Avalinx is an Ohio based company that recently has been specializing in the production of casino games for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Their games are characterized by flawless design, great graphics, and perfect integration into the iPhone multi-touch system. You can see my reviews of all of their games here. I recently had a chance to speak with Brad Dunnington, the CEO and Co-founder of Avalinx, where we discussed programming, his buisness, the state of the economy, and the future of computers.
Hello, I am Robert Barga with blogcritics.org and I would like to ask you a few questions about your company. Thanks in advance for your time.
What is your name and position within Avalinx?
Brad Dunnington, CEO and Co-Founder
Tell us a little about yourself.
During my career, I have been fortunate to have had experiences within a variety of industries including manufacturing, wholesale distribution, retail, investment banking and technology. I spent my early career with GE and Limited Brands. During the last ten years I have been involved with launching, growing and advising privately held businesses.
Tell us a little about Avalinx.
My partners and I co-founded Avalinx in 2004. Our objective was to create a software development company funded primarily by the cash flow from our consulting practice.
Where are you based?
Dublin, Ohio
What exactly does being the CEO of Avalinx entail?
In my role, I am primarily concerned with the strategic direction of the business as well as managing our key external stakeholder relationships.
What sort of programming does Avalinx do?
Our team has years of experience building robust, business-critical software in areas such as hosted web applications, mobile computing, business intelligence and enterprise productivity serving the retail, manufacturing and gaming industries. While our team is skilled in a variety of technologies, prior to our work with the iPhone, we spent most of our time working in Microsoft oriented environments.
Your company has made several high-caliber iPhone games, what can you tell us about them?
We publish the PRO Series of casino games for the iPhone and iPod Touch. We are committed to build this series into the most comprehensive series of casino games available for the iPhone platform. The series currently consists of:
-21 PRO Blackjack
-Baccarat PRO
-Let’em Ride PRO
-3 Card PRO Poker
-4 Card PRO Poker
In addition to the PRO Series, we have two other series of iPhone apps currently in development.
When you make a game, what are you looking to include in it?
The key design objectives for every PRO Series game are to provide:
A) A near real life casino gaming experience
B) A sophisticated training simulator
Among other things, our users have come to expect our PRO Series games to include features such as:
-Lifelike high resolution graphics
-Comprehensive ‘Ask the dealer’ support
-Detailed ‘Mastering the Game’ content, including:
---History of the game
---Rules & Terminology
---Game Variations
---Basic & Advance Strategy
-Expansive user controlled Preferences
-Exceptionally smooth and fast game play
What gave you the idea to start making games for the iPhone?
When we first consider developing for the iPhone, we held two strong convictions:
A) The App Store would be a VERY competitive environment
B) Our success would depend on providing exceptionally compelling products targeting large audiences.
Our definition of ‘compelling’ included considerations such as:
A) High Quality Standards – every app had to feel like it was created by Apple
B) Superior Domain Knowledge – every app had to feel like it was produced by a domain expert.
C) Premium Value – every app had to make the user feel like they were receiving more for the money than a typical app.
Our background equipped us to develop applications in the productivity, utilities and gaming categories. However, in reflecting on the iPhone platform and the anticipated user demographics, we predicted that gaming would be the category that represented the greatest potential demand for products.
What about the idea of casino games, where did that come from?
Our selection of casino games as the first series to develop was shaped by two factors:
1) Large Target Market – nearly everyone is familiar with casino games. However, there are two distinct categories of users. Skilled users who need a powerful tool to refine their skills. Novice users who need a means to orient themselves to casino games without the intimation that they might feel within a casino. We felt we could build a product to serve both types of users.
2) Domain Knowledge – Having supported the gaming industry in the past, we were confident that we move quickly to deliver a superior product providing our users with a ‘near real’ casino experience.
Several Ohio magazines and newspapers have been talking about various ways to fix the state's economy. They occasionally mention giving tax breaks and other incentives to companies that will be making movies or programming games/software in the state. What do you think about this idea?
I support efforts on the part of the state government to create a business atmosphere that encourages innovation.
Do you think that these companies can help Ohio?
