy or cost saving about building a mobile app as some may believe.

The most basic apps with standard UI components and custom graphics such as a calculator or a small utility app can cost you between $ 1K to 10K.

What determines the cost factor greatly is the amount of time and effort that is invested in building the app.
If you want the same app to be attractive and more functional with interactive design, innovative methods of task completion, cloud services and customization features, the cost could shoot up to $2K to $25K. This means, the more complex the app is, the more you will be required to invest.

Other than complexity and app design, three important aspects that may affect the overall cost of production are the following:

Platform: Cost can vary depending on the platform you choose to use i.e., whether you want single platform (iOS, Android, Windows) or cross-platform app development.

The app development company or individual developer (Freelancer) whom you choose to work with: Based on this aspect, the costs may vary widely. So it is important to choose the right application development company for your development needs. The problem with hiring freelance service is that you should have a decent knowledge about the technology used and the workflow. Otherwise, you will be risking the success of your project.

Geography of your app development partner: The location of the developing company/developer has a dramatic effect on the cost of your project. Outsourcing is a common strategy taken in countries of the first world to drop app development expenditure. In hourly rates, development cost in a country like India or Pakistan can be $10-20/hour, whereas the US development companies charge between 120 to 160 dollars per hour. In the case of freelancing, cost in India and Pakistan usually range between $5 to $15 per hour and US at $150 per hour.

4 Awesome Tips for Profitable iPhone App Development

Posted on February 24, 2016 by Super Admin Testreveal

Mobile app development has become an important formula for the prosperity of any industry today. Within a short time, apps have penetrated almost every known industry — entertainment, health, finance, education, business, communication, art, travel — you name it.

Over 22 % of the global Smartphone market share is held by Apple’s iPhone devices. By November 2014, Apple reached 1 billion phones in sales.

So is iPhone App Development Profitable Anyway?

Well, yes it is! There are people who make huge revenues from a successful single app alone. The question is very relevant, but should be asked in accordance with the particular app that you are about to develop. There are cross platform apps for sure, but here we are focusing on apps that target the iPhone owners alone.

The iPhone market is growing. So does the iPhone app market. Even though Android is the leading app platform with 1.6 million apps available, Apple app store leads closely in the second place with over 1.5 million apps. The App store is flooded with even more apps every single day.

The major factor that affects the profitability of an app is the production cost. Single platform iOS apps costs lesser than cross-platform apps and apps developed for the android platform, since the Android OS is highly fragmented.

Some Tips to Develop Profitable iPhone Apps

IPhone app development, or any other app development for that case, is not a straightforward process. It needs thoughtful development ideas, careful design, planned execution and months of teamwork and continuous effort post-launch to improve the app’s visibility. Keep a check on the factors below that may help to ensure your app’s success.

What the Market Needs

“There are so many apps out there, it’s an extremely crowded market so that the barrier to entry is so low and the barrier to success is so high. But you’re not necessarily aiming to have the biggest game out there, so there’s still room to make a business out of it if you’re trying to capture a certain audience.” Trefry, Gigantic Mechanic.

We always see a mighty competition that is going on in the market. This is true for the starters and the big bosses of the industry. So, it is important that you do a thorough research on whether the idea for your app is inside of an over saturated market or an opportunity market.

Design Uncomplicated Apps

The most common mistake that developers and designers tend to make is, building the app as complex as they can. One should understand the difference between a great app and a complicated app. The developer should not see app development as an opportunity to apply or demonstrate all his programming knowledge.

Abiding to Apple’s App Guidelines

Getting approval from Apple is the first footstep that you need to take after an iPhone app development. Right from the development phase, you should give prime importance to designing your app in accordance with the Apple’s rules and regulations. This will save you the time that you may need to spend waiting and revising, after your apps get rejected by Apple.

Post-Launch Marketing of your App

Once your app is in the app store, you may need to focus on matters such as improving your app’s search visibility, taking continuous effort to get to the top app chart, how and when to put offers and discounts, devising ways to sell more in-app s etc. What every great app needs for its success is a strong marketing strategy. This includes all the SEO activities and marketing techniques.

While doing marketing for an app, your steps could become fruitful only if you provide them with the right content. Even if you put in your best efforts, if your app is not good enough, the end result can disappoint you.

