Chaos Rings hits top grossing, going to the iPad
Square Enix's new original iPhone title, Chaos Rings, is a qualified hit; it's currently sitting right on top of the United States' top grossing apps list and at number 18 on the top paid apps list. The reviews are terrific as well, which means that Square Enix has pulled off a hit iPhone game at the surprising price of US$12.99. The company hasn't missed the message, either. It's bringing Chaos Rings to the iPad soon, and is also hard at work on more original titles for Apple's handheld systems. We don't know how the iPad version, Chaos Rings HD, will be priced, or if it will be included for those who have already purchased the game on the iPhone (that'd be great, wouldn't it?). Clearly, though, there is still a market for well-done, top level games (even at high price points). We don't know if Square Enix actually made money on this one (the craft on display certainly didn't come cheap), but App Store customers are certainly buying.
At the same time, other big-name developers aren't so sure. Crytek (makers of Crysis for the PC) CEO Cevat Yerli claims that App Store pricing has been nothing but a burden for game developers, and he says that, even outside of Apple's ecosystem, game prices in general are being driven down by the App Store. "It's pushing out games at such a low price that it distorts the perception of what a game should be priced at," he said in a recent interview. "IPad and iPhone are both doing a real disservice to game prices by allowing games at such low price points – it is an issue the industry has to address."
That's an interesting take. There are certainly a number of factors involved in lower game prices lately (not the least of which is digital distribution, which has grown immensely in the past few years). However, a game like Chaos Rings seems to prove that it's still all about the gameplay. If game developers can make a great game that players want to play, they can more or less name their price.
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Square Enix's new original iPhone title, Chaos Rings, is a qualified hit; it's currently sitting right on top of the United States' top...
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I thought you were supposed to capture the Pokemon, not kill them!
April 23 2010 at 10:27 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyChaos and subtitles not for me.
April 23 2010 at 3:26 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplySorry to be "that guy" but I think you mean it is an "unqualified hit." It may be a little counterintuitive because "unqualified" is usually used to mean "incapable" but in this case it just means "without reservations."
As for game pricing, I tend to agree that App Store games are too cheap overall. Of course I like it as a consumer, but the pressure to make everything $.99 probably isn't healthy for developers in the long run.
I have held off on buying the iPhone version because I would primarily want to play it on the iPad. If I knew the iPad version would be bundled as a universal binary for both systems, I'd buy the game today. Otherwise, I will have to wait. I refuse to buy the same game twice.
April 23 2010 at 1:20 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyIf I were you I'd skip it completely. I bought the iPhone version the day it was released and after about 5 hours of play I'm bored out of my mind.
The game is divided into 4 short plot lines that all weave together. Each plot line is 90% identical (with little more than dialog changing). The first will take 3 hours or so to play to completion but since skills & money pass through to the other plot lines (even though those characters haven't earned them, this may be a bug, but I've no idea how it was missed) and end up taking 60-90 minutes to complete if you choose your skills correctly.
Basically, after the first few hours, all you're doing is grinding against the same old enemies so you can be strong enough to work your way through the story checkpoints for each character couple.
This is coming from the same guy who wants to charge you for a demo, saying demos are too costly to make. I bet if it was up to him, he'd charge $50 for an app store game and $100 for Crysis 2.
April 23 2010 at 12:08 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThis just proves that "mainstream" production of games are too costly, or at least have their priorites in the wrong place. Crytek is probably the biggest offender, spending all that time and money making the visuals of Crysis look so real. Who cares? Consumers obviously don't, since games like Plants vs Zombies and Doodle Jump are some of the best games on the app store. Newsflash guys: Making a game FUN is the primary concern of devs, not making it look real. They're just pissed that these smaller developers see that and can make better games at a fraction of the price.
Shut up and streamline your dev process. Obviously fun can be made for less...
"...distorts the perception of what a game should be priced at..."
"IPad and iPhone are both doing a real disservice to game prices by allowing games at such low price points – it is an issue the industry has to address..."
Hahaha. Ok, who hid the "Moronic statements of the day" tag? What a tool.
Indeed. Its people like him and Bobby Kotick that are the real problems in the gaming industry.
April 23 2010 at 7:25 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyJust a few short years ago, game developers had to pay for CDs, DVDs or a cartridge of some sort to get their game out to the consumer. Naturally, the cost of that vehicle was passed on to the end user (you and I). Now with the App Store (and other online outlets), software developers can put thier games/applications in the hands of so many more people much more quickly with a simple download. This fact alone HAS to be saving money. It's only fair that we as consumers are partially reaping that benefit.
April 23 2010 at 9:34 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplySounds like the Crytek guy is upset that the App Store's low prices are undercutting the industry's justification for their pricing of PC and console games.
April 23 2010 at 9:15 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyIndeed, I have written as much a few times now.
The Appstore is changing the perception of what entertainment costs. Yes console devs are going to have to reconsider the ridiculous pricing or continue being "high end" niche players in the overall market.
With some of the games released on console/pc you can literally be paying $5-$10 per hour entertainment with no replay value to speak of.
Perhaps ol' nintendo was on to something when they said more and more real looking water effects don't actually improve a game and that with increasing horsepower came higher dev costs that stifled innovation because of the risk.
The only platform builder that stands a chance of competing is Nintendo. They sell consoles at profit day one; and They already saw the writing on the wall for ever more expensive games and already sell theirs for a bit less with affordable dev tools as well. They could half retail, slash royalties devs pay them and still run in the black . Sony and MS will suffer.
Maybe we can have usd$29 games again in the next gen. It's been a while
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