Saucycarpdog
Member
Looks awesome, reminds me of Cosmochoria a little bit.
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iOS Gaming August 2015 | Last chance to play your favorites before iOS9 breaks them
- Thread starter More_Badass
- Start date
Won't keep going off topic with this but one of the more interesting things about this Amazon thing is that they must have worked with some devs to create premium versions of F2P apps. Games like Beach Buggy Racing and Sonic Dash are completely free.
Amazon has to be throwing some big bucks on this. Guess it's the equivalent of lead sales in stores where they lose money on the leader product in hopes that people will spend more money with them.
Amazon has to be throwing some big bucks on this. Guess it's the equivalent of lead sales in stores where they lose money on the leader product in hopes that people will spend more money with them.
More_Badass
Member
I saw one dev on Twitter (who was against it) describe it as a "Spotify-style" service
Matt Frost
Member
Yes it is amazing... the powerup is a tad hard to do but the game more than makes up for it with its gameplay
I'm guessing this dev isn't participating? I'm curious how much the devs are getting. I'll have to ask Josh with Crescent Moon how he feels about it (they have quite a few games in it). Know he can't go into detail but maybe he can give me a sense of whether it is a fair deal for those that are doing it.
Just remembered to check this month's offering. Bump for anyone who forgot.
The star of the night has arrived, Lara Croft GO is out in NZ:
https://itunes.apple.com/nz/app/lara-croft-go/id971304016?mt=8
https://itunes.apple.com/nz/app/lara-croft-go/id971304016?mt=8
Now the painful wait until it hits the U.S. store.
More_Badass
Member
Will be very interested to see the impressions here
Who's doing the OT? I'll put one together unless killercow or someone else would like to
I won't have time, sorry!
More_Badass
Member
No problem, putting one together now
OT title suggestions anyone? Currently I'm probably going to use:
Lara Croft GO |OT| Rise of the (touchscreen) Tomb Raider
I like that one!
Just wanted to throw this out there. Only posting because I think it's relevant to mobile gaming as a whole became it could open the door for subscription like services. I don't know if Apple would ever do it, but it is intriguing.
Amazon is footing the bill for this Underground thing. And I've heard from a source that devs are getting paid $.02 a minute while someone is playing their game.
Amazon's App Store, as a whole, sucks to put it bluntly so devs participating probably think they have nothing to lose by trying this. Thinking about it, this could end up being even more profitable for a dev. Say someone plays a game for 5 hours. That's $1.20 per hour x 5 = $6. If the app originally costs $2.99 or even $4.99, the dev would actually be earning more. There will be others who don't play as much, but they still are getting revenue from someone who may have never bought the game.
With Amazon's App Store not selling games well, this may not be as beneficial as I mentioned above, but what if it is? Amazon is paying for this to get customers. But what if Google or Apple tried something like a $10 subscription that includes access to thousands of participating dev's games? Could it work? I don't know. But it is an interesting concept. Kind of like a Spotify for apps as More_Badass mentioned one dev said.
What do you guys think? Could it be a completely new way to monetize mobile gaming?
Sony already has its Playstation Now. Nvidia is doing a GRID subscription gaming service. So could it work for mobile as well?
Edit: Completely disregard this...as far as Amazon is concerned, they pay shit. $.002 per minute of game play. So someone would need to play a game for at least 8 hours for a dev to get back the cost of even a $.99 game.
Amazon is footing the bill for this Underground thing. And I've heard from a source that devs are getting paid $.02 a minute while someone is playing their game.
Amazon's App Store, as a whole, sucks to put it bluntly so devs participating probably think they have nothing to lose by trying this. Thinking about it, this could end up being even more profitable for a dev. Say someone plays a game for 5 hours. That's $1.20 per hour x 5 = $6. If the app originally costs $2.99 or even $4.99, the dev would actually be earning more. There will be others who don't play as much, but they still are getting revenue from someone who may have never bought the game.
With Amazon's App Store not selling games well, this may not be as beneficial as I mentioned above, but what if it is? Amazon is paying for this to get customers. But what if Google or Apple tried something like a $10 subscription that includes access to thousands of participating dev's games? Could it work? I don't know. But it is an interesting concept. Kind of like a Spotify for apps as More_Badass mentioned one dev said.