The first thing that should get your attention is your app icon, name, and the screenshots. Studies conducted show that, the customers take their decision whether to download an app or not, within the first 2 seconds after they land on your page. Even if your app does have some great features to offer and amazing interactivity that is detailed in the description section, this will give hardly any advantage since most people are not interested readers.

You can give publicity even before you release your app. You can kick start by sharing it with your friends, colleagues and family on social networking sites and asking them to write about it on their wall. You should follow up with them after the release of your app in the app store. Along with that, you can seek all viable methods including conventional methods to promote your app.

At the end of the day, it all depends on how you measure your success. For some, it is just the profit factor but for others it is the user satisfaction that might be valued more.

Mobile Game Development – It’s Past, Present & Future

Posted on February 19, 2016 by Super Admin Testreveal

In the beginning, mobile phones were nothing more than simple voice communication devices. People wouldn’t have even imagined about mobile game development at that time. On 3rd April 1973, Martin Cooper of Motorola made the world’s first mobile phone call to his rival Dr. Engel of Bell labs. Those devices were bulky, large, and plain-looking. Two decades later, IBM introduced the first ever mobile app for a Smartphone.

Mobile phone industry has grown dramatically. As somebody rightly said, “A man is known by the company of the phone he keeps”, mobile phones are more or less one’s status symbol now. We admire our devices and we are very happy to own it. They are more like our companions nowadays.

Also Read:

4 Awesome Tips to Improve Indie Mobile Game Development

Age of Mobile Game Development, the beginning

Entertainment has always been an essential part of human life. So, it’s no wonder someone thought mobile game development would be a great idea.

The first ever apps included a few unadorned games, calculator, calendar, world clock and contact book that came pre-installed in the mobile devices.

The versatility of mobile phone apps is phenomenal. They range from apps for social networks, travel, health, banking, fitness, news and much more. The mobile game development industry also has its own share to offer.

The first mobile games introduced were a mobile version of Tetris on the Hagenuk MT-2000 device in 1994 and Snake on Nokia in 1997.

The scope for mobile games was very limited earlier. The very first games were basic, uncluttered and penny plain. They were characterised with poor visual quality, minimal or no effects, polygon characters, block articles, performance lag, and snail-paced movements.

Initially when mobile hardware development was still in its infancy, the mobile game development industry faced problems due to the low battery life, unavailable memory and poor graphics hardware.

Present day Games

The time when we fancied old-school games like Pac-Man, Galaga, Tetris and Snake are over. Introduction of smartphones was a predominant breakthrough in the communication field. We witnessed major achievements through extreme R&D steps and market analysis, which brought successive versions of highly advanced devices into the market. These devices featured better software and hardware functionalities with each generation.

It is seen that developers are moving away from living room consoles and towards PC and mobile game development. Mobile platforms don’t have the restrictions that come with developing for consoles. They are much cheaper and can be developed without the help of a publisher. And also with the introduction of android and iPhone, mobile game development quality started to close the gap with console games.

Popular Mobile Game Categories

Mobile games refer to video games that are played on mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, smartwatches and the like. Games can be downloaded from app stores such as Google play or the Apple App store or could come preloaded with the device. It is also possible to play your games from the cloud.

The generally acclaimed qualities of mobile games are the right mix of fact and fantasy, focusing on the game’s graphics, sound, story and replay value.

Some of the leading category/genres of mobile game development include:

Detective games/ Murder mystery games: These games require the player to solve a mystery and catch the criminal by following various clues.

Combat games: Combat games include fighting opponents, which can be armed or unarmed.

Survival games/ Room escape games/ Zombie games: These games include horror elements and arouse fear in the player. Themes could include death, gore, the undead and possession.

Strategy games: In this type of games, the player should make use of decision making skills to achieve victory.

Simulation games: Simulation games include games that offer realistic interpretations and operations of various machines or real life activities. They are widely used for various training purposes.

Educational games: Educational games are targeted at young audiences. These games should have some kind of educational value. They range from simple spelling games to different types of complex construction games based on the academic level of player.

Sport games/ Competitive games/ Race games: This includes playing any of the traditional sports. Archery games, football, car races etc comes under this category.

Adventure games/ Exploration games: This is a type of game where there is a considerable amount of fantasy and the game goes forward by exploration.

Puzzle solving/ mystery games: This includes the logic oriented games. The player needs to solve puzzles and mysteries to move on to the next level.

The list is only a common classification of the different types of mobile games and is not in any way exhaustive.

