iPod Touch\iPhone\iPad -- Ongoing App Sales

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ryanflucas

ryanflucas

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This is a continuation of this previous thread. Since it was getting very close to the 5,000 thread mark, I figured it was time for a reset.

Post any deals you find, recommendations, requests for deals, etc. Please keep things as civil as possible. There's no such thing as a bad deal post and reviews are opinions. :)


Games in the App store are constantly going on sale. While I originally posted games and prices in this post, it's become almost impossible to keep up with it all. Feel free to post in this topic on good deals and games you enjoy. Developers are also encouraged to join in, especially if they are running promos or sales.

If you want to check out a particular game, try the following review sites, or ask in here so fellow CAG's can assist you.

Price Drop Sites



App & Game Review Sites



YouTube Video Reviews



Apple Game Center
Apple Game Center allows you to keep a friends list, track your in game achievements, and compare with your friends. Many games are starting to support this. Currently this only runs on iPod & iPhone, but an update will be coming soon that enables this for iPad users.

Make sure to checkout the official CAG Game Center exchange thread. You can post your game center name and see the names of your favorite CAG'rs. You can also exchange OpenFeint & Plus+ names there.



Important Notes:

  1. Make sure to check for periodic updates either in iTunes or on your iOS devices. For each release of new firmware, there's usually a bunch of games updated right afterward.
  2. Some applications also go on sale by their authors when they reach 1 million download and similar milestones.
  3. Apps often have specials the day before, during, and after holidays, regardless if said game/app is related to the holiday.
  4. Newly released apps will often have a % or dollar amount off for a limited period of time to gain a large following quicker. While browsing the app store you can go to a particular type or genre and order according to release date. This can make finding new app discounts faster.
  5. Make sure to backup your purchases in iTunes to CD/DVD for safe keeping. You can do this by clicking File-->Library-->Backup to Disc. Then choose all purchases, applications only, and full or incremental backup. How often is up to you, but I do this monthly, or more often if I buy a lot of apps.
  6. Apps can be re-downloaded without incurring an extra charge if you previously purchased it. This is good if you have a crash and forget to backup your purchases. I don't know if this is a permanent feature so backing up regularly is still important.
  7. I strongly advise not to buy iTunes Gift Cards by 3rd parties unless you know they can be trusted. Retail stores, receiving cards as gifts, etc are the best ways. There are many credit card scams, stolen cards, hacked cards going around, especially on Ebay.
  8. If you are the victim of a iTunes Card scam or get your account locked due to one not all hope is lost. Apple has been fairly lenient on these issues. Call Apple directly at 1-800-MY-APPLE, or check the iTunes Store support page. Also going to your local Apple Store to discuss it can help. The account locking is an automated process and can be reversed. This can take time so be cautious if you use gift cards from 3rd party sources.
  9. If you somehow break your iOS device, you have some options. If you bought the Applecare warranty it should be covered for most items. If your Applecare ran out or you don't have one, try using one of the repair guides on iFixit to repair it yourself. Apple Stores have been known to give discounts if you bring in a iOS device that they will not fix since it's not in warranty. This discount however is very small.
  10. Using a screen protector can extend the life of your device. Most stores carry these, but they can be hard to install. The best I have personally used are made by a company called Power Support. They have both clear and anti-glare protectors. They are easier to install because the protector is a firm yet thin piece of plastic. Two come in a pack, average price I've seen is $20. They have an Ebay Store that might save you a few bucks. Griffin Technologies and Zagg are also very good.
 
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Picked up Eternal Legacy and just realized FFIII is out. $15.99!? Ouch. It's just a DS port so I don't understand why they couldn't make it cheaper. Hopefully it drops to .99 cents sometime, I loved it on the DS.
 
[quote name='eliter1']Picked up Eternal Legacy and just realized FFIII is out. $15.99!? Ouch. It's just a DS port so I don't understand why they couldn't make it cheaper. Hopefully it drops to .99 cents sometime, I loved it on the DS.[/QUOTE]

On the other hand, how much did you pay for it on the DS, exactly? The whole "apps should be 99 cents" mentality that has developed around iOS is kind of antithetical to getting quality games on the platform. With it, it's no wonder that we're stuck with Angry Birds and Tiny Wings as the hottest games (not saying that they're bad at all, but they're hardly sophisticated).

I mean, I agree with you, I'm not interested in paying $15.99 for it either (I already own the DS version -- which I paid $13.99 for -- so I don't feel a huge need to buy it again). But it's an interesting experiment on Square Enix's part, anyway. They only have to sell 1/16th as many copies at $15.99 as they do at $0.99 to make the same amount of money. So if only 1/10th as many people buy it at $15.99 as would have at the cheaper price, they still come out way ahead, even though they sold less volume. Since it's fully digital and there are no manufacturing quantities or inventory costs to worry about, volume matters a whole lot less than it does with physical media.

