Apple to Open $19.99 Premium Games Section in App Store?

[dernhelm]

Only select developers would be allowed in this special section according to the rumor. So, while any developer can price their game at whatever price they want, to be featured in this $19.99 section, it probably has to be approved by Apple. Essentially, this is a "featured" section.

arn

That's why I don't like it. It's good for Apple, because big developers can afford to shovel money at Apple for better "placement" in the App store. But the little guy can write a terrific app and have a hard time getting anyone to notice. The way it is now, it's more of a level playing field.

 

[kas23]

Come on, Apple. NO ONE wants $19.99 apps except you and the big name publishers like EA.

It's a phone, not a PS3. $1.99 for a watered-down version of a game is fine. $19.99 for a watered down version of a game just doesn't fly.

Of course this is what Apple wants. Just like every other feature (and missing features) on the iPhone, Apple gets what Apple wants. What the customer wants is not part of the equation.

To me, Apple trying to make the present iPhone into a gaming platform is like trying to shove a round peg into a square hole. However, I now wait in horror to see what Apple has planned for the new iPhone in June/July. It better not be a friggin gameboy phone - leave that stuff to the Touch.

That's why I don't like it. It's good for Apple, because big developers can afford to shovel money at Apple for better "placement" in the App store. But the little guy can write a terrific app and have a hard time getting anyone to notice. The way it is now, it's more of a level playing field.

If Apple really wanted to, they could squeeze a new revenue stream out of a rock. This move is clearly about Apple, definitely not in the best interest of your average developer. What remains to be seen is what the customer will get out of this.

 

[Tallest Skil]

Games! Games! Games! iPhone! iPhone! iPhone! Enough already! How about some updated hardware like Mac-Mini, Mac Pro and some other choices for once!

Either that or just rename this site and Apple to iPhone-rumors.com and The Apple Phone Company! errrrrrrr! 🙄

In January 2007, they took the word "Computer" out of the name of the company and introduced the iPhone. Isn't that proof enough for you?

 

[Unspeaked]

Sigh, just remembered why I never post in this section, regardless of what you say, someone will spin it...

That's odd, it looks to me like you yourself spun chameleon's very valid point that he or she would rather play more complex games on a system whose main purpose is to do so rather than a multi-function phone into something about hardware specs.

 

[numbersyx]

Sad that they have to do this just to bump up the price. Long term it's in Apple's interest to get people buying these and as many as people as possible to cement the iPods/iPhone as the leader in sales.

 

[NXTMIKE]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5H11 Safari/525.20)

So is this why need for speed keeps getting delayed? I bet EA are loving this now they can sell us overpriced apps and not just overpriced console games.

Can't wait until NFS for iPod Touch and iPhone 😀

 

[fishfruit]

great idea

I think this is very important if Apple wants the iPhone to be taken seriously by gamers. Some people are concerned about the lack of buttons and the inaccurate accelerometer; however, that's a pretty narrow viewpoint if you look at gaming beyond the traditional. Once developers stop trying to make the iPhone something it's not and embrace the format for what it is, it'll really take off. Many games like Hotel Dusk or the Phoenix Wright games would be perfect a perfect fit for the iPhone. Cooking Mama, Patapon, Locoroco (look how successful Rolando is after ripping off Locoroco's art direction), Electroplankton. I'm not saying these specific games should be ported, rather trying to make a point regarding the type of game that would do well without buttons, without sacrificing gameplay and fun.

 

[gugy]

I have no problem with this move by Apple.

If the games are great and the value is there, why not?

 

[Small White Car]

Look, I love playing games like Wurdle and Trism on my iPhone, but I'm not going to sit down and play Call Of Duty on a phone. That's the level of game that justifies a $20 price, and I don't see the iPhone being capable of running them.

So you admit that a game like that WOULD be worth $20, but you refuse to believe future iPods will be capable of running it?

Why would you assume that?

Sad that they have to do this just to bump up the price.

Bump up? They're talking about bigger, better, longer games. That's more money for more game. The little games aren't going anywhere nor will their price change. What's "up" mean?

 

[Shuttleworth]

Just as the world is going into a recession, and people are making the most of the comparatively cheaper (and more fun?) games for the iPhone/iPod, Apple find a way to make it all more expensive. It's gonna get harder for people to justify that amount of money for a game.

 

[Small White Car]

Just as the world is going into a recession, and people are making the most of the comparatively cheaper (and more fun?) games for the iPhone/iPod, Apple find a way to make it all more expensive. It's gonna get harder for people to justify that amount of money for a game.

Which is why there are no DS games being sold these days, right?

 

[o0samotech0o]

Good idea. There is one game that i brought, which puts shame on all the others. Hero Of Sparta. Yes the Monsters are samey, but the graphics are great, the wepons are great (bows, and loads of different swords), and the story line was great. Not to mention you could upgrade your wepons ect. But the only thing that annoys me about all apps is on screen controls. (Hero of sparta has to use on screen analogue control, but it works alright.)

Why doesn't Apple bring out an official controller, that slides over the top and plugs into the port at the bottom, not unlike this one which is being made for JB'ed iStuff:

http://www.icontrolpad.com/

They are adding SDK support too hopefully.

-Sam

 

[preservative]

Can I have tomtom please?

 

[fleshman03]

The move may help Apple combat the natural trend towards low priced Apps, and would also indicate that Apple may be listening to long-running developer complaints that the Top 100 lists tend to reward cheaper but higher volume apps.