Ohio has a history of innovation during the early stages of many important industries (i.e.: automotive, petro-chemical, lighting, aerospace, plastics, etc.) Tremendous employment growth and wealth creation resulted from Ohio’s participation in these industries. It is reasonable to expect that Ohio based innovators and entrepreneurs can play a significant role in job growth and wealth creation in the new industries of the 21 century.
What is the biggest difficulty facing programmers and technology companies today?
Small technology companies have to select their targeted markets very carefully. Given the accelerating speed of innovation and the increase pressure of global competition, the margin for error is rapidly shrinking. When it comes to investing our most precious non-renewable resource - our time - we need to be right more frequently than we are wrong.
How do you plan on combating this problem?
[We plan on combating it using four main methods:]
1) Closely study emerging technology trends.
2) Continually update, refine and enhance our technology skills.
3) Make fact based decision centered on return on our time invested.
4) If our decisions prove to be wrong, make quick course corrections.
Where do you see the future of programming going?
We are all faced with data overload. I believe that an area of great opportunity is in leveraging data across multiple platforms, in order to speed the transformation of data into useable knowledge, moving toward the Semantic Web.
How about the future of technology, where do you see it going?
[I see the future of technology going in two directions:]
1) Mobile computing
2) User Interface Enhancements - Touch and Voice
What advice would you give to anybody who is interested in programming, either for the iPhone or for another device?
Obtain a solid foundation in mathematics and engineering. These core skills are portable. Differences in computing platforms, development environment or programming languages are irrelevant to an engineer with a solid foundation. As the pace of technological innovation continues to accelerate, speed and adaptability will be especially critical to your success.
Is there anything else that you would like to add?
All great thought provoking questions. Thanks!
Read more ...
Showing posts with label pro. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pro. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
iPhone Game Review: 21 Pro: Blackjack - Sponsored
Are you interested in playing blackjack on your iPhone? Do you want to hone your skills before your trip to Vegas or Dubai? Are you interested in learning how to play one of the most addictive gambling games of all time? Finally, are you interested in doing all of this without risking any money, or even paying anything to learn it? If so, then the new application from Avalinx is the application for you.
21 Pro: Blackjack - Sponsored is a new application which allows you to play one of the classic casino games on your iPhone. Play against the house while you attempt to earn as many pixilated chips as you can. With control over the finest details of the game — from the looks of the table and cards, to the rules that the house plays by, to the payout for blackjack — you can get this game to be pretty close to your ideal experience. 21 Pro: Blackjack - Sponsored can do all of this and more, either for free (with a few ads before each new game) or for $4.99. Try the application out at the iTunes store today!
Pros
21 Pro: Blackjack - Sponsored has several nice features and tune-ups that make this application worth your time. The interface of the application — with its smooth renderings, vibrant colors, and changeable looks — makes this ideal for everybody. The layout is also a gigantic plus for it. You can navigate with ease and bet without a hitch. Furthermore, the layout allows you to easily find the menus and sections within the game. The touch controls work perfectly, and the whole application feels polished and flawless. To me, this feels almost as perfect as Apple's own poker game!
My favorite part of 21 Pro: Blackjack - Sponsored are the extras that you can access from its main menu. While the game itself is enjoyable, these are truly the hidden gems here and elevate it above its competitors. From the typical sections of rules and terminology to a detailed history of the game, these are some nice features. You can view different versions of the game, from 'European No-Hole-Card' to 'Spanish 21', and even learn to play them. This should impress your trivia-centric friends, and give you some spice to your game when you head to Vegas.
There is even a section called 'Master the Game', which, as it implies, lets you learn all the techniques that the pros use. The best part of this is the 'card counting' section, where the application teaches you several ways to count cards, and thus improves your chances of a nice payout. To help even further with this, the application will count the cards for you during the actual game (this makes sure that your practice is accurate).
Cons
There is very little that I did not like about 21 Pro: Blackjack - Sponsored. While the ads are annoying, clicking skip two times per new game is no big deal. Plus, if you drop $4.99 for the non-sponsored version, these annoyances quickly disappear. The only other thing that concerns me is that I occasionally got a glitch where it would automatically count an ace as 11, regardless of what the other card I had was. Hopefully it can be fixed quickly and easily.
