Has the App Store changed your perceptions of games pricing?

[jmarquiso]

Originally Posted by yourofl10

For me it depends on what level of game/ quality/ The only reason there is so many low price game son the App Store is cause there are lots of indie/small devs. But if you look at DS games,PSP,etc...You notice how many big name publisher are there for the DS etc...But if the App Store was all big name devs, the prices would be more than normal. But even indie devs make pretty dang nice quality games for a reasonable price....

You know, this is odd. I follow a lot of indie devs, and even small games like "And Yet it Moves" is about $15 dollars, and you won't find a game over $10 in the app store.

The culture that the app store created is expecting more for less. It seems to have begun with Aurora Feint, which put out a great, high quality, polished game for free. From then on, people wait for price drops more often then buying something based on quality.

Myself included.

Though I'm actually more for helping the little guy, and if s/he loses time and money after selling for .99 vs. 4.99, there should be some consideration.

That being said, there seems to be a huge dropoff in impulse buying from .99 to 1.99, so cheaper may in fact be more profitable.

[astrosaurus]

It has TOTALLY changed my perception of game pricing. I got the iPhone when the 3G came out and started buying games as soon as they were available. Ever since then the amount of games I purchase for consoles or hand helds has gone down dramatically. In fact, I can't remember the last time I bought a 360 game. I'm so busy too that I hardly have time to finish large console games anyways. So ever since last summer It's been mainly iPhone/XBLA games. Now whenever I think of getting a game and look at the $60 price tag I cringe. I can get 6-60 games depending on what it is I download from the app store for that same price. I'd much rather do that. Even DS games are looking a bit pricey now.

[freedog]

Also one thing worthy of mentioning although it might not be fair, is that iphone users have one more thing to pay for that console gamers dont...their monthly phone bills! Doesnt really have anything to do with the price of games but I'm sure it factors into the equation somehow since the games are associated with the phone.

[ian1969uk]

Originally Posted by freedog

Also one thing worthy of mentioning although it might not be fair, is that iphone users have one more thing to pay for that console gamers dont...their monthly phone bills! Doesnt really have anything to do with the price of games but I'm sure it factors into the equation somehow since the games are associated with the phone.

But that doesn't apply to iPod Touch users, and the iPhone users get extra functionality for their monthly bills don't they...the ability to make calls, send texts etc.

So I don't really think this applies at all.

[freedog]

Originally Posted by ian1969uk

But that doesn't apply to iPod Touch users, and the iPhone users get extra functionality for their monthly bills don't they...the ability to make calls, send texts etc.

So I don't really think this applies at all.

it doesnt and its not really fair to associate the 2, but since the games are associated with the phone in the back of your mind you may be saying "how much do I want to pay for things that have to do with just my phone? I already have a phone bill to pay for, I dont want to add to much to it"

[FastLaneJB]

I love the iPhone for gaming. I used to be a hardcore PC gamer but I just don't have the time these days (30 with 2 kids). The iPhone with it's huge selection of extremely cheap games means I can have a new 59p game every single day for a month and that's still cheaper than a console game. Sure most of them are short, don't have much replayability but I'm spoilt with a huge wide range of games.

I long since got bored of playing FPS 16, Racing 23, Platform 14, etc. Main stream games are just the same stuff over and over again. They stick to what they know will sell well so there just don't push the boundries anymore. Obviously being a bit older there was when I was younger a much wider selection and type of games. The iPhone brings that back to me.

On the PC I've brought virtually no games for a huge period of time. I played Counter Strike for years which was a free add-on made by people in their spare time for Half Life. It simply was the best FPS of it's time and hugely addictive.

At present I only play DOTA which is a free custom map for Warcraft 3, I've been playing it for years. It's got a huge following and is featured in many series gaming tournaments. But again it's made by someone in his spare time and given away for free.

Yes a lot of these indie developers can come up with junk just as much as big game publishers but they are prepared to go out on a limb and give me a game which isn't the same as the last 14 versions of that game pretty much. And this is what I think makes iPhone gaming exciting.

It is still a handheld so you need to take that into account but I still play Galcon because the multiplayer on that is so addictive. I also play UniWar regularly and probably will be playing that for quite a long time to come as well.

Also remember 3.0 is now coming. It'll give us local play over bluetooth, integrated voice chat in games, push notifications for massively multiplayer games, etc all made extremely easy for the developer to implement. This such give us a lot more online games which is what the iPhone really needs because ultimately for me, long term replayability is only found in online games.

Finally it takes time to get used to a platform and make in depth games for it. Look what we have now compared to when the App Store launched. Look at the effort EA made with the Sims 3 for the iPhone for instance. It's an impressive bit of work even if the Sims isn't my cuppa.

Give it a year or two more guys and then see how you judge it again. It might never be a 360 or PS3 but it certainly can top the DS and PSP by a huge margin. The 3G S hardware I think shows just how serious Apple is about making sure the phone is a hugely powerful gaming platform.

[crimson.]

I bought Chrono Trigger ($30) on my DSi a week ago and I gotta say, beats the crap outta every iPhone game I've ever bought. Just thought I'd say that.

[ShadowsFall]

They won't, these are considered smaller versions of games. If they did do that, no one would buy any games. The reason why people call them expensive is because there are 30k+ apps in the app store. People buy a ton of apps, problem is is that it's short. People need more "entertainment" so they buy more games, but cash in their pocket goes down a lot faster than buying xbox 360/ps3 games. That's how apple makes money, collect...15% (correct me if i'm wrong), of the profit.