Loose Threads: How much is too much for an iPhone game?

The pocket gaming party is about to get a bit crowded as the iPhone prepares to enter the arena. The question is, with DS, PSP, mobile gaming and the new N-Gage, is there any room for another significant platform?

Sure, the more, the merrier, right? Well, up to a point but the games and the pricing are both going to have to be pitch perfect if the iPhone has any hope of establishing itself as a pocket gaming force. So far, the games are looking good – or at the very least, promising – leaving the last remaining question mark hovering over cost. There are no concrete details by way of an Apple press release yet (possibly because Apple has previously said it doesn't plan to set the price of third-party iPhone applications) but we know that the first batch in the US will come out at $9.99 (£5 – that's a direct conversion, obviously, not what it's going to cost in Europe). And at least one developer has suggested we should expect to pay $25 per iPhone / iPod touch game.

But that has nothing to do with what you are prepared to pay for them when the arrive along with the App Store, which is what we set out to find out in last week's Loose Threads:

How much is too much for an iPhone game?

First to the discussion was TazUK:

"Well I would say it all depends on the quality of the games released. New PSP and DS games come in at the £25-£30 mark and some of these are just not worth the money. "I would be quite happy to pay £15 for a game on any mobile if it was of a good quality and matched anything that is released on PSP or DS at a higher price. "However, my sticking point is the price and exclusivity of the iPhone itself… 1) You can only get it from O2. Come on Apple, what's wrong with supplying all the other 3G providers so the customer has a choice? You end up locked into an 18-month contract to get it for a decent price. 2) For an unsubscribed one it's likely to be priced too high, I doubt it'll come in at anything below £300. "This is too much for a phone, albeit a good user friendly one, that to be honest still doesn't have enough features to tempt me over my current 3G phone (video calls, etc). I think I'll stick with my PSP to play games for now, although that won't last long if they don't start releasing some decent games for it!"

Jumping straight in the deep end there with some good points. But if the iPhone ends up being as good a games machine as we all hope it will be, surely something around the £200+ mark isn't too steep considering all of its other functions? Picking up the thread, danskmacabre waded in with:

"£15 seems a lots of money to me for a mobile phone game. I assume that the games on the iphone will be better than what you might see on say, a w910i, but even so, that's a BIG markup. "But whatever really, time will tell, if the games for it are REALLY good (and that doesn't necessarily mean eyecandy) then well, maybe."

It is a big markup, but then, maybe the pricing structure for handheld games will need to evolve anyway if either Sony or Nintendo ever release a gaming mobile, especially if it is a replacement for their respective current handhelds. Speaking of current handhelds, hunter_alien had some strong opinions on the topic:

"€18 for an iPhone game – count me out. First of all the touchscreen-only controls are not well suited for action/adventures, 3D platformers, action RPGs, most sport games or anything that is fast paced. "Also, even if it wants it, it cant offer a real hand-held quality gaming experience because of: a) Weak hardware (here the PSP obviously wins)
b) Bad, basic controls schemes (here both the PSP and DS win)
c) No innovation, and therefore lack of the 'wow' factor (the DS already used the touchscreen, tilt sensitivity etc, while the PSP is already a great portable multimedia player and again, is more powerful) "I would buy an iPhone game for €5-10 max, but not more. An everyday mobile phone game goes from €1-5, and I'm not willing to pay more than double for a game that won't offer me much more. "Also, I can buy games like Patapon, WipEout Pure, GTA: LCS for €20, and I bet that every one of these games offer me much more than a half-good port of a Super Monkey Ball game."

Well, no question's about where hunter's loyalties lie, then. Accelorata Jengold was on hand with a counter argument, though:

"Whooooaaaah there hunter… "First of all, the iPhone is clearly as, if not more, powerful than the DS, which by the way has considerably outsold the PSP. So hardware grunt doesn't really come into it if you ask me. "As for the controls not being innovative, well the DS doesn't have tilt sensitivity, which the iPhone does, which I think is a differentiating factor. Also it is a bit unfair to compare the likes of Liberty City Stories and Patapon, games which were released well after the PSP's launch benefiting from lengthy development times, to a port of Super Monkey Ball which was assembled in a little over two months. "Even so, I think you might be right about the pricing being a bit steep (if the figures are true). I think that a fixed €10 or £8 price mark would be about right. It would help convey the idea that iPhone games are a bit of a step up from the usual mobile fare and also leave enough for developers after Apple takes its slice. "It would create difficulties for ports of popular games like Brain Challenge which you can get for about £5 on other handsets but for iPhone exclusive games, I think those prices would make for a good sweet spot."

We'd pay that much for iPhone games, but being borderline pocket gaming obsessives, we'd probably pay over the odds, too. Closing the discussion, SetsFireToPoshHammer relied on some bulletproof logic when making his case:

"To be honest I'd need to see a better selection of titles that have had some real development time put into them before I could make my mind up on this. If we are talking games that are as fully realized as those available on the DS or PSP then €15-18 is a bargain. If they are just slightly flashier mobile games with funky controls then I'd probably sooner stick with an N-Gage capable N-Series handset. "Not very insightful but there you go, for me it's wait and see."

So there you have it, it seems that there is some contention about iPhone games costing more than regular mobile games, but the general feeling is that there is a good chance that iPhone games will end up justifying their price tags after the platform has had some time to stretch its legs. Fingers crossed, people.

After such a lengthy banter about this week's topic, we are left with just enough column inches to lay down next week's.

What is the ideal lifespan for a handheld console?

More details can be found in the Pocket Gamer forum along with loads of interesting threads that would be made even better with a smattering of your input. Click 'Track It!' to catch next week's Loose Threads and in the meantime, happy posting.