I agree. Many games on iOS would have easily been $30 on PlayStation Vita or Nintendo DS. I can't imagine the upcoming generation of gamers being so stuck on free to play that they don't recognize the value of these games. Maybe it's more an issue of there being too much of a good thing. There are so many games on iOS it is difficult to weed through the garbage at times.
This makes a lot of sense to me. Since you can't buy a disc and call it good, you never know how developers are going to change the games you've purchased.
In the 'hey day' a year or two ago i was buying about 5 games a week. Now theres weeks i dont buy any, still have the odd good week with 3 or 4 games but quite rare. Theres still quality premium games to buy. I still have a HUGEEE backlog of games, i mean just thinking i've got Baldurs Gate/KOTOR/Emulators/MAME/Platformers galore and hundreds of others on one device makes me smile. So yeah if i now only buy a few games a month i've still got tons to play. Warhammer this week, some gems coming out later this year, still love iOS gaming. Freemium has ruined it for me a bit but again if i never bought a game all year i've still got tons to play
Firstly, I think many people would take offense to others calling them 'cheap' because they don't see the same value in a game that you do. The most I have paid for an iOS game is £6.99 and that was Heroki because I was amazed at their effort and the console-like quality. I have many free games on my iPad that I play with a lot, if done right I don't see the problem with free games with IAP. Right now I'm enjoying the heck out of Peggle Blast and I haven't spent a single penny. I can't say I really have an upper limit when it to comes to purchasing games on the appstore, however I'm definitely not going to start suddenly paying £20-50 for a game! - it pretty much comes down to quality and value. But at the same time I'm a bargain hunter, so I'll always go seeking the cheaper option rather than the expensive. One of the main attractions of the appstore to me when I bought my first iPhone; 4 years ago, was the fact I could get so much gaming enjoyment on the go without needing to spend a penny or sometimes just a couple of pounds. This is why I haven't owned a home console since selling them all in the early 2000s and my DSi and PSP have been collecting dust since around 2010. A few people have made suggestions that maybe developers should ask for donations instead, and at first I thought that wouldn't work but then again I actually think that might not be a bad idea... it could mean that those who can and want to spend loads more on a premium game in aid of supporting a developer can, and those who can't afford to will have the option to pay a minimum fee of say.. 69p or whatever..
Perhaps i'm wrong but i'm amazed when these kids (and older gamers) get an expensive device like a new ipad or phone yet seem to moan the second a games a few dollars. Again when i was young i had to save up weeks for games, some kids seem to be spoilt and get given an iphone for example yet dont seem to be able to buy games for it ! One problem we have is that the people who are 'cheap' to me help create this freemium nightmare we're in. If more devs sold more copies of games and made more money they wont want to go down the freemium route. The donations thing i cant see happening, people love a bargain. Look how many promo codes are snapped up instantly for a 99c game or people begging for Starbucks codes etc. People want everything for free Theres bargain hunting and then theres waiting 3 weeks for a 2 dollar app to drop to a dollar. I mean are times that bad ? If every single one of us here stopped buying games on launch then we'll get all freemium games. Thankfully people help the devs by buying their super cheap games on release
I think the quantity of high quality games is one of the reasons why prices are so low. In years past there might be only a few good games released a month. Sometimes we would go through long dry spells where nothing good would come out for months on end. Now days something interesting comes out on a weekly basis or even a daily bases. As a reaction developers drop their prices to compete. It would be interesting to see a full economic analysis of the App store.
I'm guessing this is strictly based on the numbers, and not from anybody you know personally, but I've met plenty of Android users whose spending habits would put some iOS users to shame. Going to those numbers, you'd think they were the iOS users. Still, this "race to the bottom" and with iOS consumers has been around for quite a while now. I always think of this when it comes to iOS app purchases... Different strokes for different folks. I've met some iPhone owners who bought the phone for making calls, text messages, and doing internet stuff. One of them only spent $3 in the 3 years he's had his phone! They're NOT hard core gamers by any stretch of the definition... yourself, or many of those here on the TA community. They're happy spending a few hours a week on Candy Crush, whatever, and that's it. They're not going to spend $15 a month on video games. These are likely the folks who just get all of their games for free, and delete them if they don't like it, and are perfectly happy about that. It adds up. One poster said "$15 a month, lol". I take it the LOL means "give or take". After 2 years or so, you've spent more on those games than the phone itself now.
