With one new title launching last week (Farm Friends) and an upgrade launching this week (Popper! v2.0) I'm back to the PR grind (*group sigh*):

• Step 1: Email App Review sites
• Step 2: Wait
• Step 3: Follow up
• Step 4: Wait
• Step 5: Hey they got back with me and it's a canned email response - yeaaaaa!!!
• Step 6: Scoff at their "paid review" offer
• Step 6: Cry
• Step 7: Give up, move on

We all know selling apps does not wholly rely on app reviews. Selling an app is just like marketing any other product. Find your target audience and talk to them! Is your audience frequenting review sites? Maybe, maybe not. For me the exercise of engaging reviewers has become less about selling apps and more about building relationships with other professionals in the mobile industry

But who to associate with?

Let's face it, with App Reviews there's a lot of sleaze out there.

• "Review Sites" mimic the data in the App Store for a few piddly affiliate dollars are a dime a dozen.
• Other sites allow devs to buy their way to the top.
• Many review sites don't have an interest to building relationships with their developer customers
• Some that simply don't know how to write a review!

So who represents real authority in iPhone App Reviews?

Why waste time talking to a bunch of jacklegs who don't know their shizzle? This post is the first in a 5-part series of interviews I'm conducting with review sites that really knock my socks off.

I've started with Slide To Play. Why? Because of all of the review sites they:

1. Were hands down the most responsive of any review site I've contacted over the past year.
2. They're professionals. I mean just look at the site. It oozes "we know what the hell we're talking about folks!"
3. If you have any questions about how qualified they are to review apps, just look here - incredible reservoir of experience in the industry
4. I have to say one more time that in all of our email communications they were on the ball - responsive and thoughtfully crafted responses to questions
5. They don't hide from their audience. Go to their about page and you can email anyone from the Slide to Play group.

Slide to Play - The Interview

Interview with Steve Palley and Andrew Podolsky of Slide to Play.

How did the idea of OATS (Organization of App Testing Standards) come about?

In regards to OATS's origins... the organization is intended to fight "advertorial" and other unethical practices being used by certain iPhone app review sites.

The iPhone games business is incredibly exciting, but like any hyper-competitive industry, it can also be a nasty place. Many developers are more than willing to buy off reviewers for positive coverage, and more than a few sites are taking their money.

This shafts consumers and ultimately gives all of our sites--crooked and straight--a bad name. Readers don't realize that they're trusting coverage that's been bought and paid for, and they end up getting burned on games that don't deserve to be purchased. Meanwhile, the sites that are taking payola from developers gain a competitive advantage on the honest sites, adding insult to injury.

STP has lost numerous advertisers to sites that fight dirty. I got sick of it, so I banded together with some like-minded editors to form the Organization for App Testing Standards. I wrote our Manifesto and came up with the name, too. The technical and organizational legwork has been done by the other three charter members: 148Apps, iPhone Games Network / TouchGen, and AppEra.

Here's the editorial that started it all: http://www.slidetoplay.com/story/friday-slide-we-solemnly-swear and a follow-up disclosing some more details: http://www.slidetoplay.com/story/why-ethics-are-important

What role to do you see advertising or sponsorships playing in the iPhone gaming space?

We see advertising as a very important part of the iPhone gaming scene, especially when it comes to free, ad-supported games or applications. We've covered free games that are part of larger ad campaigns as well: http://www.slidetoplay.com/story/more-ad-games-to-come-as-waterslide-extreme-hits-3-million-downloads

Our feeling on this is that the pricing situation in the App Store is highly elastic-- consumers expect a lot more for a lot less than they ever have before. Ad-supported games provide great value on the App Store, but at the same time a lot of lengthy, high-quality games can be purchased for just a dollar or two, with no ads.

What trends do you see emerging in the iPhone gaming space?

(Ex: How are developers trying to break their game out of the pack? What are the coolest new gameplay trends?)

I think some of the most exciting game trends we tend to see are online integration. Leaderboards are becoming commonplace, especially with several third-party developers like OpenFeint or Agon that have created a platform for online high scores and other online features. We're also seeing more live online play through the 3G network-- games like FAST and iMech are notable standouts in this area. In addition, the trend of shrinking full-sized console games to fit on the iPhone, like in Madden 2010, Modern Combat: Sandstorm, and Civilization Revolution (all from large developers) makes us very happy as dedicated gamers.

How well are multi-player games being executed on the iPhone? Is it a niche still in its infancy?

Multiplayer is growing-- keep in mind we have only just begun year two of this iPhone/iPod Touch gaming cycle. OpenFeint, in addition to leaderboards, has expressed their intent to develop more live multiplayer abilities for developers, so I think this year we are going to see some really impressive online games. However, with so much competition, the real trick will not just be making a game run smoothly online, but also keeping the audience hooked for more than a few days. The iPhone is still looking for its own game like World of Warcraft, and we may see it this year.

What are your top 5 must-have gaming apps?

We play about 50 new games a week at least, so I constantly have a new favorite. However, some recent games that have stayed on my iPhone while others get the boot:

1. Rolando 2
2. Civilization Revolution
3. Gangstar
4. Puzzlings
5. Orbital

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