0.99 for the first 24 hours. YouTube: video YouTube: video iPhone Screenshots An evil race known as the Guardians is taking over the universe, ravaging planets, and killing all peaceful life forms. You are the galaxy's only hope for salvation. As an elite pilot serving in the ARC Squadron, you are tasked to take on the Guardians in head-to-head combat and bring down their empire. With simple one-touch controls, you can shoot, blast, and annihilate enemy forces to hunt down each of the nine Guardian lords and destroy them once and for all. The ultimate battle for the galaxy is nigh. Are you on board? * Stunning graphics, optimized for Retina display * Massive sixty-four level campaign * More than twenty unique environments * Fifteen challenge levels * Nine boss battles * Six upgradeable ships, with unlockable ship skins * Ten upgradeable weapons * Gamecenter friend challenges, leaderboards and achievements ARC Squadron TouchArcade - ★★★★★"...ARC Squadron embodies what makes an iOS game great and is a must-play."G… TouchArcade Rating: $2.99 Buy Now Watch Media DetailsTouchArcade - ★★★★★"...ARC Squadron embodies what makes an iOS game great and is a must-play."G4TV - Game of the Week"Without question, Arc Squadron is one of the best space shooters we’ve ever played on iOS."Kotaku - Gaming App Of The Day"ARC Squadron is a delight."Inside Mobile Games"ARC Squadron raises the bar for quality among iOS games"148Apps.com"Not very often does a newcomer impress, quite to the level that ARC Squadron has"GameTrailers"Some of the best visuals we’ve seen on iOS"Modojo"You should definitely play and enjoy this impressively polished shooter"An evil race known as the Guardians is taking over the universe, ravaging planets, and killing all peaceful life forms. You are the galaxy's only hope for salvation. As an elite pilot serving in the ARC Squadron, you are tasked to take on the Guardians in head-to-head combat and bring down their empire. With simple one-touch controls, you can shoot, blast, and annihilate enemy forces to hunt down each of the nine Guardian lords and destroy them once and for all. The ultimate battle for the galaxy is nigh. Are you on board?* Stunning graphics, optimized for Retina display* Massive sixty-four level campaign* More than twenty unique environments* Fifteen challenge levels* Nine boss battles* Six upgradeable ships, with unlockable ship skins* Ten upgradeable weapons* Gamecenter friend challenges, leaderboards and achievements Information Seller: Genre:Action, Arcade Release:Nov 01, 2012 Updated:Nov 30, -0001 Version: Size:0.0 TouchArcade Rating: User Rating: (57) Your Rating:unrated Compatibility:HD Universal Lite Version: https://itunes.apple.com/nz/app/arc-squadron-lite/id564247225 Habakuk Well-Known Member Dec 11, 2008 4,779 9 38 Vienna, Austria http://rossau.wordpress.com #2 Habakuk, Nov 1, 2012 Main thread with some impressions: http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=163717 Recommended! tops2 Well-Known Member Jan 21, 2011 2,067 44 48 #3 tops2, Nov 1, 2012 Awesome game with fun varied levels and fun boss fights. Definitely recommended. Greyskull Well-Known Member Dec 13, 2009 5,588 1 38 Photographer/Social Sciences adjunct/sweet sweet l Fort Lauderdale #4 Greyskull, Nov 1, 2012 Screw intro sales. Sure, they reward early adopters, but they also bait people into buying ****. And, from a marketing perspective, it isn't wise to raise a price after release. People won't remember it was an intro price, they'll just assume it was a sale and wait for the price to drop back down. Plus, I've bought numerous games at the intro price which ended up turning into freemium panty stains. 99 cents was a steal for Dead Trigger, right? 3rd post of the morning. 3rd grumpy post of the day. I think I'll play with my doggie. My Muffin hates iOS anyways, since I tend to ignore her while playing. My doggie is a good doggie. Rusothil Well-Known Member Dec 6, 2011 270 0 0 #5 Rusothil, Nov 1, 2012 I haven't looked in the actual thread but it seems like I've missed something substantial here. Are you saying that this game leads towards IAP after the beginning of the game? I thought this game was unbelievably good so far. Exact-Psience Well-Known Member Jan 12, 2012 22,664 2 38 The Work-At-Home Guy Philippines #6 Exact-Psience, Nov 1, 2012 No it doesnt. IAP is purely optional, that grinding isnt even necessary. I just