游戏邦注：本文作者是世嘉创意副总监伊森·艾因霍恩（Ethan Einhorn），他在2010年1月总结了iPhone游戏《超级猴子球2》（Super Monkey Ball 2）开发过程中的成功经验和不足之处。

原版的《超级猴子球》投放到iPhone平台的时候，很快就成了苹果App Store的付费应用冠军，游戏中的Ai-Ai小猴3D形象与iPhone加速器/倾斜控制系统功能相得益彰，也让世嘉在新平台上重塑了经典。这款游戏仍在持续热卖，成了不少铁杆玩家必选的游戏挑战。

这款游戏刚登台时，有三位测试用户反映他们喜欢iPhone版游戏远甚于之前的掌机版本，但问到他们花了多长时间摸索这个新游戏机制时，他们说大概是45分钟。用户爱玩这款游戏当然是好事，但他们掌握游戏玩法所用时间却真的有点长了，可见游戏设置仍然存在许多问题。

当然，用户闯关所完成的时间长短因人而异，耐心的玩家当然会对游戏表现出超乎的热情，所以会全力探索游戏功能和玩法，而休闲游戏玩家只是想快速消遣，如果游戏时间太长就很难吸引他们停下脚步了。

还有不少玩家发现，因为倾斜控制系统太敏感了，他们没法闯过游戏中的第7条跑道。

于是我们就升级了这款游戏，增加了屏幕检测功能，提醒玩家拿iPhone的角度是否便于玩游戏，也添加了一个游戏指南，但仍觉得这款游戏不够理想，还有较大的改进空间，才能吸引更多喜欢《Peggle》和《Flight Control》这类手机游戏玩家。

我们认为只能另起炉灶，从头做起，所以就决定推出《超级猴子球2》。

除了添加流线型的控制系统，我们还想将这个继集版本中的小猴设置为可爱的3D形象、增加多人赛跑模式以及一个迷你游戏选项，同时也保留原来掌机版本的所有核心元素，打算让它在iPhone平台上创造新突破。

成功经验

1.提前制定计划，合理创建核心游戏机制

在开发这个继集版本之前，我们已经很清楚原版本的平衡控制系统并不理想，所以新项目如果不能解决这个最大的问题，那就等于彻底白搭功夫了。

在3D环境中创建合理的倾斜振动控制系统（tilt control）远比常人想象的更困难，这一点和赛车类游戏非常不同，后者通常只要使用一个轴线（仅向左向右倾斜），但3D效果却要求同时实现左右、前后方向的倾斜控制，而且只有在同一个游戏视角中才能达到最佳状态。

玩家在30度的视角玩《超级猴子球2》最舒服，但如果把iPhone举过头（游戏邦注：比如躺在床上玩游戏时），这个时候的3D倾斜控制系统就完全失效了。虽然定标选项可以克服这种状态，但如果在3D倾斜控制系统中使用这种功能，就很容易导致游戏感应滑块罢工，玩家移动屏幕上的物体（或小球）时，就会发现根本没法左右行动。

于是我们就决定先选择其中一个游戏视角，然后再测试其他视角是否理想。通过对Wii版本《超级猴子球》的运动控制数据的研究和观察，我们终于想出了一个可以兼顾新手、骨灰级玩家需求的方案。

2.设计好猴子的视觉形象

在我们的任何一款猴子球游戏中，角色形象都是其中最为重要的元素之一。要知道，玩一只可爱的小猴总比滚动一颗石子要有趣得多。在从2D转向3D的过程中，我们尽量让iPhone版的四个游戏角色（游戏邦注：即Ai-Ai，Mee Mee, Baby 和Gongon四只小猴）看起来和掌机版本中一样讨人喜欢。

设计好小猴的形象时，我们就开始构建游戏背景，好突出小猴们的艺术美感。这个过程很是费了一番功夫，我们花了不少时间决定创建多少背影元素，要植入多少颗粒状效果等等。

3.确保游戏与运行平台的兼容性

App Store刚刚上线时，开发商只需要考虑游戏与三种硬件（Edge iPhone、3G iPhone和iPod Touch Gen 1）以及一个固件平台的兼容性就行。

