Can you believe it? Just as we managed to make some inroads into the charts, Gameloft & EA have to go and have their sales! Roll-on Christmas when I guess we can look forward to more of the same...
Maybe I am completely wrong about this, but aren't they just shooting themselves in the foot? I've heard many TA gamers say they'll now avoid buying games from the big studios at full price because they know prices will drop at some point in future. When developers constantly drop the price to 99c just to get a higher chart placing they are simply training their customers to avoid paying full price. I think it's incredibly short-sighted behavior. Another problem is that they'll begin to get bad reviews from impulse buyers. This will be likely to cause people who don't mind paying for quality to avoid the game, based on the influx of bad review comments. The (arguably bigger) problem is that they're screwing those customers who bought the game earlier at full price. While I think everyone should expect games to gradually drop in price over time, this unpredictable up-and-down pricing nonsense is a little bit insulting to loyal customers, don't you think?
Actually i think its people blowing off steam, they'll still buy games when they are expensive because of all the hype when a game comes out. Obviously they are abit mad when the prices drop dramatically but in the end those who could not afford the games before will get a chance to experience what those with more money and less patience have been experiencing for weeks or months before a price drop. Imo if you like a game you've bought at $5 you are probably going to be a returning customer. Those who buy it at .99 will also probably be returning customers if they like the application, so imo its a win-win for developers. Also they are doing it at a time where people generally open their wallets and spend alittle more money, they aren't doing it in the spring, they are doing it over an extended holiday weekend, imo thats even better. It gives people with jobs a few more days to play their games before they go back to work and it gives kids normally in school time to play because now they have a month off for christmas vacation. Its during this time that people are looking for things to do when they are bored and most likely will buy their games expecially if they are on sale for a fraction of what they normally are. It also gives people who might not have bought some of the other games a chance to expend their library to include games they were on the fence about. In the end you have a much larger audience using your software and a much better chance of making that lost revenue up on the next game to come out at full price. Sure there will be a few whiners here and there and they will be most vocal in places like this, but publicity is publicity, theres no such thing as bad publicity.
The big-name companies usually don't drop their prices unless its a big holiday [Thanksgiving, Christmas] other than that, they never drop their prices so drastically, usually after the hype for their game is over, they'll drop it by about $2. Impulse buyers who are outraged enough will leave negative reviews, yes. But this will rarely stop a potential buyer. As for the up & down behavior, I wouldn't point a finger towards big-name companies, because from what I've seen, I've never noticed them to have that kind of behavior. As I said, they'll only do it for holidays. Other than that, expect no more than a $2 reduction.