attempted to 3-star (where 4-stars is the perfect run) most of the first 4 missions, and i was able to max out my first ship, the first weapon, and have enough to buy the next ship. As long as you move forward in the missions, the rewards gained (even for 1 or 2-star runs) are increased by a significant amount, where attempting (1 or 2 re-runs) to get better scores will give you enough to upgrade things without it feeling grindy. Habakuk Well-Known Member Dec 11, 2008 4,779 9 38 Vienna, Austria http://rossau.wordpress.com #7 Habakuk, Nov 1, 2012 I read the thread for you and here is the essential posting by Gabrien: http://forums.toucharcade.com/showpost.php?p=2511745&postcount=198 metalcasket: http://forums.toucharcade.com/showpost.php?p=2511865&postcount=219 And maybe this (Gabrien): http://forums.toucharcade.com/showpost.php?p=2511887&postcount=223 Dev of ARC Squadron: http://forums.toucharcade.com/showpost.php?p=2511695&postcount=192 HTH Exact-Psience Well-Known Member Jan 12, 2012 22,664 2 38 The Work-At-Home Guy Philippines #8 Exact-Psience, Nov 1, 2012 ^great post habakuk... But we all know what Gabrien always says. Greyskull Well-Known Member Dec 13, 2009 5,588 1 38 Photographer/Social Sciences adjunct/sweet sweet l Fort Lauderdale #9 Greyskull, Nov 1, 2012 Last edited: Nov 1, 2012 No. Just that "intro sales" are often used to intice people into buying crappy games before the negative reviews roll in. Often times these games are paidmium, or are updated later to become so. From everything I've heard, that's not the case with this game. I just don't like intro sales due the reason stated above, and the difficulty it puts on other developers to sell games released on the same day. Also, intro sales have the perverse effect of causing a lot of people who are interested in the game but either don't have the funds in their account, spend it on other apps, or just happen to miss the sale to sit on their hands, waiting for the price to drop. Sue, people wait for price drops on other games as well, but I've seen a number of games never recover from having their priced raised after a day or few. It can kill off any momentum the game was building in its tracks. dib Well-Known Member Apr 22, 2011 307 0 16 #10 dib, Nov 1, 2012 I think I've been more critical of IAP than anyone else here. And even I'll concede that here, it is as unobtrusive as IAP gets. 1) I had to look for the button to buy it. It's not like it was conspicuously flashing and twirling a baton. But if you attempt to excede your funds, it will make the offer so it's not entirely masked either. 2) It really is useless. I don't know why they bothered to implement it, other than monkey-see-monkey-do which is a real shame. But it has no affect on gameplay. You can buy some make believe money and circumvent the upgrade system, but you would just be wasting money because it's so easy to gain without. So I'm not going to try to justify it, because it is pointless and IAP is the cancer of video games. But if you avoid buying this game over IAP then you are missing out. It would be like passing up an awesome cheeseburger because you don't like the garnish on the side of the plate. PS Is it just me or is Greyskull actually _complaining_ that the developers are offering to let you buy it really cheap? If _any_ game on iOS were worth $5, this is it. The fact they're letting us in on a great deal to check it out is brilliant, not contemptible. Greyskull Well-Known Member Dec 13, 2009 5,588 1 38 Photographer/Social Sciences adjunct/sweet sweet l Fort Lauderdale #11 Greyskull, Nov 1, 2012 Oy vey. No. It's a great deal. The game might never be updated though because it's quite possible sales fall of the cliff when it's raised in price by 2 dollars. Besides, I was just grumpy this morning for some reason. dib Well-Known Member Apr 22, 2011 307 0 16 #12 dib, Nov 1, 2012 The game is running the Unreal engine. That means that after they make some amount (I think it was like $50,000) a quarter of every sale will end up going to Epic. Another 30% to Apple _just because_, meaning they get to keep less than half of every sale. So a higher price isn't just warranted, it's a necessity. Gameloft seems to get by even at the premium price, and I can't remember the last game from them I really enjoyed. So far Arc Squadron hasn't sent any unsolicited notificatioins--even after disabling them--so they have