但《超级猴子球2》问世时，iPhone已经推出多种功能（3GS 和3G ）的手机硬件了，还有不少用户已经将固件升级到了3.0版本，但还有些用户仍在运行2.21版本的固件。

我们不想让任何一位用户的游戏体验大打折扣，所以希望这款游戏在任何平台上都能实现理想的运行效果。也正因为如此，我们最终推出的游戏成品，不但能与任何一款iPhone手机兼容，还能在最新发布的机型上运行。在这个游戏版本中，没有任何一项功能是专为最新款手机用户而特别设置的。

4.品质第一，保持创新

尽管原来开发《超级猴子球1》的游戏引擎仍然十分管用，可以有效创建新的游戏形象、调整控制系统，优化相关功能，但这种方式并不能算是一种让人满意的进步。

我们对游戏各个环节的质量都提高了要求，并在其中创建了全新的游戏体验，以便在App Store树立积极的品牌形象，保证用户对世嘉产品的信心。

这款游戏新增的几个关键功能包括：

富有挑战性的多人游戏模式：原Gamecube版本的《超级猴子球》支持玩家以分屏方式赛跑，iPhone的本地Wi-Fi兼容性可以支持这种功能，我们又增加了可容纳四名玩家全屏体验游戏的功能，游戏中的115条跑道都可以支持多人赛跑模式。

迷你游戏选项：即使是DS版本的《超级猴子球》都可以支持迷你游戏，iPhone继集版本当然更不能缺少这个选项，所以我们就选择了可以轮流体验的三种小游戏：保龄球、迷你高尔夫球和射箭。

植入这三个迷你游戏真是个正确的选择，我们庆幸至少添加了其中的保龄球小游戏，因为有不少玩家通过用户评论中反映，他们玩保龄球的次数甚至超过主要游戏任务！

彻底优化图像效果：App Store刚开业时，苹果曾用《超级猴子球1》来展示iPhone游戏的3D效果，尽管这个游戏版本看起来还是很不错，但在《实况赛车》（Real Racing）和《N.O.V.A》等出色游戏争先涌现的年代，我们还是得想法让Ai-Ai等小猴的视觉形象达到最佳效果。经常会有评论把《超级猴子球2》和之前的Gamecube版本的视觉效果拿来作比较，可见我们在这一点上已经获得了突破。

5.重视倾听用户意见

App Store最大的好处就在于，发行商可以迅速掌握用户反馈信息。世嘉也不例外，我们根据这些信息不断进行产品更新，推出继集版本。

这款游戏的多数功能设置都是取材于原版本的用户反馈，我们密切关注用户玩《超级猴子球2》时的游戏体验，只要他们写下自己的意见，世嘉工作人员就会开始记录相关信息。

原版本游戏的用户反馈，让我们更加了解休闲游戏玩家、铁杆游戏玩家之间的不同需求和游戏体验时间的差异。铁杆游戏玩家很舍得花时间摸索玩法，挑战游戏任务，一旦获得了更高的成就，就会立即发表评论。休闲游戏玩家就不那么喜欢自找麻烦了，他们希望频频获得奖励。

如果你是在开发继集版本的游戏，就得注意根据原版游戏的用户反馈调整策略——这也正是我们在新版本中添加迷你游戏选项的原因。

从这些用户反馈中，我们还可以看出玩家对游戏的好恶情绪很明显：许多用户不是给游戏评了五颗星（最高分），就是只评了一颗星（最低分）。还有玩家会明确表示自己不理解某项游戏功能，这些信息对我们重新设计《超级猴子球2》提供了不少帮助。

在《超级猴子球2》的用户反馈中，我们发现了更多有价值的信息。

在最初几周，我们获得了一些最重要的反馈信息。因为用户只有退出游戏后才能发表评论（不会有干扰性的问题弹出来干扰游戏体验），或者删除整个游戏应用时系统才会弹出对话框询问原因，所以多数人对这种操作表示很满意。

这个新版本的用户反馈总体上很乐观，许多用户认为它看起来更养眼，更容易上手；但也有人认为它有点太容易，时间也太短了（尽管我认为对多数玩家来说，115条跑道实在不能算短）；还有人称价格下降真是称心如意；不少人对新游戏保留了原版核心机制表示满意。

