While we were going through our old garbage and cleaning up stuff, we came across our old iPaq 3760! The iPaq 3760 was one of the most high tech devices way back–combine an ARM processor with Windows CE OS and you need not carry a laptop anymore! This device was one of our first ever Pocket PCs and the one that started it all–yes, we’re talking about eSoft Interactive! For those who don’t have an idea, eSoft Interactive started as a small hobby and a huge penchant for learning new technologies. About 8 years ago, Windows Mobile (then called Windows CE) didn’t have much software and games on it which is what inspired us to explore the platform and develop games! We sold our first ever game–The Fly–on Handango (one of our very first partners) and has now become a part of Arcade Challenge. When we found out that people loved what we did, we developed and designed more games, turning it again into profits and soon realized that we can convert this hobby into a full-time business–and the rest became history! The good old days!

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This part of the development phase is our most favorite because this is the time where our schedules loosen up, things become less hectic and everybody gets excited as to how the “real” public will accept our software. But Product release isn’t just about creating a package for the game files and uploading them to our online store, it also involves pre-release marketing, product page development and advertising. Before a new title is released to the public, a product page showcasing the game’s features will be created first and then added to our online store. After this, a press release statement is sent out to all our media partners. Banner ads are created by the art team and forwarded to our merchants. Press copies are handed out to online reviewers. A message board for the new title is also created so we can easily get feedback from our customers and further improve the game should the need arises. At eSoft, it’s not just about selling and generating revenues from our products. We treat our software like our babies, which means we provide regular updates to further improve them and also to support new devices that come out every so often. More than the profit itself, our major fulfillment comes from the players and customers who send us their thoughts and comments about our software. Let us know what you think about our products!

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After all the assets have been integrated and a final build is ready, a copy is forwarded to the eSoft Interactive BETA team for quality assurance and compatibility testing. In this stage, the team thoroughly tests the game for bugs, errors, gameplay issues and loopholes and lasts for at least two weeks. In most cases, the BETA team’s feedback also include suggestions that would further enhance the game. Each point is carefully noted and assessed by the development team and then integrated if they feel the need to do so. On some occassions, new ideas are even voted by the BETA team before it gets on the final version. Once all the bugs have been ironed out and the team feels that the game is almost ready, it is passed on to the web/marketing team for release!

Speaking of the eSoft Interactive BETA team, let me take this chance to thank the guys: pointoflight, blazingwolf, tjasko, fraggler, jledesma, cheryl, spmwinkel, mbaker5408, bacchus_3, ndench, phoebs, reubkov and saldatore. These guys have been with us through thick and thin! If you would like to join our internal BETA team, please feel free to email us at beta(at)esoftinteractive(dot)com.

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After all the game features and details have been discussed, the next step is to create a playable prototype of the game. This is usually done within two to three weeks after the brainstorming phase. Prototype builds usually just need temporary placeholder assets (graphics and sounds) because the focus is more on gameplay and usability. The main idea for prototyping is to find loopholes within the gameplay as well as pinpoint key features and consider them in the final development process. Another advantage of creating playable prototypes is to determine which kind of user interface lay-out will best fit most screens without sacrificing the main game contents and bearing in mind how the game will automatically adapt and adjust itself on different screen sizes. Like apps, games nowadays need to be “intelligent” too–they should know what device and resolution they are being run on.

The prototyping phase is what usually gets us more excited here at eSoft. It’s where we decide if a game project is worth pursuing and if its gameplay is addictive enough to pass our standards and expectations. We also let our internal beta team play all our prototypes so we can get as much feedback on it as possible. Come back soon for Part 3!

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You’re probably wondering why we don’t have any new mobile games yet? Most of our efforts over the past six months were spent on backend stuff like migrating to a new webhost, establishing better customer support procedures and policies, transferring to a new partner and lots more. We’ve done this to prepare the company for our future plans: to ensure quality in all our future software titles and to create better online customer interaction. Now for the good news: The next half of the year will be spent on new titles and ports, yay! We are currently brainstorming on new game ideas (which we don’t have dates yet and hopefully gets released as scheduled), working on several game ports and preparing for new platforms to release on! Be sure to join our mailing list so we can keep you posted. Fun times ahead!

If you have something to share or have a great game idea in mind, please feel free to post here or drop us an email!

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Our support(at)esoftinteractive(dot)com email account receives thousands of spam emails everyday. Because of this we apologize for not being able to get back to your emails lately. To be sure that we receive your support emails please course them through our support page. Emails from this page will not go through our spam filters anymore which means we can reply to them quickly. Likewise if you sent us a support email lately and you haven’t received any reply yet we encourage you to please re-submit your support issue using the support page as well. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have you.

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The Windows Mobile Power Tips are back! This month’s tip is about changing the default area code on your Pocket PC. Check it out from this month’s eNewsletter!

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We know this is way off-topic but we would like you to check out this collection of photos about a Katamari Cake by Sherrying on her Flickr account. It’s really cool! Katamari Damacy was one of the games we were hooked on years back and we really can’t help posting this one because it made us reminisce those days! Recently we’ve got our hands on a copy of Me & My Katamari for Playstation Portable and most of the people here in the office can”t seem to put it down. It’s a pretty neat action-puzzle game by Namco.

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Eric Pankoke of Rusty Sabre has published an in-depth review of Traffic Jam 2! Check it out! To quote Eric Pankoke: “When I first started playing eSoft Interactive games I basically dismissed Traffic Jam as not my sort of thing. After playing the sequel I realize I might just have made a mistake on that call. If you are looking for a puzzle game that is so easy it is challenging you’ve come to the right place. Good graphics, a catchy background song, and over 200 levels of mobile mayhem await you in another well conceived effort from eSoft Interactive.”

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