It's an interesting sentiment seeing how the game shot up over 150 spots in a few hours with just a $2 cut in prices. Not saying people are cheap or anything (but they are), but yeah, it's interesting.
Economics is a fun thing, really. Of course since it's EA, most people are waiting for the inevitable $1 sale.
$2 is like what, 30% off? Sounds pretty good to me already Plus with two bucks I can get 2 more $0.99 games, so yeah the small price cut did make me buy it
It has a lot less to do with economics than with the general expectations of iOS customers. In any case, it's been 3 months now, and this is the first time we've seen DS go on sale, and only for $4.99. Who knows when it will be $0.99. It really isn't worth waiting another 3 months to save $4. To be honest, in the nearly 3 years I've been an AppStore customer, I've never once waited for a game to go on sale before I bought. The mindset of AppStore customers just baffles me. They expect console quality games, yet don't buy games until they're a dollar. I wonder where these kids learned how the world worked.
...From experience with iOS market for starts. I hate how people blame the consumer for responding the marketing and the crash sale philosphy of iOS developers*. Marketing and competition drives iOS prices as much as consumer demand. Really it's basic conditioning (waiting leads to financial reinforcement which leads to more waiting). For the record, I often wait for sales on console games also. Don't get me wrong, I jump on quality releases when they come out especially indie studios but I won't pretend to justify my iOS expenses as developer charity. * For example with EA MK3 went $0.99 within a month; just this weekend Death Rally drops 40% off within a month of release. Legendary Wars bought day one for $2.99 then drop to $0.99 with 2 weeks, etc, etc...
I'll save my paragraphs upon paragraphs of economic thought on the AppStore market for another day. There are always two sides to every story, aren't there? In any case, customers deserve to be blamed when half the comments of every new quality title being sold for more than $0.99 cents are stating "I'll buy this when it's $0.99" the day the damn game is released. You know very well that this mindset of entitlement has nothing to do with market/price driving forces. I'm not saying we should just throw cash at developers; I'm saying that if you're going to trash every single game until it's a dollar, then stop begging for quality game. Developers are just as human as the rest of us and have the same needs. The examples you stated are valid. These instances ARE indeed relevant to market forces. MK3 sold like crap with its untimely release during the holiday season. How is EA going to save a game that would go nearly unnoticed? They're going to reinforce the race to the bottom of course. Death Rally was falling off the the charts last night, nearly exiting the top 100 in less than two weeks. After the update was live, the developers needed a way to bring it back to the top. What better way to do that but to hold a sale? Legendary Wars was completely overshadowed by Braveheart at the time. People considered them similar games, but with the help of Apple's feature and the general feelings of customers, Braveheart sold like hot cakes, while Legendary Wars sure as hell didn't. Competition drove this one down to a dollar. So how could any of this be the customer's fault? It's simple really. It was their choice to buy the game as soon as it was out, not the the developers. If you're planning on just waiting for every game over a dollar to go on sale after such an experience as the ones mentioned, then that's fine. All I'm asking is if that's your plan, just don't share it with the rest of us. It's really something that I'll just have to accept I guess. When I'm constantly seeing the people here on TA that I'd call friends do it, there's really not much that I can say or do that would mean anything. The truth is that there will always be enough of us who do buy the games at the original price to reward the developers if the game is worthy.
Agreed. +1. I hate it when people just totally ruin a thread about good game discussion and gameplay tips with a stupid statement like "$7!? I'll just wait til its $1". Its so annoying. They act like anything over $1 is overpriced. If thats the case, they obviously don't have a console. There minds would surely burst when they see that $50 pricetag.
Agreed, but it's become equally obnoxious for people to run around flaming anyone who makes a planned decision to wait on a game. Market economics being what they are it's not always a bad idea and the whole "holier than thou" mentality about full price purchases gets stale too. I pay full price on games I think are worthy but if I'm on the fence or my backlog is high I'll wait for a sale; there's nothing wrong with it. It's people who get their jollies running around calling others cheap that gets old too.
While I was working, I had no problems paying full price to own new games on release day, regardless of knowing the iOs market and how most will hit $.99. Now, being an unemployed broke mofo, scrounging for my next dollar, no joke, those days of "big spender" are over until I get to work again. I've become one of "those people" now waiting for everything to hit $.99. Sure, I suffer by watching everyone enjoy it now, while I have to wait, but when I say "I'll wait for it to hit $.99", it's never with disrespect to the developer or because I feel their hard work isn't worth the full price. It's because I don't have a choice. If people are waiting for Dead Space to hit $.99, I must say that's a shame, but that's only because I already own it. This is the pinnacle of gaming on iOs.
Well, yes. Sorry about your unemployment atm - I wish you all the best to get a goob new job. But sure, people already know that the next big EA sale will come at the easter holidays in a few weeks and Dead Space will likely drop to 0.99$. People learn fast how the big companies behave.
I can wait...for a long long time. I wanted Rolando for a buck from Dec 2009, but it was always at 2.99$ (or 3.99$ don't remember). At the end of March 2011, it dropped to 0.99$ and I bought it instantly...I've waited for nearly 3 years and finally I WON (I was challenging myself). All this has strenghtened my patience, my self-esteem and other "little" things that help me in my life. Now the story is going to live again with Dead Space...SO yes, I'm serious: I want it for a buck.
Saw this game on sale and still didnt buy it. Dead space is a great game, but we know how EA gets down. My backlog is considerably high and the waiting game always pay off on iOS titles.....always. +1 on this. People are gonna wait regardless. It's a forum where opinions should be voiced(I've seen the trainwreck thread and I'm not a fan of tucking people's opinions in deep space). All this high-horsing about being first day'ers is no different than saying "waiting for a sale". Both people have intentions of supporting the dev, but it adds nothing to the actual discussion of the topic.
I've honestly never understood why developers have such a moral quandry over price reduction. Revenue is determined by Price X Quantity. In the Dead Space example, since the price was reduced to 5/7 of the original, if the amount of people who purchase it increases by 7/5ths, Electronic Arts will earn more money. That's how sales work. (and since there are no variable costs, and the Apple Tax is percentage-based, it holds.) With $1 apps, the calculations get more obvious, since a good app that goes on sale for $1 will penetrate the Top 50. If a $3 app goes on sale to $1 and gets into the top 10 (i.e. Battleheart), it's safe to say sales will increase by more than 3x.
The Invisible Hand model doesn't apply in this situation since supply is, well, infinite (due to no variable costs to the developer related to app distribution). It's a completely demand-side market, so there's no equilibrium price. Demand for apps is non-linear due to varying willingness-to-pay by comsumers (i.e. let's say 100,000 people would buy a $1 app, but 50,000 people would NOT buy the same app at $2), so it's hard to use that model anyways.