另一个有趣的发现是，不少用户不满这款游戏不能在越狱手机上运行。因为我们之前都只是在苹果认可的固件上测试游戏，所以这种抱怨大量涌现时倒真让我们措手不及。虽然使用越狱手机的用户毕竟是少数，但在游戏发布的第一周中，几乎50%的用户评论都在抱怨无法在越狱手机上玩游戏。

需要指出的是，这些不满的玩家都是花钱买下游戏的越狱手机用户——如果没有付费下载游戏就无法发表评论。这种情况确实让人为难，因为这并不是发行商可以解决的问题，但我们还是很认真地倾听他们的意见，尽量照顾所有人的情绪。不过要满足多数玩家的愿望，还真是得花上一些时间。如果你所能发布的补丁数量，受到了项目本身特点的限制（游戏邦注：在与外包开发者合作的时候，这种现象尤为普遍），最好的办法就是让更多用户知道，你们高度重视这个问题。

获取用户反馈的另一个途径是Touch Arcade玩家论坛，这是许多iPhone游戏玩家共同分享新游戏信息的地方，从中你还可以看到自己的游戏和市场上其他产品的对比情况。

观察用户发的贴子还有一个好处，那就是你可以从中判断他们对游戏的消费意向。比如说有人正犹豫要不要购买这款游戏，他就会发贴问其他人：这款游戏真的值这个价钱吗？然后你就有会看到玩过游戏的用户的看法，劝他们尝试游戏的理由。

美中不足

1.高估了iPhone本地多人游戏模式的需求

我们原先最关心的一个问题就是《超级猴子球2》的本地Wi-Fi游戏体验，认为它绝不亚于《Mario Kart DS》中的游戏模式。在上文中我已经提到，《超级猴子球2》可以支持四名玩家在任何一条跑道中同时竞赛，可实际上并没有多少用户愿意去尝试这种有趣的游戏体验。

多数用户反馈意见关注的是单人游戏模式，如果之前有预料到这种情况，我们可能就会放弃多人模式，在游戏中添加更多单人模式的内容（或者增加更多迷你游戏）。

2.未增加运行于3.0版固件的功能

为了确保游戏能与任何硬件/固件的规格无缝兼容，我们排除了仅限3.0版固件的功能，仅以2.2.1版固件作为设计标准，好让游戏在所有iPhone平台上顺利运行。

这也直接降低了多人游戏模式的吸引力，因为游戏系统并不支持蓝牙功能（仅限于3.0版固件）。除此之外，这种保守路线也降低了用户探索新功能的机率，限制了微交易系统的植入。

3.没有设置积分排行榜或成就管理系统

如果iPhone能像Xbox 360和PlayStation 3一样，推出通用的成就管理、积分排行榜系统那就再好不过了。但遗憾的是，iPhone在这方面并没有什么行动，所以在游戏中绑定这类功能，就成了主流发行商头痛的问题。

所幸这类功能可以在游戏更新、升级的时候再植入其中，但最理想的状态还是在游戏发布之初就带有这些功能。

《超级猴子球2》要求玩家在快速冲向终点的过程中，一路搜集10个香蕉，而且中途不能掉东西。所以假如你神速地完成了任务，并且能在积分排行榜中体现这一点，然后再让好友获知这个消息，让他们也来参与挑战，你还会产生更多的成就感。

这款游戏的后面几项挑战难度更大，所以当你闯入Crown World这一关时（游戏邦注：该关卡要求玩家在110条标准跑道上搜集10个香蕉，中途不能掉落）那就是一项很大的成就。假如我圆满完成每一关任务，我当然就会希望把胜利消息公之于众，让大家都知道我创造了一项记录。但真要这么做的话，我除了退出游戏，到Facebook上去晒贴子，就没有其他选择了。积分排行榜和成就管理系统有助于延长用户的游戏体验时间，同时可以让玩家产生更多满足感。

