Mac App Store is up

Just finished downloading 10.6.6. Lets see what they have in there

 

Wow, its up less than a week after I sell my Macbook

 

Prices are way too high. I don't understand why Angry Birds costs 5* as much for the same game.

On the PC Apple has to remember that they don't have a monopoly over the "app" store so basically the prices have to be lower. I paid $6 for BFBC2 and $6 for Left 4 Dead 2 on Steam over the break. I'm not paying the same for angry birds. Left 4 Dead 2 runs on the mac at like 66 FPS and its a $50 retail game, there is a lot more content there then in angry birds.

Plus on my computer something like angry birds is just not as useful when I can do pretty much anything.

 

Apple doesn't set the price for angry birds. The developer (technically the publisher, but these are likely the same entity especially on the app store) sets the price.

Even on steam, you can wait for a sale and get L4D2 and BC2 for $6, or you can buy bejeweled 3 for $19.99. The disparity in cost, quality, and content is not a fault of the store. You can also pay $20 / $15, respectively, for the former games not on sale. None of that has to do with the storefront operation.

If you don't like the price of an app on the app store, you should complain to the person who put it there at that price, or buy it elsewhere, or buy something else. Again, apple has nothing to do with the price of angry birds.

 

I think apple probably suggested to developers that prices be higher, because a lot of apps that I own have higher prices. Apple can suggest/set the tone for the app store. Also the non sale price of Angry Birds on MAC is $9.99, not that far from $15.

I am also pointing out that there is a lot more competition to the App Store on the MAC. There are MAC games sold in retail stores, there is Steam, there are other download services. The prices have to be lower not higher. Also on the computer a 99 cent game seems to be worth a lot less to me, because well its a computer and I can do anything. I'm also pointing out that any old MAC games are probably under $10 on Ebay etc. So the MAC store is not in a closed environment, this means that economically the prices have to be lower in general, and not higher. Just basic economics from a competitive market.

Apple can "suggest" developers reduce their prices.

 

I can also suggest that develops reduce or raise their prices, but it doesn't matter. Even if apple suggested such a thing, what would it change? They aren't offering incentives for higher or lower prices, and so they aren't making such a suggestion. Apple isn't sending out letters to developers asking them to change their prices around. In the end, the prices will be set by the market. With the iphone app store, the fact is that app prices started relatively high but ultimately hit 99 cents - 1.99 for most items. This didn't happen by suggestion from apple, but was the result of trial and error, and developers eventually figured out that they were making more money by reducing their prices. The tone was set, but not by apple. The tone was set with buyer's wallets and a little bit of time.

It isn't apple's job to tell you how much to sell your intellectual property licenses for. Neither is it steam's (valve's) job. Neither storefront operates this way.

 

I guess that is true.

However Steam is very pro-active with sales and the like. I see them a lot. I think many of the sales must be instigated by Steam etc. I do think the retailer has a decent amount of control, it may not be huge, and/or direct, but the retailer has an influence on the end price paid by the customer.

I do agree the market will choose the final price.

Another problem I think with it is that it is not cross platform, like steam where if you buy it on the PC you get it on the MAC and vice versa. You have to repurchase it. I don't like that. I'm pretty sure that one was up to Apple.

 

The whole point of the storefront is to put platform developers closer to users. It really isn't apple's job to mess with the pricing.

Steam is fundamentally different - their goal is to put game developers closer to users. The community is smaller, tighter, more involved. It makes sense to have steam-wide sales during christmas, because people are buying gifts for each other and games are pretty common. It makes less sense to have app-store wide sales because the app-store crosses so many domains of applications.

The limited scope of steam pushes steam ahead of the app store for its demographic. It is always going to be better than the app store for games. It caters specifically to that market and it is well established. Plus, the main AAA title games are still built with windows in mind. The mac platform has quite a bit of growing to do still in the gaming department. A lot of mac users are ecstatic about having cross platform ownership of their games. There is really no reason to be bothered by the fact that the app store isn't better than Steam for games. Just use steam.