2048, success and me • Hacker News Board

Re: 2048, success and me

#151

Post by outworlder » Tue, May 06, 2014, 9:22 PM UTC

stevenh wrote: post #103

A few thoughts as someone who has developed games for iOS, Android, and the web: In today's world, if you want to retain implicit ownership of your product's name, a simultaneous triple-platform release is not optional, it is required. It must be performed in precisely the following way, or your launch will fail: - Register your game's domain before announcing it to the public. - Next, upload your iOS app to iTunes C…

Remember: your app doesn't have to be launched to the general public immediately after Apple's approval process is done. Just set an availability date in the future. You can then make it available manually when you are ready.

You can even submit an app that is not yet finished (if it is a game, it may be missing levels, for instance), as long as it is usable in the current state and does not crash. Of course, when you update you have to go through the process again, but at least the application name is yours already.

If simultaneous launch is required, that seems to be a better approach. I am not sure if the Play store has the option of not making the app available immediately after launch, but if it has, you could flip the switches all at once.

Also, do you have to release a web version? It doesn't seem to be paying off.

Re: 2048, success and me

#152

Post by poopsintub » Tue, May 06, 2014, 9:28 PM UTC

dabernathy89 wrote: post #118

stevenh wrote: post #103

A few thoughts as someone who has developed games for iOS, Android, and the web: In today's world, if you want to retain implicit ownership of your product's name, a simultaneous triple-platform release is not optional, it is required. It must be performed in precisely the following way, or your launch will fail: - Register your game's domain before announcing it to the public. - Next, upload your iOS app to iTunes C…

> The other developer's app was simply my own website, stolen line for line, tossed into Phonegap, and released the same day as my website. > two days later, a clone with the same name and all the code stolen from my site was already approved for iOS And there is no recourse when this happens? You can't report them?

As someone mentioned above, a lawyer. I feel it's extremely rare someone is going to steal an unreleased game in the first place, If you're a well known developer or big gaming company, maybe the probability goes up slightly, but even then, a big game success is still a shot in the dark.

Re: 2048, success and me

#153

Post by TrevorJ » Tue, May 06, 2014, 9:30 PM UTC

atmosx wrote: post #65

pdeuchler wrote: post #27

A couple of OT thoughts... 1) It was very odd seeing something go from the HN "new" page, to the front page, to seeing people talk about it on twitter, to hearing about it from friends who have no idea what a "github" is, to my mom asking me to help her download this new game all her friends are playing. I still don't know how I feel about it. And yes, for some reason I feel like I have some sort of ownership simply…

> [...]we need to remember that (hubris aside) what we do everyday, even if it's just a side project we did for fun one evening, has the potential to change the world in an instant[...] Really? So '2048' changed the world. I have this feeling that developers change the world more often than Cartoon/TV-heros save thew world these days. How many apps away from world peace?! ps. Developers are the only group of people w…

Developers are most certainly not the only group of people who suffer from this.

I also think that there's actually some truth in feeling like you can change the world through code. There have been a huge number of code projects that have impacted out culture a whole lot over the last 20 years and in many ways they've been by far the most visible cultural lampposts.

Re: 2048, success and me

#154

Post by TrevorJ » Tue, May 06, 2014, 9:36 PM UTC

atmosx wrote: post #148

pdeuchler wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Touché. But don't worry, I've been watching Silicon Valley as well (great show). Please note I'm not saying this was some sort of amazing act of altruism, or that Gabriele has "redefined a paradigm". But the fact remains that millions (probably?) have dedicated a portion of their daily lives to this game, and that, by definition changes things within the world we live in. I don't mean to cause offense, but I happen t…

Sorry but changing the world is a phrase open to interpretation. To me sounds extremely pretentious as I don't have any software developer in that list. When you mention people who change the world I picture Mandela, King, Ghandi and other political leaders who made their lives and the lives of their societies better . A piece of software can not achieve something of similar scale and importance because... There's no…

Humanitarians change the world but so do inventors.

