Our iPhone development team is responsible for some great apps in the iTunes app store.
iVote Mobile was in the first batch of 500 apps that were released in the app store when it first went live in Summer of 2008.
Last holiday season, iFart took the world by storm. It has gone on to become one of the most frequently mentioned iPhone apps in the world.
Our team was among the first to develop iPhone apps for celebrities as well. HammerTime, iTrippy and The Mashable App are just three of the apps we developed for name brands.
But the team has been very busy working on a new app that has the potential to dwarf everything we've done to date.
The app is called GameDock, and it is the world's first true lobby-style iPhone gaming platform with integrated friends, games and achievements.
In 1997, I was co-owner of ClassicGames.com, an online multiplayer game site which was subsequently purchased by Yahoo! Today it is known as Yahoo! Games.
Over a decade later, I am excited to reveal the next generation of multiplayer gaming via GameDock.
Up until now, multiplayer gaming on the iPhone and iPod Touch has been relegated to turn-based, local-area network or Facebook integrated gameplay. What people REALLY want is the ability to play against other users over the edge or 3G telephone network. That would allow you to play anyone with iPhone data coverage access anywhere in the world!
Several months ago we began development of a multiplayer gaming platform that would meet the needs of iPhone and iPod gamers. It's been a labor of love created for gamers BY gamers.
In other words, we're having a BLAST playing on our own platform against each other.
I'd like to give you a sneak peek to what you can expect once Apple approves GameDock for release in the app store...
When you first launch GameDock, you are greeted with the Home Screen.
This is where you have instant access to your friends list, your avatar and achievements and all the games. It's easy to see how many players are in each lobby, and its even easier to get started playing a game!
The avatar screen allows you to select an avatar of your choosing and decorate it with clothing and accessories. Let your personality come forth with these unique hand-drawn avatars. Additional avatars will be made available in the future.
Now it's on to the games.
First, we have FleetMaster. Based on the classic Battleship game, this is multiplayer fun at its best.
Start a game table, invite a friend, place your ships and let the firing fun begin! The graphics and animations are second-to-none, and the sound effects are top quality. There are several options for gameplay that you can select from in the settings screen. The game has a number of achievements that can be earned, as well as some hidden easter eggs.
Next up is the world's favorite strategy game, Chess. While the app store has a number of chess games, this is the first one that will allow you to play with anyone else on the network in real time!
What more needs to be said about Chess? Check out the beautiful style and artwork below.
Finally, the third game that will launch with GameDock is classic 4-player Hearts. Our developers have created technology that will allow four people in completely different locations to play the game together.
Pass your cards and don't get stuck with the Queen of Spades. It's great fun.
All games have built in Chat and the application is fully integrated so you can jump from one game to another. You can friend, unfriend or block other members from any place in the app. And your GameDock featured at the top of the screen shows icons for your most recent achievements.
When you get a new achievement, you'll be greeted with a celebratory "hurray!" sound. Of course, you can turn it off if you don't want your boss to know that you just won your tenth game of FleetMastet. :-)
One of things we are most proud of is the reconnect feature.
It's widely known that the AT&T network is not the most reliable. So what happens if you are in the middle of a game and you lose cell phone coverage?
Not to worry!
Our app will instantly attempt to reclaim your spot in the game so you can pick up where you left off. Your opponent is even notified that you have lost your connection and they are asked to wait while connection is reestablished. Cool, huh?
Needless to say, we are eager for Apple to give their stamp of approval to GameDock so that the world can enjoy our work.
Let the games begin!
Joel that is an excellent app idea! Great job. I truly enjoy the idea of competing against real people on Zynga poker and it will be nice to have other options to play real games with. It will also be nice to play against friends and family that are in other locations.
I look forward to reviewing it on my upcoming gadget blog, GADGNET.com.
Looks like the next big thing for iPhone and iPod Touch. So, glad that it won't just be role-playing games.
waw Joel...its really a great idea. Joel where didi you get these ideas??? huh......
i m your fan...
Great job Joel....
GameDock looks awesome! I've been wanting to create a real-time multiplayer game for the iPhone that works over the Internet, but I haven't had the time or infrastructure yet. Can you give us a little peek into the technical side of things-- how does it work?
I hope the inevitable next step for GameDock is the creation of a platform for developers to build on. If you can make Internet multiplayer as easy as local Wi-Fi multiplayer-- which I do with my app Whiteboard: Collaborative Drawing-- I'm sure many developers would like to jump on board. Can I build the next GameDock game?!
OpenFeint has said they'd do some kind of multiplayer like this, but I haven't seen it working yet.
Nice one Joel ^.^ btw..did you had any offer in ur site of selling those iphone?
Regards,
http://turquoise-necklace.blogspot.com/
good one!
I, envy you. Your blog is much better under the maintenance and design than mine. Who to you the design did?