Rumor: Apple planning premium game section of App Store
Apple may be planning to introduce a new section of the App Store dedicated to top-notch gaming titles in an effort to further solidify its multi-touch devices as the next big thing in handheld gaming.
Citing unidentified sources, PocketGamer.biz says the new listing will cater to titles in the $20 range that meet a new set of stringent requirements for quality and value set forth by the iPhone maker.
Oddly, however, the report claims that the initiative will be open only to a restricted number of commercial game publishers, shutting out the thousands of smaller developers responsible for helping the App Store thrive from the onset.
Much of the App Store's success has been attributed not only to the advanced tools that simplify application development but also its open marketplace, which levels the playing field between the established publishers and upstarts.
In an interview published this week, Apple vice president of iPhone and iPod product marketing Greg Joswiak spoke directly to this end, noting that the one of the benefits of the App Store is the low overheard required to become an influential player in the market.
App developers don't need a publisher, he said, "It's not somewhere you have to be represented by somebody; you have to be in the development programme, which is very inexpensive."
Similar comments from the Apple executive also challenge the notion that premium pricing and a focus on incumbent game publishers would serve as a beneficial shift in strategy.
Asked if smaller developers are really competing with the established players, Joswiak said: "What we'd like to do is show off the games - the 3D and the casual ones. Everyone from the big developers is excited -- the EAs, the Gamelofts, Hudsons and Segas -- but what's also cool is the small guys.
"You get the one or two-developer shops like the Pangeas, who are doing a great business, with anecdotal stories like paying off their home mortgages after a month or two of being in the store," he said.
In terms of pricing, Joswiak believes the "sweet spot" for gaming titles falls in the $7 to $14 dollar range, rather than those that would fetch upwards of $20. "What we typically see is people buying more titles, because it's a lot easier -- it's a much smaller investment, and it's a much smaller decision to try a new title that only costs you 5 pounds," he said.
Joswiak also defended the existing but somewhat controversial methods by which games and applications rise to prime placement on the App Store, pointing specifically to the shop's reviews component "because if a small guy makes a title that gets good ratings, it tends to bubble up: the cream does rise."
That said, the Apple VP noted that the App Store already offers more than 1,500 games, which is more than all the company's handheld gaming rivals combined, namely the PSP and Nintendo DS. As such, a specific section of the shop dedicated to premium titles could be in order for the sake of visibility and boosting the platform to the next level.
However, the notion that smaller developers would be locked out of such an initiative would appear to clash with the ideals by which the store has operated to date.
Citing unidentified sources, PocketGamer.biz says the new listing will cater to titles in the $20 range that meet a new set of stringent requirements for quality and value set forth by the iPhone maker.
Oddly, however, the report claims that the initiative will be open only to a restricted number of commercial game publishers, shutting out the thousands of smaller developers responsible for helping the App Store thrive from the onset.
Much of the App Store's success has been attributed not only to the advanced tools that simplify application development but also its open marketplace, which levels the playing field between the established publishers and upstarts.
In an interview published this week, Apple vice president of iPhone and iPod product marketing Greg Joswiak spoke directly to this end, noting that the one of the benefits of the App Store is the low overheard required to become an influential player in the market.
App developers don't need a publisher, he said, "It's not somewhere you have to be represented by somebody; you have to be in the development programme, which is very inexpensive."
Similar comments from the Apple executive also challenge the notion that premium pricing and a focus on incumbent game publishers would serve as a beneficial shift in strategy.
Asked if smaller developers are really competing with the established players, Joswiak said: "What we'd like to do is show off the games - the 3D and the casual ones. Everyone from the big developers is excited -- the EAs, the Gamelofts, Hudsons and Segas -- but what's also cool is the small guys.
"You get the one or two-developer shops like the Pangeas, who are doing a great business, with anecdotal stories like paying off their home mortgages after a month or two of being in the store," he said.
In terms of pricing, Joswiak believes the "sweet spot" for gaming titles falls in the $7 to $14 dollar range, rather than those that would fetch upwards of $20. "What we typically see is people buying more titles, because it's a lot easier -- it's a much smaller investment, and it's a much smaller decision to try a new title that only costs you 5 pounds," he said.
Joswiak also defended the existing but somewhat controversial methods by which games and applications rise to prime placement on the App Store, pointing specifically to the shop's reviews component "because if a small guy makes a title that gets good ratings, it tends to bubble up: the cream does rise."
That said, the Apple VP noted that the App Store already offers more than 1,500 games, which is more than all the company's handheld gaming rivals combined, namely the PSP and Nintendo DS. As such, a specific section of the shop dedicated to premium titles could be in order for the sake of visibility and boosting the platform to the next level.
However, the notion that smaller developers would be locked out of such an initiative would appear to clash with the ideals by which the store has operated to date.
Comments
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This should be cool, I hope they have a good selection of games, Id buy a few
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I am thinking that they are just adding a section to the store, highlighting games that are already available in the store. So good news, you don't have to wait!
Ok ok, new rumor: the premium games app store will have games exclusively for the new, faster ARM Cortex A8 iphone that will come out this summer. It will be a clean break. And they'll get blizzard to make a diablo game for it.
Bastards. I wanted to start this rumor. Now I'll have to think of something else.
Ok ok, new rumor: the premium games app store will have games exclusively for the new, faster ARM Cortex A8 iphone that will come out this summer. It will be a clean break. And they'll get blizzard to make a diablo game for it.
Blizzard's stuff will probably only run on next year's 3GHz G5 iPhones.
I would love to see that happen but I don't think they'll do it.
This is a step that is needed though because you just don't see PSP stores with homebrew software sitting next to major AAA games titles and there's a reason. The apps need to be better quality and fair enough, a small developer might well make a game that is more fun than a bigger title but the expectations are still much lower.
