Yes, I'm definitely looking for good games, not crappy ones... Themed bundles will make sure that the games are interesting to the target audience too, and have a better chance at high ranking on the category charts. See http://appbundles.com for more info for devs
Hey Kyle - I think this is a fantastic idea, and would love to perhaps be a part of it as well. Our current game (fowlplay) and the next game we plan on building are quite kid friendly - any chance there might be a 'kids bundle' in the future?
We're working on a kids bundle, but we've paused signing up new developers until we get our first one out. Give me an email at [email protected] if you're interested..
Yes, please check out http://appbundles.com for more info, and send me an email with your app details to [email protected]
Alright thank you! Hmm, it says on the appbundles page that I have to submit how my app is doing. Do i need to have an app that's already been on AppStore before?
You know - if you want people to sign up, it would be wise to start by not calling their games 'crappy'...
If you read the thread, I said many times I don't want the crappy games. This will be a non-crappy bundle
no offense; but who defines what is crap and what is not crap? i personally cannot stand RTS or adventure type games.. does that mean all games with this functionality are crap? i also don't like 3D games - they must be crap too using this analogy right? i think you may want to separate your ideals around selectiveness.. why not do: - match 3 bundle - tower defense bundle - FPS bundle try taking the genre's into consideration instead of being arrogant around what you may believe is crap. i still don't believe the appbundles.com principle will work - mainly because i don't see it getting traction. apple will always be the best marketing engine on the iphone/ipod touch.
And how would you suggest could someone get some kind of promotion arrangement with apple themselves? Without shelling out several millions, that is.
I am the self-appointed crap detector. Like most people, I can instantly tell if a game is worth $0.99 in the first place, or even the $0.10 bundled price. But just to be sure, I request a promo code of any game I review for inclusion. Even if you can not stand a genre, I'm sure you can tell if a game is crap or not. For example, I hate puzzle and card games, yet I can evaluate them and determine if they are infact crap or non-crap. It isn't too hard, you just have to think like Joe Appuser... The degree of genre targeting is directly proportional to the number of interested devs. But, if you are too targeted, the bundle loses its value. For example, would you really want to buy 10 tower defense games for $0.99, or would you rather have some variety in your bundle? Most people would be more interested in a little variety within a broader genre. I have anecdotal evidence to suggest otherwise. Since Battle for Wesnoth was featured in "Hot New Games", and "What We're Playing", and regularly in the top RPG list, I can say that the best marketing engines are a TouchArcade front-page mention, a price drop (get listed on all those app discovery apps and webpages, like AppShopper.com and Pandora Box app), and AdMob advertising (even after spending "only" $2500 I can see the amazing results). Being featured by Apple pales in comparison to these. I'm interested in why you have that opinion. Do you have any evidence to support this claim?
you cannot - that is the thing. apple controls it and from day one they have defined that you cannot buy your way in. this is a definite dog-eat-dog environment. you are pretty much out there on your own.
that - i can agree with. some apps are jut horribly put together. depends on how many 1-star reviews you get for including a game someone didn't like - you don't know how this type of thing will kick off - like the classic "give it for free", developers get burnt with the rate-on-delete system apple has and get a lot of 1-star reviews. it costs money to make money - how much of a difference does it really make? TA vs apple featured? any comparison numbers? i've just seen bundles been out there before - they simply faded away. if you can ride on good games and success from good reviews, or even if they cross promote each other; maybe. but, it is a long shot.. i really hope it works out - i'm trying my own freebie thing now, and it may bite me on the ass as well thats how the app store works
As for 1-star reviews, you should google for "appirater"... Not app-pirater... app-i-rater... Basically it is open source code that tracks how many times a user launches your app, then politely asks them to write a review, with a quick link to your review page on itunes. For example, you can set it to ask after a user has played your game 10 times and it has been at least 1 week. This really balances out the "rate on delete" bad reviews. Highly recommended for all devs!
I had a lot of fun reading this thread. Unfortunately, I have no crappy games to contribute. And even though I'm totally inspired by this idea, I still can't think of a crappy game to build. Am I normal?? Been asking myself this everytime I see the top-rated apps list.