What I Want To See
My biggest gripe is the fact that there is not as much customization as I would like. I would like to see a new dealer, more tables, more card backings, and a bigger chip set. These are probably easily addressed in an update (which they plan on doing regularly) and really are not a big deal. What I would really like to see is the option to have computer players playing alongside of you. While you would never play against them (you always play against the house), it would add a more realistic recreation of playing in Vegas, where your card counting has to include all players on the table. While this is not a necessary add-on, it would make the game more enjoyable and realistic in my mind.
Overall
21 Pro: Blackjack - Sponsored is one of the better applications that is out for the iPhone currently. The game is fun, polished, and reminds me a lot of Apple's own products, in terms of quality. While there are some things that are missing, the planned updates should be able to fix these quickly. The only thing holding this application back from a perfect is the fact that slight, and very rare, glitch when dealing with aces. If they can fix that, 21 Pro: Blackjack - Sponsored would become the perfect app for the iPhone-using blackjack player, be they a novice or a pro.21 Pro: Blackjack - Sponsored has not been rated by the ESRB. This game can currently only be found on the iPhone.
Read more ...
21 Pro: Blackjack - Sponsored is a new application which allows you to play one of the classic casino games on your iPhone. Play against the house while you attempt to earn as many pixilated chips as you can. With control over the finest details of the game — from the looks of the table and cards, to the rules that the house plays by, to the payout for blackjack — you can get this game to be pretty close to your ideal experience. 21 Pro: Blackjack - Sponsored can do all of this and more, either for free (with a few ads before each new game) or for $4.99. Try the application out at the iTunes store today!
Pros
21 Pro: Blackjack - Sponsored has several nice features and tune-ups that make this application worth your time. The interface of the application — with its smooth renderings, vibrant colors, and changeable looks — makes this ideal for everybody. The layout is also a gigantic plus for it. You can navigate with ease and bet without a hitch. Furthermore, the layout allows you to easily find the menus and sections within the game. The touch controls work perfectly, and the whole application feels polished and flawless. To me, this feels almost as perfect as Apple's own poker game!
My favorite part of 21 Pro: Blackjack - Sponsored are the extras that you can access from its main menu. While the game itself is enjoyable, these are truly the hidden gems here and elevate it above its competitors. From the typical sections of rules and terminology to a detailed history of the game, these are some nice features. You can view different versions of the game, from 'European No-Hole-Card' to 'Spanish 21', and even learn to play them. This should impress your trivia-centric friends, and give you some spice to your game when you head to Vegas.
There is even a section called 'Master the Game', which, as it implies, lets you learn all the techniques that the pros use. The best part of this is the 'card counting' section, where the application teaches you several ways to count cards, and thus improves your chances of a nice payout. To help even further with this, the application will count the cards for you during the actual game (this makes sure that your practice is accurate).
Cons
There is very little that I did not like about 21 Pro: Blackjack - Sponsored. While the ads are annoying, clicking skip two times per new game is no big deal. Plus, if you drop $4.99 for the non-sponsored version, these annoyances quickly disappear. The only other thing that concerns me is that I occasionally got a glitch where it would automatically count an ace as 11, regardless of what the other card I had was. Hopefully it can be fixed quickly and easily.
What I Want To See
My biggest gripe is the fact that there is not as much customization as I would like. I would like to see a new dealer, more tables, more card backings, and a bigger chip set. These are probably easily addressed in an update (which they plan on doing regularly) and really are not a big deal. What I would really like to see is the option to have computer players playing alongside of you. While you would never play against them (you always play against the house), it would add a more realistic recreation of playing in Vegas, where your card counting has to include all players on the table. While this is not a necessary add-on, it would make the game more enjoyable and realistic in my mind.
Overall
21 Pro: Blackjack - Sponsored is one of the better applications that is out for the iPhone currently. The game is fun, polished, and reminds me a lot of Apple's own products, in terms of quality. While there are some things that are missing, the planned updates should be able to fix these quickly. The only thing holding this application back from a perfect is the fact that slight, and very rare, glitch when dealing with aces. If they can fix that, 21 Pro: Blackjack - Sponsored would become the perfect app for the iPhone-using blackjack player, be they a novice or a pro.21 Pro: Blackjack - Sponsored has not been rated by the ESRB. This game can currently only be found on the iPhone.
Read more ...
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