Carlsbad iPhone Developer Up For Award

Appy Entertainment, our favorite Carlsbadistan based iPhone applications developer has been nominated for an “Achievement in Art and for Audio Achievement” award from the Independent Games Festival for their game Zombie Pizza.

“Recognition by the Independent Games Festival is a significant achievement for our young company,” said Appy CEO Chris Ulm. “Zombie Pizza was one of only two games to secure multiple nominations, and was chosen from a record field of 170 entrants. We are especially pleased given that these awards recognize excellence not only in iPhone design, but actually encompass all hand-held systems, including the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP.”

Congrats to the guys. If they don’t win this, something is wrong with the voting system. Follow the jump for all the details.
INDEPENDENT GAMES FESTIVAL HONORS APPY ENTERTAINMENT
Multiple Award Nominations Cap Stellar Debut Year
For California iPhone Start-Up

CARLSBAD, California — January 28, 2010 — Appy Entertainment’s critically-acclaimed Zombie Pizza (www.appyzombiepizza.com) has been nominated for Achievement in Art and for Audio Achievement by the Independent Games Festival.

Established in 1998, the Independent Games Festival recognizes the best independent game developers, similar to the way the Sundance Film Festival honors independent film makers. “Recognition by the Independent Games Festival is a significant achievement for our young company,” said Appy CEO Chris Ulm. “Zombie Pizza was one of only two games to secure multiple nominations, and was chosen from a record field of 170 entrants. We are especially pleased given that these awards recognize excellence not only in iPhone design, but actually encompass all hand-held systems, including the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP.”

Zombie Pizza, a fast-paced action-puzzle game that challenges players to construct pizzas for the ravenous undead, has already received widespread critical acclaim. Zombie Pizza was App of the Week in Entertainment Weekly, and was featured by Apple on their iTunes App Store throughout the month of October. The game received 4/5 Mice from Macworld, and was reviewed by the Huffington Post.

These honors are just the latest in a string of recognitions for the Carlsbad, California iPhone game design studio.

“Our first game, FaceFighter (www.appyfacefighter.com) has already been nominated for Best Use of Bluetooth and Best Productivity Killer by the 2009 Best App Ever Awards,” said Appy Entertainment Brand Manager Paul O’Connor. “Appy Newz (www.appynewz.com) is up for Best Photo Manipulation App, and FaceFighter was also a finalist in VentureBeat’s DiscoveryBeat Apps Contest. Appy Entertainment was named to Pocket Gamer.biz’s Top 50 iPhone Developer list. We are proud that every original title Appy produced in our first year has received an awards nomination.”

FaceFighter earned 4.5/5 Mice in its Macworld review, and in all its forms has been downloaded nearly 1.5 million times. Along with Zombie Pizza, FaceFighter appeared in CNBC’s “Planet of the Apps” television special, and was also featured on “The Gadget Show” in the United Kingdom.

“These awards nominations and mainstream media attention show how Apple’s iPhone has captured the public’s imagination,” said O’Connor. “Appy Entertainment offers the kind of fresh, original creations this new market demands.”

Appy’s mission of creating games as personal as your iPhone continues in their most ambitious game to date, a song-based app called Tune Runner that provides a platform for players to discover and recommend music to their friends anywhere in the world. “We’re really excited about the possibilities of Tune Runner,” said Appy Project Director Emmanuel Valdez. “It’s the kind of game that can work only on the iPhone, as it uses the iTunes music library and a wireless connection to create a continuous international tournament based on every song in the world. The success we’ve achieved with our first games has encouraged us to keep pushing the boundaries of what games on Apple’s devices can be, including the new iPad!”

Tune Runner is slated for a mid-February release.

Winners of the Independent Game Festival’s awards will be announced at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco in March.