Sharevare vs. Commercial

[Mc]

Hello All!

At first thank all you for GREAT thread about games profitability!

Is it possible to answer for next question : what do you think is more profitable -
shareware titles or commercial ones. We have only commercial - and
sales are not exciting ...
And other question is follow - is it necessary to use registration
keys for commercial titles ? And how to make it better ?

Thank You for help , and sorry for my English ...

[Epidemi]

[sponge]

Commercial games with no demos are destined to doom right out of the start. As of right now in the PPC community, demos are a must. The only exception is big companies releasing ports, but people will want a demo.

As for serial numbers, something simple and easy to code, because in all honesty, it WILL be cracked if people want it to be. Don't go all out on protection, but don't leave it wide open either, bascially.

[ChezDoodles]

Good games with no demo will continue to sell well like they have always done.

The ports are sure hits and need no demo (and probably are better off without a demo, since everybody have found memories of their old favourites - the problem is that the world have evolved since, but these games have not).

BUT: Even original quality PPC games with NO DEMO, like , makes MORE money for the developers than most games WITH a demo. (Check the download numbers, multiply with $24,95, add 25% from OEM and retail and you get some very nice figures for a small team.)

My cynical advice would be to drop a demo if the quality of the game is good enough.

You won't make any friends here at PM or PocketGamer.org - but you will get rich!

[sponge]

There's the corporate cutthroat strategy :P though I suppose Chez knows quite a bit more than I.

In my opinion though, If your trying to build up brand respect, I don't think no demo will help. Look at MachineWorks, one of the (many) reasons they're bashed is due to a lack of a demo of any their games. At this point in the PocketPC's life, brand respect is something that would help.

So while you may get rich, your customer base can easily shrink in the future, especially if your games aren't regarded as great.

[ChezDoodles]

Sponge,

I agree with what you say about brand respect and shrinking customer bases if you release poor games.

BUT: If your game is GOOD - noone will complain even if they had to pay $24.95.

On the other side: If your game is NOT GOOD - having a demo will not help your sales either...
You're a sinking ship anyway.

I agree that some companies have taken this to an extreme level (the name MachineWorks springs to mind), but if you go through the reviews given for the example game I mentioned in my previous post - they are all very positive, and they all paid $24.95 for the game.

...

Its not just about "corporate cutthroat strategy". Its about finding a market strategy that will let you have a decent income and do this for a living.

I don't think you can really compare the PC games scene with the Pocket PC scene. PC users are often prepared to spend countless hours in front of their PC if they find a game they really enjoy. Pocket PC users might just be looking for some light entertainment they can use to show off their Pocket PC or play on the buss. They are not really prepared to spend countless hours in front of their Pocket PC, and as such, a Pocket PC demo might fullfill their need. Your Pocket PC game application demo might FULLFILL their need. Shouldn't you get paid then? I think you should.

I don't think its fair to charge them $24.95 to fullfill their need - but a small amount that reflects how they will use your game and the amount of time they are going to invest in it.

I have spoken with senior managers at Compaq who told me: "I have never paid for a Pocket PC game! The iPAQ is for business - besides, if I find a game that I really enjoy, I will just hard-reset to get a new trial period." That's abuse! This guy is abusing the consept of demos. And he is not the only one. I have spoken with dozen and dozen of Pocket PC users at tradeshow who share the same attitude.

Game developers should share some of the blame. I remember when I got my first iPAQ, the decent games where priced in the $29 - $45 range. For a Pocket PC game!!! I could not believe it! No way I would part with $45 for something that could not compare at all to my $39 PlayStation2 games!

...

Anyway - my stragegy is to offer my next game at $6.99 while giving people premium content. I will offer them - not just a demo, but the FULL game - to check out and test for free. Just not on their Pocket PC. Its not perfect, I know. But those who really want to play it on their Pocket PC just have to skip a burger meal and hand over the $6.99. They will know what they get. Just like you can get a PERFECT demo running in your web browser before you shell out the $29 bucks asked for Tomb Raider.

I agree with you on brand awareness, too. My goal is that the next time around, I will sell my new game to every single one of those who bought my previous game, while gaining some new customers as well.

[sponge]

Just my luck, I get a STOP error as soon as I'm ready to submit. I'll retype it all in a little bit.. interesting comments though.

[sponge]

SC2000 and Tomb Raider were both good games, but many people were driven away by the $30 price tag, so while the quality of the game may make it worth the $25, there will be people who won't buy it no matter how good it is.

While I see your point on not comparing PPC to PC, I disagree. What PocketPC needs is to be treated like a real PC, so it gathers more attention from big developers. It's as powerful as older PCs, and doesn't differ much from your standard one. As devices get cheaper and cheaper, younger crowds will buy them (I should know; I've seen it happen in my old school with Palms) and a lot of them had nothing more than games on it. While this is rare, especially seeing as I live(d) in a rich town, it's going to be commonplace soon. While that may not fall under a Pocket PC user, it's still something to consider in the future.

Pocket PC games have the ability to have countless hours spent on them, strategy games like Argentum, PocketConquest, Slay, and Strategic Assualt. Of course the game doesn't take 7 hours (a short PC game like Max Payne) to beat - memory constraints due to costly memory are one of the the only restraints stopping that from happening.

As for need fuffillment, every platform there will be people that do that. Just like there will be pirates. But I'm not here to discuss ethics. So that doesn't mean you should pull a demo, or severely cripple it like some PC apps do. That, and some games are fun, but not fun enough to warrant purchase. That Compaq manager you mentioned said he'd never buy a game, but what if him showing more gamer friends the demo made them want to buy it? Your getting paid for your efforts then. While it's not TOO common, it has happened before. Comes down to exposure or no exposure, from someone who won't buy it.

Your strategy for your next game (I assume Speedway Jam?) souds interesting. Also, this gives them a much better idea of the full game, unlike 1 level demos which may be the best level of the game. (Though if I'm not mistaken, the web demo of Tomb Raider was using the demo data?) Reminded me of what Jacco Bikker did with Nutcracker (releasing the game for free for all PM members, though the conditions were different)

Of course while you can take the $30 no demo approach, and it may be highly successful, you could be nice (probably a better word to use there) and release a game for a cheap price, and be involved with the community that may grow around it. It might make development that much more fun, though it won't help much if you can't eat because of it. That's one of the advantages of a PPC game over a PC game, I haven't seen many tight communities like this with the devlopers taking an active part happen in the PC community, all sharing a common interest: PocketPCs.

OT: As for the STOP error? Don't uninstall IPv6 stacks while your using them :P

[Jadam]

[R0B]

What many developers fail to realise is that the demo should not be just the first mission (which is extreamly easy). I get hooked on most rpg's by playing a section at a friends house which is about 3 or 4 hours into the game. I like to know the beginnings of how the plot developes and what I have to look forword to. Keep in mind though, when I say 3 to 4 hours into it, I am talking about games which are rather lengthy (Diablo, ff7, ect.).