I really hope this means we get some games like you get for the PSP or DS such as Tomb Raider Underworld, Burnout, The Force Unleashed (done properly). The section may be coming for titles like Need For Speed: Undercover, which sells for the PSP for £17.99.
The sub-$20 (£15) range is a good call for iphone titles of this level of development. I would like to see mandatory demos made for games at this price though.
I like this move as there is simply no way that a small time developer can rival what a big games company can do. However, what happens when big games companies like Konami or Square Enix put out crap like they already have done? Will Apple take an offering from a major publisher and drop it in the bargain bucket beside the small-time developers?
I would love to see that happen but I don't think they'll do it.
This is a step that is needed though because you just don't see PSP stores with homebrew software sitting next to major AAA games titles and there's a reason. The apps need to be better quality and fair enough, a small developer might well make a game that is more fun than a bigger title but the expectations are still much lower.
I really hope this means we get some games like you get for the PSP or DS such as Tomb Raider Underworld, Burnout, The Force Unleashed (done properly). The section may be coming for titles like Need For Speed: Undercover, which sells for the PSP for £17.99.
The sub-$20 (£15) range is a good call for iphone titles of this level of development. I would like to see mandatory demos made for games at this price though.
I've played a # of games on my iPod Touch. Some of them have been free, others have cost me a few dollars. < $10 seems an excellent price point for what the iPod Touch/iPhone are capable of - graphics, speed, sound, screen size, current control limitations, etc.
However, for $19.99, I can't help but wonder if Apple's mobile gaming platforms can even live up to the promise a $20 game might offer. In other words, if I'm going to pay $20 for a game, I really want it to be a $20 game - robust controls, excellent graphics & sound & the like...I don't see my current iPod Touch delivering $20 worth of gaming experience: a) small screen b) controls (to me) are still janky in many games - especially those relying on motion sensors. Further, w/o dedicated gaming buttons - screen real estate is taken up by control-oriented touch(es).
Hmmmmm.
I've played a # of games on my iPod Touch. Some of them have been free, others have cost me a few dollars. < $10 seems an excellent price point for what the iPod Touch/iPhone are capable of - graphics, speed, sound, screen size, current control limitations, etc.
However, for $19.99, I can't help but wonder if Apple's mobile gaming platforms can even live up to the promise a $20 game might offer. In other words, if I'm going to pay $20 for a game, I really want it to be a $20 game - robust controls, excellent graphics & sound & the like...I don't see my current iPod Touch delivering $20 worth of gaming experience: a) small screen b) controls (to me) are still janky in many games - especially those relying on motion sensors. Further, w/o dedicated gaming buttons - screen real estate is taken up by control-oriented touch(es).
Hmmmmm.
I think the timing of the $20 dollar game section's debut would coincide with the debut of a brand new generation of Apple mobiles that can do much more than the previous generation. Perhaps the new ones will even have extra controls for FPS games and such. It would explain why most of the small devs are being kept out.....for now.
< $10 seems an excellent price point for what the iPod Touch/iPhone are capable of - graphics, speed, sound, screen size, current control limitations, etc.
However, for $19.99, I can't help but wonder if Apple's mobile gaming platforms can even live up to the promise a $20 game might offer.
Nintendo DS games are that price and more and the screen is far smaller as well as about 3-5 times lower capability than the iphone.
It does have physical buttons but very few and although some overlay controls do get in the way on the iphone, quite a few games manage to get round this very well. For example, the Brothers in Arms game had very good control overlays. The controls weren't very accurate at times but the touch interface works great for fast weapon selection.
The graphics in that were really pretty good, same with Hero of Sparta. Those games weren't quite PSP quality but pretty close IMO. Though the frame rate could do with being improved. As developers improve their game engines on the iphone and hopefully Apple get round to optimizing the 2.x system, I think we'll see games rivaling the PSP.
If the games have more depth and playing time, improved framerate and the same or better quality graphics as BIA and Hero of Sparta, they will be worth paying a slight premium for.
I can understand why they are doing this, but I'm slightly concerned at the way this may be headed.
I agree. I think companies like EA are a bit concerned about being in the same market as lesser known developers. There's no competition like no competition.
Nintendo DS games are that price and more and the screen is far smaller as well as about 3-5 times lower capability than the iphone.
It does have physical buttons but very few and although some overlay controls do get in the way on the iphone, quite a few games manage to get round this very well. For example, the Brothers in Arms game had very good control overlays. The controls weren't very accurate at times but the touch interface works great for fast weapon selection.
The graphics in that were really pretty good, same with Hero of Sparta. Those games weren't quite PSP quality but pretty close IMO. Though the frame rate could do with being improved. As developers improve their game engines on the iphone and hopefully Apple get round to optimizing the 2.x system, I think we'll see games rivaling the PSP.
If the games have more depth and playing time, improved framerate and the same or better quality graphics as BIA and Hero of Sparta, they will be worth paying a slight premium for.
I have to admit I haven't really, really taken a close look at the Nintendo & Sony offerings in the realm of portable of gaming. I certainly know of them...but not enough to know that Apple (in mobile gaming) edges them both out. Frankly, I'm surprised at that...as the 2 platforms are dedicated to gaming...and <should> be superior to the iPhone/iPod Touch at this stage in their development.
If that's the case, & we're only awaiting optimized game engines for real performance boosts...then - go Apple! I feel Apple can "steal" the market with their iTunes/App store - so easy to browse & purchase games....Nothing quite like it, really.
Now - if only something like the Marware Game Grip could be developed...which has buttons and possibly even a little joystick for added control.