The trick for them is to find that median point where the number of people buying it remains high enough to more than balance out the number that don't buy it because of the higher price. Presumably the $8.99 price that they set on FF I and FF II, as well as Secret of Mana, did well enough for them that they think they can push it even further.

Of course, that concept works a lot better for a well-established IP like Final Fantasy that has a strong fan base. New, unestablished titles would probably have a hard time selling at that price. That's why I'm not (at this point, anyway) too terribly worried about them changing the overall model with it.

I'm sure it will go on sale eventually. Given that Square Enix generally drops their $8.99 titles to $3.99 when they have sales, though, I think it's a fair guess that you'll be waiting a long time for $0.99. It's more likely that we're looking at something like $5.99 or $6.99 as a sale price.
 
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[quote name='arcane93']On the other hand, how much did you pay for it on the DS, exactly? The whole "apps should be 99 cents" mentality that has developed around iOS is kind of antithetical to getting quality games on the platform. With it, it's no wonder that we're stuck with Angry Birds and Tiny Wings as the hottest games (not saying that they're bad at all, but they're hardly sophisticated).

I mean, I agree with you, I'm not interested in paying $15.99 for it either (I already own the DS version -- which I paid $13.99 for -- so I don't feel a huge need to buy it again). But it's an interesting experiment on Square Enix's part, anyway. They only have to sell 1/16th as many copies at $15.99 as they do at $0.99 to make the same amount of money. So if only 1/10th as many people buy it at $15.99 as would have at the cheaper price, they still come out way ahead, even though they sold less volume. Since it's fully digital and there are no manufacturing quantities or inventory costs to worry about, volume matters a whole lot less than it does with physical media.

The trick for them is to find that median point where the number of people buying it remains high enough to more than balance out the number that don't buy it because of the higher price. Presumably the $8.99 price that they set on FF I and FF II, as well as Secret of Mana, did well enough for them that they think they can push it even further.

Of course, that concept works a lot better for a well-established IP like Final Fantasy that has a strong fan base. New, unestablished titles would probably have a hard time selling at that price. That's why I'm not (at this point, anyway) too terribly worried about them changing the overall model with it.

I'm sure it will go on sale eventually. Given that Square Enix generally drops their $8.99 titles to $3.99 when they have sales, though, I think it's a fair guess that you'll be waiting a long time for $0.99. It's more likely that we're looking at something like $5.99 or $6.99 as a sale price.[/QUOTE]

So far the highest FF3 has made it on the top grossing charts is 3rd place. I'm almost 100% sure that it would have made it that high with a 6.99 price tag or even 8.99. I think what they are missing by pricing it so high is the casual market, not everyone with an iPhone is a Final Fantasy fan and many would have tried it at around 7 but not at 16. What annoys me about square is they think they can charge more than everyone else for all their games, even the FF titles on playstation network.
 
[quote name='arcane93']On the other hand, how much did you pay for it on the DS, exactly? The whole "apps should be 99 cents" mentality that has developed around iOS is kind of antithetical to getting quality games on the platform. With it, it's no wonder that we're stuck with Angry Birds and Tiny Wings as the hottest games (not saying that they're bad at all, but they're hardly sophisticated).

I mean, I agree with you, I'm not interested in paying $15.99 for it either (I already own the DS version -- which I paid $13.99 for -- so I don't feel a huge need to buy it again). But it's an interesting experiment on Square Enix's part, anyway. They only have to sell 1/16th as many copies at $15.99 as they do at $0.99 to make the same amount of money. So if only 1/10th as many people buy it at $15.99 as would have at the cheaper price, they still come out way ahead, even though they sold less volume. Since it's fully digital and there are no manufacturing quantities or inventory costs to worry about, volume matters a whole lot less than it does with physical media.

The trick for them is to find that median point where the number of people buying it remains high enough to more than balance out the number that don't buy it because of the higher price. Presumably the $8.99 price that they set on FF I and FF II, as well as Secret of Mana, did well enough for them that they think they can push it even further.

Of course, that concept works a lot better for a well-established IP like Final Fantasy that has a strong fan base. New, unestablished titles would probably have a hard time selling at that price. That's why I'm not (at this point, anyway) too terribly worried about them changing the overall model with it.

I'm sure it will go on sale eventually. Given that Square Enix generally drops their $8.99 titles to $3.99 when they have sales, though, I think it's a fair guess that you'll be waiting a long time for $0.99. It's more likely that we're looking at something like $5.99 or $6.99 as a sale price.[/QUOTE]

The only reason many of us have this .99 cents mentality is because of the App store. I refuse to pay what I consider to be high prices for digital games because I can't get any type of return out of it when I finish it. I am sure I paid around between $20-30 for the DS version but then I was able to put it on Goozex. If it ever drops to .99 cents I'll be in if not it's not a must have for me since I already played it. So far I have managed to only spend more than .99 cents on Rage HD, PvZ and Infinity Blade but never more than $3.

