Jack in the Box Worldwide launches 'Bang Bang' iPad app

Jack in the Box Worldwide (JITB) has created, 'Bang Bang', an iPad app that allows a player to drive through the streets of Mumbai in a pimped up Auto-Rickshaw, dodging obstacles and passing city landmarks. The purpose of the “Bang Bang” App is to showcase JITB’s mobile game development skills and point the player to Bang Bang Films’ showreel.

Developed by Robosoft Technologies and produced by JITB, “Bang Bang” is an iPad only game (requiring iOS 3.2 or later) that can be downloaded for free from the iTunes App Store. It’s a touch and accelerometer based racing game that features six routes, or levels. The goal is to manoeuvre your rickshaw through the hurdles, pick up rewards and goodies, which will earn badges in the App Store Game Centre, and get to Bang Bang Films HQ in the least possible time. If the auto-rickshaw hits an obstacle, the game will restart after an ad break featuring a TV commercial produced by Bang Bang Films. The game is currently available in English, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish and contains 22 hoardings (billboards) in the cityscape that can be
purchased as ad space.

Asked why his companies had made a foray into the world of apps, Roopak Saluja, co-founder and managing director, Bang Bang Films and Jack in the Box Worldwide, replied, " Several reasons...some rational, others whimsical.  More than anything, it's a nifty brand engagement magnet.  Whatever the motivation, we never expected to cross 10,000 downloads in 72 hours.  Look out for lots of follow-up releases."

Prashanth Challapalli, business head, Jack in the Box Worldwide, added, “This is actually the Bang Bang Films showreel dressed as an iPad game. We realized the best way to get audiences to discover the fantastic work BBF has done is...to help them discover it for themselves via an addictive game. The rickshaw is by now a very familiar BBF icon and we shot actual footage of Bombay and used it in the game. In other words, you can call this 'Branded Entertainment' which delivers beautifully on what Jack in the Box does best - creating highly engaging 'Content for Brands'.”

Siddharth Banerjee, who produced the project for Jack in the Box Worldwide, said that, “Every day there are hundreds of games uploaded on the iTunes Store. But only a few are from India. We [wanted] to create something that’s true to the spirit of Bombay, high on entertainment [and] engaging, yet meets the purpose... As a developer, this is my first involvement with an iOS game and I’m 100% sure that Bang Bang is a game that will make every Indian developer proud.”