With the Indian Premier League II set to start from April 18 in Durban, South Africa, cricket fever has gripped Indians around the globe once more. Little wonder then that Indiagames, a Mumbai-based gaming company, chose this season to launch 'Cricket Super Sixers' for iPhone users abroad.
Cricket Super Sixers is a 3D fast-paced game for iPhone users in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
The company plans to start off with cricket followed by Bollywood games developed in India. Indiagames sees a huge opportunity in tapping these markets.
The game's launch will coincide with that of the IPL. Being the first Indian company to publish titles on the iPhone, Indiagames has an aggressive plan and hopes to release over 20 titles in the next six months.
"We are in all probability the first Indian company to publish titles on the iPhone. Starting with cricket, Indiagames will launch more games on based on Bollywood movies," says Vishal Gondal, chief executive officer, Indiagames.
Calling the iPhone App Store a very competitive marketplace, with thousands for free and paid applications made by hundreds of developers, he says, "It is important to build a very high quality product and target the right category."
More than 6,000 games are now available on the iPhone's App Store.
iPhone: Gamers' delight
The company plans to cash in on iPhones, which offer an excellent interface for gaming. Stepping into a new platform, Indiagames see a huge opportunity in this space as there are many people in the US, who are keen on playing these kind of games on iPhones.
"iPhone is an exciting handset, which has changed the mobile gaming scene throughout the world. It has made other handset manufacturers to think about their products again and make more user friendly experience like the iPhone. One of its main features is the use of the touch screen, which has been fully utilised in this cricket game," explains Srinivasan, Indiagames' lead programmer for the Cricket T20 Super Sixers game.
The iPhone's popularity and its touch screen experience make it a good avenue for gaming, feel gamers.
The game of cricket
The player can slash and slide across the screen and play the favourite cricket shots. The game offers real life player animation with the game based in Durban. Using your fingers, you can play the favourite cricket shots with gesture controls.
You can play over 25 different shots including square cut, cover drives and the hook shot. The company believes that the user experience would make the game a big hit. The game also features online leaderboards where the user can upload his score to see where he ranks with other players in the world.
"The 3D graphics, cutting edge proprietary technology (ICE 3D), real life player animations for the true cricket experience and a game in South Africa's Durban Stadium, one of the current venues of the IPL tournament and the T20 mode of play makes the game different and exciting," says Gondal.
A money spinner?
"Its too early to predict revenue figures but we are pricing the application only at $0.99 and feel that at price and the entertainment value the game will deliver," Gondal says.
The company plans to initiate online and social media marketing to popularise the game, besides spending on mobile marketing. The company will be will be showing banner advertisements to people visiting various mobile sites for cricket score updates
"Developing the game for the iPhone was easy, thanks for Apple to designing a great developer-friendly product. It took us about a month to develop this game. We could develop this game in such a short time with the help of the proprietary ICE 3D platform," adds Srinivasan.
Image: A screenshot of the game. | Photograph, courtesy: Indiagames
