Those humble folks at PDYea! have dropped the price of Paratrooper by 100%, which means that instead of paying $14.99 for the privelage of playing it, you can now get the game for free from this page on Handango.
I don't know about you, but I always think twice before buying games because I find it hard to justify the cost for something that is, at worst, a waste of time, and at best, a means of whiling away some free minutes between jobs, or while sitting on the toilet 😃 . This is not to deride the work that goes into games programming, it's just good to see some stuff for free 😃 !
So (I ask myself) is this because Paratrooper is selling so well that it's made enough money, or is it that partrooper isn't selling enough copies and has more value used in a 'publicity, aren;t we brilliant' change of distribution.
Are they offering refunds to people who purchased it allready?
-- Ewan
Please note that I do have a cvested interest here as a FreEPOC member. Freeware got a pretty bad reputation on the Series 5 because of activities like this that diluted the image that free can be high quality. Don't get me wrong, it's a good sign that this app is freeware, I'm just cynical as to why it wasn't free in the first place.
The game it self ain't a real "must have" game, so I'm guessing noone was willing to buy it 😉
I gotta say that I'm glad I didn't register it, particularly in the light of this move.
I just hope that whatever the reason, the developer(s) don't get discouraged by not having immediate brand-loyalty success, and I hope they keep plugging hard at learning the device, its capabilities and the market .
I say this because, looking at their site, they clearly have high hopes and vision (hence what could be perceived to be their apparent over-confidence and their slogan; "Dedicated to providing the best handheld applications in the world"😉. Maybe they thought that it would be an overnight success story? Who knows, but this kind of thing needs dedication and discipline.
You're not there yet guys, but keep trying!
I find it hard to believe they go to freeware so quickly - they hardly did any promotion so they couldn;t expect that many sales surely?
However as a way of getting people interested in the company its a good marketing strategy.... I did think $15 was steep at the time. With the ease of e-distribution I think there's a good argument for mini payment games (e.g. $5).
Rafe
Well, it looks like PDYea have given up on making money - I visited Handango today and found that FlashCard has been reduces in price by 100%
I hope this doesn't mean that they intend to leave the Symbian market. Sure, these games may not have been Rayman or myList, but everybody has to start somewhere.
Hmmmmmmm..... .... ... .. . . . . . . .
The problem PDYea (and any 'new' software company has, no matter the platform) is
(a) Getting noticed
Andlets be honest, the website is plain, but in a boring way, not in a simple kind of way
(b) The time to develop the initial apps
NUff said
(c) Convincing people to pay.
This is a lot harder with games than applications, but games ARE quicker and easier to code. But of course people get bored a lot quicker. Also, the idea of smaller payments (under $5) means more registrations because it is not a lot of money for one user has proven to be more effective for apps on the Palm OS, than the $20+ that ER5 Psion games and apps had.
So yes they should be encouraged, but they need to aim at the platform. No adult will let their phone be used by the target age group of Flashcard!