Funny reading all these posts about the price tag of this game. My personal opinion is that $16 is a major rip-off just like other FF / Chaos Rings titles prices, but I can understand and respect the reasons why so many people think it's worth it. I'd pay $160000 for a X-Com UFO Defense remake, so the decision to pay for a very very overpriced game (IMO) like this is more affection than rational-based. And who wouldn't do the same for his favorite games throw the first stone
Prices are cheaper now? Most people don't even consider the iOS a portable console (aka the AppStore far from represents the gaming industry as a whole). Sometimes EA and Gameloft games get old, you know? Super Street Fighter IV on the 3DS is $40, and my goodness, it's worth it. I actually can't say I'll ever be playing Volt again on the iOS unless it's with a friend who doesn't have a 3DS. Why doesn't Capcom bother bringing over all the characters to the iOS after over a year? It's because of the customers and their mindsets. For the first time, we see a platform not limited by technology, but by the customer base. Have we seen a single large company make a game dedicated game for the iOS? I can name one: Chaos Rings. How many "AAA" titles have you seen on the iOS? Now how many of them were original titles made for the iOS? Real Racing 2? Galaxy on Fire 2? Looks like my list is done already? Dead Space?..recycled efforts that don't touch the console games' asses just like all of EA's "ports"? Infinity Blade?..half-assed at best compared to what Epic/Chair can do. You get what you pay. The iOS is still my favorite platform, but I'm not too blind to see the truth. I love cheap games on the iOS and all; I mean it's incredible how you can buy games without even feeling guilty or having to decide whether it's worth it. But yeah, we're here. We're not going to be playing games like Crisis Core on the iOS anytime in the near future at this rate. Honestly, there's probably 10 games, ports included, on the iOS to date that can even compare to games on the PSP from four years ago. Edit: What wins it for me is the capacity and convenience of the iOS. I mean, I can carry around 150+ different games around on my 32 GB iPod Touch. There's always going to be a game I feel like playing. No cartridges, no bulkiness, just a lightweight, very flat rectangle. People choose to buy certain games on other platforms because they're good games. People choose to buy certain iOS games because they're cheap. No matter how bad a Gameloft game is, once it's a dollar, it's suddenly top 10 material. Same goes for EA titles. The race to the bottom spearheaded by EA at time was beneficial in the short run for them, but in the long run, we'll see.
That was brilliant. I would sig it all but too much text. All of this is undeniably true. I love iOS as well, but you cannot argue against this. And so let's discuss the game. I can find FFA2 for less than this. Is this better than that?
Back to the matter at hand! I absolutely LOVED FFTA, I spent so many hours in college playing that damn game. I was understandably pumped when FFTA2 came out and similarly sunk many, many hours into that game. With that in mind, I am even more excited about playing FFT: WOTL for the iOS even though I played it on the PSX and on the PSP! The story is much deeper and has some interesting ties to the Ivalice setting, as well as FFXII (thanks to the improved translation!). I like the character building and equipment aspects better in FFT: WOTL than FFTA and FFTA2, it feels more complete. The rotatable 3D maps are also a huge draw for me, because they offer a lot of fun. So I would posit if you like FFTA2, you will get a lot of enjoyment out of this release.
+1 While obviously TA members don't make up a majority of App Store consumers who would love deep, hardcore games on this system, we would be the ones who would like them the most. It's pretty unfortunate that the assortment of games that are brought to the system are limited by all of the casual buyers. I'm a fan of the casual games and I really enjoy some of the shorter experiences casual games have to offer. It seems that companies are not willing to invest so much time in a deeper title when the core audience of iOS gaming aren't clamoring for that style of game. The biggest impact that the App Store is having isn't neccessarily quality titles (not saying there aren't any), but rather the pricing of games. Which really blows for two reasons. One being that the developer is expected to spend so much time creating a quality title and sell it for such a low price (and that's not even talking about how so many people expect free updates). Two being that it blows as the consumer because the quality of titles degrade as they are expected to be such a low price. Uh. I'm still buying this, though. Somehow this game slipped through my childhood and I never got around to playing it within the past few years. For as much content as I'm hearing people say this game has, it seems like for $16, this is an amazing deal. I'd love for this game to prove that bigger name games with higher production values can succeed on the App Store with that message being promoted to other studios.
