"What's Hot"

Heads Up: Hold'em HD was picked as a "What's Hot" in iPad games by Apple.

Which has helped make it the...
#1 iPad casino game.

#1 iPad card game.

#1 iPad GAME.

#4 iPad App.

Woo hoo, and thank you!

Heads Up: Hold'em HD (iPad)

Heads Up: Hold'em Lite (iPhone/iPod)

Heads Up: Hold'em (iPhone/iPod)

Heads Up: HD Available Now

Get it here!

Heads Up: Hold'em HD was approved late last night. If you've got an iPad, it's pretty great!

The winning-hand-glow will be added to the iPhone version(s) very soon! Seeing the glow in action was a "Why didn't we do that a year ago" moment.

Why does it give me joy that the "Settings" button has the king stabbing himself in the head? I don't know... (But I'm the guy who made the settings button, so it wasn't just an accident.) And it gives me further joy that it kind of looks like a swordless hilt on the dark background...

Heads Up: HD submitted

Heads Up: Hold'em HD for the iPad is submitted to Apple and should appear in the AppStore very soon! I played yesterday's build on Mike's iPad and it is extremely cool. We added a few fun iPad exclusive things, such as:

Much bigger and more 'real' looking cards. This is a big improvement with the additional screen real-estate. We didn't need to stylize the cards like on the small iPhone screen. The player's cards and the board cards are all the same size. Just like in real-life.

We added a glow to the winning 5-cards. (Not so "just like in real life.") This will probably be added to the iPhone game in the next update. And will (hopefully) cut down the confused emails from people who don't understand when their pocket pair gets counterfeited.

Chips show in your "Stack" so you don't just have a number to go by. We also added so pushing in your stack pile will go all-in without needing to spin the chips over into your bet pile.

Bluetooth covers all versions of the game. so iPad vs. iPhone/iPod works.

We added a "$1k Flip" as a bonus (totally skill based) game against Money Mark. You each throw $1000 into the pot and deal the cards to see who gets it. Flip4rollz, baby!
This idea had been around for a while as something fun and silly to do but we just over-thought it and anticipated that it would mean writing a special-case game... All we had to do was set a crazy structure: $1000 buy-in, $1000 stacks, and blinds at $1000-$2000. Let the regular game rules take it from there. With the Play-Again button, you can mindlessly gamble all day!

We added a game-logo card protector for winning a hand with Jh-Js. These cards also are modified in the deck to look like each half of the game's logo. (The first version of this card protector was in a square border, but it was unplayable because you always thought you had been dealt a jack when it was sitting on top of your cards...)


This one should have been in the iPhone version, but we just plain forgot. An "Aces Cracked" card protector.

Heads Up (HD) (soon)

It's still preliminary, but the iPad version of Heads Up: Hold'em is coming along nicely!

One irony is that I haven't actually played it yet (Mike has) because I'm waiting for the 3G iPad. I'll probably go play the game on Mike's iPad in a day or two when a few more changes have gone in.

It is looking pretty cool! The cards look more like a real deck of cards. You can see the chips a lot better. (And you can really see how grimy and gross I made the cash-game chips--just like in real-life.)

The plan is that the controls will work about the same as the iPhone, but moved around a bit so it can be operated using your thumbs while holding an iPad in both hands...

It will feature at least one new (exclusive) card protector for winning a hand with Jh-Js (the game's logo) and possibly also an "Aces Cracked" award which *should* have been in the iPhone version already. :-)

Bluetooth games will be compatible with the iPhone version.

Look for it soon!!

PS: Version 3 of the free iPhone version is submitted and should also be available soon...

PSS: Camera for iPad has been getting lots of press and is one of the top iPad photography apps. It lets you use an iPhone as a wireless camera for an iPad (or iPod touch).

Heads Up: Hold'em version 3 is out

This post will be pretty short and sweet. Heads Up: Hold'em version 3 is available now. I am incredibly proud of this game and I can't wait for people to see how much fun it is to play the wireless 2-player game!

Go get it!

http://app2.it/poker

The Case for Headlight Software

Here is the quote from an Apple executive explaining why most 'sexy apps' have been removed from the AppStore, while Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, Playboy, Maxim, and a few others remain:

“The difference is this is a well-known company with previously published material available broadly in a well-accepted format.”
(Source. Reprinted everywhere.)

So, Apple, I present for you THE CASE FOR HEADLIGHT SOFTWARE REGARDING POKER VS. GIRLS & POKER VS. GUYS.