that going for them too. And unlike Gameloft, there's no mistaking this for a freemium game disguised as a commercial product. There's no bait-and-switch. It's a quality, A+ game as we normally see at $5-$8. Offering this launch discount is purely about generating goodwill, and I think it works. Aside from some problems with iPods and people wanting cloud saves, they seem to be doing everything right. Agas Well-Known Member Jan 28, 2011 2,347 0 0 #13 Agas, Nov 1, 2012 A great game, love the gameplay and the game control. Everybody should grab it at 99c. It's a great deal!!! Greyskull Well-Known Member Dec 13, 2009 5,588 1 38 Photographer/Social Sciences adjunct/sweet sweet l Fort Lauderdale #14 Greyskull, Nov 1, 2012 Didn't know that about the Unreal engine...makes sense that you would want to recoup the development costs (or as much of it as possible) before they take their slice. A quarter is an awful lot of money, especially when sold on a platform where the curator (Apple) takes such a large cut. I must assume that the large companies which use the unreal engine (both for mobile and console/PC) either pay a hefty licensing fee up front or a much smaller percentage per unit sold. I guess if an indie dev dreams of having their game on the Appstore, but no budget, they could go the mad scientist route. Like the guy who did Mission Europa. I still think it's insane that one guy made EVERYTHING on that game from scratch, including the graphics engine. No tools at all. That's some serious dedication. Or some serious crazy. Your call. Connector Well-Known Member May 6, 2012 15,512 1 0 In the Chatroom http://thechatroom.freeforums.net/ #15 Connector, Nov 1, 2012 Great game for a buck, highly highly recommended!!! sladeums Well-Known Member Feb 2, 2012 607 0 0 Omaha, NE #16 sladeums, Nov 6, 2012 Back to 99 cents. bramblett05 Well-Known Member Aug 29, 2012 5,682 0 0 #17 bramblett05, Nov 6, 2012 Does it run on touch 4? Chocolate Well-Known Member Jan 10, 2010 1,092 0 36 #18 Chocolate, Nov 6, 2012 Hmm, that's weird. Feel bad for the people who actually paid $5. Connector Well-Known Member May 6, 2012 15,512 1 0 In the Chatroom http://thechatroom.freeforums.net/ #19 Connector, Nov 6, 2012 Yeah, seems to be very common for games to reduce prices within a week of release, and I do feel for early adopters nowadays... But this is a great game!!!! Crazy deal at 99 cents. You would be crazy not to get it at this price... Exact-Psience Well-Known Member Jan 12, 2012 22,664 2 38 The Work-At-Home Guy Philippines #20 Exact-Psience, Nov 6, 2012 The early adopters (from release) got it at $0.99, so no biggie. (You must log in or sign up to post here.) Show Ignored Content Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 Next > Share This Page Tweet Your name or email address: Do you already have an account? No, create an account now. Yes, my password is: Forgot your password? Stay logged in
Main thread with some impressions: http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=163717 Recommended!
Screw intro sales. Sure, they reward early adopters, but they also bait people into buying ****. And, from a marketing perspective, it isn't wise to raise a price after release. People won't remember it was an intro price, they'll just assume it was a sale and wait for the price to drop back down. Plus, I've bought numerous games at the intro price which ended up turning into freemium panty stains. 99 cents was a steal for Dead Trigger, right? 3rd post of the morning. 3rd grumpy post of the day. I think I'll play with my doggie. My Muffin hates iOS anyways, since I tend to ignore her while playing. My doggie is a good doggie.
I haven't looked in the actual thread but it seems like I've missed something substantial here. Are you saying that this game leads towards IAP after the beginning of the game? I thought this game was unbelievably good so far.
No it doesnt. IAP is purely optional, that grinding isnt even necessary. I just attempted to 3-star (where 4-stars is the perfect run) most of the first 4 missions, and i was able to max out my first ship, the first weapon, and have enough to buy the next ship. As long as you move forward in the missions, the rewards gained (even for 1 or 2-star runs) are increased by a significant amount, where attempting (1 or 2 re-runs) to get better scores will give you enough to upgrade things without it feeling grindy.
