VentureBeat - Latest Comments in The revenge of the $9.99 iPhone apps

Re: The revenge of the $9.99 iPhone apps

Billy Pidgeon — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:05:22 -0000

the problem with iPhone games isn't that some are $9.99, it's that so many of them aren't worth 99 cents. If downloadable Web games can command a $19.99 price point (and they can: PopCap, Bejeweled) than deep quality games for iPhone can also. Just because crap is free or cheap doesn't mean quality isn't worth ten or twenty bucks. And I don't buy the movie analogy. Games aren't movies or television, they are a new medium.

Re: The revenge of the $9.99 iPhone apps

Chad — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 13:02:18 -0000

First, I don't mind paying $7.99 to $9.99 for a fully featured app. Gameloft's Real Soccer 09 was my most expensive and most satisfying purchase so far in the app store.

I think prices fell because a lot of apps were rushed to market. But the power of the app store is that it allows buyers to sniff this out pretty quickly, Star Wars and Kroll are examples. I think prices will naturally rise as more fully featured or complete apps hit the marketplace. Apps like 1112, Rolando, Hero of Sparta, Brothers in Arms, etc. all look promising. If the game play is good, people will pay for it.

And this is where I think the iphone/app store is perfectly positioned. I see the iphone/touch as the casual console. For someone like me who enjoys gaming but lacks the time to justify investing money into expensive consoles or dedicated portable game platforms, iphone apps priced at $9.99 remain a bargain. With the iphone/touch, you have an device that fits neatly into both work and play worlds. So I can justify buying it and games for it.

And I could be wrong, but my guess is the number of people who would like to game but maybe not buy a dedicated device is far larger than the existing game market. Personally, I can't wait for Hero of Sparta, Rolando, and hopefully more sports games (NCAA Football, Madden, Tiger Woods).

It's weird that a device can be both budget and cutting edge, but I think it's true in this case. The SDK is not even a year old. We are only seeing the wave of games ported to this platform. Next year, I can't wait to see ones truly developed exclusively for the iphone.

Finally, as far as Shadowlayer's comment is concerned, I think it's wrong to equate low income with cheap. In my humble experience, it's not the low income folks, but rather the middle income folks who are far more frugal.

Re: The revenge of the $9.99 iPhone apps

Shadowlayer — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 03:58:12 -0000

Well, if rumors of the iPhone becoming a phone used by mostly low income buyers (like the Razr after it went down on price) then you can give up on those prices since we're talking about a market full of cheapstakes that wont pay a dime for an app, but will do for the dumb 'it' ringtone.

Re: The revenge of the $9.99 iPhone apps

jbelkin — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 18:27:22 -0000

I don't think there;s anything preventing a developer from selling two versions ... look, i don't need 20 levels ... my game time is like 5 minutes - so I'm not really wiling to spend $5-$10 on principle since i don't spend that much time on it but I'd buy like a 5-level Need for Speed for $4.99 and others can spring for the higher level NFS for $9.99 or whatever ,,,

Re: The revenge of the $9.99 iPhone apps

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 17:58:18 -0000

"i think it's pretty simple: if you're selling a good quality app, price it accordingly. who wants to save a buck or three and get a crap app?"

remember that most people seem to think that it's super-super-easy to crank out software that is good. so they get angry when an app's price can't be measured in pennies (0.99). they have zero understanding of how hard it is to create something really good.

Re: The revenge of the $9.99 iPhone apps

james katt — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 16:05:18 -0000

Higher quality means lots of work for developers and lots of work to support it and update it.

I support pricing that allows gives developers incentive to do this.

Re: The revenge of the $9.99 iPhone apps

Jason Meyers — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 16:04:57 -0000

Look, if these developers want to make big money, they're going to have to price their products under $5. Get too greedy and people simply aren't going to buy.

jmyers0341@gmail.com

Re: The revenge of the $9.99 iPhone apps

Paul — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 14:13:02 -0000

It is quite simple really. If developers want to sell apps as high as $10 or more they should create there OWN trial apps by offering a lite version that is FREE that completely shows the app's ability. Waiting for Apple to do this crazy. Does Apple do that for desktop apps? No.

If people can try the app in a lite version and can se the value, then they will pay more.

Re: The revenge of the $9.99 iPhone apps

Jean-Jacques — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:54:32 -0000

I think we are going to see not only higher prices but also entirely different business models. For example, these guys (http://www.tausendstern.com) give their apps away for free but charge for the source code. Given the hundreds of thousands of aspiring iPhone devs this might actually work.

Re: The revenge of the $9.99 iPhone apps

mgoode — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:04:15 -0000

I would love to see some of those apps released for the Motorola Krave.. I've been a huge fan of the Krave ever since I started working with Motorola. I especially like the digital qwerty / t9 predictive text keyboard . You can check out the full list of features at motorola.com/krave.

Re: The revenge of the $9.99 iPhone apps

intrepidblue — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:59:22 -0000

i think it's pretty simple: if you're selling a good quality app, price it accordingly. who wants to save a buck or three and get a crap app?