Being able to sustain higher priced apps in the App Store is, of course, in Apple's best interest. This is not the first time Apple has tried to promote these premium apps.

Article Link: Apple to Open $19.99 Premium Games Section in App Store?

I wonder if this is actually true. They could end up making more money off. $0.99 apps if they sell enough in volume. It would need to be 20:1 or 23:1 (Pulled out of the air. Increase is due to server, personal and tax costs), but I could see that happening if the app is good enough. Don't the $0.99 apps outsell those really expensive ones like that already?

I think this is just in response to the endless complaining and ranting of the "poor" devs.

 

[sabr]

apple and the big name developers can try to sell premium games if they wish. they'd better be good, tho, cause otherwise, they'll get terrible reviews and their names will get trashed in websites like these.
as other posters have mentioned, a good game that would work both on our home desktop and on our portable device could have possibilities.

psp and DS games are quite expensive, it looks like apple is going after that antiquated business model full blast.

 

[koobcamuk]

I wonder how much 'premium' games will cost in the UK (sigh).

£19.99 my friend 🙂

That's expensive for a game though... are there many games at that price? I thought £5 was a nice price, but for £20 you're getting towards DS and PSP territory, and the iPhone is a more casual market - you can't (or won't) play for a few hours at a time.

 

[sunfast]

If the games are good enough - fine. But I struggle to think how good a game would have to be to justify that sort of cash. I've got some great games now (max spend £4.99) and they are only just worth it.

 

[MacTheSpoon]

The iPhone is ideal for turn-based RPGs. Lack of physical controls are simply not an issue for this type of game. And with forthcoming processor improvements it should be capable of some very pretty graphics (and they are already pretty sweet). I would definitely pay $20 for a great turn-based RPG like KOTOR for the iPhone.

 

[elmariachi5150]

Come on Apple, what games would that be? A full conversion of WoW?

I can only think about big gaming company's, like EA who want to see more profit for their games. Or did you thought we might get Need4Speed under 10$?
Now that the big players are coming to the IPhone/IpodTouch we all will see the prices rising. I don't expect much from those ported console or PC titles like Need4Speed or Fifa. You will get a high price game that isn't really worth the money and you can not resell it, if you don't like it or finished it.

 

[kresh]

Full fledged time demo's.

If Apple is serious about premium games at premium prices then they will have to give the devs an option for time limited, fully functioning demo's as an option in the store.

The developers need a radio button they can click when uploading the app to the store to allow users to try it before buying. The app store should manage the demo using the DRM. The developer could select the demo period and after it expires the user should be able to unlock it simply and easily through the appstore app.

I will not spend $20 for an iPhone game based on 5 screenshots, a crappy YouTube video, and a TouchArcade review. I have been burned by buying something that looks great with the screenshots or video only to find out that it is utter garbage. I have become extremely wary about buying new apps or games from the appstore, and i am sure many others are as well!

 

[pubwvj]

I fail to see how opening a "premium" store does anything about price wars.

I simply will look to see if one of the smaller publishers offers what I want before bothering to look in the premium store. Besides, I would rather support smaller developers so I guess Apple's doing me a favor by making it so I can ignore the big developers. Thanks, Apple!

 

[ChrisA]

I predicted this problem the day the App Store was announced. The problem is that the price of apps would quickly approach $0.00. With prices well under $5, it seems it has. The reason this is a problem is that with those prices you will never see any complex software, just triveal, simple stuff. I work in software development and believe me you can't do anything serious for "only" a million dollars. $1M buys you only a few man years. Serious software requires a few dozen people on the test. Coders, quality asurance, graphic art, managment, tech writers and so on. and it takes more than a year to get any kind of product out the door. Who is going to invest 20+ man-years of labor on an app that sells for $5 per copy? No one.

So Apple invents a new store where the price floor is $20.

That address only 1/2 the problem. The other problem is Apple's control over what goes in the store. Who in the world would be nuts enough to invest 20+ man-years of labor knowing that their product might be rejected by Apple. If there is even a small chance Apple might reject it no one would risk a multi-million dollar project on a gamble like that. Anyone with that kind of investmant would want total end to end comtrol.

Put this all together and all you get a very simple, low end stuff that can be written with very little investment, by a few guys in a few months. The trouble with that is that even if you have a very good idea a few guys in a few months can duplicate your work and offer it at a lower price. Hence the race to near zero price.

If Apple wants better, more expensise apps they will have to give control over distribution to the developers and reduce their risk

Investers always think in termsif risk and return on investment

 

[anti-microsoft]

Apple, it's your store, you control it, NOT the so-called-developers! Why are you harming yourself with useless, pointless and crappy apps? Let the best get through and gain a good reputation before you gain a bad one.

Ams.

 

[Arcadie]

Why is everyone assuming these games will be for the iphone? $19.99 sounds like a mac game to me!

 

[xUKHCx]

£19.99 my friend 🙂

That's expensive for a game though... are there many games at that price? I thought £5 was a nice price, but for £20 you're getting towards DS and PSP territory, and the iPhone is a more casual market - you can't (or won't) play for a few hours at a time.

What makes you think that it would be £19.99? Current applications that are $19.99 are £11.99 in the app store:

Omnifocus
SpaceTime
iBird Explorer Plus
Japanese
Spanish-English Translation Dictionary
...