Playyoo News

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We’ve been a bit quiet recently on where we’re going with Playyoo, so here’s quick update.

Although on the face of it Playyoo has many similarities with other user generated content sites, we need to do quite a lot of heavy lifting behind the scenes to make sure we deliver correctly configured games to each phone model we support. Web developers get frustrated having to deal with browser incompatibilities across a handful of browser / operating system combinations, but mobile software developers have to deal with literally hundreds of devices on many, many networks. This was one of the initial challenges we set out to solve with Playyoo, and we’ve spent a lot of time on it.

For the first version, we had a lot of support from an external partner, who I can’t name for various reasons, but who I’d like to express our thanks to! However, now we’re on our own, with a relatively small in-house software development team working on enhancements and new features.

The first thing we’re tackling is to greatly improve the game selection process, which powers the Game Stream, to give users more control over it, and to provide better results out of the box. We’ve got a whole stack of other things lined up, many taking into account user feedback from the last few months.

You should see some changes starting to appear in the next few weeks or so, as we get back up to speed with development and releases.

We always appreciate and listen to feedback, good or bad, either here, by email, or on the forum. We’re pretty excited about the directions we’re going in with Playyoo, and I hope you will be too!

Games on Deck have published an article on Playyoo titled “User Generated Games Are The Next Big Thing” in which they discuss the rise of casual games and user generated content “The next logical stage is the democratization of game design-where just as anyone can play games, anyone can now create games.”

Santoki’s game Sketch Mini has featured in Forbes list of Ten Cool Games for Mobile Phones.

“U.K.-based Web site Playyoo.com is a social network where user-generated content demonstrates the beauty of simplicity. Developers and gamers alike can upload and download games from anywhere in the world for free. Players control a stick figure in “Sketch Mini” as he tests his courage and dodges wrecking balls. The game runs on devices supporting Flash Lite, notably including recent Nokia and SonyEricsson phones, plus some LG, Samsung and Motorola handsets.”

Afzainizam Zahari currently lives and works in Singapore as a teacher, his game Think Fast came in 8th place.

The Game

About Izam

Izam has a strong desire to boldly go where no man has gone before (except maybe the depths of a volcano). He is a dreamer/artist/inspirer/performer/animator/game creator/mac user and an overall charming person. Before he became the fountain of knowledge to adolescents, he was busy creating animations for television programmes, web development and mobile games for PDA. All of which were done using Flash. More information about the man and his strange escapades can be gleaned from his blog

The Interview

WordRap

Tell us a little about yourself.
I am Afzainizam Zahari and I am from Singapore. I am currently teaching Science, Biology and Multimedia to secondary school students. I majored in Biology and did a minor in Multimedia in National University of Singapore. I have been involved in multimedia development since 1999 when I was first introduced to Macromedia Director. I learnt about Flash and immediately I fell in love with it.

How did you become a Flash Lite developer?
Back in 2000 I knew Flash was the way to go for rapid multimedia development for offline content as well as for the web. Flash 5 was released in 2001 and I never looked back. In 2002 I started to create mobile applications and games for the pocket pc platform. I enjoyed the experience tremendously.In 2004 when Flash Lite was introduced I got really interested in the possibility of having flash games on the Nokia series 60 platform. I decided to create a simple boxing game for the Nokia 3650. I was forced to re-learn Flash 4.0 Actionscript syntax. Flash 4.0 has quite a number of limitations but then Flash Lite 2 was released a year later. It was quite a relief because I can make use of Actionscript 1.0 and up. However the phones back then in 2005 was mostly able to support up to Flash Lite 1.1. So it was still quite a challenge for me.

You are interested in casual games, tell us why?
I am a strong supporter of casual games. Personally I find that I have very little time to sit down to play a full game on the video game console. Casual games that make me smile and tickle my brain cells work for me. I find it a rewarding challenge to be able to figure out the likes and dislikes of casual players and create a game that will interest them. These are the people that have very limited time to play, but once you catch their attention, you’ve got a winner.

Tell us how you came up with idea for this game.
The idea of Think Fast came from a personal situation in a chocolatier. My friend and I were calculating the prices of the various chocolates on the shelves. I challenged her to find out who is faster at calculating mentally. I lost.She’s a Mathematics teacher by the way. So..Anyway, that immediately gave me the inspiration to create such a game with cute and colorful characters trying to get chocolates from the Lollipop tree. It was a joy to create the game right down from drawing to scripting.

What other games do you like on Playyoo?
Playyoo attracted an amazing number of polished and well developed games. I was blown away by some of them. I really like Bog Frog. It was the kind of game I find it hard to put down until I solved the puzzle for each level. I also like Sketch Mini. It has that really cool animation which simply made me smile. It is a joy to play.

What are you currently working on?
I am currently working on a game called Journey Man. This game was conceptualized when I was 10 years old with 2 of my childhood friends. We never got around to creating the game because we went our separate ways ever since we went on to secondary school. I guess its about time I close that chapter of my childhood by creating the game that we have always wanted to create back then.

What do you think Playyoo can offer to you as a developer?
As a developer I really hope that Playyoo can be a platform for me to showcase the games I create to a large audience easily. And from there, maybe obtain a certain amount of revenue from players who really appreciate the games that I created.

Do have an advice for other game creators how to win a contest like this one?
You have to create an original game that captures people’s attention (in a good way). A great idea for a simple game, with simple user interface that people can simply jump in and play straight away. People don’t really like to be bogged down with too many instructions or having to learn so much just to play a simple game. Keep it really simple. User experience is very important.

The regional winners for the Flash Lite User Group Contest have been announced. Congratulations to the winners and thanks to all who contributed to the community.

 

EMEA

Mondo Under by bitacora13
Fantastic graphics and animation in this game will probably stretch some devices but if it works on your phone you will enjoy wandering around a sub city sewer munching flies and dodging toxic sludge filled holes and steaming hot pipes….and that’s just the first level.

 

Americas

Bog Frog by Ekleptica
Bog Frog immediately catches the eye with its smooth, fresh graphics, and it backs these up with great game play. It is simple enough: you have to guide the frog to the lily flower, through a sequence of ever more complex puzzles. The variability between each level keeps things interesting. A recent update to the game which adds time limit mode makes it even more fun.Totally addictive!!

 

Asia Pacific

UFO Catcher: Barnyard Abductionby Naz
Become Zorg, a Zkrznian Elite hunter and collect specimens for the Zkrznian Interplanetary zoo. You are awarded bonus points for 3-of-a-kind abductions and special combinations. Try to avoid the crop dusters or your trusty UFO will be sprawled over the farm-scape with no chance to phone home.

 

Full listing of the winners is available at the 2007 Flash Lite Game Contest site.