虽然积分排行榜、成就管理系统对铁杆游戏玩家更有吸引力，休闲游戏玩家并不十分感兴趣，但我仍然认为它们的作用仍然不容忽视。如果你已经在Xbox 360或PS3上玩过这款游戏，而且又刚得到了一部全新的iPhone手机，那么你当然也会想看看自己在这个平台上创造的成就。

4.游戏新内容的发布信息不对称

《超级猴子球2》刚刚发布时，玩家点击“迷你游戏”按钮即可登陆该页面玩猴子保龄球，该页面还显示猴子射箭、猴子迷你高尔夫等小游戏也即将登场，但并没有指出它们的具体发布时间，也没有说明它们是免费功能。

尽管我们在后来的采访中回答了这些问题（游戏邦注：这些新内容是免费的，新内容会在2010年第一季度发布），但大多数玩家还是不明真相，导致不少用户玩过整个游戏后，就直接把游戏应用直接删掉了，他们不知道自己很快就能体验免费的新内容！

这款游戏原计划是在1月份与《超级猴子球》的Wii最新版本同时发布，但实际发布日期却恰好赶上了假期季。这种日期调整很有好处，它证明了世嘉对产品质量的自信，但也有不利的地方，那就是它可能会让人觉得我们还没有做足准备，就匆匆把不完整的产品推向市场。

这款游戏在2009年11月份的售价是9.99美元，但如果所有的迷你游戏在发布之初就已经包含在列了，那么这个价格看起来还会更合情合理。但我们还是认为最为好游戏要让大家提前分享，而不是等三个迷你游戏都完工了才发布产品。

三个迷你游戏都到位的时候，《超级猴子球2》看起来和《越级猴子球1》的差别就更大了，这种差异性对产品发布来说非常重要，从中你可以看出免费内容对游戏销量的积极作用。

5.没有利用《超级猴子球1》交叉推广《超级猴子球2》

令人意外的是，《超级猴子球2》的发布居然还推高了原版本的销量，现在回头想想，如果当时我们把《超级猴子球1》当成继集版本的推广平台，告知用户新游戏的即将发布，效果还会更妙。比如说， 我们可以在《超级猴子球1》中添加继集版本中的一些跑道，也就是针对前者的用户提供简装版的《超级猴子球2》，让他们抢鲜试玩游戏。

《超级猴子球2》相关信息：

开发商：Other Ocean

发行商：世嘉

发布日期：2009年11月

运行平台：iPhone\iPod Touch

开发周期：9个月（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

Postmortem: Sega/Other Ocean’s Super Monkey Ball 2

[The first was an App Store sensation, but what of its sequel? Ethan Einhorn, Sega's associate creative director on Super Monkey Ball 2 spells out the processes that led to the creation of the second game in the series -- including all the major triumphs and mistakes.]

The original Super Monkey Ball on iPhone was the number one paid app at the launch of the App Store. Rolling Ai-Ai the monkey around in 3D tied perfectly with the tilt/accelerometer functionality of the iPhone; this new way to play allowed SEGA to re-invent a classic intellectual property. The first game continues to sell well, and is held up by enthusiast gamers as a worthy challenge to their skills.

An interesting moment as a producer on Super Monkey Ball came when three of our testers insisted that they preferred the iPhone game to earlier versions in the series, which used an analog stick for control.

I asked them how long it had taken them to get used to the new mechanics, and they all guessed about 45 minutes. It was great to hear that they loved the game, but the learning curve represented a big problem: when considering the needs of the broad audience the game was intended for, the ramp-up time was about 43 minutes too long.

Sure enough, we saw a significant split in audience response to the finished game, based on this issue. Very patient gamers tended to respond enthusiastically, while users looking for instant fun felt that the game bordered on the unplayable.

A large number of players found that they simply could not get past the seventh board in the game, because turning using tilt proved to be far too sensitive.

We updated the game to include an on-screen gauge that let players know when they were holding the device at the correct angle for play, and we added a tutorial, but we knew that more would have to be done to make this Super Monkey Ball truly accessible to the audience that was enjoying Peggle and Flight Control.

We knew we needed to rebuild from scratch, and we were given that opportunity with Super Monkey Ball 2.