[quote name='jason506']So far the highest FF3 has made it on the top grossing charts is 3rd place. I'm almost 100% sure that it would have made it that high with a 6.99 price tag or even 8.99. I think what they are missing by pricing it so high is the casual market, not everyone with an iPhone is a Final Fantasy fan and many would have tried it at around 7 but not at 16. What annoys me about square is they think they can charge more than everyone else for all their games, even the FF titles on playstation network.[/QUOTE]

I agree with you. These guys seem to think they can charge whatever they want for their games. Again, I don't think I would have that much of a problem if I could resell the games when I was done playing them.
 
[quote name='eliter1']I agree with you. These guys seem to think they can charge whatever they want for their games.[/QUOTE]

Technically they can. The fact that they keep selling their games at such high prices probably means they've done the math themselves and expect to make more money by selling fewer copies at higher prices than they would by selling many copies at lower prices.
 
So the freeappaday thing.. You pay 99cents for it and you get to play whatever game/app that day? Then the next day something else comes up and the previous game/app goes away?

I don't really understand how it works. Thanks for the help.
 
[quote name='jason506']What annoys me about square is they think they can charge more than everyone else for all their games, even the FF titles on playstation network.[/QUOTE] Not really. Their recent games like Front Mission 3, Vagrant Story, Parasite Eve and Legend of Mana are $5.99. Though I'm curious as to why Xenogears is $9.99 like FFVII, VIII and IX. That price point is reserved for more popular titles like Resident Evil and Metal Gear Solid.
 
Xenogears was a Greatest Hits title so the $10 price point makes sense. Thats still a lot lower than what you'd find online, especially for VII.
 
So there isn't any chance we would see games like xenogears show up on iTunes right? I know Sony is supporting a new phone with ps1 rereleases, but obviously that has physical buttons so there isn't a need to recode new touch controls. I'm just wondering if Square or any other companies are considering porting PS1 era games over to iTunes since an iPhone or iPad could most likely handle it (definitely in the case of the iPad 2)
 
[quote name='litoeon']So the freeappaday thing.. You pay 99cents for it and you get to play whatever game/app that day? Then the next day something else comes up and the previous game/app goes away?

I don't really understand how it works. Thanks for the help.[/QUOTE]

If you wait, the app will drop to free; it regularly does. All it does is compile the games they make free through affiliation. Once you put them on your device, they're yours forever. That said, dimsdale posts links to all of those games, plus more, every day. Maybe we should paypal him a dollar ;)
 
They did say there'd be an app store with PS1 games, but almost definitively for the Android. Theyd also have to deal with publishing issues considering this is Square Enix and it took 2 1/2 years for Xenogears to come to the USA. Your best bet would b to just pick up a PSP or the NGP and run with that. NGP + 3G they're saying may run for $350. They have said nothing about the other games, but considering Square has been releasing titles that already had a portable release (save for Secret of Mana), I doubt you'll be that lucky.
 
[quote name='litoeon']So the freeappaday thing.. You pay 99cents for it and you get to play whatever game/app that day? Then the next day something else comes up and the previous game/app goes away?

I don't really understand how it works. Thanks for the help.[/QUOTE]No, as a promotion to drum up interest in games, a certain game will go free for one day, next day it's back up to its original price.

If you download a game while it's free, it will always be yours and all future updates for that game will also be free.
 
[quote name='DtotheP']If you wait, the app will drop to free; it regularly does. All it does is compile the games they make free through affiliation. Once you put them on your device, they're yours forever. That said, dimsdale posts links to all of those games, plus more, every day. Maybe we should paypal him a dollar ;)[/QUOTE]

So once it goes free for that day, we can just get it off iTunes and it'll be free forever? dimsdale just posts whatever goes free from the freeappaday app?
 
[quote name='Karuto']They did say there'd be an app store with PS1 games, but almost definitively for the Android. Theyd also have to deal with publishing issues considering this is Square Enix and it took 2 1/2 years for Xenogears to come to the USA. Your best bet would b to just pick up a PSP or the NGP and run with that. NGP + 3G they're saying may run for $350. They have said nothing about the other games, but considering Square has been releasing titles that already had a portable release (save for Secret of Mana), I doubt you'll be that lucky.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I guess if I wasn't lazy I could already play ps1 games on my psp ... I just like the idea of consolidating things and it would be cool to have some of those games on my iPad. I'm actually bummed that the Android has way more support for emulation (gba, snes, nes, etc) than it seems Cydia has ... unless I missed the gba and rom gripper apps for iphone/ipad.
 
[quote name='litoeon']So once it goes free for that day, we can just get it off iTunes and it'll be free forever? dimsdale just posts whatever goes free from the freeappaday app?[/QUOTE]
No, I don't actually use the FAAD app. I troll various sites and FAAD is one of them. I also frequent the OpenFeint site regularly. A lot of times, I'll find out the FAAD freebie before it's posted on the FAAD site. I'm just a freebie junkie, so I like to share my obsession.

