From a developer's view point (which I'm not), I think it's best not to give out promo codes except to review sites. From what I've noticed, some people tend not to buy games due to the fact that they might get it for free via code. I've certainly felt that with some games. That being said, I have no problem getting codes. All, in all, it's a lose/lose situation for developers. Are you an underdog dev trying to make your way up? Then give codes to jumpstart your app. Is your app generating enough hype for first day buyers? Then refrain from codes.
Coconutbowling - my thinking about promo codes is this: You have 50 codes to give out per release. My game is selling for 99ยข, so that is about $35 worth of codes for me, assuming that everyone who gets a code would have bought the game instead (which is very doubtful). You might as well give them out, and take the good with the bad. At worst you lose a bit of potential money, at best something awesome happens. I got a bunch of feedback, a review on the web that gave me a 5/10 and a bunch of 5 star reviews on iTunes (for what it is worth I didn't ask anyone to write overly glowing reviews). Personally I think my game is somewhere in between 5/10 and 5/5. I think giving out the promo codes was worth it for the feedback alone, which has helped me with ideas for my next game as well
