iPhone games - will the pricing be adopted elsewhere?

[Chief]

Hey all

so I finally treated myself to a new 32gb iPhone 3gs the other week and I've gotta say that I'm very happy with the device.

Prior to going completly wireless with the iPhone I've spent the last couple of years using my iPod touch to access my wifi network when I can't be arsed logging onto my PC. I've also been a frequent visitor to Apples iTunes iPhone store where I've downloaded many of the apps and games. Mostly the free ones but also a couple of the 'paid for' apps.

Now the thing is, it's interesting to see the expectations being set by the iPhone software developers on price. Many new software Development houses are being born to support the iPhone platform but the prices being charged are crazy.

The most expensive game I've purchased so far is a game called 'sandstorm'. It's a Tom Clancy-esk type war based game and the graphics and game play are very impressive.

Certainly not PS2/3 Xbox 360 impressive but i'd be confident saying it's something comparable to some of the games I've seen on the PSP

Now the thing is, how much did I pay for this game? $20? $15? $10$?

Nope, I paid the grand total of $5.99 for this game and it's one of the more expensive games available for the iPhone at the moment!

Sure, there is minimal costs to advertise these games and distribute them (as they are all downloaded via the iTunes store) but should there be such a big difference in price to develop and code the games in the first place?

Many of the half decent games offer introductionary pricing at under $2.00! Would another console offer such terms?

I guess a presedent has been set and iPhone users would complain if we had to pay more but perhaps the delivery model could offer benefits for all gamers. (Or are we just being ripped off?)

What do you recon?

[xrnzaaas]

Quality of most iPhone titles is IMO somewhere between usual cell phone games and PSP/DS titles. So there aren't as complex and as fun as you'd wish but on the other hand they're not total crap. I think the biggest problems here are controls (touch screen can't replace standard buttons entirely) and their size (can't be too big because it would take too long to download and you would run out of free space quickly). I have to say I'm impressed with how Apple has managed to make iPhone a popular gaming console, but I'd still prefer PSP or even a DS.

[mohican66]

I too recently got a 3GS and love it. The thing I like about it as a gaming device are the free lite versions. I have downloaded over a hundred lite versions and then paid $5 for the full version several times. I know you can get demos on Xbox live but haven't used it since i got the RroD about a year ago.

[hippie pieces]

In North America the ESRB is going to lower the cost of lincing games with ratings to help bring costs down for PSP minis.

The bad news is Sony currently charges more for downloadable software for the PSP than they do for the retail copy.

I predict the PSP mini is a huge failure as you can only download games to the sytem and there is no way to play a retail copy.