What do you guys think? Could it be a completely new way to monetize mobile gaming?
Sony already has its Playstation Now. Nvidia is doing a GRID subscription gaming service. So could it work for mobile as well?
Edit: Completely disregard this...as far as Amazon is concerned, they pay shit. $.002 per minute of game play. So someone would need to play a game for at least 8 hours for a dev to get back the cost of even a $.99 game.
More_Badass
Member
Matt Frost
Member
For anyone worrying about the IAP in Ski Safari 2, I just have to say that is SUPER fair. The largest coin pack is $3.99 and that gets you everything in the game 7 times and there's a coin doubler for $2.99. Well done Sleepy Z Studios!
FloppyDelux
Member
its just 1 more day...
Matt Frost
Member
TunaMarshmallow
Member
Can you say a bit more about "gets you everything in the game 7 times"?
Matt Frost
Member
Yeah I will rephrase it better. 3$ gives you every item they sell on the shop 7 times over. You can buy everything over and over 7 times if you want. It gives you enough coins to not worry about currency forever. You dont need to worry about ever running out of coins. 4$ in Sky Safari 2 = 400$ on any freemium game. I tried to come with a better explanation but English is not my first language.
We were going to participate in this.
It is mostly a decent model. We even ported 2 games to the platform before pulling out at the last minute for... reasons.
But it holds up in terms of the revenue they are granting back to users, at least based on our calculations.
Thanks!
That's interesting. Do you think this could work as even some sort of subscription based service for mobile games?
infiniteloop
Member
416 MB
For certain types of games, this is absolutely a viable model, in the same way that ad support is viable for certain types of games but not others.
Not quite the same as a subscription, I guess more like a rental system that the player doesn't have to pay for.
I doubt it would ever happen, but say Apple decided to put a block of games into a subscription type service and charged users $10 a month for all the games they wanted from it and paid devs like Amazon is doing. So gamers like PlayStation Now would pay a set fee instead of Amazon paying for it.
Just food for thought. I'm sure it will never happen but you never know. Doubt people ever thought Spotify would ever be a way to listen to all the music they want for a monthly fee either.
TunaMarshmallow
Member
PittaGAF
Member
I'm passing for now.
Here's a review of the PS4 version. 3.5/10 and as we had been concerned about, the controls sound awful. I doubt the mobile version could be better.
http://www.playstationlifestyle.net...ir-review-left-dark-ps4-embargo-825/#/slide/1
More_Badass
Member
More_Badass
Member
898 MBs
Matt Frost
Member
Damn I has high hopes on this one... a 3.5 out of 10 doesnt look good at all. I feel bad about it since it looked amazing but my wallet feels good.
Aaaaand my internet is slow today, it is taking forever to download LC GO...
I wonder how much the IAP costs, maybe goes up to 24$ like the PS4 version?
Also, charging 24$ for something that lasts about two hours is a bit crazy IMO.
Thanks. Gotta be prepared when 11 EST comes around!
Have had some interesting conversations with Apple in the past year. They have definitely been asking good questions. I suspect there will be new monetization options opening up over the next 12 months, and this move by Amazon might prompt them to explore more subscription/rental models more quickly.
That is interesting. It could maybe help bridge the divide between F2P and premium.
As long as they continue to provide options, I think the more ways there are to monetize, it could be good for everyone.
More_Badass
Member
Interesting and good to hear
That could be pretty cool, although how do you think would impact the mindset towards paid games in the long run? It's already hard as is for devs to sell quality premium games on the App Store
I think Paid games are currently in a bad place. I mean, the Prune story earlier in the thread is great news, but yet another example of "paid games are viable as long as you are the Apple featured game of the week" as far as I am concerned. In general, unfortunately, premium game content, is having a harder and harder time everywhere.
Different models are springing up, with a variety of impacts on the consumer and the experience, some more negative than others, and some that will suit some games more than others.
In terms of the new model that sparked the discussion, Amazon has an interesting position in the marketplace because each new customer in their ecosystem is extremely viable given what they cross-sell them to. Apple could presumably do something similar given their diversification and the value they can claw back on hardware purchases.