Speaking of FAAD, Luna Story Special is their latest featured freebie.
"There is a boy at the corner of a village which is located in a blue moonlit valley in the southeastern part of Alchimia, known as the birthplace of the legend Shangr-La civilization.
The boy, Ray, falls asleep at the blue moonlit valley and dreams of a mystical unicorn figure. Then he comes back to his village and finds that his father, Baron, fell at the hand of Fuzzy Navel soldiers.
Baron leaves a will to keep his and colleague’s study for old Shangri-La civilization. Ray starts to travel to find five Elixirs without knowing his dreams. During the travel, Ray meets lots of Bohemians who are persecuted by Fuzzy Navel and he learns humors and calmness from the Bohemians. Ray realizes the harmony of Mother Nature in order to get the five Elixirs Luna mentioned before and finally finds the Utopia many people really want. But Ray seriously worries what he really wants…"

Fling Pong Planets is the new OpenFeint FGOTD.
"Featuring out-of-this-world graphics taken from actual Hubble Telescope imagery, Fling Pong -The Planets takes you to another galaxy of arcade fun. The object of the game is simple; bounce a ping pong ball toward a wall of target holes in an attempt to get the ball in the hole. In "The Planets" the target holes are represented by the 8 planets of our Solar System (sorry, Pluto). Early game play presents the Planets in beautiful static imagery, with the game progressing through waves of dramatic planetary motion. Skilled players are aided by the later availability of "Free Shot Rockets", guided missile ping pong balls with an uncanny ability to track planetary motion."
 
[quote name='Mr.']Not really. Their recent games like Front Mission 3, Vagrant Story, Parasite Eve and Legend of Mana are $5.99. Though I'm curious as to why Xenogears is $9.99 like FFVII, VIII and IX. That price point is reserved for more popular titles like Resident Evil and Metal Gear Solid.[/QUOTE]

My personal guess is that there's music licensing involved with Xenogears. Creid isn't an in-house group and it's likely that when the original contracts were drafted to use them as an artist the distro rights were only outlined for the original PS1 CD-ROM releases. Parasite Eve took a LONG time to come out due to similar legalities; it was based on a book and not an IP owned by Square/Square-Enix.

Again, just my guess. Moving forward, any current publisher would be a nut not to include broad licensing rights for contracted content in their games, or at least have an outlined period of time and/or platform.
 
Ohhh ok. So you don't actually need the faad app in order to get these free apps. They just announce which is actually free for that day correct?

And thanks dimsdale
 
[quote name='jason506']So far the highest FF3 has made it on the top grossing charts is 3rd place. I'm almost 100% sure that it would have made it that high with a 6.99 price tag or even 8.99. I think what they are missing by pricing it so high is the casual market, not everyone with an iPhone is a Final Fantasy fan and many would have tried it at around 7 but not at 16.[/QUOTE]

You're totally missing my point, though. Square is charging for the game what they think that many people (not all, of course) will pay for the game -- and the fact that it made it to 3rd place (or even 4th place, where it's currently at) proves that they are apparently right.

It's a gamble -- on the one hand, yeah, they're pricing out the casual market. Then again, Final Fantasy III really isn't a casual game. So how much of the casual market would have bought it anyway? If they'd have charged $6.99 for it rather than $15.99, they would have had to sell more than twice as many copies to make it up to where they are at in the top grossing chart. Would more than twice as many people have bought it at $6.99? Maybe. But then again, maybe not. Let's face it -- if they had priced it at $6.99, you probably still wouldn't be buying it; instead, you'd be complaining about how they should have made it $2.99 (or $0.99).

And just think -- if they had priced it at $0.99, where some people think they should have priced it, they would have had to sell sixteen times as many copies to get where they are on that chart. As the price gets lower, the probability of them doing as well with it drops considerably. Selling more copies only matters if they can sell enough more to make a higher overall profit -- anything less, and they're better off charging the higher price and selling less copies.

Furthermore, by charging $15.99 for it now, they can make it seem like a bargain when it does go on sale for $6.99, and then all of the people complaining about the price will buy it. If they had made it $6.99 to begin with, they would have had to lower it to $2.99 to get the complainers to buy it.

[quote name='eliter1']The only reason many of us have this .99 cents mentality is because of the App store. I refuse to pay what I consider to be high prices for digital games because I can't get any type of return out of it when I finish it. I am sure I paid around between $20-30 for the DS version but then I was able to put it on Goozex.[/QUOTE]

The problem here is that you're thinking like a customer (and "cheap ass" customer, at that :lol:), while Square Enix is thinking like a company. They don't care whether you buy the game, as long as someone buys the game. Your happiness with their choices only matters insomuch as it intersects with their bottom line (and that intersection only happens insomuch as you follow the overall trends -- if nobody buys it for the same reasons that you're not buying it, then it matters; if you're complaining by yourself, it doesn't).

