Appmodo Interviews Oceanhouse Media, Inc., Creators of Dr Seuss Apps

You may not have heard of their name yet, but Oceanhouse Media, Inc. have definitely made their presence in the App Store well known thus far. With a total of 67 applications currently in the App Store and 12 to 16 applications consistently within Top 100 rankings, Oceanhouse Media, Inc. is using their team of developers with over 20 years of experience in the interactive entertainment industry to successfully plan and execute an additional 40 applications geared for the iPhone and iPod Touch in the coming year.

We sat down with company President, Michel Kripalani to discuss their involvement with the Dr. Seuss Franchise, the attention of detail used during the creation of Dr. Seuss Apps, and how Oceanhouse Media, Inc. have diversified themselves in the mobile gaming industry.

Company Name: Oceanhouse Media, Inc.
Name: Michel Kripalani
Title: President
Company URL: www.oceanhousemedia.com

Q: How did you decide to create both a game and photo App for the Grinch?

The team started with lots of brainstorming for cool Dr. Seuss apps regardless of genre. After just a few hours we had a huge list of possible apps. (Dr. Seuss worlds are so rich with material!) From this list we focused on apps that we thought would be most appropriate for The Grinch, as we wanted to target holiday releases. A game was obvious. Plus throwing stuff on an iPhone using a flick gesture is just plain fun. On the other hand, the camera was an “out there” idea that we fell in love with early. We wanted to take advantage of the iPhone camera and let people create funny, whimsical stuff. Grinchmas Cards sounded playful and funny to us from day one.

Q: Any challenges in developing a game based on this brand?

The biggest challenge was an overwhelming sense of responsibility. Almost without exception, English speaking children grew up reading and loving Dr. Seuss books. It was vital that we stayed true to the original intent of Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss). Often, we asked ourselves, what would Theodor do? In fact, that’s how we ended up with the wacky, animated menu buttons in The Dr. Seuss Camera app. We hand-drew them for goodness sake! Why? Because that’s probably what he would have done. No polished, chrome, reflecting, symmetrical buttons for us. We went old school. Hand-drawn, scanned in and traced. Just as it he did them himself.

Q: Were there concerns about keeping the game authentic to fans?

Yes. There was a real challenge here. We had to stretch the story a bit to make the Grinchmas concept work (The Grinch doesn’t throw snowballs or presents in the book), but you could imagine him doing it. He’s been up on Mt. Crumpit for 53 years hating Christmas every year. We could see him getting mad and trying to find ways get the Whos to shut–up. Of course, in Merry Mode, he has a change of heart and brings back the presents (as he does in the original story).

Q: What’s next for the Dr. Seuss brand on the iPhone?

Next up is a fantastic adaptation of the original book “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” into an app. It has a wonderful “Read to me” mode where the story is narrated and individual words highlight when spoken. It has picture/word association where you can click on a picture, hear the word read aloud and see the word fly up from the paragraph. It also has a great audio soundtrack and really nice zooming & panning on the pages as the story unfolds. People are going to love it. We expect it to be approved by Apple in time for the 2009 holiday season.

Q: How do you think the iPhone has revolutionized the mobile phone industry?

By creating a single development platform and standardizing the hardware, Apple has removed the hurdles that existed for mobile development. Everyone knew that the potential for mobile was huge. The industry has been talking about it for years, but no one could really tap into it. After making a game, you had to spend 10x more work getting the game to run on over 600 handsets. It was a nightmare. The other stroke of luck (genius) by Apple was the App Store. Because of all of their experience with the music and movie providers they already had the architecture and systems in place to deliver the apps. They’d been building iTunes (and the back-end systems) for years. The combination of these two factors gave Apple a massive head start. I think it will be years before anyone gives them a run for their money.

Q: How do you think the iPhone has revolutionized the portable gaming industry with contenders such as Sony and Nintendo?

The iPhone is turning the traditional portable gaming industry on its ear. Even Nintendo is acknowledging that it is no longer about the hardware. Nintendo! They own the portable gaming market with the DS (and don’t forget the GameBoy). When Nintendo says that its no longer a hardware play and it’s all about the distribution model you know that something serious has changed. Sony and Microsoft both learned a hard lesson a few years ago when they introduced the PS3 and the Xbox 360. Nintendo came out with the Wii and smoked them. Why? Because it’s not about the hardware. It’s about the experience. Apple provides an experience unlike any other today.

Q: What separates your company from your competitors with mobile phone applications?

Oceanhouse Media is quite diversified with its product offering. At any given time we will often have 12-16 different apps on Top-100 lists on the App Store. The really interesting part is the variety of categories. We’ve had Top-100 apps in Games, Music, Photography, Books, Health & Fitness, Reference and Finance. In fact, in the span of just one month, we’ve held the #1 spot in both Finance and Kids Games. That’s pretty diverse.

Q: What is your company background, size (employees, developers, etc), and company inspirations?

We are a small, tight group of friends who have worked together for a long time, so we are super efficient and we have minimal need for long drawn-out planning and review cycles. Most of us have been in the interactive entertainment space for over 20 years, which means we are very familiar with just about any kind of issue that may arise. A few of the guys have worked at Apple, which obviously has its bonuses. And, finally, I ran a game studio (Presto Studios) for 11 years, so I have a lot of experience with development deals, license contracts, etc. Our goal is to create apps that uplift, educate and inspire. That’s why the Dr. Seuss license is such a perfect fit for us.