PikPok ourselves continues to explore all different sorts of models because the sand is always shifting. We had to move away from premium because it wasn't commercially viable for us. Advertising does well for us, but there are market pressures there too. And F2P IAP is a delicate tightrope walk.
Something emerging for us is more brand integrations and campaigns, bringing brands into our games in a meaningful way that benefits both players with new and free content, and creates better brand positioning than the usual static advertising impressions. I'm expecting this to be a big growth area for us over the next year.
More_Badass
Member
Wrote about this on PG earlier today, probably something you guys will like. Especially Jcho, I know he loves sci-fi
Sun Dogs - potential tablet release in early 2016
It's a minimalist open-world transhumanist text adventure, set in the far future where consciousness can be uploaded and humans can modify their bodies to live anywhere in the solar system. You're immortal and can modify yourself to explore new places
Sun Dogs - potential tablet release in early 2016
It's a minimalist open-world transhumanist text adventure, set in the far future where consciousness can be uploaded and humans can modify their bodies to live anywhere in the solar system. You're immortal and can modify yourself to explore new places
... Whoa. I like the look of this
Matt Frost
Member
Re-posting my impressions from the Lara Croft GO thread:
Wow Lara Croft GO is wonderful! Played more than a handful of levels but so far I love the the atmosphere of the game, with all those cave sounds, music and the low poly graphics. Its a very realistic cave. The transitions between levels make it seems more like an adventure than in most other games as its seamless. Controls are intuitive and helps the game flow even more, and with how the turn based gameplay is set up, the increasingly difficult puzzles are a joy to solve. I love games like this specifically built for touchscreens, they end up being the best games the platform has to offer.
There is IAP but is for unlimited hints and costumes, nothing that alters the game at all. In fact I am buying the costumes, I love the Hitman look.
For us iOS 9 beta users, the game hangs and ends up crashing when the GameCenter logo first appears on the top. Log out of it and you are safe to re-log later. A little workaround that takes no time at all since the game shows the GC login screen all over the place if you are not connected to it.
Going back into it to play more...
More_Badass
Member
Next month's OT will be the biggest in a while, probably 4 posts. 21 games
You've become drunk with power.
Absolutely loving Lara Croft GO. I liked Hitman GO, but this really captures the feeling of a Tomb Raider game. Hitman was clever but next to this it's just so much more sterile. The dynamic environments and sound effects breathe a lot more life into this game.
Well done Square Enix. Well done.
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Also had mentioned Beat Da Beat earlier in the thread and decided to give it a try. Really fun and humorous shmup. The bullet hell beating to the rhythm adds a very cool component to it much like Beat Hazard Ultra did to the dual stick shooter (only this is to its own dubstep / electronic soundtrack).
Easy recommend for the stupidly low $.99 price tag.
Well done Square Enix. Well done.
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Also had mentioned Beat Da Beat earlier in the thread and decided to give it a try. Really fun and humorous shmup. The bullet hell beating to the rhythm adds a very cool component to it much like Beat Hazard Ultra did to the dual stick shooter (only this is to its own dubstep / electronic soundtrack).
Easy recommend for the stupidly low $.99 price tag.
More_Badass
Member
After seeing how LC GO evolved the formula introduced in Hitman, I really hope they tackle Deus Ex next. That could be amazing. Combine stealth and gadgets with an animated, more lively aesthetic
More_Badass
Member
Has anyone played the FMV mystery adventure game Contradiction? I just learned about it and it's supposed to really good.
stephencottontail
Member
Lara Croft GO is a great game. I like how the game introduces puzzles such as the weak floors, snakes, and lizards by setting up the first contact so that you're forced to see exactly how they work before you actually have to solve a puzzle involving them. I also appreciate that it works on the iOS 9 beta (except for the GC kerfuffle that Matt mentioned).
Potentially stupid question: If I do a full backup of my iPad to my laptop it backs up all the save games as well right? so if I lost the iPad and restored from said backup I would have the save games intact?
As I get more deep games on the device it occurs to me they need to fix the save game situation, it's too fragmented (some have iCloud, most don't).
As I get more deep games on the device it occurs to me they need to fix the save game situation, it's too fragmented (some have iCloud, most don't).