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Will Mobile Game Development Kill Gaming Consoles?

Game Engines

Present day mobile devices offer powerful platforms to develop stunning real life scenes and characters. Mobile game development have evolved from the first single player games to java games and multiplayer 3D games. With the help of full color visuals and realistic sound effects, mobile games can now create a whole new world of augmented reality.

A game engine is a software tool used for creating video games. Unity, CryEngine, J2me and Unreal Engine are the most popular game engines in use today. These engines are chosen based on the type of game that is about to be developed, like a shooter game or a puzzle game.

Unity 3D: The Unity 3D game engine helps you to develop awesome interactive 3D games. It allows cross platform publishing and supports imports from popular 3D applications like Maya.

CryEngine 3: CryEngine helps to create pretty and realistic game visuals with artist-level programming. It also comes with the most powerful audio tool, Fmod. It is considered as the best mobile game development tool for beginners.

Unreal Engine 4: This is the most popular mobile game development engine. Some of the most successful games were developed by using this tool which includes ARC Squadron Redux, Batman, and Blade. This tool has a lot of amazing features such as improved dynamic lighting and advanced particle system that enhances the graphics quality.

J2me Engine: This is a version of Java. The major advantages of J2me are its security features, development alternatives and omission of any licensing fee.

Features of present day Mobile Games

With powerful hardware and sophisticated tools available in the market, mobile game development has undergone an extensive facelift. More amazing features means there is more control on how much your game can stand close to reality. It also aids in faster development and release cycles.

Detailed characterisation, crystal clear visuals, audio excellence, polished animations, great looking textures, gorgeous art style, near to reality lighting, responsiveness, precision & finesse, and adherence to the fundamental laws of nature are some of attractive features that new generation games offer.

Immersive games with features described above could transform you to a virtual reality and evoke real life feelings and emotions. It could drive you crazy and leave you overwhelmed. You will crave for more gaming hours. There is a global demand for games that test your speed, knowledge, rational thought and common sense.rel=”nofollow”

Some new trends in mobile game development:

Multiplayer games: A multiplayer mobile game allows two or more players to play a single game by sharing the same game environment by using Bluetooth or similar technology. It allows interaction among players and offers real-world opponents. Multiplayer games that supports cross platform gaming are also available.

Social games: Social games are played online and it requires social network integration. It is the most popular game played in the world. These games allow gamers to stay connected with their friends. Mafia Wars and Candy Crush are two of the most successful social network games on Facebook.

Location based games: In location based games, the gameplay progresses based on the location of the player. The location information is commonly retrieved using the GPS technology.

Phone accelerometer: The accelerometer is a device that senses movement or gravity, which in turn helps it to sense the angle at which the device is being held. This has opened a new scope by introducing the technology for playing mobile games. Accelerometer sensors which functions as game controllers are placed to measure the tilt, angle and speed of player actions.

The Gamer – Age and Gender Groups

Mobile phones were considered as a luxury until not too long ago. But today, they are one among the most common commodities. They are owned by the young and the aged alike. There are more mobile devices than people in this world.

As mobile gaming technology flourished with improved hardware such as the sound cards, graphics cards and powerful & faster processors, it became increasingly easy to conceptualize and design games suitable for all age and gender groups. Quick distraction games are trend setters as they can be played in bite sized chunks when you wait in line or during lunch break. For most people, mobile games are truly entertainment in pockets.

In the US alone, there are more than 100 million mobile game players. This includes children, men, women and the old. The average age of mobile game players is 28 years. Though most of the serious gamers are supposed to be men, recent studies show that over half of the mobile gamers in the world are women. The number of women gamers in developed countries is greater than those in the developing or undeveloped countries.

Many games are now being developed focusing women audiences with apt characters and story lines. A lot of women are already in the executive job titles in the gaming industry.

The Mobile Game Market – Statistics

Mobile game development had been just a fringe activity for years, but now they have come up into the mainstream. The mobile game market is very much on the rise from the past several years.

The global mobile gaming market has been worth about $25 billion by the end of 2015. It is dominated by the US, Japan and China. The Asia Pacific countries as a whole generate about 56% of the world’s mobile gaming revenues.

93% of the d applications are games. Of these, cross-platform games are monetized 25% better. 34% of the top 100 game apps use the Freemium model.

Moving on to social network games; of the 100 million players, about 61% plays them on Facebook. More than 50% of Smartphone and tablet owners play their games every day.

