Wait for Rolando Price Drop?

[pinac0lada]

I've been waiting for a price drop of Rolando since it came out, and now that it isn't in the Top 50 anymore, do you think I should hold out for a few more weeks, or should I just go ahead and buy it? (I know some people say that it is worth 10 bucks, but I am cheap :p )

[Ahiru]

i'm waiting since launch.......

[1337brian]

I'm waiting as well...

[Ahiru]

they've got to lower the price if they want to remain on top paid apps - it's going down and down each day (hero of spart and brothers in arms had a boost since their price cut)

[tylerdw89]

I'm waiting for this to come down in price as well (and Sim City). They always do.

[jecebn]

I was waiting for the price drop as well, but I got impatient and ended up buying it. Trust me, wait for the price drop. Its a decent game, but not worth $10

[Ahiru]

I was waiting for the price drop as well, but I got impatient and ended up buying it. Trust me, wait for the price drop. Its a decent game, but not worth $10

that's exactly what i imagined (on the other hand, i got simcity at full price simply cause i played so much since '94 and think it was worth the 10$ tag...)

i'm not so sure i will enjoy rolando for 10 bucks as much as i would enjoy it for, say it, 5...

[BulletDev]

This is the 3rd thread about Rolando price drops, and just buy it now.

[Herp]

This is the 3rd thread about Rolando price drops, and just buy it now.

Yeah! It's worth it! I hate it when people are cheap like this... Just makes it seem like the app store will never get something of quality because everyone wants really low prices.

[BrushMyNoseOff]

If any game out there is worth 9.99, Rolando is definitely it. I'm sure it will go on sale at some point but if you really want it - $10 bucks for AAA game is not THAT much.

I know most look at it as "hmm one $10 game or ten $1 games", but that's exactly why developers are afraid of investing time and resources into games with higher production - they're afraid no one will buy it.

I do understand some of your concerns, such as buying a game for full price then finding out a few days later that it's on sale. 1.) I don't think it will go on sale for another month at least. 2.) If it does go on sale, it will be 7.99 or 6.99 lowest.

[manolis]

Just get it. it really is one of the best games out there. even if its not in the top 50. probably because of some people are waiting on the price drop. when it does, i predict it will be in the top 25. maybe even lower.

[Sense Field]

I don't think they are going to drop the price any time soon. It's their big title and it's worth the price. The point of all their other games was to advertise rolando. Just buy it...you won't be disapponted.

On another note...I think they know that if a game does not see a price drop soon after release that the people that hold off will eventually pay full price for it. It's not that the people holding off for a price drop don't see the value in the game, I think it's just that they don't want to feel like they were ripped off by a game droping price quickly after release.

[jasonact]

I think it is the only game in the App Store that is worth $10. The developer has said numerous times that they do not intend to lower the price. (They left that option open with their previous games.) The fact that it has fallen out of the Top 50 doesn't mean as much as it would with other games. This game has TON going for it, and there's a good chance that because of its unique nature, Apple may continue to feature it in the App Store and maybe even a commercial.

Bottom line. Buy now. It's worth it.

[halucinator]

If people arent even willing to spend $10.00 on a game, where is the motivation for a developer to bother putting out a real quality game? I spent $10 on Rolando happily for my fiance and she absolutely loves it. I have played it as well and think it is a very quality game and worth the $10 price tag. Buy it or dont, but quit complaining about $10 unless your 12 and have to get everything from your parents. geesh

[pinac0lada]

On another note...I think they know that if a game does not see a price drop soon after release that the people that hold off will eventually pay full price for it. It's not that the people holding off for a price drop don't see the value in the game, I think it's just that they don't want to feel like they were ripped off by a game droping price quickly after release.

Exactly.

It's not the fact that I think 10 bucks are too much for a quality game. In fact, I would have bought Rolando a long time ago if it wasn't for the fact that many devs tend to lower the price one or two months after release. Many times when I bought an app, the dev lowers the price a week later, making me feel really stupid... Now if ngmoco wouldn't change the price till, say, february, I'd happily take the plunge. But since we don't know what they are planning, I'm feeling very uncertain right now.

[Herp]

If people arent even willing to spend $10.00 on a game, where is the motivation for a developer to bother putting out a real quality game? I spent $10 on Rolando happily for my fiance and she absolutely loves it. I have played it as well and think it is a very quality game and worth the $10 price tag. Buy it or dont, but quit complaining about $10 unless your 12 and have to get everything from your parents. geesh

Yep. Seeing people complain about price drops in the app store reviews pisses me off for this reason.

[Ahiru]

i can sure buy this at full price, but as any other game that i'm not sure whether i'll enjoy it or not, i'd rather not pay 10$ for this.

simcity and real soccer were two games that i was confident while paying full price (regardless of bugs or style of game), so 10 bucks wasn't that much for them. (i paid 10 on super monkey ball, back in launch, and that is one of the 10's that i didn't really play THAT much, same feeling goes to rolando and edge - at least for me)

sadly there is no 'lite' version of rolando (nor edge, which i wanted to try, but not willing to pay full price).

and again, it's not about money, it's about the uncertainty of really enjoying the game - seems cool, would be nice to have it on my iphone but, will i play it to make it worthwhile?

