Apple is planning to introduce a premium section for for games priced $19.99.
Will this be the end of indie games ? Im sure we will see some GTA, SIMS in the future!
While I think there’s a place for $20 games, I don’t think you’ll see the end of low-cost indie gaming. For one, people like paying less! I see it as Apple really taking the gaming side of the iPhone/iPod seriously, something they really haven’t done at all on the Mac side of things.
Overall, I think it’s good for all of us. The big names will attract attention, but our lower cost, niche titles can still eke out a nice snippet of the market.
I think this step isn’t too bad after all.
At first it might sound bad. but lets face the reality: The iPhone does not stand a chance as real gaming device if no games can be created with a million USD budget due to the price dumping.
So there needs to be some way to allow indies to exist while seriously funded games with hundreds of megs and real dev teams behind them can work as well.
What I thought think is strange behind that is that I would bet that this is EA enforced.
Anyone realized the recent “strange happenings” related to EA?
EA comes onto Steam → the very same day the bestseller list system is disabled
EA comes onto AppStore → out of nowhere, crosselling and cross advertisement does not seem to be a problem anymore
EA releases broken shit and does not make cash with it for good reason → There are rumors on a premium channel to give millions USD developments some granted selling ground instead of fighting the real world (EA still won’t sell more, broken shit is broken shit and remains as such. As long as apple does not disable the comment and rating for EA, EA will have to face that crash bugs are not toleratable. There is right now only one AAA iPhone company and thats Gameloft and as such only Ubisoft is in the position to request any “premium quality” stuff. EA is not even able to get their stuff out on time as the double pushback for need for stutter shows)
I don’t see “Premium Apps” as a problem. It’s rather good, I think. With +20$ apps bigger names might be atracted to the iPhone/iPodTouch as gaming plattform. Bigger names means more people to buy well-known brand licenses. More turnover means better implementation of the gaming side of the plattform in the long run. More people buying games means a larger audience to recognise the Indie games as well.
It would be a really bad sign if Apple stopped allowing indie games in favor for the big brand names. That would really be bad. Otherwise it’s a good thing.
And one more personal, subjective thing: I somehow dislike the name “Premium App”. Eww g
Dislike it due to what?
I mean beside the missing premium aspect in 90% of the “premium games” (AAA price, but ----A quality and game play).
What I especially hope is that apple sets much higher QA requirements for the Premium distributors in trade for their special position
I dont see this new option in a pessimistic way. I do believe that Apple is just reacting to the overwheming enthousiasm of devs AND casual gamers in the appstore during the past year.
Look at the recent key events :
- Freshly official license for that graphic card company, which is miraculously exposing a 37 Mi Texels/s mobile chipset during CES 09…
- Exponantial number of iPhone Dev succes stories
- No real new hardware since the 1.0 iPhone
- other companies are starting to put graphic chipset in their mobile (iPhone was the first, as Nokia Ngage did not deliver)
- Easiness to have every wannabe gamedesigner put his app on the store
- Apple successfully appealed most of human archetypes via several different products, under a strong and accessible visual identity (which is not the case of other mobile manufacturers)
Shake all of that, bake it with the global gaming tendancies (online casual games selling better than solo traditionnal ones, even the nicest)…
And you got a sweet smelling cake, called “Apple answering two game business under one shell : casual gamers and hobbying gamers.”
When you think about it, Apple never really took the gaming seriously. Now look at the money gaming can generate (Blizzard anyone ?)…
They just picked the best time to surf on da wave.
P.S : oh I forgot… Calling it “premium” is just to bring gamers’ trust, fixing a floor at 20$ is to make devs eyes shine.
This is good for everyone. Creating a premium category at the high end expands the range of what customers will expect to pay, and over time (assuming that high ends delivers the high-end goods) it should help everyone properly price their games.
I first kinda reacted with dismay but after some conversations with some folks whose opinions I trust, I’ve come to think that this might not be a bad thing.
Apple definitely wants AAA class mobile game titles from big publishers in the store. They make more money per unit sold, it gives a reason for large game developers to bother with the App Store, etc. But in many ways it’s also good for indie developers. It might help drive traffic to the good indie games as the store gets more good stuff and less shovel-ware, it might hep bring the price of decent indie titles up to a level where livings can be made by more indie developers, etc.
I guess if Apple wants it, it’s coming.
Now back to finishing my fifth game for the store. Watch for it mentioned in mid-February on Marina’s Hot for Words podcasts.
Not sure how it actually is meant to help the Indies in case of pricing.
The problem right now is not that people are not willing to pay for stuff but there is so much stuff offered at .99 that is not sooo much worse, that you will never get into the top 100, so your game gets very little sales.
with the premium content that won’t change as they either will not be in a category that is affected by it (that would be the good scenario) or at worst they get gold class handling within those categories, which would actually make the situation considerably worse as the indie apps would be “stomped” if the top class are mentioned in the featured etc but yours aren’t (which is why I think that scenario 1 is the one that apple intends to reach)
But I agree, it could be a great chance for all. For us Indies, Apple as well as the non-innovative trash spitters from EA. (I’ve rarely seen a game where so much potential was wasted as in case of Spore, once planned to be their new second “Sims like” Franchise)
The iphone does not lend itself to serious gaming…
if you want serious gaming you go to the psp
which from my understanding is going to be discontinued by sony very soon…
people want a simple game with 3d graphics that they can pass the time with…
that’s it…
games on the iphone are about wasting time not serious gaming…
long live the $1.99 game
I predict this will end badly for apple.