Also, as a company, they're not interested in your ability to sell the game after you're done with it. In fact, they'd really rather that you weren't able to do so -- they don't make any money off of it when someone buys a used copy, and that's one less person who wants the game who will buy it from them.

I mean, don't get me wrong -- as a fellow consumer, I agree with your complaints. It's one of the reasons why I chose not to support the PSP Go, one of the reasons why I'm against the possibility of other download-only consoles, and one of my hesitations about buying iOS games. But at the same time, I can definitely see why they would do what they're doing from their standpoint. If I were them, I'd do the same thing.

I also think that if they felt they had to sell it for $0.99, they wouldn't have bothered to make it at all.

[quote name='eliter1']These guys seem to think they can charge whatever they want for their games. Again, I don't think I would have that much of a problem if I could resell the games when I was done playing them.[/QUOTE]

They can charge whatever the market will bear. If people buy it at $15.99, then they can charge $15.99. If no one buys it at that price, you can bet that they'll lower the price until people start buying it. Honestly, I think that they're experimenting to see what they can get away with. They started with $8.99 on several games, that apparently went well, so now they're bumping it up to $15.99. If that fails, maybe next time they'll try $12.99 (which worked with Chaos Rings, even though it was a new IP that no one had ever heard of). Regardless, they don't have a whole lot to lose by trying it.
 
[quote name='litoeon']Ohhh ok. So you don't actually need the faad app in order to get these free apps. They just announce which is actually free for that day correct?

And thanks dimsdale[/QUOTE]

No, you dont. The app just has the links and also let's you vote for new freebies. FAAD is a member here too.
 
Sorry for all these noob questions, but I just bought an iPad 2 and I'm just learning.

What happens if you were to reformat and lose the stuff you have already downloaded for free.
Does iTunes still think you already go it when it was free and let you re-download, or do you pay for it to get it again?
 
[quote name='litoeon']Sorry for all these noob questions, but I just bought an iPad 2 and I'm just learning.

What happens if you were to reformat and lose the stuff you have already downloaded for free.
Does iTunes still think you already go it when it was free and let you re-download, or do you pay for it to get it again?[/QUOTE]

You can re d/l with no additional cost.
 
Sleep Defense is currently available for FREE. Hmmm, maybe I need to play a few rounds. . .
"Not only is Sleep Defense an amazing action game, but, it is the only game on the iPhone with a specific mode designed to induce sleep. Sleep mode was designed with specific color combination's and character movements that will tire your eyes and relax you.
If you want to get to sleep fast, simply play a few rounds of Sleep Mode and get a restful nights sleep.
Sleep Defense is the ultimate mix of skill, strategy, and fast paced arcade action."
 
Textn'Drive Pro is down to $2 from $10 right now. The ratings on this really fluctuate. Right now it has 2 stars, I've seen it with 5 stars. I'm guessing the latest update broke something so people are giving 1 star reviews in protest. I really hate this cat and mouse shit people do in app store reviews.

Anyway, App Store
 
[quote name='etcrane']Sleep Defense = crap ... Especially the "specially designed sleep mode" :roll:[/QUOTE]
Maybe it's supposed to bore you to sleep. . .
 
[quote name='Dimsdale']Maybe it's supposed to bore you to sleep. . .[/QUOTE]

Haha, the developer should have known how competitive the market is for games that already do that on the App store ;)
 
[quote name='omyard']I got tired of the lack of memory crashes and switched to Mercury is/was only 99 cents.[/QUOTE]

Thanks, I've been using the lite version of Mercury Web Browser since your post and just got the pro version today, it's a great app. Web sites look crisper and brighter ( if too bright you could adjust it). It has tabs like Atomic Web Browser. I find it easier to press the refresh button with this one, with AWB I seem to always bring up the address bar when pressing the reload button. I know a lot of people here have there minds set that Atomic is the best but I think everyone should try this one since there is a lite version. Forgot to mention no Crashes as of yet with MWB.

Lite version
http://appshopper.com/productivity/mercury-web-browser-fast-fullscreen-browser-with-tabs

Pro version
http://appshopper.com/productivity/a-mercury-web-browser-pro-fast-fullscreen-browser-with-tabs
 
Out of curiosity, what is the difference between the free and pro versions of Mercury Web Browser, anyway? The descriptions make them sound identical. I had bought the pro version a little while ago, and I'm very happy with it overall. I was going to recommend it to my girlfriend for her iPad, but I don't know whether to tell her to get the pro version or just to get the free one.

One issue that I am having with it, though: When I try to print from it, I get a message saying "Printing is only supported by iOS 4.2 or higher", even though I'm on iOS 4.3. I have an AirPrint-compatible printer, and I can print from other apps without difficulty. Anyone else encounter this and/or know a fix?
 