I would argue that Edison, Bell, Ford and the like all changed the world significantly. Did they change it for the better? Who is to say?

Mandela, King and Ghandi certainly were overt in their motives to change the world for the better, so in many ways they may be more visible targets, but Bill Gates, Tim Berners-Lee, and the whole current raft of inventors of Twitter, Facebook, etc. have certainly changed the world.

Re: 2048, success and me

#155

Post by jamiltron » Tue, May 06, 2014, 9:41 PM UTC

grrrando wrote: post #136

baddox wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regarding point 1, to add to that weirdness, all of this closely followed the massive App Store success of Threes, which 2048 is nearly a clone of (and I understand that Threes is nearly a clone of another earlier game).

Threes! was the original, not "nearly a clone".

2048 is most definitely a clone.

Re: 2048, success and me

#156

Post by benjamincburns » Tue, May 06, 2014, 9:42 PM UTC

I think Gabriel's aversion to profiting from this creation is laudable, but I wonder how much of it is driven by a sense of guilt over the reaction from the creators of Threes. That said, I'd hope that those guys would get in tough with Gabriel and have a candid conversation which amounted to "okay, seriously dude - make some money already!"

Re: 2048, success and me

#157

Post by [deleted] » Tue, May 06, 2014, 9:51 PM UTC

absherwin wrote: post #150

stevenh wrote: post #103

A few thoughts as someone who has developed games for iOS, Android, and the web: In today's world, if you want to retain implicit ownership of your product's name, a simultaneous triple-platform release is not optional, it is required. It must be performed in precisely the following way, or your launch will fail: - Register your game's domain before announcing it to the public. - Next, upload your iOS app to iTunes C…

If they literally copied your website, this is a simple case of copyright infringement. Source code, descriptive text and graphics are each individually subject to copyright. You should be able to file a DMCA request to remove the offending app. Assuming their app that copied yours was successful, a lawsuit for damages might be worthwhile. Note that the simple concept of a game is not subject to copyright. Also note…

[deleted]

Re: 2048, success and me

#158

Post by UweSchmidt » Tue, May 06, 2014, 9:53 PM UTC

kohanz wrote: post #13

Thanks to the help of my parents and my friends, I realized that the only way to get over this without feeling like I had missed an opportunity would be to embrace it and produce an app. I wouldn’t be doing it for profit, though. In fact, that is not what matters to me. I'm slightly confused, because he repeatedly states that profit is not a motivator, but then that menu screenshot of the app shows a "Remove Ads" but…

I could see making something without a profit motive and providing it for free. However, after someone else stole it and commercialized it heavily, many of the benefits of providing something for free are gone (maybe a cool community could have grown around the game? Someone coming to the creator and propose building another game?)

Now that money is being made, he'd probably rather see the money coming to him.

Re: 2048, success and me

#159

Post by genofon » Tue, May 06, 2014, 9:57 PM UTC

bicknergseng wrote: post #149

Threes hardly came up with this combination game idea. I know for certain Triple Town [1] has basically the same gameplay (except you drop instead of swipe, some extra cutesy elements) and is from 2011, and I highly doubt it originated the concept or gameplay. To use their example, I feel like Asher Vollmer and Greg Wohlwend created Dr. Mario and not Tetris, and were shocked when people started playing other Tetris k…

Totally agree, I read the letter from three and I've found it really annoying, maybe they wrote that for marketing.. I understand how they can feel but I don't understand how can someone have the courage to say that their game is better.. Million of people choose something else that's a pretty clear sign

Re: 2048, success and me

#160

Post by IneffablePigeon » Tue, May 06, 2014, 9:59 PM UTC

tensor wrote: post #143

frogpelt wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When 23 million people are talking about your little weekend project, you have changed the world. Maybe your definition of 'change the world' is too stringent. Squeezable ketchup bottles changed the world too. Instead of being so uptight about how people use the phrase why you don't you start trying to create your own impact?

Instead of being obsessed with entertainment and other forms of self gratification, it would be nice if people focused on important problems with actual historical consequence.

So playing and talking about a game means you never focus on important problems?