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We shipped House of the Lost in October 2012 and it was one of the first roguelikes on mobile. In 2019 it stopped working with newer version of iOS and was pulled from the store. This post is the story of rebuilding it for modern devices and shipping it again last week.

TLDR: Game preservation takes work, whether by the original dev or the community at large. Mobile is a somewhat special case because most people don't collect old hardware at certain OS versions that can run older games so the code has to be kept up to date. Most of the games that have been removed over the years won't get the rebuild treatment. Mine only did because I couldn't let it go.

Except that there is no problem. I have an iPhone 4 as does my wife and I can cover the WHOLE metal band with my hands and not drop any bars. It's mass hysteria and whining. Get over it.

I'll get down-voted for this but oh well.

Who cares? If you don't like the rules then just leave, go to Android, or Windows Mobile, or whatever but don't write some post about how it's a travesty like it's going to change Apple's mind. Just leave, and stop whining about it.

Because it's not going to work.

A Marco.org Reality Check

"There would almost definitely be a Verizon Wireless logo somewhere on the iPhone’s case, probably on both the front and back. There may be separate Verizon music, video, and app store icons that you can’t delete. At least one major feature may be disabled at Verizon’s request — say, turn-by-turn navigation — because they want to sell you their own version for an additional monthly fee. Verizon may want a cut of any iTunes or App Store revenue from on-device purchases, the cost of which Apple would probably happily pass along to either users or developers. (My guess: Developers.)"

Apple wouldn't ever let Verizon pull that crap, which is exactly why the iPhone is on AT&T now. They went to Verizon and Verizon didn't want to play ball, there is no way in hell Steve would compromise on the user experience now just to be on Verizon.

This is really interesting to see. I can't wait to see how they morphed this concept into what BioShock became.

I think they will use as much of it as possible so that app developers will be able to easily move to the AppleTV platform.

I would suspect you'll see a new remote that uses Magic Mouse like touch tech and the new development tools will make it easy separate out the visual representation from the control interface.

I would also assume that you'll be able to use an iPad/iPod/iPhone as a remote, or multiple devices for multi-player gaming.

A new AppleTV that uses iPhone OS and lets you buy apps from your TV screen as well.

Just my thought/hope.

Sorry, no. We're already so far beyond something that design that we'll never take that path.

Slates are the way forward.

Haha awesome! One of the, very few, days that one of my posts was in the top 3. Thanks, you just made my day.

"The best way to come up with startup ideas is to ask yourself the question: what do you wish someone would make for you?"

I don't believe this anymore.

After 4 years of trying to follow this advice, and building 4 different web applications that were things "I wish someone would make." I've given up on following PGs advice. Perhaps I'm an anomaly, but I'm fairly sure I'm not as there are so many startups out there that all try to solve the same handful of problems, and fail.

Most of us are developers, and we have a set number of 'tasks' that seem like they should be something you could build a business out of and so we all try to do them. Task Management, Project Management, Time Tracking, Social communication, etc. There are obviously winners in this space but they are established, and it is extremely difficult for a small group of developers to come along and decide to 'solve' one of those problems.

Maybe I'm just not interesting enough, I'll admit that is possible, but I've found much greater success by building applications that people tell me they want, and pay me to build.

I also don't have a billion dollar startup, so don't listen to me, but I couldn't let another article get by with espousing the virtues of just 'building what you like' without saying something.

</Rant>

I'm sure it's possible that there is one in the works but it is lower in priority than an iPad app. iPhone users spend more money on apps, and ebooks, than Android users. You've got to go where the money is.

I got an email about it this morning and I picked it up. Haven't gotten a chance to try it yet but thanks for making it.

That is one way to look at it but the headline says. 'Twitter makes nothing.' So the comment is about setting the record straight, not comparing business models.

We know that Twitter makes money off the search deals with Google and Bing, and it's a lot more than $5 million.

This is an interesting idea but I don't know that it's Steve's style. I could see him doing a deal with Bing while also buying a startup or building a team to do search in-house.

The problem with buying Yahoo is all the other crap you would get along with search and ads. If Apple were to buy Yahoo and then gut all the other services they offer they would be the bad guy, but I also don't think they would want it all on their balance sheet.

Maybe they could do a deal for a stake in Yahoo in return for a search deal but it would probably require that Yahoo not get into bed with Microsoft like they are planning. I don't think the Yahoo management has the gumption to make a play like that.

If only we could get them blocked in America ;)

A well written article that does a good job of examining all sides. Although, understandably, it's not clearly explained that Flash is a proprietary format that has different levels of performance based on the OS running it.

Flash is the best solution for web video at the moment but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't be working toward something better. Hopefully if Google opens up the O2 video license we can get some consensus for HTML5 video and really move forward on replacing Flash as the de-facto video standard.

I've read from numerous sources that the banks are holding foreclosed home off the market until the spring to keep prices high during the 'first time homebuyers credit'.

Once it expires there should be a large influx of new homes for sale which will drive prices down. It's a game of buying now for the tax credit and 'saving' $8,000 or waiting a few months and possibly saving $20,000 because home prices have dropped.

You shouldn't ever invest in a company you know nothing about. If you're investing in the stock market you should do you research into the company before buying in.

Do not buy a house right now unless you really understand your local market and it's very different than the national average. Home prices are going to drop like a rock this Spring.

I know you said 'no stock market' but it really could be a great move for you. I perfer stocks that pay a dividend because even if the market moves downward you're still throwing off cash every quarter. AT&T pays a nice dividend, so do Verizon and DT because of their long term phone contracts. Other good choices are Kraft and Johnson & Johnson, these are consumer staples that aren't going anywhere and that will pay you to own their stock whether it goes up or down in price.

It's not a '2 year high return' but like some of the other commenters have said, you're not going to find that.

Congrats on the app store success, I'd love to pick your brain. I'm currently working on some games for the app store , what type of apps have your written?

These are pretty limiting options. Where is: I want a tablet to play two player touch games. Or: I want a tablet to use as a REAL personal computer, with me everywhere always connecting me to the Internet in a form factor that works better for real computing than a phone.

I think people are too focused on what they think a tablet isn't good at and aren't open to the possibilities of what it could be good for.

I'm very excited about the Apple Tablet rumors but I would buy a ~$700 tablet from anyone who does it correctly. It's going to take a new software paradigm, possibly a new form of a Zooming UI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zooming_user_interface), but I think there is a real market there.

The Courier is just as interesting to me but I still have doubts Microsoft can actually pull something like that off.

That's a great idea! Forced relocations always work out well, just ask the Native Americans. We really appreciated being moved across the country and forced to live in reservations.

We should definitely use that as the solution to climate change.

It's an interesting story but at $499 I don't see it selling all that well.

I'll continue to wait for the Apple Tablet.

I've seen this multiple times but now I'm going to have to watch it again.

Thanks for posting.

I had the same sort of thing happen to my blog. Google refused to show my ads due to 'landing page or ad quality' but I couldn't ever determine what the problem was or get anyone to review the site after that.

If Google has an achilles heel it's definitely lack of customer service.