With the release of its first iPhone app, Ask the Stars, Exponential Entertainment has extended its Hollywood-focused casual game experience from the web to the mobile market.
It will be interesting to see if video-based games about Hollywood celebrities can take off on the iPhone and iPod Touch, where fans have favored indie titles that exploit the unique nature of the mobile platform. Now the company can judge whether its brand new titles will fare best on the web, on Facebook, or the iPhone.
Ask the Stars sells for 99 cents on the AppStore. The game plays scenes from movies using the iPhone’s media player. It also exploits the iPhone’s accelerometer, which allows you to issue commands by shaking the device. In a new twist on the old Magic 8 Ball toy, you ask a question and then shake the iPhone to get an answer from Hollywood stars.
If you ask, “Should I buy this app?”, a video of Meg Ryan will appear as she screams her fake orgasmic cry “Yes! Yes! Yes!” from the film When Harry Met Sally. Exponential launched its HollywoodPlayer web site this summer and launched a Facebook version with two of its games recently as well. All of the games blend entertainment with casual trivia and puzzle games.
Seattle-based Exponential was the winner of VentureBeat’s first annual Who’s Got Game GamesBeat startup competition in March. The company was founded in 2008 by Bill Kuper and Dave Long. Kuper and Long invented the popular movie trivia DVD game series SceneIt? The series generated 25 editions and more than $500 million in sales for Screen Life, the predecessor company. In their new startup, Long and Kuper are essentially taking movie trivia games to the web and coming up with a more interesting mix of interactivity.
Exponential has 11 employees. It raised $1 million in seed funding from founders and angels.[EMBED1]