In addition to streamlined controls, we wanted to make sure that Super Monkey Ball 2 delivered cute 3D characters (the first game used sprites), multi-player racing, and a selection of mini-games, all key components to the series’ DNA on traditional consoles. As character-driven platforming went, we wanted this game to set a new high bar on iPhone.

What Went Right

1. Building time into the schedule to iterate on the core play mechanics.

We knew how important balanced controls were going to be for this sequel. If we weren’t able to fix the first game’s biggest flaw, the project would be considered a failure by all involved.

Making tilt control work properly in 3D is much harder than most people realize. Unlike a driving game, which uses only one axis (tilting left and right only), 3D tilt requires left, right, forward and backward movement simultaneously, and this can only be done well at a narrowly defined play angle.

Consider: playing Super Monkey Ball 2 at a 30 degree angle can be done comfortably, but if you hold the iPhone over your head (say, while lying in bed), 3D tilt will not register at all. Calibration options are often suggested to overcome this, but if you look at 3D tilt in games that offer such features, it’s easy to “break” the games by maxing out the sensitivity sliders. When a player does this, the movable object on the screen (usually a ball) can’t shift left and right anymore.

We felt it was best to settle on one playing angle, and then test the hell out of it. This, combined with looking very carefully at the motion control data from the Wii Super Monkey Ball game, helped us come up with a control scheme that’s proven to be friendly to newcomers and experienced players alike. It took about five complete passes to lock this down, and it was important that we front-loaded our schedule with time to work on this.

2. During art passes, focusing on the Monkeys first.

Character is one of the most important elements of any Monkey Ball game; it’s so much more interesting to roll around a cute simian than a shiny, blank-slate marble! In moving the characters from 2D to 3D, we needed to make sure that we had character poly count allowances that made the four stars (Ai-Ai, Mee Mee, Baby and Gongon) look as good on iPhone as they did on consoles.

Once we had the Monkeys modeled, rigged and lit, we went onto populating the environments, allowing the characters to take aesthetic priority. This made us much more comfortable determining how many background props to create, and which particle effects to employ in the final art pass.

3. Ensuring full compatibility.

Back when the iPhone App Store launched, developers only had to worry about three types of hardware (Edge iPhone, 3G iPhone, and iPod Touch Gen 1) and one firmware platform.

By the time SMB2 launched, there were iPhone handsets available with different capabilities (notably the 3GS vs. 3G), and firmware updates meant that some consumers would be up to date (with 3.0 firmware), while other users lagged behind (sticking to 2.21 firmware).

We didn’t want to let any of our audience have a sub-par experience, so we ensured that Super Monkey Ball 2 ran perfectly on all platforms. The finished product looks cutting edge on any iPhone device, including the launch machines. This was also critical for multiplayer gaming (race mode); in the final version of the game, no advantage is provided to players with more powerful handsets.

4. Going big.

It would have been easy enough to use the same engine we had employed in Super Monkey Ball 1 (it still holds up pretty well), create some new character sprites, tweak the play controls, and stamp a “2″ on the app. But that approach wouldn’t have established a game that we’d be comfortable building upon moving forward.

By aggressively upping the quality bar in every part of the game, and building all-new play experiences into the package, we are able to increase consumer confidence in our ability to manage our core brands on iPhone. When a Sega sequel hits the App Store, you know it’s not just going to be more of the same.

So what, then, are the key features that support our claim of going big?

Competitive Multiplayer: The original Super Monkey Ball on Gamecube, a launch title for that platform, gave players a chance to race against each other in a split screen mode. iPhone’s local wi-fi compatibility allowed us to bring this feature back, with the added benefit of allowing all four players to enjoy a full screen experience. This adds a lot to the game’s replay, as all 115 boards support multiplayer racing.

Mini-games: Even the DS version of Super Monkey Ball features mini-games, and we couldn’t let the iPhone sequel launch without addressing this notable omission from SMB1. Solid pass-along multiplayer fun was crucial to cultivating a good multiplayer experience, so we chose experiences that worked best taking turns: bowling, mini-golf, and target.

It would have been great to have all three mini-games available at launch (more on that later), but we’re happy we got at least one in (bowling). Some players have noted in user reviews that they actually come back to bowling more frequently than they do the main game!

