Not really. I assume--and hope, frankly--that most of the whiners are young kids who have little understanding of the time and energy that goes into creating a game. They can't afford a game so they demand a lower price, often insulting the developers and belittling their games in the process. People who can afford a game--but choose to whine anyway--are even worse. Now, that's arrogance! Buy the game, or don't. Or wait for a sale. Or buy a different game. But don't insult the developers simply because you are a cheapskate.
At this price range, most of the time it does. Even bottom-of-the-barrel games are at least worthy of a $2.99 price tag. Stepping up and saying someone's hard work and effort isn't worth experiencing at for three measly dollars is pathetic. If you don't like the game, there's no need to complain about the price since you won't be buying it, if you like the game... three-insignificant-****ing-dollars? I could pull that small amount of cash out of my ass.
I remember playing in arcades when I was a kid and would easy dump $10 or even $20 (sometimes more in the case of Time Crisis games) in an arcade machine for a game. So paying $3-$10 for a game that I can own and play at any time especially knowing that if said game were in the arcade back in the day I would have spent $5 on it just to play it for maybe an hour is totally worth it to me.
I can't understand why there's so many consumers in the app store b*tching about how low prices are. I can see why some people feel that developers are underselling themselves but is it really the consumer's job to worry so much about it? I've honestly never seen a platform where a significant percentage of consumers think the price should be higher. It's pretty ironic when people want to get less bang for their buck. I can understand getting annoyed about people who complain the prices are too high, but I think it's a little ridiculous for a consumer to actually want higher prices.
The reason I complain is because we're actually losing developers. Some have left and others are threatening/planning to leave, they just can't make a living. On other platforms the prices are far more reasonable, dev teams (generally) earn a living wage for their work, the App Store is one of the easiest places for a developer to go broke. Plus the less money they have, the less they have to spend on making their next game a good one. I'm not actively campaigning for it or anything, I just don't want to see it get worse but with the kind of people we get complaining non-stop about the prices being high... I think it might.
Hi, Unfortuantely, part of the reason developers are not making money is competition. The Iphone format is too popular and there are too many apps/games to choose from. To get your app noticed, you have a sale. More and more developers do this and customers start to expect this kind of thing for all apps/games. Unfortunately, this mentality has been, at least in part, reinforced by the developers. Just look at all the Christmas sales going at the moment. The market is only so big and can only support a certain number of developers. There needs to be a shake out of developers but hopefully the whole market will be the better for it. In any market, not everyone survives, just a fact. David
I remember blowing a bankroll on street fighter arcades. When capable consoles arrived people jumped on them. Ease of use and economics are big drivers of innovation. Unfortunately, griping about price is as natural as a snow storm.
You guys are free to charge whatever you want, but keep in mind that we have a higher tolerance for app prices now. When the appstore launch I bought a few 10 dollar apps and a bunch of 5+ dollar apps and it was fine. But now after owning hundreds and hundreds of free and paid apps later, I'm not going to even look at an app unless it looks really polished and cheap for an impulse buy. There's just too much to choose from now with all this competition and it's pretty overwhelming. I guess it should benefit the consumer because it leads to lower prices and even free in some cases to get more recognition among the other apps. Lately I've been going with the devs that make great successful games that isn't through luck (like the guy who made the blue defense/attack games). And maybe downloading free trials here and there if the youtube videos. Well good luck to all the hard working developers out there
Is this the equivalent developer side action? http://toucharcade.com/2009/12/18/pac-man-championship-edition-on-sale-for-0-99/ Should it be "banned" too? With so many games dropping to 99 cents or free, maybe stating that you aren't going to get it until then is a valid opinion.
Yes. Richer developers can afford to throw money away, forcing the smaller devs to follow suit and risk losing profit. 99 cents is too low for a minimum.
Every platform has developers that quit, go broke, leave. It happened back in the 8-bit days and it's still happening now, even on the PS3 and 360. It is an economy and they have their winners and losers. There is nothing that can be done. Even if every game were a flat $1.99 there still isn't enough money to go round and that's the determining factor - the money in our pocket. Make every game $10 - and devs will still go. Too many apps, too few people maybe.
When you go to the candy store, do you read all the reviews before deciding which tasty morsel to buy? No, you buy what looks good and move on. If you like it, then you buy from them again. If you didn't like nuts in your chocolate bar, do you complain to all your friends , go on all the candy forums and start a crusade against them, and follow the company around the web? Sounds kinda silly doesn't it?
I fail to see what candy has to do with this. Also, I purchase candy out of a very selective list, and tend to purchase popular brands that I know taste well. Since it is impossible to purchase the same app continously, you always have to devour new ones. That's why we are very selective in what apps will taste the best.