Maybe so for the iPhone, but the iPod touch is marketed as a game machine, and there’s quite a vocal contingent demanding “real” games. Whether there’s enough of them (who will actually put their money where their mouths are) is another question, which I suppose will be answered soon enough.
–Eric
With the little difference taht the iPhone already is more performant than the PSP, has more than 2 hours of battery time and comes with a single dedicated buying platform with lower license fees than PSP and a far lower entrance barrier than PSP.
It’s to assume that the prices are lowered. It sells several times worse than Nintendo DS in Japan and that althought the NDS’ successor is available there.
It is a dead platform.
Independent of what Sony dreams of, Sony is currently holding the third position in both major console markets, be it the home console or the mobile and with the growth of the iPhone market, even Nintendo was forced to react as the DSi shows.
You are naturally free to think what you want, but games on the itunes store have generated multiple times more revenue in 2008 than the PSP market.
I’ll say more later, but right now just wanted to chime in and say:
I believe this is a good thing. 
What I meant when I said “it might help bring the price of decent indie titles up to a level where livings can be made by more indie developers, etc.” is that the possibility of seeing more AAA titles at $15-20 (or more) from major developers (since DS and PSP games are well above that mark) that people might be willing to take well-made indie titles at $5-10 more seriously, instead of complaining about decently made games being “too expensive” at $2.99, say. Further, the opportunity for great indie titles selling at $5-10 is something that neither the PSP or DS can offer gamers since these systems rely on non-digital distribution methods (namely physical cartridges) to publish a game on.
Think “Braid” on XBox Live as an example. Not the gameplay, but the idea of indie developers having titles like that and making a decent living.
Assuming that Apple’s push of the device (especially the touch) as a gaming device actually works. I have some questions about the iPhone ever being conidered that as it’s primary usage.
This is a first step towards changing the perception of the iPhone as a gaming platform and SOMETHING is needed to combat the onslaught of garbage. I don’t care if it will be exclusive to publishers, if it helps mature the platform
BUT… (here’s what I posted in a couple other forums)
How about tiers for the rest of us indie developers.
Top 20 $1 and up
Top 20 $5 and up
Top 20 $10 and up
Top 20 $15 and up
Notice the AND UP. This might be even better as popular expensive games could (if exceptionally popular) encroach on the lower priced lists. This, in my mind, is VERY good for promoting quality game development.
This way, customers can actually see the games that match a better value/quality at the prices they are willing to pay. More satisfied customers, more satisfied developers. Good, right?
This $20 deal would have to have some VERY, VERY nice games to take off in the current market, but I’m all for THAT!
As things settle down into tiers more nicely (rather than plummet to the bottom fast to get recognition as it currently is) tiers in a range of prices could work, too.
The simplest would be if apple adds quality guidelines.
As long as crap as iFart and similar are really accepted and especially as such brain farts are capable to get in the common categories instead of a dedicated “joke app” category, they totally destroy the idea of categories.
Thats my largest problem right now. The dev decides about the category and apple does not ensure that the apps meet those categories.
best example are game roleplay and game strategy, both flooded with lots of games that definitely don’t meet even minimum requirements for beeing called a such.
So far I haven’t seen anything but rumors to substantiate this claim, but if it is true - and being true, if it is anything more than another category for expensive apps - I don’t support it.
There is no question in my mind that the app store in it’s current form is highly flawed, but I can’t think of any worse way to try to fix it than by creating an elite section that leaves ordinary devs out in the cold.
I think Apple should focus on making the system they have actually work - and by work, I mean facilitate users finding great applications ~ whatever their price. At the very least, this should include establishing “top” lists from monetary sales data and not just raw sales numbers - which would greatly help to combat the proliferation of junk. Some other obvious features like category enforcement, much more specific categories, and a better system for integrated game trials before purchase (to establish people’s confidence that their high dollar game purchase will be well spent), would work wonders.
(And from a developer’s standpoint, I would be really excited about a more transparent review process and better sales reporting as well…)
The problem with the iphone that makes serious gaming challenging is the accelerometer,
it’s just too clumsy when it comes to serious gaming…
I have already decided that all my games are going to use GUI arrows and buttons to control the action…
that offers much better game play than moving and tilting with the accelerometer
Can’t agree with that…virtual joypads/buttons are fiddly and never seem to work very well. Take a look at Bounce On (has a lite version) for a good example of how to do a platformer using the accelerometer that feels comfortable. I have yet to come across a game that tries to replicate traditional controls using the touchscreen that actually works. Best thing to do is come up with games specifically for the iPhone that are properly suited for touchscreen/accelerometer controls.
–Eric
Give Archibald Lite a go
It is one of the few games that will show you how great virtual pads can be actually
My game will use touch style movement, as I don’t like the accelerometer for the simple reason that the game is worthless on a bus ride then, where the underground takes care that you will die / fail / whatever most of the time