Full graphical revamp: When the App Store debuted, Apple used SMB1 to show off what 3D gaming looked like on the iPhone. The game still looks good, but we’ve come a long way since then. In the era of Real Racing and N.O.V.A, we needed to make sure Ai-Ai and his pals still set the bar for graphical excellence on the device. Editors have been favorably comparing the visuals of SMB2 to the Gamecube version of the game, so I’m confident in saying we hit this mark.

5. Listening to consumers.

One of the best things about the App Store is that publishers get immediate feedback from their user base, in the form of user reviews. Sega takes that information very seriously when working on updates and sequels.

Much of Super Monkey Ball 2′s feature set was formed in response to the feedback we got on the first game, and as we move forward, we’re closely eyeing the comments people are dropping about their experience playing Super Monkey Ball 2.

When users take the time to write down their feedback, they should know that people at Sega are reading the feedback and taking notes.

Customers who reviewed the first game gave us insight into the existence of a real split between the needs and patience levels of core and casual players.

Core users will take the time to master challenging mechanics, and will even come back to rewrite review posts once they have a better handle on the experience. Casual players are less interested in an intense challenge; they want consistent rewards, and they need them to pop up frequently.

If you’re working on a legacy product, be prepared for lots of requests from fans for you to adhere more closely to the qualities of the original game — there was a clear demand for mini-games, given the SMB1 user feedback.

We also learned that people tend to love or hate a game — most users will give you either 5 stars (highest score) or 1 star (lowest score). And users will make it very clear when they don’t understand a specific mechanic. All this information helped us better tailor the SMB2 experience to the broadest possible audience.

When it comes to SMB2′s Customer Feedback, we learned even more.

In the first few weeks, we faced some of the most critical feedback, because users had to either go out of their way to post their notes (since they aren’t asked for their feedback during play sessions) or respond to a prompt that pops up when they removed the app from their device. Most of the consumers that are happy with your game won’t say anything about it until much later, when they’re finally removing the game months later to clear up handset space.

Overall, the early SMB2 feedback indicated that people thought the game was much better looking and easier to play; that perhaps it was a little too easy and short (though I like to think 115 boards isn’t too short for most players); that rapid price drops are now an expectation; and that people are generally okay with having core content promised in updates, provided they won’t be asked to pay for it when it appears.

We ran into an interesting situation on user reviews with SMB2 at launch: we learned from reviews that the game would not work on jailbroken handsets. We only test our games on Apple-approved firmware, so we were taken off guard when we received a high volume of complaints about this. Players with jailbroken handsets are in the minority, but in the first week, nearly 50 percent of our reviews were from consumers frustrated that the game would not run properly on their jailbroken devices.

It should be noted that these complaints were coming from jailbreakers that had purchased the game — you can’t post feedback if you haven’t paid for a game. This is an example of a vocal minority that can appear much larger when your App first hits the scene, and highlights a real challenge — what do you do when users become upset over an issue that is out of a publisher’s range to address?

Of course, we listen to everyone, and do what we can to keep everybody happy, but it can take some time to sort out the big issues that most players want addressed. If the number of patches you can post are limited by the constraints of the project (a common issue when you’re working with external development resources), you want to make sure that you laser-focus on the issues that are most important to the largest audience.

Another great place to get user feedback is in the Touch Arcade player forum. This has become the most popular place for dedicated iPhone gamers to share their thoughts about new releases, and you get a great sense of how your game compares to everything else on the market.

One advantage of watching forum posts is that you get consumer feedback from people who are considering a purchase, but are on the fence. What needs to be there to convince them to jump in? And how do those playing the game respond when asked the most common Touch Arcade forum question: is the game worth buying at its current price?
What Went Wrong

1. Overestimating the demand for local multiplayer gaming on iPhone.

One of our primary focuses on Super Monkey Ball 2 was to offer a local wi-fi gaming experience that we felt would be comparable to the competitive mode on Mario Kart DS. As stated earlier, on SMB2, up to four people can simultaneously race through any of the 115 boards in the game, provided they are near a wi-fi hotspot.

