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In-App purchases have really destroyed the App Store, huh?

S

Skel1ingt0n

I can't *believe* these lazy developers keep making file sizes so damn large. Btw, how does technology work?
Little background: I've picked up a 16GB iPhone each year, and it's plenty of room, so long as I don't store media on it locally or play a bunch of games. But in the last year, I've finally seen the iTunes App Store balloon - and there's no arguing there are a lot of really great titles that I've been missing out on: Final Fantasy titles, Monster Hunter, KOTOR (bought this already), and other console ports and AAA-lite titles. So, this year I picked up the 64GB iPhone 6 Plus, and decided I'd drop some coin on some Apps I've ignored the last few years.

Yeah, there are still plenty of good titles - specifically console ports and whatnot. Monster Hunter looks and plays great - it's Monster Hunter in high-def, in my pocket... all the time. Incredible. There are some indie tiles like Monument Valley, and some nice twists on established IPs like Hitman Go.

But I decided I'd go looking into games that I've completely ignored - things that are more exclusive for the iPhone, and it $99c or $4.99 chunks.

There's ... like... nothing.

Star Wars Commander looks pretty tight: Except, there are lots of complaints that you have to buy "crystals" to do well, or have a chance.

Oh, I loved the old Crazy Taxi, and now there's a new one.... except you have to buy fuel or wait to play.

I'm not a huge sports guy, but I could load up some Madden... except you have to throw money at practically everything.

This repeats over and over again.

Thing is, for all of these games, I'd gladly toss $0.99, $2.99, or $4.99 for them. Heck, I haven't shied away from more expensive titles: The World Ends With You, Jet Set Radio, Monster Hunter, etc.

But I don't want to constantly play a game that I'm constantly tossing money at - especially on mobile, where the whole point is I just want to kill some time for a while.

I understand why they do it - I've seen the research that says even $0.99 apps are struggling to grab attention in a sea of free titles. But the free titles are almost ALL Pay-To-Win... or, at the very least... Pay-to-play for more than five minutes.


*****


It's something I haven't kept an eye on; but it's really turned into a big issue for someone like me. What are your thoughts? Are you okay with them? Do you maybe even prefer this setup?
 
I don't play mobile or f2p typically because of the approach you described. Very rarely are there f2p games that don't try to royally screw you over.

I've bought DoDonPachi, Espgaluda, etc. Just give me the damn game from the beginning. Only games I can recall with good IAP are the likes of Ace Attorney and Ghost Trick.
 
I'm with you. Cheapens and waters down the industry. Plus the store is now flooded with crapware. Trying to browse is next to impossible I find. I no longer play games on my iPhone.
 
looking at the app store one day made me sell all my idevices, buy a handheld (vita) and make my phone primarily for web browsing, phonecalls and messages.

Haven't played a mobile game for longer than ten minutes since 2012.
 
So I don't actually have a problem with f2p games like this, if they have a sort of 'all access package' that unlocks the majority of features for the same price as a normal game. Killer Instinct and Age of Empires Online spring to mind.

However, a lot of iPhone games don't seem to follow this model and do it all on time skipping microtransactions.
 
badnewsbeers said:
I'm with you. Cheapens and waters down the industry. Plus the store is now flooded with crapware. Trying to browse is next to impossible I find. I no longer play games on my iPhone.
Click to expand...

This is another great point I completely forgot to mention... I might throw it in the OP, actually...

You're right: browsing is a nightmare. Anyone can throw anything they want up on the store, and there's way too many copies of any one type of game. I wish there was a "core gamer" section, as cheesy and eye-rolling as that is. There's just WAY too much junk to sift through.
 
I feel like this situation is a lesson in being careful what you wish for. I remember having an iPhone when the only real games were paid for titles like the gameloft clones or ports of sega classics. But people, devs in particular WANTED apple to add in app purchases to increase potential revenues, just like dlc on consoles. On mobile though it spiraled into more than value add content, pay to win and free to play hits became the norm and spiraled causing others to follow suit. And honestly I feel as though the way the market evolved was never what Apple would have preferred.
 
