Yes, but this is the website that sold itself to Rolando when it first came out, remember? I would imagine a disproportionate amount of their sales came from the buzz generated here. I'm pretty ambivalent about the game. I tried the lite version two or three different times; even though I *love* 2D platformers this one never did it for me for some reason. Probably the trendy/childish graphic style.
I said it in another thread, and I'll say it here: They're pulling it off just like Topple, to ensure people can only download the new version (#2) which in turn puts all the sales in that app, and drives it up the app store ranking. Anyone who thinks differently is naive. They're saving us from "confusion"? What are we, idiots who can't understand the difference between #1 and #2??? Give me a break! And why should anyone buy what's going to be an abandoned product? You really take us for fools don't you?!?
I paid $10 for Rolando. You're saying that now I need to pay MORE for a game that I already have? And what happens when Rolando 3 comes out? Do I need to pay for Rolando 1 and 2 again? If that's the case, I'm going to actually skip Rolando 2 and wait for 3. Better yet, I am buying nothing more from ngmoco until 4.0 comes just to make sure that I am not going to eventually be screwed by ALL of their games. Because maybe there will be a Touchpets 2, Livefire 2, and Star Defense 2 that will make their originals obsolete.
Chill out amigo! The app has been around for over a year already, so anyone who wanted to buy it have a lot of chance to do so! I see no harm is pulling it out, they have updated the app and given customers thrice the replay value by constantly giving us new content...which is more than i can say with most apps. I mean its their app should they decide to pull it out why should we complain?
I'm chill, I just don't appreciate being taken for a ride, and refuse to sit here silently and accept it, and condone it. No thanks. You can agree with it, feel free to, and continue to support them. I don't.
That's not the problem. The problem is that once the 4.0 firmware update is released, Rolando will not work. I'm not asking for more levels. I just want to be able to play it in a year.
So if they do pull Rolando from iTunes, and the app for whatever reason accidentally gets deleted from my App Library, I'm just SOL then? (since I wont be able to redownload it) - not that it matters because I really didnt like the game to begin with, just saying.
+ 18,000,000 Also I just noticed someone that made an interesting reply to a post I did on the front page: "Marc says: June 28, 2009 at 9:44 am This is a pretty lame move. If a future firmware does break the game I wonder if they bother to fix it? Most companies do eventually discontinue support for a game, but Rolando hasn't even been out for a year." It's an excellent point. What if the 3.0.1 firmware that is coming out breaks the game?
I'm pretty sure that some games can still be on the appstore without being available for sale. A good example is Baseball Slugger. The game was uploaded but immediately removed from the appstore due to some issues. The beta was actually a promo code to the game that I downloaded from the appstore. So it's possible that they could update without it needing to be in the appstore at all. The issue is that even if that's possible it means that ngmoco is no longer obligated to do so. An update happens when and if they feel like doing one. I'm not a fan of that
I just can't see them doing that at this point. It's being pulled, and likely not going to be supported. Who knows, maybe they'll prove me wrong but I highly doubt it. Also, let's say they don't update Rolando 1 or anything else and it does "break" with an OS update or whatever. As mentioned in a previous post, where are you going to complain? On the app store review? Oh wait, you can't do that as there's no app to leave a comment for! You can always bitch about it here, but we're in the minority...
For the record, Rolando was released on December 17th 2008. It's hardly been out "for over a year." If it is pulled on July 1, it's lifespan as an available and supported title will have been just under 6 1/2 months. Pretty crappy for something I paid $10 for. Many people were surprised when ngmoco announced that not only Rolando 2, but Rolando 3 as well would be out this year. But with only 6 months left in 2009, I have to wonder what Rolando 2's lifespan will be if they decide to pull IT when number 3 comes out. Will it be gone in 5 months? 3 months? Unless ngmoco comes out with a statement retracting the decision to pull Rolando, or to say that pulled apps will be reinstated for updates after firmware upgrades, I'll have to consider every ngmoco title I buy a ticking time bomb. I don't expect them to support an app forever, but games that cost $10, in my opinion, should have at least a 3 -5 year life span. if they expect me to pay a premium price for their games, I expect to be treated as a premium customer.
Amen. I hope ngmoco is reading all of this, because they can't possibly think this won't hurt them. For example, I've been debating on getting Star Defense. I'm not waiting on a price drop, I'm simply waiting to finish another TD and be ready to put more time into a new one. With this situation I can't imagine I would feel good buying any of their games. So much for me getting Star Defense, or really any of their games for that matter.
Huh? Why would they want to hide reviews for a 4 star game? It has 2805 5 stars and 495 1 stars. None of the website reviews will be pulled.
Date: 2 July 2009 Dear ngcomo, One of my daughter's friends deleted all the apps off her ipod touch today because they had an argument. I have managed to re-download all the other apps but I can't find Rolando. She only bought it last week with some birthday money. It is her favourite game and has hardly put it down. Can you tell me where I can get it from please? Thanks.
kind of funny how they are flushing their reputation willingly down the drain with such announcements.
In your iTunes library folder there will be a folder labeled "Mobile Applications", inside of this you will find Rolando.ipa.
haha, the letter was written in the future after the game was removed But yes, I imagine they will get quite a few of these.
