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Spectral Souls is out on the Android Market now!

Varking said:
They are up over 100 downloads now, at 14.40 a pop, minus 30% for Googles share of the profits and they have made a cool $1008.00 in two days.
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That is nowhere near a lot of copies. I'm pretty sure they would sell a LOT more if there was a Lite version/demo.
 
Hiruzen said:
That is nowhere near a lot of copies. I'm pretty sure they would sell a LOT more if there was a Lite version/demo.
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I wasn't claiming it was a lot of copies but they doubled up from their previous day and when you consider how much money it is bringing in at that price I doubt they drop it anytime soon. Plus, once it gets more downloads and makes an appearance on the featured list or top paid lists even more people are going to download it. Yeah they could sell more copies at a lower price but they would make less and less off each sale so at a certain point it sort of cancels out.

Just wait until the game goes on sale sooner or later and snag it then.
 
Varking said:
I wasn't claiming it was a lot of copies but they doubled up from their previous day and when you consider how much money it is bringing in at that price I doubt they drop it anytime soon. Plus, once it gets more downloads and makes an appearance on the featured list or top paid lists even more people are going to download it. Yeah they could sell more copies at a lower price but they would make less and less off each sale so at a certain point it sort of cancels out.

Just wait until the game goes on sale sooner or later and snag it then.
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My point is that they would sell more at if there is a Lite version. The price is hefty, but if there was a demo to try out the game to see if it was worth it, then people would probably buy it after their impressions on the game. However, since that isn't even an option, and the 15 minute refund window isn't viable here, they will sell significantly less than what they could because no one can try out the game.

I've just bought the game, actually.
 
Varking said:
And this is why known developers stick to iTunes to make their money. Final Fantasy 1 was released on iPhone a year or two ago and is a game from 1987 and it sold over 10,000 downloads at 9 dollars. This is a PS2 game we are getting, and it is exclusive to Android for the first time instead of the other way around, and even though it is a good game the community is not supporting it, financially.
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Which is better, selling 10,000 copies at $9 per unit, or selling 250,000 copies at $2.99 per unit? It is basic math, you know. I would hardly call selling 10,000 copies to be "making it" but I suppose it depends on what your budget and expenses were. I'm not saying that I agree with how the market reacts - I hoped that I conveyed that in my original post - but to be clear, I believe that the current market does not view mobile games as being worth paying more than a few dollars per unit. The games which consistently sell the highest volume are priced at .99, with close runners up being in the 1.99 - 2.99 range. It is not a question of value, it is a question of what the market supports. The real problem here is how do you change the balance between perceived value and real value.

I believe that most people still see games on a cell phone as being that - games on a cell phone, ala flip-phone-era simple amusements not worth more than a few minutes' distraction. The reality is it is a gross understatement of capability to think of the modern phone as a phone; it is a portable computer, with all of the capabilities of such. To develop cross-platform and have games on consoles or PC also be on a phone is a natural evolution of the progression of the technology, but the market's perception has not caught up. So when the majority of developers are still putting out premium content for less than $5, to have someone drop something for $15 - in contrast with the rest of the market - sticks out like a sore thumb as being inappropriately priced. If you were to use this thread as any sort of rough indicator of how the general market is reacting outside of these forums, then this game has already lost a massive percentage of potential customers for no other reason than the initial sticker price. Anyhow, it is all a moot point now, since the release has already happened. I do wish the developer the best of luck, and for my part I will buy it at some point, if for no other reason than to support the advancement of gaming on Android.
 
Varking said:
But we are talking about this game on Android, not PSP. Do we rate games like this? Are we supposed to rate all the mobile MMOs based off of World of Warcraft? Do we have to rate games like Dungeon Hunters based off of the fact that Baldur's Gate and Diablo II are far superior in all aspects? No, we tell how good or bad they are based off of other Android games.
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I was in no way implying thats how we should rate games. I was just stating what I thought he meant by bad reviews. I agree thats not how people should be reviewing games.

Since this negates the 15 min Google window (downloading a gig of data and some playtime takes more than 15 min) a lite version would be nice. And if sales are slow I see them doing a lite version.
 
Varking said:
But we are talking about this game on Android, not PSP. Do we rate games like this? Are we supposed to rate all the mobile MMOs based off of World of Warcraft? Do we have to rate games like Dungeon Hunters based off of the fact that Baldur's Gate and Diablo II are far superior in all aspects? No, we tell how good or bad they are based off of other Android games.
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The difference between rating a game based off another game and the same game from a different platform are two different things. I agree with what you said, but I understand why he would look at the rating from a different platform.

For example, Need for Speed Hot Pursuit is exactly the same on XBox 360 as it is on the PC, with the exception of controls. So, lets say the Xbox 360 version came out a year before it did on the PC. Someone who may not be sure whether or not to buy it could look at the hundreds of reviews from the other platform if there aren't many for the new one. Granted, some comments may need to be overlooked (such as with controls) since they would be different.