[1337brian]

I look at it this way, There are some games I am willing to pay full price, i.e. Sim City, Brothers in Arms, Uno, And a bunch more. the point is these are all games I either have waited a long time for and really wanted, or something I just had to have. As for a game like Rolando, I want it mainly because it looks like a well polished game, but I don't like "platformer" type games very much and doubt that I would really enjoy Rolando. So I have no issues waiting untill next year if need be, I will pick it up when i see it for a price that I like. It's kinda like going into a Gamestop and seeing a game you would have never payed $50 for, but how could you pass it up when it's only $10 in the bargain bin...? Same idea here...

[Sense Field]

Exactly.

It's not the fact that I think 10 bucks are too much for a quality game. In fact, I would have bought Rolando a long time ago if it wasn't for the fact that many devs tend to lower the price one or two months after release. Many times when I bought an app, the dev lowers the price a week later, making me feel really stupid... Now if ngmoco wouldn't change the price till, say, february, I'd happily take the plunge. But since we don't know what they are planning, I'm feeling very uncertain right now.

Seeing how NG:Moco are ex EA employees and the fact that they have stated time and time again that they think their game is worth 10 bucks. I would expect that rolando does not go down in price till 7 to 8 months after release.

It may have dropped off the top 50 buck think about it like this...

The top app has to sell 10,000 copies a day to stay at number one. Most of the time the top 10 are apps priced at 99 cents bringing the developer $7k a day. For Rolando to make that same amount of money for the developer they would have to sell 1,000 copies a day. I have to assume that at number 78 on the app store they are selling around 1,000 copies a day, in turn making around $7k a day.

Now lets figure that the highest they have ever been on the charts was around 8 or 9 and they floated in the top 20 for two or three weeks. For arguments sake lets just put them firmly at number 15 for two weeks and lest say to stay at number 15 for two weeks you have to sell 5,000 units a day. In those two weeks they would have made $700,000 on one game in two weeks. I have to assume that pays for all the development costs plus more.

Now let's just say for arguments sake Rolando has made NG:Moco around 1.2 million since release. Now let's also add to that the fact that was two "micro games" put out before that for 99 cents to $2 each. Both of these games where in the top 50 for about a month. Let's just say that these two games brought in around $200,000 in their run. Now...these games were basically avenues to advertise Rolando. So we paid them around $200,000 to advertise to us and then we bought their game. I say these are "advertisement apps" because right before Rolando came out they got banner ads for Rolando and dropped either to free or to 99 cents. Now I will say that those games where good, So I don't mind the advertisement.

Let's also take into account how much they had to pay to develop/ have those games developed...so let's say it cost them $600,000 to develop all those games, from Topple to Rolando. They would have already made their money back. They know that you are only waiting to buy the game because you fear a price drop...so they aren't going to drop the price.

Part because they don't need to...and part because their mission is to become a "first party" type developer on the iPhone so they are trying to set and example.

Of course all those numbers are fictional assumptions...it could be more or it could be less. Either way...I think they are well off and have a whole new batch of "micro" or "advertisement" apps coming down the pike which will lead up to another premium release completely another circle like the MazeFinger/Topple -> Rolando circle. I would expect to see Rolando go down in price as part of an advertising play for the next "Major release" which will probably come in the next 4-5 months. At that time I wouldn't be surprised to see a banner ad in the rolando main menu advertising the new heavy hitter $9.99 title.


Sorry for going on and on!

[TheClaff]

If they hadn't dropped the price of the previous 2 games (Dr Awesome and Dropship) 5 DAYS after their release I would have bought this already, but I felt burned (on principle, it was only 99 cents I know) by how fast they dropped the price on the previous 2 games I purchased.

[Everydaynormalguy]

I look at it this way, There are some games I am willing to pay full price, i.e. Sim City, Brothers in Arms, Uno, And a bunch more. the point is these are all games I either have waited a long time for and really wanted, or something I just had to have. As for a game like Rolando, I want it mainly because it looks like a well polished game, but I don't like "platformer" type games very much and doubt that I would really enjoy Rolando. So I have no issues waiting untill next year if need be, I will pick it up when i see it for a price that I like. It's kinda like going into a Gamestop and seeing a game you would have never payed $50 for, but how could you pass it up when it's only $10 in the bargain bin...? Same idea here...

My exact thoughts about this subject, word for word...

[Kumulus]

one of the few games, which are really worth their money.

polished, fun, great soundtrack.......i bought it without hesitation. 10 bucks are not overpriced for this one.

i guess you will see a pricedrop, when the sales are more or less "dead". and this will take a while for this game.