One of the reasons I rarely game on mobile. Finding it harder and harder to find good games that arent riddled with IAP nonsense
 
I don't have an iOS device, but I think the setup is similar to Google Play: I'd feel much more comfortable about committing to a game if I knew in advance what the in-app purchases were. This is especially true for games with an upfront purchase price, because then you can't even download the game to see what the microtransactions are. Just seeing "In-app purchases" on the app store page isn't enough anymore, because that could mean essentially anything. And the user reviews are often less helpful on that front than I'd like too, meaning that it's often easier to just not bother downloading a game unless someone has explicitly recommended it to me (ex. the Android gaming thread, or a bunch of friends).

I've actually thought about starting a site whose sole purpose would be to list exactly what the in-app purchases were for a specific game, whether it be mobile games or F2P PC games or even console games like Forza 5. Of course, that way lies sheer insanity, as it's impossible to keep track of even a fraction of it all. So maybe there just isn't any good answers here. But I do feel like there's a definite lack of clarity in the mobile game market and it's made me somewhat gunshy.
 
I really hate how the weekly free app on the App Store has in-app purchases now. I liked when they used to give out apps that didn't have any of that.
 
There are a lot of great games out there but I'm sick and tired of wading through the sea of crap to find them. It really makes me lose interest for the mobile gaming industry.
 
I don't play games on my phone very often because of this. That said I am playing WWE super card. I know, I am part of the problem :(. Though I haven't spent any money at all on the game.
 
Skel1ingt0n said:
Monster Hunter looks and plays great - it's Monster Hunter in high-def, in my pocket... all the time. Incredible.
Click to expand...

Give some credit to the PSP man.. :(

On-topic, there are definitely quite a lot of exceptions still, I just bought: Goblin Sword, Five Nights at Freddy's, Wayward Souls.

And I highly recommend Final Freeway 2R, Carmageddon, Crystal Caliburn Pinball, Tristan Pinball, ..
 
I don't even bother trying to look for games on IOS anymore because it just seems hard to find anything that isn't the next big social game on the list and many with probably fake reviews boosting their rating. There is WAY WAY WAY too much bullshit junk apps and copy cats.
 
I must say I find navigating the App store fairly overwhelming. The last thing I want to play are Simpsons Tap Out type games that limit your playtime unless you pay money and those are rampant on there
 
chrominance said:
I don't have an iOS device, but I think the setup is similar to Google Play: I'd feel much more comfortable about committing to a game if I knew in advance what the in-app purchases were. This is especially true for games with an upfront purchase price, because then you can't even download the game to see what the microtransactions are. Just seeing "In-app purchases" on the app store page isn't enough anymore, because that could mean essentially anything. And the user reviews are often less helpful on that front than I'd like too, meaning that it's often easier to just not bother downloading a game unless someone has explicitly recommended it to me (ex. the Android gaming thread, or a bunch of friends).

I've actually thought about starting a site whose sole purpose would be to list exactly what the in-app purchases were for a specific game, whether it be mobile games or F2P PC games or even console games like Forza 5. Of course, that way lies sheer insanity, as it's impossible to keep track of even a fraction of it all. So maybe there just isn't any good answers here. But I do feel like there's a definite lack of clarity in the mobile game market and it's made me somewhat gunshy.
Click to expand...

The list on the store page isn't good enough?
 
I have a smartphone, an iPod Touch, and an iPad and I couldn't even tell you the last time I even OPENED the app store on any of those devices.

I'm sure there's great games out there but I have zero interest in gaming on any of those devices. I did at one point when they were fresh and new (Infinity Blade) but to me mobile is to gaming what like LeapFrog or Tiger Electronics were to Game Boy or Nintendo back in the day.
 
Something I've never understood with App Store users. They're willing to pay high monthly cell phone charges (to subsidize their iPhone) or pay $600 or $700 for an unlocked phone, but when it comes to the apps, they start nickle and diming and flocking towards the free apps. Of course, within the free app itself, they're willing to make in-app purchases left and right. But 99 cent premium apps? That's a no-no.
 