Benefits of Video Gaming

The benefits of gaming goes well beyond entertainment and education. Here are some of them:

They help to overcome attention related disorders such as dyslexia.
Moderate game playing improves vision.
Brain games can boost brain activity and slow down the biological aging process.
As a post-injury prescription, it performs a great role in easing pain by diverting attention.
Multi-player games help build social connections.
Strengthens hand-eye co-ordination.
Improves decisive skills.
Reduce stress.
They help compulsive overeaters and drinkers to curb cravings.
Enhance creative thinking.

We should not forget the bad side

Serious gamers spend way too much of their daily hours in front of their gaming devices. One should be aware that, this behavior could damage one’s health. Listed below are some of the most common health hazards that excessive gaming can bring about.

Addiction
Thinning line between reality and the virtual world
Musculoskeletal injuries
Aggression
Obesity
Vision disturbances

Future of Mobile Game Development

“The future of mobile game development is bright. Venture capitalists are investing like mad right now, and start-ups are beginning to see the fruits of their labor with huge returns….…. As mobile devices become more powerful, we’ll also see more mid-core games being produced. Eventually, you’ll be able to play a game as graphically impressive and complex as Halo: Reach, on a handheld. At this point, the industry will revolutionize yet again as the pinnacle achievement is reached. “- Christopher P. Onstad(Lead 3D Modeler, Mega Pickle Entertainment)

Strictly speaking, the future of mobile gaming is unpredictable. It’s been known that built-in hardware features and peripheral accessories affect the way mobile games are played greatly.
The imminent development could be in gaming devices such as Wearables, Phablets, GameStream or VR helmet sets. Or there could be new technologies introduced in mobile gaming including head tracking, computer vision, motion sensing, color detection, sound sensing, and artificial intelligence.

Future mobile phones could be 3D enabled Smartphones like the HTC EVO 3D which enables 3D mobile gameplay.

The term in itself might envelope a whole new sense and meaning as the words of Jennifer Estaris (Designer, Total Immersion) might help convey:

“Mobile game does not mean phone or tablet. It means, ‘Oh, I wore this shirt today, which has connectivity with this bus stop, which alters the world via my sunglasses, and I control the game with my hands… or voice… or… thoughts.”

Visionaries say that there will be more cross platform access in future for the same game. When games are stored and played from the cloud, there will be multiple ways of access to your games. You can start playing your game from your TV and continue to play it on your iPad/Smartphone and then, move on to playing it from your PC.

There is also a massive scope for linking everyday activities to mobile games. Applications such as Foursquare, Wikitude, Layar etc. could be turned into actual games. What mobile game development requires is out-of-the-box thinking and fearlessness to experiment and implement new ideas.

Top Emerging Trends in Mobile App Development

Posted on February 12, 2016 by Super Admin Testreveal

The mobile industry has metamorphosed from the first DynaTAC prototype model to wearable devices and has become part of Internet of Things (IoT) through the last four decades. It is now an integral part of our lives, on account of its usability and affordability. With the mobile app industry evolving at such a fast pace, it is an absolute requirement for a mobile app development company to keep track of the emerging trends in the industry.

User experience comes first: With large-scale competition and increasing number of smartphone users, it becomes imperative that a mobile app should be embedded with features that promote better user experience for its success. Leading mobile app development companies are continuously striving to provide our customers with unequalled user experience from all our apps.

App security: Implementing app security has called for more focus these days. A lot of sensitive information is handled during each transaction. Hackers continuously try to exploit this data. An app that promises high-end security is always a boon to your business goals.

Cloud driven development: The benefits of using the cloud technology in your mobile app development is that the apps can be accessed on multiple mobile devices with same features and functions from anywhere.

Wearable devices: There is no doubt that wearable technology promises to be the future in electronic fashion wears and tech wears and it is certain to hit the billion dollar industry in a big way. Wearable devices are supposed to be taken up by leading enterprises to improve their productivity and efficiency in 2016.

Internet of Things (IoT): Multiple devices are being used by all of us these days. There is a lot of scope in developing mobile applications that can control various electronic devices that we use in our everyday lives. IoT has already influenced healthcare, marketing and business industries. There are a lot of smart home appliances available in the market already.

In- App advertising and purchasing: The paid app download model of monetization is making way to a more practicable solution, i.e. in-app advertising. In-app advertising and purchasing are today’s feasible source for making revenue.

