I dont think so because the only people who millions of "app buyers" buy their game/s are the makers of the #1 top selling app/s in the app store.
I'm starting to get used to the dlc model. At first it reminded me of crack dealer sales tactics. Now my problem is with the namco model. Charge a premium price(Ace Combat) for an incomplete game, then charge(dlc) for the rest. For that product I did expect frequent free updates.
The problem is that Namco likely just can't afford to sell games at the 99¢*price point that people are used to complete with 100 years of free content updates. While a lot of these cheap iPhone games are just made by a couple of dudes sitting in their basement, Namco has office buildings which require electricity, heating/cooling, as well as a cleaning and administrative/maintenance staff. The teams that develop these games inside of these buildings likely are all getting benefits, a competitive salary, and are developing on hardware that was all purchased by the company. It should be interesting to see whether the App Store adapts to companies like Namco, or Namco adapts to the App Store. I tend to lean towards hoping that iPhone gamers adapt to companies like Namco, as the hardware in the latest generation of the iPhone and iPod touch (not to mention future generations) largely seems to go un-utilized because so few companies (short of Gameloft) can afford to devote the time and resources in to building a game that isn't just a 99¢ time waster. 4th generation iPods and iPhones will likely be more powerful than any other handheld gaming device on the market, but building software to take advantage of that hardware will take more than 99¢.
Which, of corse, brings up the problem of developers limiting their game's capacity in order to expand their market to all iDevices. This whole 3gs enabled auto-enhancements can only go so far before games possible on new iPods and iPhones just aren't possible on old ones. This is a point in which the quality issue will reach a boiling point. For most gaming systems it is easy because the market is only designed for the release of a new system every few years, but with a new iPhone every year it might be hard for developers to chose between making the best game possible vs. the most profitable game possible.
i say, once app unveils the next generation ipod touch, all previous generation ipod touch users should be able to trade in their old ipod for the new one, or at least a discount... this would eradicate all old generations and their limitations or do they already do this?
You've been able to trade in any iPod, working or not, for a discount on any other iPod for years now.
Unfortunately, Namco seems to have gotten off to a bad start. This might give ambitious indie developers a window of opportunity. I understand Namco has overhead issues that others may not. On the otherhand, they also have a somewhat unique advantage, since they offer products over a variaty of systems to help offset those overhead costs. Their first offering really needed to be special if they wanted to change app store customer mentality so they can charge a higher price pt. Their job will only be tougher since expectations of their products may have been lowered.
