Believe it or not, it’s already been two years since Fruit Ninja sliced its way onto the iTunes App Store. The slash-happy game notched up over 20 million sales for Aussie developer Halfbrick within the first 12 months, and now the studio is celebrating with a week-long competition tour that will see someone crowned Australia’s Fruit Ninja Master.
Ridiculously fun mobile game Jetpack Joyride is now available for free on Facebook, which means you probably won’t do much work today. Check it out, if you haven’t already. It’s a simple idea, executed brilliantly.
Fruit Ninja Kinect hurts my shoulders. And I need my shoulders for doing stuff. That’s pretty much the only reason why I don’t play it everyday, because Fruit Ninja Kinect is actually quite fun. Apparently a lot of people agree, since the game has hit one million downloads since its release.
Mobile games that have experienced explosive success have a tendency to venture beyond mobile devices: think Angry Birds plush toys, clothing, keychains, and accessories. Now Australia’s very own Halfbrick is following suit with Fruit Ninja.
There are copycats in all walks of life, but with the increased ability to self-publish we’re seeing more and more video game developers stealing ideas, concepts and even assets from other studios. We spoke to Halfbrick and Firemint about the ever-increasing number of Fruit Ninja and Flight Control clones doing the rounds. We also speak to the perpetrators — what do they have to say for themselves?
Halfbrick are going from strength to strength with the announcement that Jetpack Joyride has sold million copies and, since the game went free-to-play, it has been downloaded 14 million times.
‘Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth’ — that’s what my Mum used to always say when I complained that the totally rubbish jumper my Gran bought me for Christmas was itchy/ugly/three sizes too small. Well, today Halfbrick has given us a gift horse — Jetpack Joyride — but it’s a bit of a stallion. No need to go near this one’s mouth — just ignore this utterly pointless intro and download it before they change their minds!
It’s easy to think of them as an overnight success: a studio that burst forth fully-formed with the single goal of dominating the iOS market with a series of fruit-slicing, jetpack joyriding, monster dashing games they’d prepared earlier. It’s also easy to be wrong. While many believe Halfbrick only came to exist after the release of the critical and commercial iOS hit Fruit Ninja, the Brisbane studio has been quietly working on games for almost ten years. This is a story about how everyone now knows who they are.
The NSW government has just announced that it will be helping fund a new wave of digital content creations in Australia, utilising funds from the $3 million strong Interactive Media Fund. Among the recepients are Halfbrick, who are in the process of opening a new studio in Sydney, and Nnooo — the creators of the critically acclaimed Escape Vektor.