I'm a bad lurker and don't comment much around TA, but this topic has sparked my interest – so here’s my 2 cents (or 2 minutes…): I used to have a PSP and a DS. I loved them both. But, due to financial issues, I sold them a couple years ago and just never got the chance to get another one. I got an iPhone, and started buying games on it. Games like SFIV Volt / Mortal Kombat on iOS are definitely not the pinnacle of their respective series, and I agree are much better with physical buttons, but they're at least good to kill a few minutes. And I picked up both for $0.99 – so money well spent imo. FF3 I thought was great for $15.99, and GTA:CW was a “steal” at $9.99 (groan). And I’ve paid far more for some games that weren’t so great - $9.99 was far too much for CoD: Zombies, especially after getting games like N.O.V.A. 2 for $0.99. The way I see it, I’m getting some great games for less than I would’ve paid on a PSP/DS, and I’m OK with that. So is my wife, haha. Back to the topic, I will definitely be purchasing this game, hell I've been waiting since E3 2009 for it to come out. I never finished FFT on the PSX (I was young and naive and gave up after spending days, maybe weeks, on the Wiegraf fight). I missed it on the PSP, so $15.99 shouldn’t be anything after paying $50~ for the original. Maybe this is why I don’t comment much…I can’t seem to get my point across without writing a freakin novel and make bad puns. If you read this whole thing, gold star! Oh, and if anyone has a method for time travel to make tomorrow come much faster (besides sleeping for 20 hours), let me know.
There should be a poll created on whether people are willing to pay 15 dollars on a single game in the AppStore for the sake of higher production values. (not referring specifically to this game, but in general) I'll be completely honest, I'm a pretty cheap person. But as said earlier, iOS isn't even considered by most as a real respectable handheld console(which it has all the potential to be). The only thing holding it back is that devs are afraid to put so much work into their games and place em in the AppStore for what they're worth because people will simply complain that it doesn't fit in with the majority of cheaper games available. I say - enough about this in this thread, that's why I suggest a poll be created on a separate thread.
We already have a thread for that and the overwhelming consensus is that no one will pay more than a dollar for anything and your game better also be universal or else you're scamming gamers. http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=52534
Haha. Yeah I saw that one. It's ridiculous how people get mad at devs for pricing their own game be it for iPad or iPod separately. But my point was to see how many people will flip out or embrace the idea of quality games being priced accordingly for the amount of time developers must put into them to reach such quality. Seeing how some people find it abominable for any game to cost more than 10 dollars so long as it is in the AppStore alongside much cheaper, lower value (often times rushed) titles.
It should be 14.99 so you only have to get one card. This game is 15.99 forcing you to spend at least 30.00 for this game if you buy gift cards...so so lame...
People have already shown that they are definitely willing to pay more than $10 for a game. The rationale doesn't seem to be production value, however, but brand recognition (which often times comes with production value). FF3 is still in the top 200 for top grossing in the US, and it stands to reason that it's probably doing better in Japan. Would Deathsmiles be $12 if it wasn't made by Cave? I certainly don't think so. It takes a heck of a lot of research by a consumer to determine the production value of a game. It is much easier to rely on past experience to guess at production value, hence brand recognition being important. This game will be hugely successful at the $16 price point, because there're a tremendous amount of people who love Square, love this game, and remember paying $50 for it when it first came out. Will that translate into the average iDevice user purchasing the game? Probably not, but that's certainly not the targeted demographic for an srpg from Squeenix. Will the success of this title translate into higher quality, but higher priced games coming to iOS? Probably from Squeenix, but probably not from anyone else.
I think it should translate into the general price point that devs are allowed to price their own games at. Thus raising production value, making better games, making more people want it, making devs more money, making bigger companies more interested in the iOS marketplace. Thus making everyone happy. You make a good point about people paying because they love SE. But isn't it because they put hard work into making good games. If other large companies catch on, this could lead to much higher standards in the AppStore in terms of quality titles being produced. Proving that people are willing to pay more than 10 dollars for a game in the AppStore is a biggie, honestly.
It's absolutely because they put hard work into making good games. But they've put that hard work in over the course of 20+ years. To come up with new IP and develop it to a point where it builds brand cache is probably the most difficult thing to do in any business and especially in the games industry. The point made earlier about AAA titles being developed just for iOS is spot on. Bringing existing and established IP is much safer right now than developing new IP. Thankfully that's what leaves so much room for indie developers like myself.
Here's how I judge the value of a game (of any price): I work out the cost to me per hour of gameplay. Examples: Space Miner: 16hrs played, Cost AU$3 - Cost per hour- $0.19 GTA:CTW- 40hrs played, Cost AU$13 - $/Hr - $0.30 Fruit Ninja- 5hrs played, Cost AU$1.2 - $/Hr - $0.24 FFT:WotL (PSP)- 120hrs played, Cost AU$30- $/Hr- $0.25 FFT:WotL (iPhone) (Prediction)- 120hrs, Cost AU$17 - $/Hr- $0.14 I personally am very disheartened when I see discussion over whether the price of a $2.99 game is too high when it can give you 16 hrs of enjoyment. Where else can you pay 19c/hour for good entertainment? I can't think of anywhere. But when this (FFT) does come out there will surely be people who just can't swing the $16 for at least 80hrs of gameplay. Also those trying to match with the PSN version- there is no comparison to be made. It may be the same content but square have added: The touch interface, fixed the slowdown, Retina graphics and Auto Save. Surely all that is worth the extra $6. So don't just say it's a port from the PSP because it isn't and Square have worked hard to bring this to iOS for all of us to enjoy.
