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Pebbles83

CORRECTION TO FIRST COMMENT. IT IS WITHOUT ADVERTISEMENTS FOR THE "PLUSHED" GAME. ADS ARE WRONG IF IT IS A PAID GAME. REGARDLESS OF THE REASONS FOR PLACING THEM WITHIN AN APP.

Pebbles83

oh, and the cracked Plushed that I downloaded was purchased by UNKNOWN and CRACKED within 10 hours, assuming it was released at MIDNIGHT (MY TIME in B.C.) and checking on it on Appulous at 3:30 AM it was in progress, view of the app but not downloadable yet, and by 10 AM, DONE, AVAILABLE.


I wonder how many copies were sold?

I sincerly hope people realize the cost involved to create and mold a good app, and that some people (like this one guy who posted his story) spent $100??, and worked for months, then thinking at about $ 1.99 per download, he was gonna be rich very quickly (after he recouped his investment)..... he said something like 5 the first day, 2 the second, and 3 the third....... then it STOPPED.


NO MORE SALES.


Probably cracked on day 2. Posted on day 2 and the word spead, and by day 3 well... i dunno, most apps are cracked in seconds, and posted within hours of release.


He said he felt disappointed. so he may never create another app, and that's too bad, cuz if all the programmer stopped doing their part, we would not have any apps to crack, so I think if you download cracked apps... GOOD... BUT REMEMBER TO BUY THE APP AFTERWARDS even if you only liked it a tiny bit (wait until it goes on sale for $ 0.99) ... and IT IS FINALLY WITHIN YOUR BUDGET/or what you BELIEVE IT SHOULD BE WORTH.


BUY APPS AFTER YOU TRY IT! DON'T JUST STEAL APPS.

Online Bootleg Movie Downloads

That's really good information.Given the wealth of apps available from the App Store, I have already decided that I will never jailbreak my iPod touch - it just isn't worth it.

Jim Glidewell

I think that placing any blame on piracy for the "failure" of this particular game is foolish.

First off, 2000 pirated copies, even if they all were magically converted to sales, would not be enough to make this a success by most folk's measure. And we can certainly be confident that most of these "pirates" would not buy the game at full price - most would probably not bother with it if it cost them a nickel.

Focusing on the pirates is foolish, as the real question is why haven't *I* bought (or at least considered) buying this game. And the reason is simple - I've never heard of it.

My family has four iPod touches in the household. I read the www.toucharcade.com website frequently. I've spent at least $300 at the App Store, more than half of it on games and entertainment apps. And I use AppSniper on my touch to see what is new and on sale. In other words, I am there for the pickin'.

And I've never heard of this game.

*That* is a recipe for failure.

Given the wealth of apps available from the App Store, I have already decided that I will never jailbreak my iPod touch - it just isn't worth it. BUT - I have also decided that I will noisily boycott any vendor who places additional copy-protections beyond the standard Apple Fair-Play. I really don't want to deal with that sort of flakiness for an app that I have properly paid for.

So app developers have a choice - they can try and fight dirty (by including various protection hacks) against pirates who would never by their app anyway, or they can sell me (and the millions of other folks who have no interest in hacks of any kind on their iPhone/iPod touch) their app.

And for the record, whining about piracy does nothing to motivate me to look at your app, either...

Roy Smith

The developer chose the wrong business model by just charging for the app. It worked for Super Monkey Ball because it was the first game and they sold a crapload of them.

The correct business model for the "Jungle" that is the iPhone App world is the "free trial" app that lets anyone with mild interest download and try the game for free, then upgrade to more levels, etc. if they like the game.

AN

Most piracy = Not a lost sale.
5% of piracy can be reclaimed as a sale if a friendly blurb is introduced in front of the user.
Therefore 95% of piracy = never would be a sale.

Other statistics:
0% = Games I have got for my iPhone through App store that were compelling and I wanted to play for more than 1 or 2 weeks.
48% = Applications I have got for my iPhone through App store that were compelling and I wanted to use them more than 1 or 2 weeks.

Most App store products are a quick and dirty product with minimal depth or features going for a quick buck. The "casual" market.

Tracking PhoneIDs and creating and sharing blocklists is shooting yourself in the foot as a developer as mobile phones do not stay in the hands of an owner for very long. They end up on eBay and sold into new owners. These new owners who are most likely an honest person who goes and buys Applications and Games from App store only to find they are blocked from running it become "very angry" in "a very short amount of time" and "tell all their friends". Congratulations you have created a bad publicity problem for your company and for your App store product and indirectly to other products you sell through App store.

The key is a quick and simple reminder to recapture the 5% lost sales and understand the 95% would never convert to sales. Also understand you code in high level languages like Objective-C and pirates program in Assembly. Who do you think will win the battle to get around any additional protection code you program in to your App?

It only buys you additional time but you have invested hard money into purchasing or developing your own additional protection code and it will be broken by the pirate in the end. You are back to square one.


KenC

Has anyone tried to calculate the number of jailbroken iPhones in the US? I am very disappointed in the jailbreak community. Piracy sucks.

Doug Petrosky

Name an application that has not been pirated. The system in place is completely reasonable. I'd love to know the actual stats but I'd bet that the percentage of hacked iPhones/iPod Touches is a number that is rapidly approaching ZERO! It would surprise me if even 5% were jail broken and I'd bet that number is shrinking daily.

So, of the 95% of people (combined I think there are 30-40Million) 200 determined that the App was worth $3. Using those same percentages they have thus far lost out on 10 sales give or take. If I were them I'd consider building some buzz around the game (which is probably what this article is really about) or see if a price reduction will get it more traction. The truth may simply that the game is not that interesting to most people.

Time will tell

Adam

I would agree. Many of the people that downloaded for free are not individuals that would have paid, but some are. The point is that Apple needs to do something to protect its developers. Without the developers the App Store/iTunes wouldnt be where it is at this point. And to have a policy in place that ends up costing a developer even $1 is to much. This is only going to get worse and worse as more and more games/applications are developed.

Homer

Wow, all that trouble to save $2.99. Some people are pretty cheap.

EvanK

Great input James. Spoken like a true pirate. Arhhh!

James Bailey

Sorry but just because people downloaded the pirated version that doesn't translate to a lost sale. That is the same fallacy that the RIAA and MPAA want you to believe. Some of those pirated versions are lost sales but certainly not all of them nor probably even most of them.

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