Part 1: We ARE a "well-known company."
Headlight Software has been in business since 1997 (Only 2 years less than Maxim, according to Wikipedia).
GetRight® won the Shareware Industry People's Choice Award in 1999 & 2006.
GetRight has appeared on many "Best of" and "Editor's Choice" lists through the years.
GetRight has over 13,000,000 downloads from download.com alone.
FTP on the Go was featured as an Apple "iPhone Apps in Business."
FTP on the Go is on the cover of "Incredible iPhone Apps for Dummies" book.
iCatchall Tools was an Apple Staff Pick in March of 2009.
Heads Up: Hold'em won 2nd place in the "Best App Ever Awards" Casino Game of 2009.
Knife Dancing (on the date of this writing: 2/23/10) is the #1 free Simulation game, the #9 free TOP GAME, and the #15 free TOP OVERALL APP.
(EDIT: Later on 2/23/10, Knife Dancing moved up: #1 Free Simulation Games, #1 Free Arcade Games, #2 All Free Games, #3 All Free Apps.)
(EDIT: from 2/24/10 - 2/26/10 and counting, Knife Dancing has been the #1 free game, and #2 overall free App.)

All that adds up to a company that is well-known and well-regarded in the independent software developer industry.

Part 2: All the 'sexy' pictures were "previously published material available broadly in a well-accepted format"
Every single photograph used in Poker vs. Girls and Poker vs. Guys is available for purchase on istockphoto.com. That is where we got them. (Our secret is out!)
Here are a some samples. (You will need to activate adult content on istockphoto--not all the pictures in the sequences shown here were used in the game.)
Opponent #2
Opponent #3
Opponent #5

In my opinion, stock-photography qualifies as "previously published." And I would say that the internet would make things "available broadly in a well-accepted format."

Thus Poker vs. Girls and Poker vs. Guys pass Apple's own criteria for continued sale in the AppStore!

Furthermore, OUR APPS WERE POKER GAMES! They were not simple gallery apps. Users could not even browse through the photographs without playing the game.

Ironically, the sexy photos were added after-the-fact in order to show off the poker game. Not the other way around. We didn't find pictures and then slap an App together in order to sell them. We made a poker game and then looked for ways to sell more copies of it. After not-too-much-thought, we arrived at the 'add sexy pictures' conclusion. (It worked, by the way. Poker vs. Girls outsold Heads Up: Hold'em while costing more and offering fewer game options.)

Parental Controls are available on iTunes, iPhones, and iPod touches. We rated these games as 17+ and we have no problems with people using their parental controls to block these apps if that is what they choose to do. However, I object to unfair treatment because my company isn't as well known as some other company.

In conclusion, there is no difference between our apps that have been banned and the ones that remain for sale in the AppStore. Except, of course, that there is no "Headlight Software Magazine" for people to subscribe to on the iPad.

Opinions expressed here are those of the author, Peter Burford, as an individual and do not in any way reflect the opinions or policies of Headlight Software, inc.

Feb 21, 2010: Sexy iPhone apps...what's left

Two days ago "Poker vs. Girls" and "Poker vs. Guys" were pulled from the AppStore due to 'overt sexual content.' They weren't alone. There was a purge of hundreds (thousands?) of other apps.

Sadly, the degenerate gambling aspects of our game could not overcome the PG13 pictures we had attached to it. If you would still like to enjoy the gambling part, you can do so with our 2ND PLACE AWARD WINNING app Heads Up: Hold'em!

So what's left? Well, I ran some searches using one of our other tools http://www.topappcharts.com/ and got some interesting results.

NOTE: These results are based on apps which had been (at some point) in the top 200 of their category and are no longer there. If an App is not in the top 200, but is still in the AppStore, I it may slip through these (unscientific) results...

Search	Results	Remaining	Comment
boob/boobs	105	0
stripper	2	0
hottest	11	0*	One non-sexy app remains.
butts	7	0
butt	93	0*	"Button" mixed in results. No "butt" apps remain on charts.
hottie	35	1
models	31	1
strip	57	2*	"Air Strip" and "Stripe" mixed in results. Those aren't counted here.
hot girl	134	2
Bikini	129	2
nude	9	5
girls	349	19*	Most remaining ones are 'sexy' apps. Some not.
sexy	439	63*	Mix of things here. Not just gallery apps.
sex	580	127*	Big mix of things here.
swimsuit	9	4	3 of the 4 remaining apps are Sports Illustrated.
Playboy	1	1	Playboy app didn't show up on any other results...
Maxim	26	2*	"Maximum" mixed in results. "MAXIM Hometown Hotties" removed. Two other MAXIM titles remain.