Would you buy a $39.99 iOS Game?

Discussion in 'General Game Discussion and Questions' started by liquidmutiny, Aug 5, 2012.

  1. liquidmutiny

    liquidmutiny Well-Known Member

    Oct 31, 2009
    194
    0
    0
    If a major publisher/developer used their main development team to create a triple A title for iOS. Would you buy it for $39.99?

    I ask this question because The App Store seems to be a race to the bottom in terms of pricing and I feel this is killing the potienial for a real Mario, Uncharted, Mass Effect, Gears of War style experience on iOS.

    I know hire pricing does not make a better game but if the game was actually as good as let's say God of War. Would you buy it at that price?
     
  2. Darth Ronfar

    Darth Ronfar Well-Known Member

    Nov 20, 2011
    1,061
    0
    0
    Animal related
    LA
    I'd try 20$ 40 is a bit high.. I'd buy it depending on what it is... Action adventure?
     
  3. S.I.D. CrAzY

    S.I.D. CrAzY Well-Known Member

    May 16, 2009
    4,477
    3
    36
    Nope.

    Unless it's a game that plays better on a touchscreen than on actual physical controls. One that I would pay 40 dollars for, doesn't come to mind.
     
  4. psj3809

    psj3809 Moderator

    Jan 13, 2011
    12,747
    543
    113
    England
    Not a chance. I buy a lot of ios games but 40 dollars is an Xbox 360 type of game not a 1.5 gig iOS game

    I think prices are too low in the app store but 40 dollars is a joke.
     
  5. RobotUnicorn

    RobotUnicorn Active Member

    Mar 27, 2011
    26
    0
    0
    #5 RobotUnicorn, Aug 5, 2012
    Last edited: Aug 5, 2012
    buy up to $50 worth of IAP goodies every month in titles im playing
    star dunk gold, dark legends, star legends, lane splitter, pocket planes some examples
    liking agent dash atm
     
  6. Echoseven

    Echoseven Moderator
    Staff Member Patreon Silver Patreon Gold Patreon Bronze

    Jul 19, 2011
    6,091
    269
    83
    The red Skittle
    Absolutely not.

    I'm happy with games priced over $.99, or even over $4.99, but if I wanted to spend that much on a game, I would buy something from Steam or for PS3. At that price point, I'd be a lot more demanding on what I got.
     
  7. violentv

    violentv Well-Known Member

    Nov 4, 2010
    912
    0
    16
    #7 violentv, Aug 5, 2012
    Last edited: Aug 5, 2012
    What he said.

    Quite a pointless discussion anyway.I can get Arkham Asylum for $19.99 at this point in time...wth would I fork out $39.99 for a mobile game?! 'Race to the bottom', 'console quality' .. I am really tired of these terms being thrown around on the forums. People like to talk about how cheap ios games are... but the fact is that really good PC games( indie or not) aren't that much more expensive too... I can get Bastion at 1/2 the price of Chaos Rings or Amnesia at the same price..and yes..they frequently go on sale too and are constantly packaged in indie bundles where you can pay peanuts for them.

    Are there even games in the appstore that are of the same 'console quality'(as most people here would describe them as) as the 2 I mentioned above? No..there aren't... but there are ports of retro and old school games on the ios that are priced similarly. There will probably never be any 'AAA' titles on the ios but I do think ios as a platform is perfect for giving old classics and mediocre to somewhat interesting pc/console games a 2nd life. The touch interface and portability of the devices just adds another dimension to the gameplay experience.
     
  8. Raines

    Raines Active Member

    Jul 5, 2012
    31
    0
    6
    No way, even 10 bucks sounds a lot for IOS game. You won't sell a lot at 40, if anything.
     
  9. koyut

    koyut Well-Known Member

    Jan 18, 2010
    418
    0
    0
    I would probably fork $20 for a good RPG or strategy game, but $40 seems a bit too much. When going into that price rage the competition for quality and content goes through another level. For that price, there will be always something better on other platforms.
     
  10. psj3809

    psj3809 Moderator

    Jan 13, 2011
    12,747
    543
    113
    England
    $50 of IAP's? Damn this is one example of why we get so many freemium games!

    I spend $40 a month on new games and lots of graphic novels
     
  11. Tommy141

    Tommy141 Well-Known Member

    Jul 26, 2012
    69
    0
    0
    Nope.
    The highest I've paid at once on iOS is for the walking dead episode bundle, the highest for a game being galaxy on fire 2 hd (I think).
    If a port of a console game came to ios for $39.99 there is a high chance that the console version would be better, so I'd buy it for console. Also if it was full-length it would take up huge memory.
     
  12. Varking

    Varking Well-Known Member

    Oct 19, 2010
    524
    8
    18
    Stand Up Comedian
    North Carolina
    Yes I would.
     