A Monster Ate My Homework (Universal) is on sale for free! I have the Mac App Store version and this is a fun game there. Looking forward to trying it on my iPhone (and later iPad):

http://appshopper.com/games/a-monster-ate-my-homework

It's a bit of a variant on Boom Blocks, but not really. There's no limit on "throws", instead the goal is to knock the bad blocks off without knocking off the good blocks. It's a fun game and I definitely recommend picking it up for free (the Mac App Store version is also free for now, FYI).
 
[quote name='Stimes']Thanks, I've been using the lite version of Mercury Web Browser since your post and just got the pro version today, it's a great app. Web sites look crisper and brighter ( if too bright you could adjust it). It has tabs like Atomic Web Browser. I find it easier to press the refresh button with this one, with AWB I seem to always bring up the address bar when pressing the reload button. I know a lot of people here have there minds set that Atomic is the best but I think everyone should try this one since there is a lite version. Forgot to mention no Crashes as of yet with MWB.

Lite version
http://appshopper.com/productivity/mercury-web-browser-fast-fullscreen-browser-with-tabs

Pro version
http://appshopper.com/productivity/a-mercury-web-browser-pro-fast-fullscreen-browser-with-tabs[/QUOTE]


Tried checking and it seems that Mercury doesn't have Dropbox support :/
 
Checked out 4p air battle, it's pretty good and it supports 4 player multiplayer. Tried the multiplayer on a iPad with 4 people touching the screen at the same time and it works surprisingly well. Pretty damn cheap also. Would recommend.
 
Hey guys, I just wanted to know what are some good photo booth-esque apps for the iPhone. Any recommendations? I heard incredibooth is pretty good but that's really all I know of haha
 
Grabbed all three of the Gameloft games real quick before the sale prices go away. To be honest, I don't know if I want to play any of the three. Never played Starcraft, don't like the OOT-style Zelda games and controls, and prefer my FF-esque RPGs to be really topnotch, production-wise. But I couldn't pass up a sale.

Damn, I need to re-enable the password feature on itunes. At least having to type in a password will slow me down and give me a bit more time to consider stuff, instead of *click* "And it's bought."

I really want to go on a SquareEnix spree, but not at those prices. The only time I will buy an app it seems is when it is $.99, so I will be waiting a while.
 
[quote name='Lost Loser']Technically they can. The fact that they keep selling their games at such high prices probably means they've done the math themselves and expect to make more money by selling fewer copies at higher prices than they would by selling many copies at lower prices.[/QUOTE]

Exactly, they're not new to this business.

Fwiw, the iOS version of FFIII looks way better than on DS. The 3D is nicely cleaned up.
 
[quote name='EYEL1NER']Grabbed all three of the Gameloft games real quick before the sale prices go away. To be honest, I don't know if I want to play any of the three. Never played Starcraft, don't like the OOT-style Zelda games and controls, and prefer my FF-esque RPGs to be really topnotch, production-wise. But I couldn't pass up a sale.

Damn, I need to re-enable the password feature on itunes. At least having to type in a password will slow me down and give me a bit more time to consider stuff, instead of *click* "And it's bought."

I really want to go on a SquareEnix spree, but not at those prices. The only time I will buy an app it seems is when it is $.99, so I will be waiting a while.[/QUOTE]

Can you disable the password on iOS devices? It drives me nuts typing in a complex password all the time. Especially when caps lock works half the time and doesn't the other half with no consistancy.

I'm trying to resist the game loft games and hold out for hd but it's a bit tough. Almost made it though.

Also, does anyone use any of the printing or office apps in the store? They are all pricey and don't seem to go on sale. Pretty big risk with no return policy or trial :(
 
[quote name='pROvIs']Can you disable the password on iOS devices? It drives me nuts typing in a complex password all the time. Especially when caps lock works half the time and doesn't the other half with no consistancy.

I'm trying to resist the game loft games and hold out for hd but it's a bit tough. Almost made it though.[/QUOTE]
Don't know about on the device. I only have a 4th Gen Touch and no wifi in my house, so I only buy through itunes on my computer and transfer 'em on over.
 
[quote name='EYEL1NER']Don't know about on the device. I only have a 4th Gen Touch and no wifi in my house, so I only buy through itunes on my computer and transfer 'em on over.[/QUOTE]



Damn, you got my hopes up. It's incredibly annoying. Also drives me nuts that when you install an app on device it exits the store to show you the icon where its installing. I can move back but it's annoying to have to do so.
 
[quote name='pROvIs']Damn, you got my hopes up. It's incredibly annoying. Also drives me nuts that when you install an app on device it exits the store to show you the icon where its installing. I can move back but it's annoying to have to do so.[/QUOTE]
You know, it seems like the option to get rid of the password prompt would not be there on the device itself. That way they don't have to deal with someone turning it off, someone else picks up their iPhone and buys a ton of stuff, and then the owner is calling Apple pissed off and wanting a refund.
 