App analytics: Tracing your app’s performance is really crucial in all sectors, because the data is a major deciding factor for streamlining your apps. This data represents customer engagement and success of your app.

Location based apps: It’s happy times for businesses based on location apps, because they are growing fast. There are more and more apps being developed for businesses such as restaurants, real estate, home décors, sales of used products etc.

Recommended read: Why is Apple’s Swift the Future of Mobile App Development?

Location based Wi-Fi services: As data plans are becoming costlier, the prime focus for networking locally is now on Wi-Fi services. Apple has already lead the way by introducing their customers to Beacon technology. Android will follow Apple in the coming years. The advantage is that the businesses could know where there customers are concentrated and provide them with more specific content.

Mobile gaming: Beginning from 2014, the mobile game industry has been gradually shifting from developing single player games to multiplayer games. Another trend developing within mobile gaming is social media integration and cloud driven games.

Enterprise apps are growing: It is predicted that all major enterprises will be developing own apps in 2016, to boost their efficiency and performance. The demands for enterprise apps are currently huge.

Emergence of hybrid apps: Hybrid apps have successfully completed the experimental phase and are now widely being adopted. It combines both the elements of native and web apps. There will be contents that are accessible only locally as well as that are shared online.

M-commerce and Mobile payments: M-commerce and mobile payments are taken up by many users as this has given them the advantage of shopping at their convenience. Consumers can browse, and pay for their goods, all from their mobile without the need of a credit/debit card.

A mobile app development company should be keen in incorporating these trends in their development process, in order to be successful.

How to be Successful at Educational App Development?

Posted on February 4, 2016 by Super Admin Testreveal

https://www.redbytes.in/educational-app-development/Learning has become easier, smarter and interesting with the advancement in technology. One can either be specific or generic regarding what they need to learn. Today, the most perfect medium to grab knowledge is Internet. Mobile applications have become a trend in today’s world to acquire more knowledge.

Educational app development is given more focus in mobile app development as it is having good demand in the market. Many reputed schools now promotes the use of iPhones and iPads. This can greatly help the child’s education as they experience the fun element in learning. Educational app development is a long term relationship with the customers and it is comparatively free from risk.

Children make use of apps mainly for entertainment, educational purpose and to play downloaded games. While choosing apps for children, parents often consider the educational apps.

When we decide to develop an educational app, we need to think more . It is better to use one’s own imagination to make the app attractive. Here are some of the tips to make the app successful:

Make the concept clear and original

As it is an educational app, focus on the educational value of app. Smart Speller is an educational app which helps the children to spell words, enrich vocabulary, improve their various skills such as visual, language and pronunciation problem solving skills and motor skills. Creating story app, increases kid’s engagement in the app. Pictures and sounds in Smart Speller app is original that too with high quality.

Make the app as reusable asset

One should use all their efforts to make the app reusable. Reusable assets can help to reduce the development time of future applications.

Multi-platform solution

In order to develop multi-platform solution, one should start from a less competitive market. In case of educational app development, android and windows market is more preferable. When competition is stronger, the chances of success will also be reduced.

Test the app with audience

In case of educational app development, audiences will be children. We can give app to the child and get direct and immediate feedback regarding the app without even releasing it.

Introduce a smarter plan

For succeeding, these are the steps to be followed:

1. Always start with the development of prototype

2. Next step is to start the process of usability testing

3. Third step is to produce a graphic design

4. Fourth step is the application development

Recommended read: Things to Keep In Mind While Developing Educational Apps

Among these steps, most important one is usability testing. Pleasing story, good graphics and pleasing sounds are not just enough. One should also make sure that the app is having a child-friendly navigation interface. It is advisable not to overload the screen with social plug-ins, banners, menu buttons or ads.

Scalability of the solution

Creating different language versions can be the scalability tool. Creating multilingual solution is a simple way to increase the number of downloads thereby increasing the profit.

Implement language localization

Audience often prefer every details of their product to be known in their own native language. Co-operation with native speakers is the best solution for the purpose of language localization. It involve translators that help to translate the descriptions of application. One can use text to speech engine for reading the text content louder. On the android market, one can easily localize the name and description of the product.

Continuous improvement is very much necessary for every product. Make changes and improve the app as per the feedback of audience. When it comes to educational app, parents and children both have equal importance to give feedback.

Also Check: Latest Updated Educational Apps Directory List