The Price is Right Released for the iPhone and iPod Touch

[Vincent Ferrari]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=293912960&mt=8' target='_blank'>http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/...=293912960&mt=8</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"The Price is Right game brings all the excitement of the show to your iPhone and iPod touch!&nbsp; Feel the thrill of being called to "COME ON DOWN!" to participate in Contestant's Row.&nbsp; Play 16 different pricing games including Plinko, Cliff Hangers, Punch-a-Bunch and more.&nbsp; Spin the Big Wheel for the chance at fabulous prizes and a huge pay-off at the Showcase Showdown!"</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/at/auto/1226925632.usr18053.jpg" border="1" /></p><p>I've always said that the person who translated The Price is Right into a game would be an instant millionaire and I have no reason to think Fremantle and Ludia won't make a ton of money on this game.&nbsp; I played with it a bunch this morning and it's just like being on the show and that's a good thing because TPIR is one of my favorite gameshows ever (I imagine that's true for a lot of people).&nbsp; I did have some random lockups with it, but powering off my iPhone then powering it back on and playing the game solved it; apparently something else I was running was hanging in the background.&nbsp; Overall, it's a heck of a lot of fun and hopefully their upcoming translation of the cult favorite Press Your Luck will be equally good.&nbsp; You can download The Price is Right from the App Store now for $4.99 (a bargain, without a doubt).</p>

[Jason Dunn]

I wonder, do you think this is an officially licensed version? The price makes me think it's not - official licenses usually mean high app prices - but it's so obviously a match to the game show you'd think they'd get shut down immediately if it wasn't licensed. Or maybe whomever owns The Price is Right grasps that low prices are the way to move a lot of software? Nah, couldn't be. ;)

[Vincent Ferrari]

I wonder, do you think this is an officially licensed version? The price makes me think it's not - official licenses usually mean high app prices - but it's so obviously a match to the game show you'd think they'd get shut down immediately if it wasn't licensed. Or maybe whomever owns The Price is Right grasps that low prices are the way to move a lot of software? Nah, couldn't be. ;)

Believe it or not, it is licensed. Fremantle Media actually owns the rights to The Price is Right and they licensed the game to Ludia. They've also recently released TPIR for the Wii. Fremantle is doing a very smart thing by making a good translation of a popular gameshow brand available for people to enjoy.

[Jason Dunn]

Believe it or not, it is licensed.

Colour me impressed then - that's really nice to see a franchise not use their brand as an excuse to price-gouge customers.

[Vincent Ferrari]

Colour me impressed then - that's really nice to see a franchise not use their brand as an excuse to price-gouge customers.

Indeed a rarity in this day and age and the good news is they apparently have more conversions coming including PRESS YOUR LUCK!

WOOHOO!

No whammy no whammy no whammy no whammy and STOP! :D

[Deslock]

The price makes me think it's not - official licenses usually mean high app prices - but it's so obviously a match to the game show you'd think they'd get shut down immediately if it wasn't licensed. Or maybe whomever owns The Price is Right grasps that low prices are the way to move a lot of software? Nah, couldn't be. ;)
Actually, $5 is on the high side for iPhone software. Of the ~100 apps I have, a few cost $5, a few cost $2-3, about a half-dozen cost $1, and the rest were free. That's anecdotal, but there have been some more thorough comparisons showing that the overall appstore breakdown is similar (though there is a finite number of more expensive apps out there). I'd guess that most prices stay low because:

- All iPhone apps are in one searchable store front (it's so quick and easy to buy/install apps that I imagine that more sell per user, though I'm just speculating)
- There are so many free/cheap apps that prices gotta stay low to be competitve
- There are so many iPhones out there that it's easy for developers to sell a lot of copies

The iPhone/iPod touch model appears to be quite effective. It's puzzling that no one implemented something like it sooner, especially given that we've had PalmOS and WinCE devices for 10+ years and widespread cellphone use for over half of that.

[Vincent Ferrari]

Actually, $5 is on the high side for iPhone software. Of the ~100 apps I have, a few cost $5, a few cost $2-3, about a half-dozen cost $1, and the rest were free.

I think $5 is reasonable for an iPhone game if it has some replayability (this one definitely does; it's different every time) and I think a productivity app that's really useful can be up to $15 and still be fairly priced. I think market pressure is the only thing keeping prices down right now. The App Store won't sustain a $30 game at the moment, despite the fact that a good PSP or DS game could easily cost that much. Maybe in the future, but at least for now the prices are accessibly low.

[Jason Dunn]

Actually, $5 is on the high side for iPhone software. Of the ~100 apps I have, a few cost $5, a few cost $2-3, about a half-dozen cost $1, and the rest were free.

Wow...that's pretty crazy actually. Those prices don't seem like they'll allow sustained development. This is a really interesting article on the subject:

http://www.losingfight.com/blog/2008/11/15/how-to-price-your-iphone-app-out-of-existence/

It will be very interesting to see where the App Store is in terms of prices a year from now...

[Vincent Ferrari]

It will be very interesting to see where the App Store is in terms of prices a year from now...

To understand the App Store market, you'd have to understand the Mac software market also. Mac shareware is, for the most part, seriously cheap. I think this mentality carried over into the App Store, also. And that story does have one interesting angle: the freetards. There are people who will never be happy as long as software costs more than $0.00 and that's just the way it's always going to be. Trying to please them is a surefire way to go out of business.

Truth is, the App Store is a new market for developers and most of them are just starting to figure things out. I imagine things will change in the future.

One thing to remember, as an aside, is that people will take a risk with software that's under $10 and buy it sight unseen without a demo version. At $20 and more you start running the risk that you'll get hosed. Seeing as Apple didn't see fit to offer demo versions in this iteration of the App Store, keeping prices low, even if artificially, may not be a bad idea after all.