The same thing applies with this game. Reading the PSP reviews could help someone determine whether or not to buy this game since there are not many on the Market yet. One thing he'd have to overlook on the PSP reviews would be the bad load time, since it seems to be excellent on the Android. The story and gameplay on the otherhand, will be identical to that of the PSP, so reading a PSP review to learn more about the game is perfectly legit, IMO.
 
ill definately pick one this up in a few days but I have others things that need paying first. 15$ is a small price to pay, especially if the game is a good one. hell maybe ill buy it just to help the dev since theyve been keeping us up to date with the game for months, and posting screen shots, plot etc... here on the forums for us to get a feel for it before hand.
 
I wanted to pick this up, but I just can't justify it at that price. I'm a huge SRPG fan, and I would enjoy this a lot, but not for $15 on my phone.

Also, I'm curious: is HyperDevBox somehow related to NiS?
 
Dang, $15 bucks for a port of a handheld game...

I want to buy this, but now it requires a full review from a trusted android site, not just some random dude with a blog. Have to figure out what music I could go without too...install size is huge.
 
For $15, I was hoping for a game I was DYING to go back to playing... but this isn't really it. In fact I'm kind of afraid to go back because I have no idea what I'm supposed to do next. The story isn't great. Just finding the menu to equip your characters is a pain.

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING outside of combat is explained well at all. Even the combat tutorials aren't great. It's just text telling you what to do. No hands on tutorials or something explaining step 2 after you did step 1. If you don't remember what the text said while you're trying it yourself, chances are you'll have to reload your game and read it again to make sure you understand.

There are tons of weapons and skills you can buy. You don't know if there is a requirement for them. Can any character use any weapon or skill? Who knows. Game doesn't say. Let's waste money to find out.

Where should you go after you have access to the world map? I went to an area not knowing if that was where I should go... and suddenly stuff started happening and I had to do 2 battles. After that, I went to another town and I could buy stuff there. Could I have bought stuff before those 2 battles? Probably. But the game doens't say where you can buy stuff and where you'll be thrown into battles.

Some parts of this game are really well put together... but I mean... this game is so expensive that you'd expect everything to be phenomenal. But it isn't. I would advise people to stay away unless unless we either get a really good tutorial or the price comes way down.
 
hydralisk said:
For $15, I was hoping for a game I was DYING to go back to playing... but this isn't really it. In fact I'm kind of afraid to go back because I have no idea what I'm supposed to do next. The story isn't great. Just finding the menu to equip your characters is a pain.

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING outside of combat is explained well at all. Even the combat tutorials aren't great. It's just text telling you what to do. No hands on tutorials or something explaining step 2 after you did step 1. If you don't remember what the text said while you're trying it yourself, chances are you'll have to reload your game and read it again to make sure you understand.

There are tons of weapons and skills you can buy. You don't know if there is a requirement for them. Can any character use any weapon or skill? Who knows. Game doesn't say. Let's waste money to find out.

Where should you go after you have access to the world map? I went to an area not knowing if that was where I should go... and suddenly stuff started happening and I had to do 2 battles. After that, I went to another town and I could buy stuff there. Could I have bought stuff before those 2 battles? Probably. But the game doens't say where you can buy stuff and where you'll be thrown into battles.

Some parts of this game are really well put together... but I mean... this game is so expensive that you'd expect everything to be phenomenal. But it isn't. I would advise people to stay away unless unless we either get a really good tutorial or the price comes way down.
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I'm with you on that, I expected a great game for around $5... Three times that is a little too much for me to stomach. And after reading some reviews, I think I will stay away until there is a serious price drop. With the dl taking longer than the 15 min refund allotment, I will pass on this game.
 
jcash3 said:
With the dl taking longer than the 15 min refund allotment, I will pass on this game.
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well the 15 minute refund policy is with google...but I think if you can buy the app direct from the developer's site then they are responsible for refund right? so saying that...can this be got directly from the developer or is it MARKET only?
 
Wow.. Sorry guys, I'm with the rest. I was really excited for this to come out. I don't think I'll ever pay over $10 for a handset game.

As for the 10,000 at $9 or 250,000 at $2.99 example, I'll tell you that getting your name out to 250,000 and putting out a good product for a good price will get you a lot more recognition and put you in a better spot to sell your next game, than milking the few that are excited about it. If this is a one-time foray into the android game world, you're dead on.

Sorry, its a pass for me. If there is a sale or a lite version that knocks my socks off, maybe.
 
We could have an endless talk about the price of Spectral Souls and it is probably normal for customers to look for cheap price, however to bring a game like Spectral Souls on the Android market, there are labor cost, IP & Translation license cost and delivery cost. Those who are dropping "math" numbers are (no offense) out of the actual economic situation. Spectral Souls is not a "mass market" casual game and will never sell 250,000, to the extend, there are a just a few PAID games which already sold that number on the Android market, so you should rather translate your 10,000 at $9 to 50,000 (solid paid) at $2.99.