[quote name='arcane93']You're totally missing my point, though. Square is charging for the game what they think that many people (not all, of course) will pay for the game -- and the fact that it made it to 3rd place (or even 4th place, where it's currently at) proves that they are apparently right.

It's a gamble -- on the one hand, yeah, they're pricing out the casual market. Then again, Final Fantasy III really isn't a casual game. So how much of the casual market would have bought it anyway? If they'd have charged $6.99 for it rather than $15.99, they would have had to sell more than twice as many copies to make it up to where they are at in the top grossing chart. Would more than twice as many people have bought it at $6.99? Maybe. But then again, maybe not. Let's face it -- if they had priced it at $6.99, you probably still wouldn't be buying it; instead, you'd be complaining about how they should have made it $2.99 (or $0.99).

And just think -- if they had priced it at $0.99, where some people think they should have priced it, they would have had to sell sixteen times as many copies to get where they are on that chart. As the price gets lower, the probability of them doing as well with it drops considerably. Selling more copies only matters if they can sell enough more to make a higher overall profit -- anything less, and they're better off charging the higher price and selling less copies.

Furthermore, by charging $15.99 for it now, they can make it seem like a bargain when it does go on sale for $6.99, and then all of the people complaining about the price will buy it. If they had made it $6.99 to begin with, they would have had to lower it to $2.99 to get the complainers to buy it.



The problem here is that you're thinking like a customer (and "cheap ass" customer, at that :lol:), while Square Enix is thinking like a company. They don't care whether you buy the game, as long as someone buys the game. Your happiness with their choices only matters insomuch as it intersects with their bottom line (and that intersection only happens insomuch as you follow the overall trends -- if nobody buys it for the same reasons that you're not buying it, then it matters; if you're complaining by yourself, it doesn't).

Also, as a company, they're not interested in your ability to sell the game after you're done with it. In fact, they'd really rather that you weren't able to do so -- they don't make any money off of it when someone buys a used copy, and that's one less person who wants the game who will buy it from them.

I mean, don't get me wrong -- as a fellow consumer, I agree with your complaints. It's one of the reasons why I chose not to support the PSP Go, one of the reasons why I'm against the possibility of other download-only consoles, and one of my hesitations about buying iOS games. But at the same time, I can definitely see why they would do what they're doing from their standpoint. If I were them, I'd do the same thing.

I also think that if they felt they had to sell it for $0.99, they wouldn't have bothered to make it at all.



They can charge whatever the market will bear. If people buy it at $15.99, then they can charge $15.99. If no one buys it at that price, you can bet that they'll lower the price until people start buying it. Honestly, I think that they're experimenting to see what they can get away with. They started with $8.99 on several games, that apparently went well, so now they're bumping it up to $15.99. If that fails, maybe next time they'll try $12.99 (which worked with Chaos Rings, even though it was a new IP that no one had ever heard of). Regardless, they don't have a whole lot to lose by trying it.[/QUOTE]

We're on the same page. I understand the need for a business to try and make money but as a consumer I don't like it. I have seen many games selling for up to $10 and even though I think they are worth it I simply choose not to buy them because I try not to spend too much on iOS games. This game is by no means aimed at the casual market and I understand that but I feel that even for hardcore gamers this must be a hard purchase at this price. I think these guys are going a little bit overboard with their pricing. If this game had been built specifically for iOS I MIGHT feel the price is justified but even then $15.99 is a lot of money for a game on this platform.
 
[quote name='eliter1']We're on the same page. I understand the need for a business to try and make money but as a consumer I don't like it. I have seen many games selling for up to $10 and even though I think they are worth it I simply choose not to buy them because I try not to spend too much on iOS games. This game is by no means aimed at the casual market and I understand that but I feel that even for hardcore gamers this must be a hard purchase at this price. I think these guys are going a little bit overboard with their pricing. If this game had been built specifically for iOS I MIGHT feel the price is justified but even then $15.99 is a lot of money for a game on this platform.[/QUOTE]

Thing is iOS sales are not like the rest of the market. I don't know exact numbers but console games ~90% of sales are in the first 30 to 90 days. I doubt that is true on mobile. They can launch a game at $15 and get the 10% of their market for the first month, drop the price 50% next month on a sale and get another 20%, the item gets in the top 100 in the store and they get another 5% at full price until it falls, etc, etc.

I doubt in the long run anyone who is interested in the games they sell won't buy if it goes on sale, it's just finding that price/value ratio and they might as well get the cash from those willing to pay it to have it now. iOS is more sale and top 100 oriented than it is new release oriented like traditional platforms.
What they are doing just makes sense.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']A Monster Ate My Homework (Universal) is on sale for free! I have the Mac App Store version and this is a fun game there. Looking forward to trying it on my iPhone (and later iPad):

http://appshopper.com/games/a-monster-ate-my-homework

It's a bit of a variant on Boom Blocks, but not really. There's no limit on "throws", instead the goal is to knock the bad blocks off without knocking off the good blocks. It's a fun game and I definitely recommend picking it up for free (the Mac App Store version is also free for now, FYI).[/QUOTE]

Chiming in to say that this game is pretty fun for free!
 
