I have purchased this game through my iPod touch, when I sync my iPad to it the game appears. Hoping to run the game x2, I start it up and it tells me I have to buy it again. Is this the anti piracy? Surely once I have purchased, it should be my right th run it on my other, sync able devices?
You have buy it again, but you won't be charged a second time. The app on your ipod and the one on your ipad aren't in such perfect sync that the data on one is transfered to the other.
I finally checked to see how this was doing in the appstore. The first thing I see is the 1-star reviews from illiterate retards complaining that this is a lite version. If they took the time to read the freaking third sentence..THIRD SENTENCE, maybe they would have figured that out. I didn't know kid's attention spans these days didn't even reach 10 seconds. F**king hell. /end rant
I'm not a big fan of the IAP system at all for a few reasons: 1.) IAP can easily lead to developers gouging you in ways that isn't really possible with the standard up front cost of a download. I've read about a game or two that added IAP after the fact to a premium game, locked up most of the game features and previous owners were stuck with a dialog box asking them to fork out more money. I'm all for developers getting a fair price for a product, but this system can lead to abuse far too easily. 2.) With IAP you often lose control over the game you purchase. It's been flying around that if a game with unlockable IAP uses the developer/pubisher servers to track who has or hasn't unlocked the rest of the game, if those servers are shut down, your game becomes worthless. At least with a full up front purchase, if you have the game on your phone or harddrive, you can still play it even if the game disappears from the App Store. 3.) IAP basically results in no price changes. I'm not a cheap person who only believes in $.99 apps, but I do believe that like most products, the older a game gets, the cheaper it should be. It's how it works in the console/PC gaming world along with the rest of consumer electronics. You pay a premium to play the game immediately and getting it cheaper means waiting months or years. With IAP, Gameloft has little incentive to drop pricing. Their downloads will continue to spike since it's free and as long as a small percent hit buy, they are good to go. You can forget price drops with IAP.
I honestly think they will see that they get more sales when appshopper.com and other sites like it can send notifications about price reductions when apps are sold as full versions. I have a feeling they will get far fewer sales with the current IAP model when they do reduce prices for the IAP. I certainly won't know about it because I don't really keep up with gaming sites. I expect the email notifications of price reductions.
I like the new model, except I can't put IAP on my iTunes wishlist....which is where I put everything while I wait for it to go on sale.
I just checked the top grossing and top download lists, and this game isn't doing as well as I thought. It looks to be 56 on top grossing and 26 on top free downloads. Maybe I'm wrong, but I always thought most Gameloft releases did pretty well at first. I think I remember seeing MC:2 in the top 5 or 10 for both paid downloads and top grossing. I guess the question is if this is due to the fact that people aren't interested in the game itself or if the IAP system isn't as lucrative as Gameloft thought it would be (We'll see how Star Battalion does I guess). Thoughts?
I for one was perfectly happy with just purchasing an app on the app store and be done with it. Gameloft's new model added an extra step to the process, that makes the purchasing experience a little bit more daunting. It has never really bothered me if an app had a lite version or not. I usually just watched an app review on youtube or something, and then decided if I wanted to purchase an app or not.
Well I think Gameloft just proved one of the many reasons they went the IAP route. This just came across on Twitter . http://twitter.com/gameloft/status/35430983931006976 The guy they replied to said it was a shame Sacred Odessey isn't part of the voting for the 14th game that will go on sale for $.99 as part of Gameloft's current promotion. I think this pinpoints a HUGE reason for this change. Gameloft will most likely NEVER drop the price of the IAP. It's not tracked so a price change won't really increase sales unless they advertise a price reduction of the IAP, which likely isn't worth the effort. For those of you who look to get your Gameloft fix by either waiting for a price drop months down the road or for the occational $.99 sale, kiss that goodbye unless they drop the IAP system in the future.
What Gameloft has done is make it easier to try out the game. They eliminate the 'lite' version and make it easy for you to just upgrade from within the demo. There is no extra step, and clicking on a 'buy' button hardly seems daunting. If anything, they free up a little room on your idevice, and keep you from having to download it twice. For someone with buying habits such as yours, they are most likely saving you some frustration and maybe a little cash. If all you do is base your purchase on a review or youtube video and bypass the lite versions, then this pricing model is ideal for you. If you don't like the game then you just dont upgrade to the full version and you saved yourself the cash. Its a win/win for you and Gameloft. I just don't see how this is an issue for anyone.
As much as a $.99 sale sounds great for a game like this, I think the current price is fair. Quite honestly, if the price ever did drop, you can bet that all they need to do is send out a few emails to the appropriate sites and they would most certainly post a quick story about the price drop. I see this site do that very thing all the time. No need to advertise at all. So, yes, I can see them doing a price reduction and anyone who is waiting would most certainly know about it. Most people who wait for sales are the same people who visit these sites for their app news and previews.
Some people just don't like IAP. Personal preferences at least. At the end of the day, this has nothing to do with Gameloft making it easier to try out a game. Just read my post above. I think this is in large part a way for Gameloft to never have to reduce prices from $6.99 or whatever price point they set. Any other reasons are minor.
What's so disturbing? I'm not saying that Gameloft should sell everything cheap, but rather just saying that people who are used to Gameloft sales shouldn't expect that with the IAP.
That's a huge assumption. Plenty of games have had sales on their IAP, Pac-Man CE for example. If you follow this site you will certainly know when IAP goes on sale. Gameloft is constantly having sales, their old games pretty much always go down in price permanently after a while. You really think they aren't going to ever have sales anymore... Seems like you're reading too much into this. It makes much more sense that their intention is just to do away with full and lite versions. Plus it's probably a market trial and they will likely re-evaluate their decision after looking at the data and feedback.
It's disturbing because I usually buy all my Gameloft games when they're on sale. And if IAPs = no more sales, then that's disturbing.
True, we all have personal preferences about these things. But I don't see how its an issue. If I am definitely buying the game then whats the difference? I still have to download it. But as you said its a personal preference. And, why does Gameloft need an excuse to avoid reducing its price point? Why should they? How am I, as a consumer, entitled to a price reduction? These apps priced at $.99 have really spoiled a lot of gamers. $6.99 for a game is not a lot to ask for. I have paid way more ($60) for games that turned out to be really bad. I only wish more console and PC games provided a demo. Unfortunately very few do. So if Gameloft never reduced its price, then that's their choice. Maybe it sells less games, maybe it doesn't, but I am most certainly not going to fault them for trying to sell something at a fair price. They aren't in business to give away free or cheap games.
