Slide to Play just posted this article which I find very interesting. I can't believe there are so many apps in the app store! "App Store Now At 27,000 Apps, Lead By 6,000+ Games 44 minutes ago — by: Steve We recently wrote a piece about the dizzying rate at which new games appear on the App Store. Analytics platform Mobclix has the other piece of the puzzle--a rundown of exactly how many Apps and games we're looking at, in total. It's unreal. The total number of Apps now stands at a cool 27,000, with games making up just under a quarter of that total at 6,200 or so. Paid apps have seized control of the store from free apps--77% of downloads are paid. Also, puzzle games are dominating the Games section at 18% of the total number of games, followed by arcade games at 11.3%, and action games at 10.9%. The next two categories are a bit of a surprise: family games and kid games weigh in at 8.3% and 6.5%, respectively. This segment of iPhone gaming doesn't get as much attention as it should, apparently, and we're going to move to rectify that"
Pretty amazing. What surprises me more is that games are such a small percentage of the total--and I'm slightly surprised that paid apps outnumber free ones, since so many paid apps have a lit version.
oh wow so many...i wonder what the % is for apps that have under 100 sales total..probably like 50% or more lol im sure apple has the statistics to this..one day when the store gets wayyyy too crouded they are gona pull down those inactive apps
Apple really needs to cut down on Puzzles. Unique ones only or extremely high-quality remakes. Same with TDs and shoot-em-ups. When I go to a brick and mortar game store, I certainly have to look past at least 80-85% of the software to find something worth trying, but when you have 27,000 apps at your fingertips, it really starts to become disheartening to find something good. If it weren't for sites like this I would still be playing just my Cydia emulators.
I disagree, because: * You have a search function (and reviews and sites like this) to help cut through the junk. * I want gamers, not Apple, to judge what's worthy to exist. * Devs would be afraid of spending months on a game if they know Apple might reject it for being too much like something else on some vague measurement scale. * I've learned to like TDs * Puzzles and shooters make up a BIG chunk of what people want.
I didn't mean to upset anyone--I think you read a lot more into my comments than was there. Apologies for any misunderstanding, and happy gaming
Hey Adams Immersive, I don't think you need to apologize for anything...I don't see anything wrong with your post. Heaven forbid if you have an opinion that's different from someone else's lol.
What despresses me about that figure is that slot of them are duplicates, spread out across different regions, cities, languages and sounds. Every morning I fire up AppSniper to see what's new, and out of 100, maybe 20 are unique. So many language translators, learning packs, difficulty levels etc. There was this marine navigation app that costs like $50 per region, and I think I've seen at least 30 of them. Not saying that the dev must bundle them all into one, as modules are easier to manage and sell. It just seems to me that when I see the figure 27,000 apps, it suggests each are unique when it really isn't. That's why I'm thankful for TouchArcade.com as it sure does help sort the wheat from the chaff. I do appreciate each personal review from members, as it gives a better idea than iTunes reviews.
Hey there Benegesserit, Like what Adam says, what we've heard from developers posting here, the time and effort to produce something unique is considerable, and may not even be approved. So for their first games, they stick to something simple and more often than not that means puzzlers, shooters and TDs. It helps them understand the approval process a little, pricing factors, and user feedback. Yes it's a big mess right now, but as the saying goes, Rome wasn't built in a day. Hopefully we will see more unique apps come out that really do make us all proud, like Zen Bound. Both Adam and I aren't taking this as a personal attack on you, and neither should you. It's just our own opinion on the same topic, from a slightly different perspective.