I read the thread for you and here is the essential posting by Gabrien: http://forums.toucharcade.com/showpost.php?p=2511745&postcount=198 metalcasket: http://forums.toucharcade.com/showpost.php?p=2511865&postcount=219 And maybe this (Gabrien): http://forums.toucharcade.com/showpost.php?p=2511887&postcount=223 Dev of ARC Squadron: http://forums.toucharcade.com/showpost.php?p=2511695&postcount=192 HTH
No. Just that "intro sales" are often used to intice people into buying crappy games before the negative reviews roll in. Often times these games are paidmium, or are updated later to become so. From everything I've heard, that's not the case with this game. I just don't like intro sales due the reason stated above, and the difficulty it puts on other developers to sell games released on the same day. Also, intro sales have the perverse effect of causing a lot of people who are interested in the game but either don't have the funds in their account, spend it on other apps, or just happen to miss the sale to sit on their hands, waiting for the price to drop. Sue, people wait for price drops on other games as well, but I've seen a number of games never recover from having their priced raised after a day or few. It can kill off any momentum the game was building in its tracks.
I think I've been more critical of IAP than anyone else here. And even I'll concede that here, it is as unobtrusive as IAP gets. 1) I had to look for the button to buy it. It's not like it was conspicuously flashing and twirling a baton. But if you attempt to excede your funds, it will make the offer so it's not entirely masked either. 2) It really is useless. I don't know why they bothered to implement it, other than monkey-see-monkey-do which is a real shame. But it has no affect on gameplay. You can buy some make believe money and circumvent the upgrade system, but you would just be wasting money because it's so easy to gain without. So I'm not going to try to justify it, because it is pointless and IAP is the cancer of video games. But if you avoid buying this game over IAP then you are missing out. It would be like passing up an awesome cheeseburger because you don't like the garnish on the side of the plate. PS Is it just me or is Greyskull actually _complaining_ that the developers are offering to let you buy it really cheap? If _any_ game on iOS were worth $5, this is it. The fact they're letting us in on a great deal to check it out is brilliant, not contemptible.
Oy vey. No. It's a great deal. The game might never be updated though because it's quite possible sales fall of the cliff when it's raised in price by 2 dollars. Besides, I was just grumpy this morning for some reason.
The game is running the Unreal engine. That means that after they make some amount (I think it was like $50,000) a quarter of every sale will end up going to Epic. Another 30% to Apple _just because_, meaning they get to keep less than half of every sale. So a higher price isn't just warranted, it's a necessity. Gameloft seems to get by even at the premium price, and I can't remember the last game from them I really enjoyed. So far Arc Squadron hasn't sent any unsolicited notificatioins--even after disabling them--so they have that going for them too. And unlike Gameloft, there's no mistaking this for a freemium game disguised as a commercial product. There's no bait-and-switch. It's a quality, A+ game as we normally see at $5-$8. Offering this launch discount is purely about generating goodwill, and I think it works. Aside from some problems with iPods and people wanting cloud saves, they seem to be doing everything right.
A great game, love the gameplay and the game control. Everybody should grab it at 99c. It's a great deal!!!
Didn't know that about the Unreal engine...makes sense that you would want to recoup the development costs (or as much of it as possible) before they take their slice. A quarter is an awful lot of money, especially when sold on a platform where the curator (Apple) takes such a large cut. I must assume that the large companies which use the unreal engine (both for mobile and console/PC) either pay a hefty licensing fee up front or a much smaller percentage per unit sold. I guess if an indie dev dreams of having their game on the Appstore, but no budget, they could go the mad scientist route. Like the guy who did Mission Europa. I still think it's insane that one guy made EVERYTHING on that game from scratch, including the graphics engine. No tools at all. That's some serious dedication. Or some serious crazy. Your call.
Yeah, seems to be very common for games to reduce prices within a week of release, and I do feel for early adopters nowadays... But this is a great game!!!! Crazy deal at 99 cents. You would be crazy not to get it at this price...