I've only had my Touch a few days, but quickly realized how many apps there are. And I'm only referring to games right now. There are just way too many! At first I started looking at all the "best" games, and soon realized there are lots of good games. I kept feeling pulled to buy them all because they were so cheap ($1 to $3 usually), and went thru the 2 iTunes gift cards I had in 2 days. After that initial orgy I have way more games on my Touch than I reasonably have time to play, and yet I still want more! But now I'm controlling myself, and plan to adhere to a strict monthly iTunes budget. I think there are actually too many apps now. And yet more are coming, seemingly every day. The store is really flooded with apps, and I wonder if many people feel overwhelmed like I do? Honestly, it sorta makes me want to back away instead of buy more. It's just too much.
That's why sites like this one exist, to help you get past the crap to the stuff that's actually worth your time.
Haha, well I'm pretty sure EVERYONE feels exactly how you do. We tried to warn you in your other thread, remember? My advice is to not buy every single little dollar game just because it looks cool, those dollar games start to really add up and I don't end up playing them a whole lot. I try to just buy the major games that I know I'll play a lot, and keep the cute little casual games to a minimum. Plus, games go on sale so much that you can hold off on buying something while you continue to play the games you have, and lo and behold eventually the game you want will go on sale. But we all totally know where you're coming from, I'll gladly extend my candle out to light yours, welcome to App Addicts Anonymous. EDIT: Oh yeah, go to appshopper.com and start an account there. You can keep a running Wish List of games you want so they don't slip by with all the games released everyday. And it will tell you when things go on sale. I couldn't live without Appshopper.
Hmmmm, I'll agree with you that there are too many apps and too many 'games'. But there are certainly not too many decent games. The key to the app store, is sniffing out those decent games that are usually tucked away in the corner of the app store. And Touch Arcade is a great place to start
It's kinda a combination of two things. You know those huge schools of fish that swim in sync? They do so so that a predator can't pick any one fish. It's the same thing with the app store. They're like 30 dual-stick shooters, and they're all (for the most part) great. Anyone new to the scene (even me) can't pick a specific one. And second, all the games are so easy to get, that it cheapens the feel of them. When I go to GameStop and fork out $60 for a game, I can feel a chunk of my soul leaving me, and it makes the disc feel valuable. I buy a game on the AppStore, and it's like "meh, I can't more with just a couple clicks". So yeah, I share the feeling.
Kamazar, that's a good point. Sometimes the ease of the app store dilutes the value of the game for some reason. I don't know how many games I have that I've downloaded for a dollar or two, never got around to playing them, needed to make room, and just deleted those unplayed games without a thought. I've probably spent at least $100 on games that I've never even played for more than 30 seconds. It's sad, really, but I bet a lot of other people have done similar things. If I get a $60 game for Xbox, even if it sucks I'm playing that damn thing til the bitter end!
You've gotta learn how strict you need to be. There are a lot of "good" games out there, but if you wanna save money you should start thinking about which genre of games in particular you prefer. Even once you've got your genre firmly in mind, you've still gotta be pretty anal about it, don't buy anything without reading impressions from other people first (unless you're TOFTTing) and preferably make sure it's better than similar games that you already own. Oh, and as already hinted at by other people... if you've still got unfinished games that you're enjoying, force yourself to go and play those instead.
Some good points and advice, thanks everyone. I am definitely clamping down on myself. I just stopped myself from buying Jetcar Stunts a few minutes ago, and I feel proud. QUESTION: any easy/quick way to sort apps on the Touch? iTunes seems really clunky for that. I wish we could have seperate menus for games, utilities etc., and have things auto-sorted alphabetically. Or am I missing something here? I can easily see myself ending up with 100's of apps one day, and the current menu system isn't too well suited for that many apps.
WRONG. BAD CHOICE. Go buy jet car stunts THIS VERY INSTANT. That is not a game which you can pass over. I'm so glad I was on TA at the right time, I just saved your life. edit: You must learn which games you can and cannot pass over. JCS is not one of them.
if you want your apps in alphabetic order go under settings > general > reset > reset home screen layout.
Short answer: not really, and you're limited to 11 pages of apps, though obviously you can keep them on iTunes and swap them around as needed. If you jailbreak you can create your own folders, but that's probably a topic for another time... I wouldn't really recommend jailbreaking to people who haven't had their device for very long.
Totally got to agree, you can start being stingy after buying Jet Car Stunts!! That is one of the finest games available. So basically, if you haven't realized already, we all claim to have our purchases under control but clearly we do not, and we'll probably do nothing but encourage you to get more games. I must be a moron but I never knew that. Thanks.
I do that all the time. Quiets the OCD freak inside of me. And yeah, not getting JCS... that was stupid.
The way I limit myself is this: 1st - i see if there is a lite version of anything I want to play. I give it a go and see how it feels. If I like it, I will download the full version. 2nd, if there is no lite version, i read reviews etc for it. 3rd - even if it is a $.99 game, I ask myself if I would be willing to spend $10 to try it out. If the answer is no, then I'm probably not that interested in it in the first place. If the answer is yes, then I buy it, cause I probably really want it. 4th - I never download more than 1 game/day. if i finish the game that i downloaded that day, then that's it til the next day. I generally ensure that I've finished the game as much as I am going to until i get the next one. Honestly, there are SOOOOO many wonderful looking apps out there, and lots of people who put lots of time, effort, money and creativity into them. I want to really experience the ones that I get too, to give them a real chance and ensure that I feel like I'm always getting more than my money's worth (cause honestly, for the app prices you are almost always getting more than you paid for, even if you don't recognize it). Good luck with finding the good ones out there.
OK, I just bought Jet Car Stunts. I hate you all so much. ALSO, thanks for the alphabetizing tip, I'll try that out. And I had no idea we were limited to 11 menu screens, hmm that's really limiting. Apple is kinda begging people to jailbreak with such limitations. What's the point of having 64GB if I'm so limited with apps? C'mon Apple! The menu system really kinda sucks, and I'm no stranger to hacking devices. We'll see. EDIT: Jet Car Stunts is fantastic! Love it. Was worth the 2 bucks for sure, no regrets!
