Starting the Game - iPhone Game Blueprints - page 12

The length of the text label is measured in pixels, not in text characters. Usually it is
equal to dozens of letters. If your name includes narrow letters such as I, L, and J,
there will be many more characters in the text label (for example, up to 16). In contra-
distinction, the words with wide letters W, O, and so on would take more space. So,
always experiment with various words. The hyphenation algorithm used on the App
Store works with phrases, so it breaks down not words into letters, but phrases into
single words, this is why it is sometimes difficult to write a few long words in a single
line. If the name is longer than both text rows, the name will be truncated, the sys-
tem will replace some letters with an ellipsis. iOS in its turn writes names of applic-
ations in one line without hyphenation. So, if a text label is long, it has been broken
off and has got the ellipsis, which looks very unattractive, like a torn dress. That is
why some developers try to use abbreviation or short forms of their titles on devices.
For example, PopCap had to use a shorter alias for Plants vs. Zombies 2 , which was
overly long for iOS, so PvZ 2 was used instead. When talking about names for mo-
bile games, the old phrase " less is more " rings true.
Having invented the name, try to check its availability. This can be done by searching
for it on Google, App Store, and other popular locations. It is worth checking whether
or not your chosen name is already a trademark. Otherwise, if the title (or some of its
parts—for example, the term "Tower Defense" is copyrighted) and belongs to some-
body, but your published game used it widely, there can be some unpleasant con-
sequences: because of trademark disputes, the application can be removed from
App Store. There was a buzz about the puzzle game Edge by Mobigame ; despite
being a critically acclaimed product, it was removed from App Store a few times be-
causeofdisputesabouttheword"Edge"usedinthetitle( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Edge_by_Mobigame ) .
The availability of a name can be checked via various official online services, for
instance, United States Patent and Trademark Office ( USPTO ) has Trademark
Electronic Search System ( TESS ) on their website http://www.uspto.gov/trade-
marks/index.jsp . There is a similar system in the United Kingdom, the Intellectual
Property Office has search trademarks option on their website http://www.ipo.gov.uk/
types/tm.htm . There is also The Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market,
which is the registry of trademarks within the European Union. It has a database
search on its website too ( http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/QPLUS/databases/
searchCTM.en.do ).
You must be prepared for the name to already be taken (there are thousands of
games in the world, so many good-looking titles are already used), so always have