It’s a very fun, balanced play experience that very few consumers seem to be bothering to use. Virtually all of our feedback from consumers has focused on the single-player experience, and if we had known that interest in the multiplayer would be so limited, we may have dropped it in favor of adding more content to the solo experience (or adding more mini-games).

2. No 3.0 firmware functionality.

In an effort to ensure that our game worked seamlessly on all hardware/firmware configurations, we opted not to present any 3.0 firmware-exclusive features. It seemed safest to build to the 2.2.1 firmware instead, which guaranteed full compatibility across all handsets.

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Drawbacks to this approach included substantially reduced user interest in the multiplayer option, as Bluetooth support (only available on 3.0 firmware) was not made available as an option for connecting devices.

It also reduced our ability to let consumers know when new features were available, and made it impossible to integrate a micro-transaction driven storefront.

3. No leaderboard or achievement support.

It’d be great if the iPhone ecosystem featured a universally employed achievement and leaderboard system, as Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 do. But since it doesn’t, the issue of integrating these features becomes a bit complicated, particularly for major publishers.

Fortunately, these are the kinds of features that are possible to activate through updates, but it would have been ideal to have launched with them day one.

Super Monkey Ball 2 is about racing to the finish line as quickly as possible while trying to collect 10 bananas without falling. It would have been great to let your friends know that you’re able to beat a stage with incredible speed by posting to a leaderboard, setting a bar for them to try and reach.

Some of the challenges late in the game are pretty tough; even getting to the Crown World (which requires you to collect 10 bananas in all 110 standard boards without falling) is an accomplishment. When I perfected every stage, I wanted to see an achievement unlock! I wanted to have my skill on public record! Instead, I found myself posting a message to my Facebook contacts after I jumped out of the game. Achievements and leaderboards can significantly improve the lifespan of a game — they keep you going well past finishing the final board.

Currently, I believe that achievements and leaderboards are more interesting to core players than casual players, but that doesn’t diminish their importance. If you’ve been playing Xbox 360 or PS3, and you just got a shiny new iPhone, you’re going to want to see achievements pop up — it’s a key component to the enthusiast gaming experience. I believe that most major games will support leaderboards and achievements in one fashion or other by the end of 2010.

4. Splitting the content offering into two pieces.

When Super Monkey Ball 2 launched, the “minigames” button lead players to a landing page that allowed them to play Monkey Bowling. The page also promised that Monkey Target and Monkey Mini-golf would be coming soon. It was not made clear that the missing content would be coming free of charge, and no expected release dates were provided for the expanded content.

We answered these questions in interviews (yes, the content would be free, and the new content would hit in the first quarter of 2010), but most players didn’t get the message. As a result, there is an increased risk that many people have finished the main game, and have dumped the App from their device… not knowing that substantial free content is on its way!

The game’s release date had been pulled up to ensure that we hit the holiday season. The original strategy was to launch in February, alongside the new Wii Super Monkey Ball game. The shift was good, in that it was a demonstration of Sega’s confidence in the quality of the product, but it was also difficult, because it put us in a position of not having all of the intended game content ready for launch.

The initial $9.99 asking price last November would have seemed more justified if all of the content had been there from day one. We were very happy with the value proposition the launch package offered, and we believed that it was better for consumers to enjoy a great game right away, rather than making them wait for all three mini-games to be finished.

But with all three mini-games in place, SMB2 feels more distinct from SMB1, and that differentiator would have been very valuable to have at launch. It’ll be interesting to see if the delivery of that free content helps to boost the overall sales of the game.

5. Not effectively using SMB1 to cross-promote SMB2.

When SMB2 launched, there was a surprisingly robust uptick in sales of the original game. Looking back, I wish that we had done more to use SMB1 as a platform for informing consumers about the value of the new game. One example would be to offer an update to SMB1 featuring three sample boards from SMB2 (effectively, a “lite” version of SMB2 made available only to SMB1 owners).

Data Box

Developer: Other Ocean

Publisher: Sega

Release Date: November 2009

Platforms: iPhone, iPod Touch

Number of Developers: 9

Length of Development: 9 Months（source:gamasutra）