Cant see that working. People sadly love a bargain. Look how many people are begging for promo codes for a 69p game when all the codes have ran out. Look how many people are waiting for a price drop when a games just $2 ? The masses would pay the minimum if that, perhaps they'll simply wait for it to go free. Difficult one as i dont think devs should do price drops as the cheap lot (sorry to say that !) simply will wait for the price drop. Why should some people help the devs with full price purchases and others not ? The games ARE so cheap, i mean again as a kid i would have never have got a $300+ phone or tablet, lots of kids have them now yet dont seem to use their pocket money (sure more money than when i was a kid) to buy games. 'Donateware' i wouldnt see working on iOS, as people expect games to be cheap they 'panic' the second a games a few dollars and will simply wait as they know the dev will drop the price (wish they wouldnt but if they dont sell well they have to make some money) I cant see iOS gaming 'falling' as SO many people have phones, so many people do seem to purchase games. Surely its growing and growing ? But as a hardcore gamer on iOS the last 5 years there doesnt seem to be as many quality games as there was just 2 or so years ago. Still lots being produced but for me personally not as many gems (Love that image above by the way ! So very true)
But these sorts of people wont probably be coming to Touch Arcade. My wife and her friends got an iphone as they like facetime and find it so easy to txt on. They dont have any games whatsoever. They'll never come to a site like this. Other friends like you say just play the mainstream games they hear about like Candy Crush or Clash of Clans, they have perhaps 5 games on their phone and rarely play games apart from the odd time on the train when commuting. Again these people wont go to a dedicated gaming site. But the people i'm talking about are gamers here who do play a lot of games, but many of them (in my view) arent helping by simply waiting for price drops or climbing over each other in a mad panic to get a promo code for a 99c game, then when all the codes are gone you see them begging the dev for a code as they missed out. Yeah we dont all earn the same money but come on, games are sooooo cheap We all buy games at release price and as devs make more money we'll get more and more games, if we all wait for sales or price drops to 0 then devs go out of business and there'll be more and more freemium. I mean if devs made lots of sales with a premium price they would never go freemium, they dont though so sadly we get freemium in many instances. We're the ones to blame, devs need to eat !
I currently have an IpT5. I was hoping the Ipod Touch 6 would also have a 4.7" screen, but NOPE! I do acknowledge the boost in its other specs have been marvelous, but to me, a 4.7"+ screen was a requirement. For the first time since my IpT3, I did NOT "insta-purchase" the next model. Instead, I'm going to run the battery as long as it'll hold a charge, and then evaluate what my choices are then. This has gotten me to buy more games for Android instead (I use a Galaxy s4), and after playing 2 weeks of Castlestorm and realizing the Steam version has other benefits, despite paying $15 for it... I jumped on that and never looked back. I still have other games to get through on iOS, so I'm sure my IpT5 battery will thank me last but not least, the backlog of iOS games (nevermind those for Steam, PC, Android, and Wii) is no small matter.
We need a reddit type meme for this topic. "Complains when an iOS game is $2.99" "Spends $120 on clash of clans iap only to go nowhere in the game." We all know or have seen people like this right?
The most I have ever spent on a mobile game was 4.99...which I still play one year later...which is the same price I spend on my daily coffee...doesn't make much sense
With statements like this, you're assuming those are the same folks who would pay such a price for coffee in the first place.
I would pay bank for ports of my Playstation and Nintendo favorites like Blasto, Oddworld, Medieval, Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, TMNT, NHL 95 etc. Even though I have them on emulators I would still support the real deal.
Yes I would like more games ported from Nintendo, Playstation, and Xbox. This is why I just play on consoles more often now, and I can also play against people via online or console which is more enjoyable to me. Yes games these days especially on consoles may cost about $150 with all the map packs or season packs. The video gaming world has changed in the last many years. The days of getting a game with all the content to unlock by progressing seems to be gone, now it is with map packs or season packs. I do have many iOS games like MvC2, Bioshock, MHFU, SF4V, SFxT, etc. also.
Well, considering I bought Final Fantasy Dimensions (twice, actually - once for Android and once again for iOS when I bought an iPhone 5) and all the Chaos Ring titles (the first one twice, too), I'd say I'm willing to pay close to what other console titles cost if the game is worth it. And except Chaos Rings, none of those titles were on a huge discount or something. I was kinda heratbroken when Terra Battle turned out to be "freemium" - I'd have gladly paid $20 or so for it, but I now refuse to play games with the option to basically buy lottery tickets for $5 on the off chance to get a cool character. I made that mistake with Fable Age, and the game basically died a month later. I'm glad that it was announced a short while ago that Zodiac will be a premium priced title without IAP.