This is the market you end up when a majority of your buyers aren't buying on quality, or even researching the games they're playing. They're investing time in things they perceive as cheap time wasters, with a minority of spenders blowing up the developers financials to make it worth it. Its a shit market, but what mobile is going to be stuck with until the market grows enough to support something like an iOS/Android version of Steam.
 
My new rule is to avoid any game that even offers IAPs. If I see the little IAP notice, I just back out and move on. If it seems like something great that I'm truly interested in, I'll check what they are just to make sure they're not required for progression (costumes, etc.); if it's "crystals" or "gems" or something similar, I bail. I haven't downloaded a free game in I can't remember how long.
 
hiptanaka said:
Something I've never understood with iTunes users. They're willing to pay high monthly cell phone charges (to subsidize their iPhone) or pay $600 or $700 for an unlocked phone, but when it comes to the apps, they start nickle and diming and flocking towards the free apps. Of course, within the free app itself, they're willing to make in-app purchases left and right. But 99 cent premium apps? That's a no-no.
Click to expand...

I recommended Device 6 to a coworker and he seemed interested until I mentioned it cost 3 dollars. He then LOL ED me off.
 
hiptanaka said:
Something I've never understood with iTunes users. They're willing to pay high monthly cell phone charges (to subsidize their iPhone) or pay $600 or $700 for an unlocked phone, but when it comes to the apps, they start nickle and diming and flocking towards the free apps. Of course, within the free app itself, they're willing to make in-app purchases left and right. But 99 cent premium apps? That's a no-no.
Click to expand...

That's because there's always a free version of an app(even if its a rip-off) on the store. In terms of game, the vast majority of the people on the App store aren't gamers so they just go with what's free.
 
Haha my boyfriend is pretty smart, he played through like all of candy crush without ever spending any actual money on it. But yeah it's a marketing tool, they will give you some bits and pieces to get you really interested to help sell the rest of the app. Profit for them :P
 
The golden age is over. What would have been the next great gaming platform instead came to self-destruct in a capitalist frenzy.

I used to comb the GAF iOS gaming thread every month for new, awesome titles. Now it doesn't seem worth a monthly thread.

BramVD said:
The next game I will play on iOS will probably be The Room 3, in 2015
Click to expand...
Yes! The Room 2 and Deus Ex are the only two great titles on my device right now.
 
I used to try stuff on it all the time a couple of years ago. Now I just check out the Gaf iOS thread every couple of months instead.

There are good games there, but browsing the store or even searching by category is pointless, so many shitty clones using similar names, dodgy reviews, IAP-infested trash and pointlessly short summaries that you have to know exactly what you want first. These days I've just deleted all games from my phone apart from the one or two I might play. A waste of a great opportunity IMO, I wonder if it's meant more smaller devs going back to developing for steam instead.
 
I haven't played mobile games in god knows how long. I seriously think candy crush was the final straw for me back when it first came out. Everything about mobile games is just the antithesis of what I want out of gaming now.
 
Mozz-eyes said:
So I don't actually have a problem with f2p games like this, if they have a sort of 'all access package' that unlocks the majority of features for the same price as a normal game. Killer Instinct and Age of Empires Online spring to mind.

However, a lot of iPhone games don't seem to follow this model and do it all on time skipping microtransactions.
Click to expand...

This is extremely rare in mobile F2P. Almost all of them are of the infinite-spend, timers, premium currency, monetized-to-death stuff. A rare few like Ghost Trick do the proper "first level only" demo + buy parts of the game, but that's not "where the money is" I'm afraid.

I solved this problem by letting my iPad collect dust and never playing anything on my phone. I just read twitter and gaf and stuff on it now, havent' even so much as launched an emulator in months.
 
Well, bear in mind, this is partly because of the low mobile prices.

Companies couldn't afford to sell their games for 99 cents or 2.99 or whatever, especially when the same game sold on consoles or PC for several times that.

Then again, companies got greedy once they realized how well it worked, but still...
 
Yeah, finding a good game on the Android app store is like finding a needle in a haystack. It's the price you pay for having a completely open system, especially when the target audience for these platforms don't align with your personal interest. The top games section isn't really intended for us, and it shows.
 
