Stephen Williams' Android Game TapKat Fiesta - Social Media Marketing even as VoIP for Corporate and Enterprise untapped Telecoms Opportunity

“The very thing that makes the market attractive is what creates the risk associated with competing in a space where consumers have many options”

Developer Stephen Williams in an interview with Shereita Grizzle form the Jamaica Gleaner explaining why his Game TapKat Fiesta is marked for success

Does Jamaica have the talent to make it big in Video Game Design? While the Government seeks to make Animation into the next success modeled off BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) aka Call Center, Video Game Developement has gotten scant regard.

This as despite its US$82 billion potential, based on the latest stats from Newzoo’s Live Interactive Data Resource of Video Games in 2014, be they Online, Console and Casual Gaming Apps for Tablet and Smartphones as reported in my blog article entitled “Netzoo's 2014 Global Games Market Report - Developed World idle time Opportunity for Jamaicans in Video Gaming Design”, it’s a crowded field

Thus, given the competition and Piracy surrounding Video Game development, I must truly tip my hat to those fledgling Video Game Developers in Jamaica. To this end I’ve been doing the occasional Video Game review, hoping to spot a local Jamaica Developer worth blogging about as I’ve stated in my blog article entitled “2048 is Italian Gabriele Cirulli's Mathematical answer to Flappy Bird - HTML5 Time-Wasting Fun like Threes! with 3D Gaming Potential on Facebook's Oculus Rift VR”.

I’ve found one such worthy of a blog article: a one-man Developer for Pandosoft, 24 year old Stephen Williams, Developer of the Google Android Game TapKat Fiesta

Developer Stephen Williams of Pandosoft - TapKat Fiesta is taking Google Play by Storm

One such pioneers is Stephen Williams, a one-man Developer for Pandosoft, who has the distinction of not only being the animator for Tisla Wright's sex novel Star Boy but also a Game Developer for the recently launched Casual Game TapKat Fiesta as explained in the article “TapKat at 'freemium' stage - Creator eyes big figures for Jamaican-made App”, Published Saturday August 30, 2014, by Shereita Grizzle, Gleaner Writer, The Jamaica Gleaner.

His Game, TapKat Fiesta, was launched in August 2014 on the Google Play Store, an indication that he's made it his choice to go with the more popular Mobile Operating System that's typically the choice of persons in the Developing World as I've pointed out in my blog article entitled “Vision Mobile’s 10,000 Developer Global Study – Why Developers prefer developing for Android and Apple iOS yet Enterprise makes Steady Money”.

Released under the registered Animation Company Pandosoft, this one man Developer Team’s TapKat Fiesta has been getting some good reviews on Google Play Store. Since being updated on August 12, 2014, the TapKat Fiesta game that has a Maturity rating of Medium Maturity on the Google Play Store has between 100 to 500 downloads.

Its rating thus far from 23 persons who cared to comment is 4.5, which is fairly good for a new game in the Google Play Store. It really needs a How to Play section for persons to really get into playing this game.

The Casual Game for smartphones and Tablets pits you as a secret agent cat flying a helicopter that has to inoculate mutated birds by shooting them with healing balls of medication even as these birds try to shoot you out of the sky. 

It's basically a first person shooter, like Deer Hunter 2014 as described in Kelroy’s Geezam blog article entitled “Deer Hunter 2014 – Hunting Simulator on your mobile phone”. Ultimately, in order to win the Game, you have to eventually defeat Rattimus and his various henchmen.

Like the Game Flappy Birds released by Developer Dong Nguyen, also a one-man Developer with his Game  Developer Studio DotGears and now Swing Copters as described in my blog article entitled “Swing Copters is Dong Nguyen's Flappy Bird Replacement - Why Swing Copters is more frustrating to play than Flappy Birds”, Stephen Williams’ Game has potential.

TapKat Fiesta potential – It’s all about the Marketing that’ll make an App a million dollar success

However, it still up in the air as to whether or not he'll be as much as success as Dong Nguyen. His game, Flappy Birds, was so notoriously successful that he had to take it down due to complaints from angry parents claiming it was distracting their children.

This despite making some US$50,000 per day from In-App Advertising as noted in my blog article entitled “Developer Dong Nguyen takes down US$50000 a day Flappy Bird App - Unwanted Media Attention leaves DotGears Game as the first In-App Advertising Gaming App”.

