Ow My Balls! The game

I’m an impatient kinda guy. Waiting around to see if the game gets approved isn’t good enough. So we’ve gone through a heroic four day effort to make further changes that should guarantee approval. In the process we’ve included an awesome new feature that wasn’t supposed to come out for a while, but we just couldn’t resist. Gonna keep it on the down low for now.

We’ve submitted this new application to Apple for approval under a different name. So now we have one version waiting in Tier 2 review and another in Tier 1. I think that’s the most we can do for now.

We have received the another note from Apple notifying us that the application will require additional time for review. According to folks on the forums 30+ days is the expected wait time from this point.

We’re hanging in there. This is really tough, but we are determined to get this game out. We’ll do everything in our power to get this out to you soon.

Ow My Balls! v1.01 has been submitted for review. We’ve made a couple of changes to try to address the concern that getting kicked in the balls is inappropriate. It’s hard to fix a problem when you don’t really understand what it is, but I think we did a good job. We’ve also spent a ton of time improving the code so it performs faster and uses less memory. Check out this game demo of the latest version.

So the mood is finally upbeat again here at the world headquarters for Ow My Balls. We’re recharged and cranking on a new version of the game that we hope to get into Apples hands for review shortly. While we crank, enjoy some more ball hit action. We call this one Fish Balls!

I’ve been trying to figure out if maybe getting kicked in the balls really is sexually inappropriate. We all have different values and maybe mine are just off. Did some digging around Amazon and here’s what I found.

via. Amazon.com

This is the Family Follies VHS from Americas Funniest Home Videos. Note on the cover there is not one but TWO, maybe even THREE nutshots taking place. Not only that, but check out the description…

“Are you a person who loves wacky blooper shows… but hates Bob Sagat? Then this is the video for you! … and all the getting-hit-in-the-crotch movies that you could possibly want. This is truly a “best of” package…” –Brendan J. LaSalle

So getting kicked in the crotch is funny for FAMILIES, or at least it was in the 80s.

We sent a very kind response to Apple asking for more information about why our app was rejected. In response we received another e-mail that looked just like the last one, but with a notable change.

Where the letter used to say objectionable content it now says sexually inappropriate content. I can’t imagine there is anything less sexual than being kicked in the balls.

Time to go contemplate our next move.

Ow My Balls!

We got a rejection letter from Apple. Nothing specific – just a reference to the obscenity clause. It says if we can make the necessary changes we should resubmit. It doesn’t list any necessary changes, so maybe we should just resubmit? We sent a reply to Apple asking for clarification and an explanation. We’re going to have to go think about what the right thing to do is.

It’s going to be tough to keep upbeat and positive through this. Putting so much care and effort into a game and having it rejected without clear reason – it stings like a kick to the balls. Speaking of, maybe it’s the right time for another nutshot video! Thank the lord for YouTube. This is how it feels to get an App Store rejection e-mail.

Karate Balls! (click to watch)

We’ve entered the most nerve wracking part of the iPhone and iPod Touch development process – waiting for approval from the app store. We did everything we can to ensure approval and now we get to wait and see if we pass the test.

In the mean time, I’ve been working on improvements to memory management while waiting for approval. Also doing some control and UI tweaks. All boring stuff, so how about we entertain you with some more ball shot videos! Let’s go to the world of footballs….

It is a great day in the land of my balls. Three and a half weeks ago this was just a dream. Today we have shipped version 1.0 to Apple for review. We are extremely proud of the work we have done and can’t wait for everyone out there to get an opportunity to play it. To celebrate we’re going to embed yet another awesome nutshot video here for you to watch. You’ll just have to be patient to see the final version of the game.

Thanks to everyone who helped us along the way. This was a heroic effort and we couldn’t have done it without your support.

This video shows how it feels to be done with the project. For now.