<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"This post is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark as a new part of the Spark of Genius series that focuses on a new and innovative startup each day. Once a week, the program focuses on startups within the BizSpark program and what they're doing to grow.\nIn Washington, just a bicycle ride away from Microsoft's Redmond headquarters, Margaret Johnson is working on her next iOS learning game for children and using the last three years \u2014 a period of accidental research and development in platform and retail distribution \u2014 to help shape her creative machinations.\nJohnson, a self-described craftswoman with a passion for tying gaming to child learning, is the co-founder and CEO of Sabi Games. Sabi shipped its first title, ItzaBitza (pronounced similar to \"itsy bitsy\"), on Windows in November 2008. The software, available as a digital download and temporarily sold in Target stores, received critical acclaim for its \"Living Ink\" technology that brings drawings to life \u2014 the American Library Association listed it on its Great Interactive Software for Kids Fall 2009 list.\nBut as desktop software, ItzaBitza, which gives life to imagination, was fighting death at the hands of a poor economy and a consumer population shifting away from desktop software toward mobile applications. \nItzaBitza eventually found traction through Steam's gaming platform and its millions of members. Today, Sabi is a lean, cash-flow positive operation in the midst of transition.\nFrom Dead or Alive to Living Ink\n\n\n\n\nSeveral years ago, Johnson's daughter, then just 8 years old, underwent an operation to remove a brain tumor. Following the surgery, Johnson's daughter would often play the Xbox title Dead or Alive, and the game play helped boost her self-esteem.\n\"It was totally inappropriate, I know, but she got a positive feeling [from playing]. She felt a sense of accomplishment,\" says Johnson, who was working on Microsoft's Xbox team at the time. \nJohnson, who speaks swiftly in short, often tangential rapid bursts, describes her daughter's sense of achievement as inspirational. Johnson felt compelled to build software that was just as engaging and imaginative as Dead or Alive, but focused instead on child learning and development. \nAnd so, she started a project through Microsoft Research that aimed to harness speech recognition technology, cognitive psychology and gaming. Johnson worked with learning sciences specialist Dr. John Bransford, children's reading specialist Dr. Diana Sharp and child development psychology expert Erik Strommen.\nThe collaboration lead to seven patents and the invention of \"Living Ink,\" the advanced drawing recognition technology later used in ItzaBitza to animate drawings.\nWhen Microsoft cancelled the project, Johnson was still motivated to bring the product to market. She, and a few others, left the company in February 2008 to start Sabi Games in an amicable split that gave Microsoft equity share in the startup.\nRetail Graveyard\n\n\n\n\n\"Mobile is an interesting environment for children,\" admits Johnson, who now sees the opportunity in touch screens, accelerometers and mobile app stores. \"But, I had to learn all that.\"\nJohnson's education includes a few years of trial, error and experimentation in distribution and platform choices, Facebook included. Target proved an unexpected educator for Johnson, who was able to get the ItzaBitza game sold on Target shelves for a short period of time before it was later booted.\n\"The box was siting next to Dora the Explorer on one side and Elmo's World on the other in the graveyard aisle of retail,\" says Johnson. \"I will never ship retail again.\"\nFor Johnson, the process of boxing and shipping ItzaBitza for Target proved too laborious and costly. She's not alone. The boxed software industry has been on the decline for years, and the once expansive in-store walls and aisles of desktop games and learning applications have become, as she said, more like graveyards.\nMobile Makeover\n\"I think I'm on to something,\" says Johnson. That something is enmeshed in Sabi's forthcoming rebirth as a mobile-focused application maker of child learning games.\nThe next release for iOS, still a few months out, aims to combine reading with gaming and go a step beyond the Itza titles to make reading an even more enjoyable sport for the mind.\nJohnson doesn't concern herself with building a commercial hit, but instead is motivated to make a substantial impact on child learning through great game design. Still, having been around the block and back, Johnson speaks with confidence in the distribution potential of the App Store.\nSabi's first iOS release, CocoaNaut [iTunes link], has already helped put the startup in a cash-flow positive position. Johnson, having tested all types of app monetization mechanisms, sees a sustainable future as a shop with a handful of quality titles.\nApple's App Store model, which takes a 30% cut of revenue but handles payment and distribution, frees up Johnson to focus on her craft, she says. \"The 30% is worth it,\" says Johnson enthusiastically, who'd admittedly much rather be a craftswoman than a businesswoman. \nThe Science of Learning\n\n\n\n\nOver the years, Johnson's team has dwindled in size. It's now just her, tinkering away on science-inspired mobile games for kids.\nThe irony is that while Johnson has been working to scientifically perfect learning through games, she has been schooled in the science of game development. \nBut for Johnson, Sabi boils down to a passion project rooted in the purity of wanting to help children \u2014 like her now grown-up daughter \u2014 discover self-esteem and a sense of achievement through gaming. As long as she continues to see positive fruits of her labor, she'll keep going. \"I know the chances of making a booming business aren't as great as reaching, and making an impact on, one child.\"\nCome release time, Johnson will leverage her relationships with influential reviewers in the children's software space. She also plans to get the word out by working channels she's seen success with before: Twitter, mommy bloggers and Google or Facebook ads.\nSoftware, platforms and distribution aside, her experiences have taught her one simple lesson: \"If it is any good, word of mouth travels.\" \nImages courtesy of Flickr, Margaret and Sketchy, j.reed\nSeries Supported by Microsoft BizSpark\n\n\n\n\nThe Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2011/02/18/sabi-games/>