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The author made a disingenuous comparison. Dungeon Keeper didn't cost $5 when it was released many years ago. It costed $39.95. And there was not trial play
by ww520 13y ago
The author made a disingenuous comparison. Dungeon Keeper didn't cost $5 when it was released many years ago. It costed $39.95. And there was not trial play ahead of time. Is he willing to pay for $49.95 (adjusted for inflation) for the iPad version before even playing it?
The in-app purchase got to this way because of gamer purchase behaviors. If the majority of the gamers are willing to pay upfront, you won't see in-app purchase. This is just like most people (at least in US) unwilling to pay the full price to buy the phone upfront but rather to pay for it with smaller monthly charges via the long term contract.
Gamers change their purchase behaviors and in-app purchases will go away.
- niklasber 13y agoThe writer is ignorant and the article is nothing but a silly rant. No reasonable arguing. Makes me sad that this kind of articles can make it to #1 on HN.
- djur 13y agoThe price of AAA games has gone down in real dollars, so adjusting for inflation isn't accurate. Also, when you paid $40 for a game in 1998, you ended up with a game you could resell when you were done with it. The video game market was built around that expectation. And the price of used games was much lower than retail -- $5-10 was common for games that sold at $40 a year or two earlier. In this case, I think it's notable that the mobile Dungeon Keeper is both less playable and more expensive than its predecessor.