Q: Do you outsource any projects or development, if so, how much?

We work with a large number of contractors. I am a firm believer in building micro-teams for individual projects. We’ll pull together a group of people with tasks, goals and a schedule. Then we’ll let them run. Once the app ships (usually a few weeks later), the team is dissolved. By forming and dissolving many of these micro-teams on an “as needed” basis we keep people focused on the task at hand and keep our overhead manageable.

Q: Advancements in graphics and animations in the mobile phone industry have astronomically grown within the past couple of years. How much time does your company devote to graphical, animation, and sound production for mobile applications? Are there areas that you focus on?

We are gamers. We come from a background of building games. We spend a lot of time on getting the 3D, graphics, animation and sound right. That said, we only put in as much in as the app really needs. We won’t overkill an app with fancy shiny, noisy bits unless it really helps the app.

Q: How many applications has your company planned, developed, or created at any given time?

As of today, we have 67 apps shipping. We have 3 at Apple awaiting approval and we have the schedule planned out for the next 30-40 apps. Currently, we have about 6-8 apps in active production. The team is very busy.

Q: What do you think of the iPhone Operating System in comparison to other mobile platforms? Are Apple’s competitors finally producing a comparable product or has the iPhone already monopolized the niche market?

I strongly believe that Apple has won this round. As I mentioned above, it’s not about the hardware. It’s about the whole distribution model, etc. Apple ran away with this one. It will be challenging for competitors to match what Apple has done.

Q: Is your company currently developing for other mobile platforms, if so, which ones and why?

Not at this time. We will re-evaluate this decision often as we move forward. We have not seen compelling business reasons to consider other platforms as of yet.

Q: Marketing an application can be a very difficult task. With so many applications being developed and released on a daily basis, capturing user attention in an App Store is challenging. What have you found to be an effective way to market your products to users?

We start with strong brands. In a sea of 100,000 apps you need something that sets you apart. The same is true in console games, movies and books (recognized authors). Early in 2009 we saw this was going to become a problem on the App Store. We embarked on our licensing strategy long before the App Store became the “ocean of apps” that it is today.

Q: Following the response above, what do you think of the store review process? Is it helping or hurting your business? What are some recommendations in order to speed up this process?

We don’t have any problems with the review process. On average, our apps are reviewed and approved within 9-12 days. I would estimate that about 15-20% get bumped back for small issues that are easily solved. We’ve never had an app get rejected twice. I will say that coming from the videogame business, and having to go through the Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo approval processes, the Apple process is a breeze. We really don’t have any complaints.

Q: What do you think about other application review websites? Are they effective at providing in-depth reviews of applications and helping market your products? Or is your company experiencing challenges of trying to find quality application websites? What do you think of Appmodo?

In general, I would say that many of the app review sites are a bit myopic. Everyone wants to cover games, entertainment and kitschy apps that are in the overall Top-100. Very few people want to cover material on the fringe. I expect that the Dr. Seuss apps will get good pickup, but I really can’t comment too much as we have over 60 apps in the App Store that have rarely been featured on review websites. I’ll give you a good example, “Money, and the Law of Attraction” was the #1 Finance app. It was featured by Apple on the front page of the App Store. It has over 152 user reviews (worldwide) with an average rating of 5 out of 5. However, none of the review websites have ever mentioned it. In short, I would say there is a big opportunity that someone could latch onto. Hint. Hint.

Q: What are your thoughts on the App Store user reviews and the ability to monitor them?

For the most part, I like it. Though, I’m not necessarily a fan of the anonymity. I understand why it is done. I just think that a bit more transparency could help. If developers could reach out to people who post reviews it could solve lots of problems. Often, a user is simply using an app incorrectly. They’ll post a bad review. You just want to write a note and help them out, hoping they’ll update their review as a result. Also, we are not happy with the fact that users are prompted to rate an app only as they are about to delete it from the device. It unfairly skews most reviews to the negative side. If Apple chooses to leave this feature in, they should similarly find a way to encourage positive reviews.

Q: What is your favorite application?

If you ask anyone that knows me well, they will tell you that my favorite app is always the one that we are about to ship next. This is absolutely, always, true. Thus, my current favorite app is the adaptation of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” e-book that we just completed. It is fantastic. I believe that it will revolutionize the way that children’s books are presented on mobile devices.

In terms of other apps that I love, here’s the short list… RedLaser, Tower Madness, Zen Bound, Flight Control, BigOven, Flower Garden,.. and, I almost hate to admit it, Moron Test. I think Moron Test is damn funny and I love handing it to people that have never seen it before.

Q: What is your most popular application? Have you received any awards or achievements for that application?

If by “popular” you mean bestselling, the answer is “Bowls” our authentic Tibetan Bowl app. Apple featured it. It was a Top-10 Music app. We shipped it last March. It has done very well for us and continues to do well.

If by “popular” you mean highest-ranking, the answer would be “Grinchmas” which we just shipped only one week ago. In less than 7 days it went from nothing to #1 Kids Game and Top-100 on the App Store.

Thank you Michel Kripalani of Oceanhouse Media, Inc. for your time!

Please post your comments, tips, and your own reviews below in the comments area!

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