Bobo the Robot is now so cool that he has his very own Facebook page. Check it out and learn all about where he came from, where he’s going, and what he’s up to this very moment! Have you ever seen Bobo’s year book picture? Log onto Facebook and take a peek right now.
A little over a year ago, a picture of a robot was scribbled on a piece of brown craft paper. He was named “Bobo”. Last September, that same little robot made his debut exploring the science behind light and delighting children and adults around the globe.
At WWDC Apple recognized the mountain of work and polish that went into Bobo’s adventure with an Apple Design Award.
Bobo would never have become a reality without the incredible support of Apple’s platform and without the excitement and endorsement of the thousands of kids around the world.
After seeing the new iPad with over 3 million (!) pixels, I couldn’t help but take a break from what I was doing and dust off an old favorite – Doodle Blast! HD – to get it ready for the new device.
In theory the task was simple enough. I had saved most of the original images as vector files, so re-scaling them, while tedious, was fairly straight-forward. However, the poor codebase was very outdated and in desperate need of a fresh coat of paint. It took me over five days of round-the-clock work to rip out the old scoring system, add Game Center support, iOS5 Twitter support, replace Cocos 2D v0.7 with Cocos 2D v1.1, and implement selective retina image loading for high-res devices that supported them.
The results, however, speak for themselves. The pixels on the new iPad are so tiny, that this game more than any other literally looks like a sheet of graph paper that came to life.
Take a look at the following images for comparison. The first is a 100% scaled version of the tank from the original iPhone game. The second is that same tank, also scaled to 100%, as used by the new iPad:
Original:
Enhanced for new iPad:
The game is now available for only $0.99 (a far cry from all the $7 games for the new iPad) and as one of the DB gamers put it - ”Stills don’t do this game justice – you have to play it and control the awesome firepower to really appreciate it.” Click here to check it out at the App Store!
Today, the bright and sunny offices of Game Collage, LLC were full of administrative hustle and spreadsheet excitement. Numbers were being added, divided, and added up again, software and hardware calculators could barely keep up with the nimble fingers of their users, spreadsheets were spilling out of their rows… in short, I was working on state taxes.
In the middle of this mayhem, my mom calls. Because I’m already knee deep in numbers, I crank out a couple of pivot tables to amuse her with interesting statistics and, in the process, manage to surprise even myself.
Since Bobo’s launch, kids from around the world have looked at a cumulative 3.5 million pages in the book!
Wha?!? That’s.. uh… three… *sigh* I can’t even count that high! Additionally, kids spent almost 2.5 minutes on every page adding up to a total of well over 15 years! that Bobo has been entertaining the world with science. Without a shred of doubt, this is my greatest personal achievement to date.
Another interesting statistic that fell out was that people spend on average 20 minutes reading the book each time. That means folks don’t just pick the book up and put it away, but spend some meaningful time with it. I’m very excited that the months of work and late nights that went towards creating Bobo ended up being somehow useful to the world.
If you are among those people who have spent a portion of those 15 years with Bobo, thank you! I hope you enjoyed it and that you’ll spend a few more years with it yet.
Happy New Year everyone! We’re excited to usher in the first day of January with some great news – Bobo Explores Light was just selected among book app finalists for Cybils 2011 awards. Congrats to the other finalists as well! You can read the official announcement on the Cybils web site here.
Today, the Children’s Technology Review and Living in Digital Times announced their third annual Kids at Play Interactive Award winners, which included our interactive book Bobo Explores Light!
Children’s Technology Review and Living in Digital Times award the KAPi Award to recognize “the most innovative games, software, devices and apps for engaging, entertaining and educating today’s children.” This year, 8 products received the award from over 600 that were nominated. We are very excited to have achieved this honor. You can read more about the awards as well read about the other winners from the official posting here.
Today and today only we have an amazing Cyber Monday sale on ALL of our interactive books.
Click on each title to link directly to the iTunes App Store – at prices this low, we might as well be giving these books away!
This sale only happens once a year!
Experience the app that reviewers call a “high velocity joyride for kids!”. Let your children experience science behind light while interacting with lasers, adjusting mirrors, drawing auroras and discovering close to 20 other topics through hands-on demonstrations, videos, and narratives. Featured by Apple as iPad App of the Week and recommended by countless reviews including those from Wired, The Guardian, Mac Observer, and The iPhone Mom.
An interactive popup book with classic illustrations unlike any you’ve seen to date. At the press of a button, look through each page to see the gears, levers, and pulleys that make the characters come alive all the while pulling, pushing, and twisting elements on the page. Huffington Post hails it as the “best of both digital and paper in a totally new-fangled take on the pop-up book.”
Three of Andersen’s most beloved stories come to life in this magical tome guaranteed to inspire awe and wonder in every child. Swim in the ocean with the Little Mermaid, follow a snail’s determined quest to find love in the Happy Family, and laugh at the iconic ruler’s pride in Emperor’s New Clothes. Complete with countless sound effects, crisp animations, and dozens of interactive elements, this book transforms bedtime stories into mesmerizing journeys into the world of imagination. Selected among Top 10 Books by Kirkus Review.
It’s a great way to give books as stocking stuffers and presents for the holidays! Just follow these simple steps:
1. Open iTunes and navigate to your favorite interactive book
2. Click the little arrow next to the price of the app
3. Select “Gift this App” from the menu
4. Follow the on-screen instructions
This coming Monday, November 28, is our once-a-year Cyber Monday blow out sale on all of our interactive book titles!
That’s right! For 24 hours, you will be able to download or gift all of our interactive books directly from the App Store at a fraction of their cost. That is our way of saying “Thank you!” for all of your support, emails, and suggestions.
If you’ve been waiting to check out Bobo Explores Light, The Three Little Pigs, or The Little Mermaid, now is your chance. See why our books have been awarded countless accolades, including the iPad App of the Week, Kirkus Star, and CSM Editor’s Choice Award!
Follow us on Twitter and watch for our kick-off announcement this Monday.
I finally managed to find some time between development, PR work, and answering fan mail to bite the bullet and update the Game Collage web site. The hope is that I’ll be posting fascinating and unprecedented blog content to blow your minds away and share the occasional tip and code.
If you are looking for the original Doodle Blast! blog postings, chronicling the creation of the best doodle game on the iPhone EVER, it still exists here.
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