  13. klarence

    klarence Well-Known Member

    Oct 22, 2011
    361
    0
    0
    No way. I can get a console game for 20 dollar which takes me a lot of time to finish it.
    And you put Mario and GOW together, no, mario is a good game but it's not means the costing is high.
    Triple A is good, but I dont want more graphic amazing shooting games than I need. RR3 is good enough from the trailer to tell, so I don't need to pay 40 dollar for a iOS game.
     
  14. crex

    crex Doctor of Game of the Week-ology

    Oct 18, 2010
    7,679
    10
    0
    Everywhere and Nowhere
    Simple, if it's good, then yes, yes I would. People bash touch screen controls all the time, but I absolutely love them and have had no problem with them since day 1. Imo, they are my second most recommended control system behind PCs. As for file sizes, I wouldn't mind it being over a gb at all (I mean, NOVA 3 is already at 2 gigs, why shouldn't a $40 console quality iOS game not be allowed to?).

    *Cue the rants of other veteran iOS gamers defending their reasoning on why they would absolutely buy a $40 iOS game as well*
     
  15. LOLavi

    LOLavi Well-Known Member

    May 23, 2011
    8,364
    0
    0
    iPhone gamer
    Finland
    2gb is the limit for an app size on iOS. If a game costs 40$ I'd expect it to be huge on file size, which would be over the limit. If a Mario game would come out on iOS, sure I can pay 20-30$ for it, but not 40$

    So yes, I would if the app size limit was pushed further and I would own an iPad 3 or 4 :p
     
  16. liquidmutiny

    liquidmutiny Well-Known Member

    Oct 31, 2009
    194
    0
    0
    Ah you see, this is the fundamental problem with the Apple App Store ecosystem. I'll clarify this a bit more and use this example. God of War: Ascension is released for both Playstation 3 and iOS. The app is universal and runs on iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, new iPhone, iPod touch 4th and 5th gen, iPad 2, and the new iPad. The only difference is the graphics scale based on the device you own but exactly the same experience as the PS3 version. It's priced at $59.99 for PS3 and $39.99 for iOS. Would you buy it?
     
  17. violentv

    violentv Well-Known Member

    Nov 4, 2010
    912
    0
    16
    #17 violentv, Aug 5, 2012
    Last edited: Aug 5, 2012

    No, I don't see it at all. The fundamental problem is not the App Store ecosystem(consumer side) but developers who expect too much after investing too little ($ and time). Most developers in the App store belong in start up indie companies with minimal experience in console game development. The quality and price points of their games reflect their general lack of ambition...a desire to produce small casual games to pull in small profits instead of making a name for themselves[D***h T@#$!&r >.>].

    Lack of cash, time, experience etc all make convincing arguments for developing sub par games... but they are undeniably the reasons why there are very few AAA quality games in the App store. Games like Infinity Blade have shown that consumers will pay for quality( yes...$5.99 is a reasonable price for the amount of content it has) .Telltale Games also sell their ios ports at the same price as their console/pc games and are doing well.

    "The idea of a 99c gamer on iOS is more myth than fact, it's the quality and depth of each product that will drive the right price for consumers."
    http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/Multiformat/The+Walking+Dead%3A+The+Game/news.asp?c=43766

    Perhaps if developers are more ambitious and have the talent to back up those ambitions...we might see AAA titles that are worth paying for in the future.

    Sorry for nitpicking on your post...but I thought it would provide a more productive discussion than feeding you replies for a question which you already strongly believe you have an answer to..as is evident from your 1st sentence. The direction of your question has also warped from developers developing original console quality AAA titles for the ios platform to creating graphically inferior ports of console games. =p But yes.. I will pay the $$ if the game is original and has quality.
     
  18. skeletonlord

    skeletonlord Well-Known Member

    Apr 21, 2012
    529
    0
    16
    United Kingdom
    No way. The average 0.69 to 1.49 is enough for me to pay. They are probably better than a 40 dollar iOS game.

    It also depends on what genre of game, as mentioned. A action adventure/exploration game would be okay, but not for 40 dollars.
     
  19. Fireball926

    Fireball926 Well-Known Member

    Nov 21, 2010
    2,543
    0
    36
    none
    Somewhere
    Not a chance... iOS games barely keep me occupied for 5 days. There's no way I would pay $40 to play it for a couple days then delete.
     
  20. Rusothil

    Rusothil Well-Known Member

    Dec 6, 2011
    270
    0
    0
    I honestly have stopped playing console games in hope of things being dragged over to the iOS. So maybe, I think $40 is a little too steep but a $30 dollar game is a definite yes for me. I want my iPhone and iPad to be my only gaming devices and I would support a game that has controls and frame rates polished for ios. I'm more just sick of all the publishers thinking they can do a bare minimum and make a freemium game. $30 titles would bring a new spectrum to gaming on the iOS. The problem is all of us crying about how games go to freemium, dead trigger, when it's clear that a majority of people wouldn't even support a true gaming experience like this that would keep us occupied for months. I'm tired of all the $8 "premium" titles that turn out to be shit. Maybe developers would have more inspiration and determination to do better if they knew that their buyers would support them if they upped the price. Just a thought.
     

Share This Page