I've always wondered how this problem would go about being solved considering a lot of the problems with the App Store tend to boil down to the fact that mobile gaming's current major audience is comprised of new gamers who seem to have a completely different set of values compared to a pc/console primary gamer.

I mean it almost becomes a question of just what the heck do you DO? I mean how do you tell the millions of people playing candy crush they're being scammed when they believe that paying that extra buck for a boost is completely worth it? How do you try and bridge the gap between someone that plays Temple Run and someone playing Monster Hunter? Do any games even exist that have converted your typical Angry Birds fan into someone that buys Phoenix Wright Dual Destinies?

It's hard for it to not feel like a completely hopeless situation. I myself rarely game on my iPhone anymore, but when I feel like going through the App Store I just give up five minutes later because there are seemingly decent games with ridiculous IAP. The only rhythm games whose IAP I've accepted are Cytus and Deemo by Rayark, who offer a pack of 10-15 songs for 4 bucks while making nearly 40 free. Everything else dares to make you pay up to 4 bucks PER SONG.

Yet Cytus and Deemo are forgotten compared to many of these rhythm games that charge way more. It's even stranger considering that the two games come up on top lists all the time on the App Store but still don't seem to bring in the same amounts of app downloads and cash.
 
Mozz-eyes said:
So I don't actually have a problem with f2p games like this, if they have a sort of 'all access package' that unlocks the majority of features for the same price as a normal game. Killer Instinct and Age of Empires Online spring to mind.

However, a lot of iPhone games don't seem to follow this model and do it all on time skipping microtransactions.
Click to expand...

If more games did that I'd probably look at more games on mobile devices. As it is, I just can't be bothered trying to find good games that don't have IAP.
 
hiptanaka said:
Something I've never understood with App Store users. They're willing to pay high monthly cell phone charges (to subsidize their iPhone) or pay $600 or $700 for an unlocked phone, but when it comes to the apps, they start nickle and diming and flocking towards the free apps. Of course, within the free app itself, they're willing to make in-app purchases left and right. But 99 cent premium apps? That's a no-no.
Click to expand...

For me, it's not the price. I'd rather buy a good game outright. It's the nickel and diming part and the knowledge deep down that the game design was compromised in order to siphon more money out of the player.

edit: oops, I misread your post as if you were suggesting people are cheap for not wanting to play along with microtransactions.
 
AwakenedCloud said:
Yeah, finding a good game on the Android app store is like finding a needle in a haystack. It's the price you pay for having a completely open system, especially when the target audience for these platforms don't align with your personal interest. The top games section isn't really intended for us, and it shows.
Click to expand...

iOS tends to feature what your average console player would find interesting on the front page of the App Store each week, along with more "casual" picks. There's some pretty great curation work being done.

But yeah, my only advice is to go through the monthly iOS threads on NeoGAF if anyone is genuinely interested in finding some things to play. A lot of people tend to stick with what they're familiar with, mentioning ports of console IPs etc. Some of those are pretty solid, but there really are some great original games to try out.
 
Even Trials on iOS needs you to buy coins. The whole point of trials is to keep trying again and again.

Games in mobile platforms are artificially designed for you to fail, forcing you to buy more coins. Which truly sucks.
 
All I can say is if this is what mainstream gamers want - let them. I'm enjoying my vita and 3DS and traditional games immensely and both systems outlook seems fairly bright.

In the last year or so I've really really soured on iOS games. I wanted to make a thread on this. My purchases when I got my iphone 4s were amazing, real racing, game dev story, mega mall story, word fu, flight control, king of dragon pass, bike baron. Stuff like that were great games that I don't mind spending less than $5 for.

I still frequent App Shopper, but most of the games are console ports that are far too expensive at $15-18 (will wait for steam sale), free games that have iAPs or games that aren't worth my time. The last game I installed was school idol which is super fun, but a huge grind and 2048 a pretty basic but fun adding numbers game. But that's what 3-4 months ago? If there are 100 apps released a day, that's a lot of trash on the app store!
 
Mobile f2p is a cesspool of absolute cashgrabs. It makes the Asian f2p mmo market look like saints and I've seen absolute atrocities in the mmo market.
 
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