[different]

It's kinda like going into a Gamestop and seeing a game you would have never payed $50 for, but how could you pass it up when it's only $10 in the bargain bin...? Same idea here...

It's telling that when you see a $40 discount in Gamestop, you buy the game, but won't buy another AAA game for the same price point on the App Store. :D

Plus, why buy it anyway if you don't like platformers? :confused:

[Everydaynormalguy]

Plus, why buy it anyway if you don't like platformers? :confused:

I believe his exact words were "I don't like 'platformer' type games very much", meaning that he likes them, just not very much i.e he'd play them but not go crazy about them...

[different]

Oh okay. :)

[The Game Reaper]

The price will go down to 5.99 the week before Touch Pets is released in late april/early may. Touch Pets will cost 9.99.

[pinac0lada]

The price will go down to 5.99 the week before Touch Pets is released in late april/early may. Touch Pets will cost 9.99.

How do you know?:eek:
Well, if it'll take till may, I might just as well go ahead...

[1337brian]

I believe his exact words were "I don't like 'platformer' type games very much", meaning that he likes them, just not very much i.e he'd play them but not go crazy about them...

100% Correct, Like I said the only reason I really want it, is because it does like quite polished. I'm sure I'd play it if I were to get it, but I can wait as long as it takes. Now NFS, Or Payback those could both be $14.99 and I would still get them on launch day.

[The Game Reaper]

How do you know?:eek:
Well, if it'll take till may, I might just as well go ahead...
I don't, but I'm geussing it will be 10 dollars and back at the party he mentioned that it would be 5-6 months until it would be released or Q2 2009 and ngmoco dropped their prices a week before rolando was released.
It wouldn't make sense for them to drop the price when word fu or topple too comes out because everybody would just buy rolando and would therefore cut in on the other game sales. Plus 5.99 is a balanced price. It's tempting enough to buy while not to be unprofitable.

[TheClaff]

I thought the prices for Dr Awesome and Dropship were sale prices when they dropped them, but the appear to be the permanent new prices.

[Wegmans]

I'm liking Rolando less and less as i progress in the game.. it used to be cute and entertaining, but now it just feels like a chore.. that and it seems like the guys roll faster one way then they do the other...

i'd wait for some kind of price drop. If you really want it though, price wouldn't matter!

[mek]

I thought the prices for Dr Awesome and Dropship were sale prices when they dropped them, but the appear to be the permanent new prices.

its because they can advertise their other games within Dr Awesome and DropShip, Im sure Rolando will drop in price in lieu of any newer 9.99 games coming out..and im sure you will see advertisements for them, in your Rolando and Dr Awesome and dropship as Well

[wildmatt]

Yeah I can't believe at how much people complain about $10 games. i love Katamari is pretty amazing and comparable with the console games and it's not even $10. I paid $15+ to get Puzzle Quest on Xbox Live Arcade. Will people complain about Need for Speed being $10, or Bioshock being $10? Because if those actually come out :) I could see the price not coming down for a very, very long time.

Oh and btw I broke yesterday and got Rolando, it's pretty fun! It's one of my fav games on my iPod Touch atm along with Edge, wurdle, tapdefense, i love Katamari and I can't decide on 1 racer :).

[Adr3naLine]

Wahoo! Rolando's price dropped!! Downloading....Now. :D Not saying I wouldn't have bought it eventually, it's just that there were other games that were cheaper that could keep me occupied.

[Rocketman919]

Yeah I can't believe at how much people complain about $10 games. i love Katamari is pretty amazing and comparable with the console games and it's not even $10. I paid $15+ to get Puzzle Quest on Xbox Live Arcade. Will people complain about Need for Speed being $10, or Bioshock being $10? Because if those actually come out :) I could see the price not coming down for a very, very long time.

Oh and btw I broke yesterday and got Rolando, it's pretty fun! It's one of my fav games on my iPod Touch atm along with Edge, wurdle, tapdefense, i love Katamari and I can't decide on 1 racer :).

heh... You must be pissed.

[Tennisking1o1]

I can't believe it really dropped. Dreams do come true! I'll be picking this one up on Friday as well

[Vende]

Last week broke the bank (I finally crossed the glorious $225 mark, uch) but I am very interested in buying. It's gonna be a toss up

[ultimo]

It may be worth it, but I am not willing to Pay that $10, that also does not mean that i'll get a crackd version or something..

I am w8yn for a price drop on 1 & 2 both... I am fine even if I get it when R4 or Rx is out..
Its just about what you want & when you want it.
I have seen peeps spend so much money on games as they want it the moment they are released, I am the other kinda fella.

The wait is over!!!! Well almost for all of us... its (http://appshopper.com/games/rolando) only $2.99 now..

Also the description does not state that it will go back or a limited time sale or something....
I think I'll wait, SD went down to 99 cents... right ?

Mods! wanna change the title ?