What I want to know is: when the entire AppStore has been converted to reflect parity between AUD and USD, why is Mega Mall Story AUD$4.49, rather than $3.99? I know it's 50c difference, but what gives?
When the hell are they ever gonna make their games universal?? Games like these are great on the big screen. I see it selling very well in the iPad market.
This has to be one of the better games that Kairosoft have released (was not a big fan of Pocket Academy). If you are thinking about purchasing it, then I suggest you do so because you won't regret it.
I have been wondering that as well. Apps up to 2.99 are priced equally. From 3.99 on though, we get charged an extra 50c. Best guess I could think of was perhaps it has something to do with tax, but that doesn't make a whole lot of sense either.
Yeh but when it goes on sale in 3weeks time people will regret it and then we will see half of TA whining "I feel ripped of! I get it and it goes on sale" etc. Happened with PA happened with other games and will happen with this game. Thats just the App Store
I don't think this is uniform, as I happily bought FF:T last week for the same price as what was paid in the US. Australia doesn't have any taxes per se to be added on top, the quoted price must reflect our only tax (GST) by law, and even then it's only 10%. I can't see any explanation other than a developer imposed region-specific price. Someone is skimming some cream off the top at our expense, and I don't like it none too much (from a discrimination point of view more than anything, we've been fleeced for far too long!).
That's true. I always pay full price when it comes to kairosoft games, I like to support small developing companies and who knows, it might encourage them to port more of their games.
Yes, as I said, that was only the best guess I could come up with and it still didn't make a whole lot of sense. If someone actually knows, I'd be very curious to hear an actual explanation.
Game Impressions I played the game for a few hours last night and like others have said, very addicting. I have played yoot tower, sim tower, sim city, and of those I have to say this is my favorite. If you are looking for a sim tower/yoot tower type game, but don't want the hardcore simulation, like where you think you may need to create a spreadsheet to help you figure things out, but want one that is fun, and just enough realism into the situation but not too much, then this is your game. As for people saying they want the iPad version, I have to say, I am not an a avid iPhone gamer because of the smaller screen, I love gaming on my iPad, and up to now have played all of the Kairosoft games on my iPad in 2x mode and just tried them out on the phone, this game works fine on the phone. It really does not need the extra screen real estate and functions and plays very well on the smaller screen of the iPhone. Great game, go buy it, support the smaller developers, and hopefully we will get some more great games like this from kairsoft in the future.
Quick Question I loved Game Dev Story to bits and spent hours on it, didn't get into Hot springs story at all, think because of a combination of the subject matter and a lack of understanding of how the game worked - Reckon I'm going to like this or not??
It's really not that hard. Everything is rounded to a specific pricepoint to protect against exchange rate fluctuations. Apps up to 2.99 are priced "equally", but compared to the US price, Apple & Devs lose 7.3c on every $0.99 app, 14.7c on every $1.99 app, and 22.2c on every $2.99 app sold in Australia. (AU$2.99 = AU$2.72 ex. GST, AU$2.72 = US$2.77) Yes, the *customer* pays 16.7c more on $4.49 (US$3.99) apps, 9.3c more on $5.49 (US$4.99) apps, and 1.8c more on $6.49 (US$5.99) apps. But those are the only tiers where this (currently) happens based on exchange rates. Everything else in the App Stores from FFT ($15.99/AU$16.99) to OS X Lion ($29.99/$31.99) and above, works out cheaper. tl,dr: Currently Australian customers win on price a lot more than they lose.
I'd say you'll like this. I had the same issue with Hot Springs and, though I persevered, found it very tough to get into and nowhere near as clear as Game Dev Story. This is much clearer right from the start. Now I haven't played it a lot yet so it remains to be seen if it will be quite as engaging as Game Dev Story but I suspect you'll like this much better than Hot Springs Story.
guys... i am a game dev story fan and am a loyal kairo fan because of it. 1. game dev story - best game they ever made on ios. 2. springs was meh. i didn't understand it in the beginning and it because irritating not being able to understand rotation, placement, etc. 3. pocket academy was too busy to get around to play this. a little confusing too. 4. mall is simply so much simpler to understand and grasp... like game dev story was for me. it helps you along a lot more than springs and academy. i would strongly suggest this game. a lot more depth than many other sim tower games. i miss yoot and the original sim tower though but they aren't coming on the iphone so this is fine for me. tiny tower is not really comparable to this. tiny tower's appeal lasted didn't last past a day. this is the real deal. go get it. it's not really that expensive either.
also, does anyone know how or where to properly utilize the cinema? i have it on the forth floor with like zero customers over a year. - nevermind. i figured it out. i didn't have any popular buildings on higher floors above it.
How do we win on Price? We are paying the same as the US and in some cases more. Why should we have to pay more because of the Dodgy exchange rates?
You "win" on price because Apple and the Developers make the least amount of money at most price points. How is this hard to understand? Australian prices include 10% GST. American, Canadian etc. prices do not, because they vary from state/province. Could be 0%, could be 3%, could be 7%, could be 12%. In the UK it could be 20%. Not Apple's problem, you're being taxed, not them. A $1.99 app in the Australian store means you're charged $1.99. Apple collect $1.81, the Government collects 18c. $1.99 in the American store means Apple collect $1.99, but depending on state you could end up paying more. A resident of California would be taxed 7.75%. The government collects 15c, and you're charged $2.14. $1.99 in the Canadian Store means Apple collect $1.99, but depending on province you could end up paying more. A resident of British Columbia would be taxed 12%. The government collects 24c, and you're charged CA$2.23. At current exchange rates, including all taxes the consumer pays US$2.02 in Australia, US$2.14 in California, and US$2.25 in British Columbia. But Apple only receive US$1.84 in Australia as opposed to the full US$1.99 in the US and $2.00 in Canada. Yes, there are states in the US that don't tax apps. A WA state customer wouldn't pay a cent over $1.99. And yes, at 3.99/4.99/5.99, Apple *do* collect more money. In Mega Mall Story's case, Apple collect 16 of that 50c. But they lose a lot more at .99, 1.99, 2.99, and everything over 6.49, than they "overcharge" you at 4.49, and 5.49. Bitching about 50c is kind of sad, but when the *majority* of apps are sold at pricepoints that result in *less* revenue to both developers and Apple it's ridiculous. Do you really expect companies to pay tax on your behalf? Not only that, have you seen the markups on other things in Australia like books, clothes, DVDs, CDs and especially Video games which are quite literally double the price?