But that seems to be what he's gunning for, as he's also adopted the same freemium In-App Advertising model as the famed Vietnamese Developer, to quote Stephen Williams: “Angry Birds is currently worth an estimated US$9 billion, while Flappy Bird's Developer, Dong Nguyen, was earning up to US$50,000 daily”.

However, unlike Flappy Birds, he also allows gamers to advance to higher levels by buying more powerful weaponry, health and lives via purchasing them directly using the In-App purchasing model that's making Glu Mobile's Kim Kardashian: Hollywood App a hit with her fans as stated in my blog article entitled “Glu Mobile's Kim Kardashian Hollywood App - Anatomy of How an A-List Celebrity based App propels In-App Purchases”.

With that type of competition, he's very much aware that even with a great Game and the rave reviews thus far, success isn't guaranteed, to quote Stephen Williams: “Here is where careful strategy, proper execution of your business model and focus is required. If a Developer approaches the market with the notion that a good Game (product) is all that is required to do well, their Game will end up in a pool of Apps with little to no downloads, hence little to no revenue”.

Most likely his marketing involves the use of Social Media for Pandosoft, which is still under construction and their Pandosoft Youtube Page, which isn’t getting much love by the way!

@pandosoft's TapKat Fiesta is worth taking a look at. If you like Duck Hunt, this brings back the memories! https://t.co/TH6MEiHfGD
— Graz (@elementalfact0r) September 8, 2014

At least his Pandosoft Twitter Page and TapKat Fiesta Facebook Page are active, so I can follow his latest tweets just as was the case with Dong Nguyen, Developer for the game Flappy Birds!

App Development in Jamaica – VoIP Apps for Corporate and Enterprise still untapped Telecoms Opportunity

I personally wish him all the success in the World as well as the other Game Developers who are the products of the recent Digital Jam 3.0. I'm of course referring to such Developers as Working Enigma and their thus-far published Casual Games Pan Chicken Dash and their most recent Game, Lef Mi Farm as detailed in the article “Enigmatic techies to create jobs through App development”, Published Sunday August 3, 2014 by Andrew Harris, Gleaner Writer, The Jamaica Gleaner.

Another Developer Team I’ve got my eyes on is Team NewAge who have two Game Apps out as well, Jungle Escape and Project Exit as per the article “Ja Team seeks US$120,000 in pitch to Microsoft judges”, published Friday, August 01, 2014 BY STEVEN JACKSON Business reporter, The Jamaica Observer.

Like Stephen Williams, they're well aware of the fact that they're competing in a very crowded field with other Game Developers on a Platform that's known for free-to-play games. Makes sense that they've chose a freemium model and they've concentrating their efforts on developing an App for the Regional Microsoft Imagine Cup in September 2014.

This is based on the Global Survey by Vision Mobile, it's still my premise that the real money in Developing Apps is in making Corporate and Enterprise Applications as I've long argued and now distilled into my blog article entitled “How BYOD trend in Jamaica will require Local Jamaican Developers to develope Enterprise and Corporate Apps”.

A ready example, ripe for the picking, is the development of VoIP Apps, being as the blockade against them will be ongoing for quite some time and the OUR (Office of Utilities Regulation) isn't planning on lifting it any time soon as pointed out in my blog article entitled “VoIP Talks at 30th Annual Conference of CANTO - How VoIP robs Telecoms as Not All Traffic is Equal as Caribbean VoIP Operators needed”.

Thus, it presents the Perfect Storm within which an entrepreneur App Developer with knowledge of how to set up a VoIP Platform and design a solid VoIP App to connect to Cloud Servers running that VoIP Platform can launch a VoIP Service and offer the same services as Viber and Nimbuzz, but as a licensed VoIP Operator, an idea that's worthy of a Blog article all by itself.

For now, the Government of Jamaica and particularly the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining will continued to push the agenda of Animation in Jamaica. Especially now that the World Bank is investing some US$20 million in developing this fledgling industry over the next 5 years as stated in my blog article entitled “Animation after KingstOON - World Bank Invests US$20 million in Jamaican Animation BPO Brother from another Mother with Great Expectations”.

So hats off to Stephen Williams, a one-man Developer for Pandosoft and maker of the game TapKat Fiesta on Google Play Store, who’s also a pioneer in a field that Jamaicans are yet to tap into but bears lots of Birds of a feather worth plucking!

TapKat Fiesta for Google Android

Pan Chicken Dash for Google Android

Lef Mi Farm for Google Android