Which ones get the most eyeballs and are really worth the buck? Thanks guys! I have a limited budget hence i am asking...
Personally the answer is really simple: Never pay for reviews. Sites charging for reviews are breaking some really fundamental principles and I think they should simply be avoided...
Double that. Only a couple of sites actually have any influence, this being one of them. TouchArcade reviews what they want to and doesn't ask for or accept payment for reviews. That should tell you something. Don't be a sucker.
There are literally hundreds of websites that'll review your game for free. Your only limited by your promo codes. Unless your game is free, in which case, get as many reviews and previews and such as possible. Exposure is exposure. People would be surprised at how much marketing they can do without spending any money.
And they would probably be even more surprised if they knew just how little marketing-effect it is possible to get when spending money.
Most of the sites who will "review" your game for a promo code aren't worth a rat's either. As I understand it, TouchArcade doesn't beg for promo codes: they BUY the games they review, so they are in no way beholden to the dev.
Yes if a site is requesting you pay for a review I would also questions the validity of their actual review. When money is involved it sometimes sways the vote. Reviews should be free not paid.
Seems we're all in agreement about this. All of the top iOS sites will review apps for free, if they have to charge they're likely not popular enough to make a difference anyway. Accepting codes I don't necessarily see a a bad thing, no one's getting rich out of this so a helping hand is appreciated to get as broad a view as possible over the latest games. Linking to this because it amuses me: http://twitpic.com/4h5yaa/full
Yup, as AppCourt and MidianGTX say, steer well clear of those dodgy sites that charge for "expediated" reviews. There truly are hundreds of honest sites out there that'll review your iOS game free of charge, so if you really want to spend some cash on marketing, why not use your budget on advertising or running some manner of sponsored giveaway? @Gravity Jim: Unless the site has a pretty humongous budget themselves (a la TA), they most likely will require a promotional copy of the game before reviewing. You do realize how many games are released onto the App Store every single day, right?
You need a "humungous budget" to be able to afford to buy 99¢ games that look interesting? That's kind of silly. You could probably free yourself or promo code dependence for less than $20-30 a week... an expense that I'd hope any serious iOS site that's selling advertising or using link share could absorb.
That would be a good chunk of my pay gone (the majority in fact), life is hard in the smalltime. I do buy practically all of my games though, I don't have enough of a presence in the industry to go requesting free copies anyway. I know TA accepts codes as well though so you can't be totally against it
The only use we have for promo codes is for pre-release stuff and that's just more for the sake of not needing to deal with an adhoc if a game is already on the App Store waiting for the developer to flip the switch and make it live.
Key takeaways from this thread... 1) Don't pay for reviews...EVER! Sites that require payment have little credibility or reach. 2) Credible sites will take promo codes to do reviews, but distribute these wisely. Just because you send them a code doesn't guarantee a review, not to mention a positive one. 3) Think ahead. Similar to picking up someone at the bar with a cheesy line, plan for how you want to market yourself way before you approach. Don't start and then try to improvise. 4) Reviews aren't your only option. Consider the reality of your game (is it really good) and then market according to those strengths. 5) Advertising is a way to blow your budget. Just don't rely on it too much.
@Hodapp: Nothing silly about it - accepting/occasionally requesting promo codes in exchange for reviews is, I'd wager, the common practise for most every other iOS review site out there. I guess it all depends on what you label 'interesting', but personally if I was to buy each and every game that piqued my interest, I'd bankrupt our own little outfit inside of a couple of months! Let's not forget, not every game only costs 99 cent! That said, yeah, we do set aside a percentage of our budget for games.