Been playing a lot of Dungeon Hunter II lately. It's pretty addicting, but I'm glad I got it for $1.

As expected, it is a pretty good Diablo clone. But it also feels a lot like the original Fable game (the story in particular). And some Zelda influence is obvious as well. I just wish the combat was a bit more interactive. I should have gone with a mage instead of a rogue I think. (Necromancers are always fun to play and usually my go-to class, but I wanted to try something different.) Rogues do have a couple of tricks, but I'm basically just holding the attack button and healing the whole time. It can also be annoying to break crates/barrels, etc., because it always seems to glitch when you do that. Other than that, no complaints though. Getting loot is always fun... kinda. haha.

Maybe playing Torchlight on the PC (like a year ago?) spoiled me, I don't know. DHII still pretty nice for an iOS game though.

Finally beat NOVA 2 the other day too. That last boss is a pain... took me forever to figure out how to beat him (ended up looking it up online). Not a bad game either; I felt it controlled very well on the iPod touch. But again, I wouldn't pay $6-7 for it.
 
[quote name='EYEL1NER']Grabbed all three of the Gameloft games real quick before the sale prices go away. To be honest, I don't know if I want to play any of the three. Never played Starcraft, don't like the OOT-style Zelda games and controls, and prefer my FF-esque RPGs to be really topnotch, production-wise. But I couldn't pass up a sale.

Damn, I need to re-enable the password feature on itunes. At least having to type in a password will slow me down and give me a bit more time to consider stuff, instead of *click* "And it's bought."

I really want to go on a SquareEnix spree, but not at those prices. The only time I will buy an app it seems is when it is $.99, so I will be waiting a while.[/QUOTE]

So you'll spend $2.97 on three games that you don't want just because they're only $.99 a piece but you won't spend $.99 more than that on a game that you actually really do want? That's some strange logic. I guess I just don't understand the logic of being so upset about paying $1.99-$3.99 for sale games that you really want vs. $.99 for games that you wouldn't have even considered until they went on sale. I can't buy a Big Mac value meal at McDonalds for $3.99 but I can buy Secret of Mana for that price? That's enough for me. It's sad to see how devalued the app store has made games. I'd much rather pay an extra few bucks for something that I really want to play rather than paying a dollar for something that will sit on my phone for six months before I even think about it again.
 
[quote name='pROvIs']It drives me nuts typing in a complex password all the time. Especially when caps lock works half the time and doesn't the other half with no consistancy[/QUOTE]

Just checking - do you actually have capslock enabled? It's not enabled by default. Once it's enabled just double-tap the shift button to engage it. I don't have any problems getting it to work reliably at all, so I'm wondering if you actually have it enabled in the Settings app in: General -> Keyboard -> Enable Caps Lock

If you Caps lock is on the shift key turns blue. You stay in caps until you tap Shift again. If you don't have Caps Lock enabled, then the SHIFT key is always only for the next typed letter only.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']Just checking - do you actually have capslock enabled? It's not enabled by default. Once it's enabled just double-tap the shift button to engage it. I don't have any problems getting it to work reliably at all, so I'm wondering if you actually have it enabled in the Settings app in: General -> Keyboard -> Enable Caps Lock

If you Caps lock is on the shift key turns blue. You stay in caps until you tap Shift again. If you don't have Caps Lock enabled, then the SHIFT key is always only for the next typed letter only.[/QUOTE]


On my iPad 2 it came enabled by default. In the course of troubleshooting, I went into the settings menu and it is enabled. Again it works about 60% of the time. I thought at first it was whenever it was a password dialog it wouldn't let you use caps lock but sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. Maybe it can sense I'm not wearing a black turtleneck or something ;)
 
Ah, I guess they changed the default (it wasn't the default back when I just had an iPod touch a number of years ago). I don't know what to tell you. The capslock works reliably for me. I just double tap. Maybe you are tapping too slow? It's tap-tap. Pretty quick, but doesn't have to be *that* quick. It's pretty much 100% for me. Maybe I just got use to it, though.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']Ah, I guess they changed the default (it wasn't the default back when I just had an iPod touch a number of years ago). I don't know what to tell you. The capslock works reliably for me. I just double tap. Maybe you are tapping too slow? It's tap-tap. Pretty quick, but doesn't have to be *that* quick. It's pretty much 100% for me. Maybe I just got use to it, though.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the help. I had read that it wasn't the default in the past as well, so I thought that might be the issue but it was already enabled. It's not a lack of tapping it fast enough or anything as again it works sometimes, so I know what it takes to enable it. I double tap and it goes to shift mode and then off. I think at this point its a bug with 4.3
 
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