Games such as Heros of Sparta have been out for months now and even on consoles games that have been out for months recieve price drops, so theres nothing wrong with that. Now I understand that some games have gotten big price drops just a week or two after release and that at times can be crazy but also needed since the app store is so packed right now. This is why the prices are as they are because there is SO much competetion on the app store right now, its not all bad considering the user base for the device is alot as well. People have supported games like Doom, Tiger etc as they are in the Top 20. Games like Real Racing while maybe really good are not quite name brands like NFS so they wont sell all that well at 10 bucks even though they aren't doing terribly bad either but wont be in the top 10 at that price. Dollar games are always gonna dominant the top 10 its just how it is. People are always looking for a cheap, pick up and play game they wont have to think twice before clicking the buy button. The recent price drops of gamelofts games have obviously worked for them most of these games have already been out awhile and prob would be passed over, it also gives them attention to their newer higher priced games as well if users check out what other games they have. And as mentioned this is common practice even in console games that games naturally drop in price after some months. Its not a perfect system no, but the app store is very new and very crowded that things will be hectic and crazy for sometime with pricing. Sure devs can stick to their guns and their original price tags but then I and alot of others would own about 80% less games then I do know. I know theres a ton of games I would never buy and have a limited budget I would spent on mobile games when I already buy console games and everything else I spend money on. I've already have way too many games I've never played but bought for a dollar just cause of the price.
Im lazy so im commenting on first page... If you make app store top 100 go off revenue then you are making it harder for the casual 99 cent games to get recognized. Meaning my 99 cent game has to sell 10 copies to a 9.99 games every 1. If I sell 100 copies and you sell 10. I think i deserve a spot way above yours. They need a formula that includes revenue sale and anything else (maybe length to keep or move out older games after a prolonged period of time) but i doubt apple wants to take the time to do that
I agree that those are the two camps, but I propose that there is a compromise. In my opinion, the solution to all this is for Apple to rank apps by revenue. This will place $0.99 and high-dollar games on an *EQUAL* footing. It shouldn't be said that this would be a "disadvantage" to $0.99 games, it's just that it will remove the advantage they have now over higher priced games. I think this is the best solution for gamers and developers. Apple, however, is another story. Their primary interest is in value-adding the hardware. I posted about this here: http://forums.toucharcade.com/showpost.php?p=330135&postcount=22
the only reason devs sell their apps for 99 cents is because apple will promo their work based on sales and sales alone and an apple promo (what im referring to here is either a listing on itunes under top paid apps or whats hot apps or so on and so forth) is worth tens of thousands of dollars if utilized correctly. in the app store, its all about visibility. if youre not already selling hundreds or thousands of apps, its very difficult to make any kind of money...
Not necessarily, though I understand the sentiment. Remember that you are but one in a vast sea of iTouch/Phone users. While you use it to game more than anything else (and I do the same, btw), the fact is that the majority do not. Shocking, I know, as the iTouch/Phone-specific game market has caught the industry by storm, but the majority of iTouch/Phone owners don't actually buy games. A sizable contingent does, however, and they buy a ton of games, enough to make it a solid consumer base to which one can sell software. But since there is such a schism between those that use it for gaming and those that don't, and since the device was not designed to do one thing primarily above all else, it, like the PC, is not a game system if one defines such a term as a dedicated gaming device in terms of the market.