There is an important point missing in your calculation, that is the cost to upload data to customer, the "1 GB" data. It is common to assume that it is free because we do pay a flat rate on our internet bill... I will save you some google search and tell you that the price for upload BW is between $0.15 to $0.30/GB. Now, if you consider that a customer is going to install an average of 7 times in the whole lifetime of the game (multiple device, Tablet, new phone, new SDCARD etc..) and I am kind of conservative, then 50,000 customers will cost in Bandwidth "only" around $70,000 at $0.20 (that is without tax), that is the current reality, BW is becoming a rare and expensive resource. What does it mean at the end ? You will end with a balance of (50,000 * 2.99 * 0.7 ) - 70,000 = $34,650 ( and I am not taking in account refund there) ...hummm... if you really think you can develop Spectral Souls android for $34,650 and ending with 0 profit to share with your licensed partners, then go ahead and show us how to do.

Spectral Souls android is not a cheap port of a console game, it is not a downgraded port of a console game, it is a port which is a better & upgraded version than the original ( no offense to the PSP version here). Honestly, I have no idea how the other developers would make any money if they decided to release the same sized title a $2.99 or even $4.99 on the Android Market... I am willing to learn thought. Maybe through Sponsorship from exclusive Phone Marker ? If they are reading this forum and willing to do so, they know where to contact us.

Hopefully there are customers who are willing to support us and to pay the price to get something different from the average offer and justify why they bought a $500-$600 high-end device, in this world, you get what you pay. If the future of the Android gaming is to play free Flash game or $1 tap&tap games or the same old physic puzzle then I'll rather stick with a 1$ Phone provided by a carrier and I would predict huge trouble for Android High-End hardware makers and a long & happy life to other Handheld gaming system like Nintendo 3DS or others....which path is gonna be ? the decision is all yours, you are the customers.

We took the financial risk to develop this title, to make it exclusive Android, to brought it to the Android market, we have done our part (and I am proud of that) to try to move the Android gaming market to a better place, if it fails, I hope, at least we'll get credit for that :)
 
^

What is your stance on not offering a demo? I bought the game and am loving it, but I too was hesitant to drop $15 on a game I couldn't even try out or return.
 
Hiruzen said:
^

What is your stance on not offering a demo? I bought the game and am loving it, but I too was hesitant to drop $15 on a game I couldn't even try out or return.
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We simply do not have a demo version of the game, I am not going to enter into technical things but you do not slice /cut a game like Spectral Souls, in order to have light version that will fit in the 50MB of the Android market, like you will do it with another type of game....

The game has a hardware check, if the hardware is not supported, you can ask the refund right away within the 15 mn. If the game let you install the data then... you can play the game, the game runs even on a G1 google , not very good performances, granted but it works and is playable. If we discover one problem with a particular device, our policy is to refund right away, fix the issue and let the customer know about the new version :)
 
Well, talking about it certainly helps, I was a little hesitant to buy it until now in fear of a sudden price drop, because that happened with a lot of games that are priced above 1,99€. I also have at least half a dozen unplayed paid apps installed, but your little speech motivated me, so I will buy it now and review it soon.
 
I really do want to buy this game, but I'm concerned as to its performance on my device (Droid X). I do believe that $15 for such a polished, lasting product as this is a fair price, but as a consumer with extremely limited funds, I am worried that poor or choppy performance on my specific phone model will lead me to never play the game after the initial purchase.

The reality is that if a demo or trial version will never be possible, then I would at least need performance data for my individual device before I could make the leap and purchase it. In the case of game devices with standardized specs (PSP, PS3, XBOX360, etc.), I know that any reviewer will be having a parallel experience to my own. Unfortunately, due to differing phone specs, I would really need someone on my actual phone to tell me how a high-end app like this performs.



P.S.- I know that the Droid X is a high-end phone, and I do have a speedy ROM (Liberty) running on it. I'm just hesistant to make a purchase without any concrete performance info.
 
dabomb224 said:
I really do want to buy this game, but I'm concerned as to its performance on my device (Droid X). I do believe that $15 for such a polished, lasting product as this is a fair price, but as a consumer with extremely limited funds, I am worried that poor or choppy performance on my specific phone model will lead me to never play the game after the initial purchase.

The reality is that if a demo or trial version will never be possible, then I would at least need performance data for my individual device before I could make the leap and purchase it. In the case of game devices with standardized specs (PSP, PS3, XBOX360, etc.), I know that any reviewer will be having a parallel experience to my own. Unfortunately, due to differing phone specs, I would really need someone on my actual phone to tell me how a high-end app like this performs.



P.S.- I know that the Droid X is a high-end phone, and I do have a speedy ROM (Liberty) running on it. I'm just hesistant to make a purchase without any concrete performance info.
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There are reviews on the market saying it is flawless on the X.
 
I've got a question, I am very likely going to bite the bullet and purchase this game, the thing stopping me currently is the wifi being "ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY" I do not have a wifi connection available can I download over 3g just start the download as I go to bed and allow it to finish while I sleep or is there something that will prevent me from starting the download without wifi?
 
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