Most iPhone apps do not come with warnings - but Doodle Jump, the #2 paid application by Lima Sky, has built an advertising campaign around the addictive gameplay: Be warned: this game is insanely addictive!" The ad unit then cycles through anonymous iTunes reviews that highlight just how addictive the game is. Once clicked, the ads take you directly into iTunes so that you can download Doodle Jump for $0.99 and spend hours draining your iPhone's battery!
I am very surprised to see that just three of the top twenty grossing iPhone Apps include in-app purchases:
- The Sims 3 (#5) - Madden NFL 2010 (#8) - Tap Tap Revenge (#13) It wasn't long ago that free iPhone Apps were moving into the top grossing ranks due to in-application micro purchases. But just a couple months later, it appears as though there has been a shift in developer philosophy and/or consumer behavior... the latter of which I find difficult to believe (thanks to Zynga, Facebook and so on). It could very well be that iPhone development and mobile behavior make it difficult to fully capitalize upon in-app purchases. Of course, it could also be that the economics clearly suggest that it is in the developer's best interest to capture the revenue up front. In-app purchases obviously require significant and ongoing engagement - so this could also suggest that the lifecycle of an iPhone game is shorter than anticipated.
It's no surprise that big brands represent a significant share of the iPhone's top grossing iPhone applications. Here is another proof point: Electronc Arts itself represents seven of the iPhone's twenty-five top grossing applications... each of which is priced similarly ($4.99 is the common price-point) and carries a big brand name (either a gaming staple like Madden / The Sims or a board-game staple like Battleship / Scrabble):
#3. Battleship ($2.99) #13. Dragon's Lair ($4.99) #14. Tetris ($4.99) #18. The Sims 3 ($6.99) #20. Need for Speed ($4.99) #22. Madden NFL 10 ($6.99) #23. Scrabble ($4.99)
Microsoft clearly understands that the platform element of Xbox is as much a selling point as its game titles: in just the first week of being live, 10% of Microsoft's Xbox Live subscribers connected their accounts to Facebook. The platform represents new online content (such as Netflix) and the ability to make console gaming more social and viral. Furthermore, the association with big brand names like Facebook, Netflix, and Pandora is an effective sales tool that is appealing to all console owners (whereas games and their audiences vary dramatically: Madden Football vs. Call of Duty vs. Little Big Planet).
So in Microsoft's most recent Xbox advertising campaign, the 'platform' is a major theme: "more games, more entertainment and more fun" and "plugin to the endless entertainment of Xbox Live".
Last night I posted that over 650 million downloads have occurred on the Playstation Store. Today, a related and significant milestone was achieved on Xbox Live: 2 million users used Microsoft's Facebook integration in the first week since its release. That represents 10% of the 20 million active Xbox Live users.
As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I believe this represents the collision of console gaming and social gaming (what we see on Facebook), where games: - Become inherently social both during and between game play (Facebook Connect is an example) - Feature in-game micro-payments (a greater percentage of those 650m downloads will shift to small, paid orders) - Live across platform (and I do not mean Xbox vs. PS3 vs. Wii: game play to some degree will exist between the game itself, site’s like Facebook and the community – via the online stores and Facebook Connect enabled micro-sites)
Before Apple enabled in-application purchases, the hot debate was whether or not revenue maximization came from charging for downloads (and limiting distribution) or through in-app advertisements (and hoping for continued engagement). For game and music applications in particular, there is another option that seems to be finding success: free applications that have in-app micro-payments (either to improve / advance your character, access unique levels / tracks, etc). While it is clear that this has been successful in larger environments (ie Zynga and Facebook), it is the first time that I have noticed the model breaking into Apple's "Top Grossing Apps" category... which is usually reserved for applications that cost $0.99 - $9.99.
The two applications are Papaya Pro 3.0 (#21) and Ngmoco's Eliminate Pro (#28). The purchases are coming from in-game improvements - papayas or power cell packs - which are used for advancing inside the game. Imagine a separate scenario: the popular T-Pain application becomes free (currently $2.99) and most/all tracks are $0.99. As other apps find success like Papaya and Eliminate Pro, I suspect that more game and music applications will test the power of free distribution - after all, popularity and mass adoption is a great motivator to pay to improve your status / ranking / reputation (read more here).
Facebook and Zynga in particular have become the center pieces for micro-transactions, social gaming and in-game purchasing habits... so much so that the activity on Microsoft's Xbox Live and Playstation's Playstation Store are often overlooked.
Tied to the recent price break on the Playstation 3 system (which moved nearly 500,000 units in September - 2x their August number), they announced that 650 million pieces of content have been downloaded to date via the Playstation Store.
That is a very big number considering that: - there are 31 million registered Playstation Network accounts ... an average of 20+ downloads per user - the time online for the Playstation is significantly different than a Facebook user (and more costly) This was also announced before Playstation's Facebook Connect integration went live (November 16th).
Whether you believe that Farmville is the future of gaming, it is tough to argue that it doesn't represent key elements of what traditional gaming has and will become:
- Inherently social both during and between game play (Facebook Connect is an example) - Featuring in-game micro-payments (a greater percentage of those 650m downloads will shift to small, paid orders) - Cross platform (and I do not mean Xbox vs. PS3 vs. Wii: game play to some degree will exist between the game itself, site's like Facebook and the community - via the online stores and Facebook Connect enabled micro-sites)
I have been a Netflix subscriber for a few years - sometimes very active and other times 'pausing' my account. I was excited to have Netflix (finally) arrive on Playstation 3 because it is a potential solution to what many Netflix subscribers suffer from (including me): laziness and hassle. All things being equal, on-demand streaming certainly provides a better experience than mail rentals (which is why Comcast On-Demand is so great). So I was interested in three things about the Netflix / PS3 integration:
1. Activation and Netflix.com integration 2. User experience on the PS3 system 3. Picture quality
#1 and #3 were terrific - Netflix walked subscribers through the activation process clearly and easily. And the picture quality and movie controls are excellent. For starters, a disc arrives that has thorough instructions on the envelope, sleeve and disc:
Once you insert the disc into the system, you are asked to activate the unique code on Netflix.com. When you visit the site, you are immediately prompted to do the same:
A couple seconds later, the system activates and you arrive at a slick UI with movies from your online queue (which seems to be the best way to manage content):
The picture quality is crisp and the streaming was quick, uninterrupted and only required a slight delay before the movie started. A few hours after the movie's competition, Netflix follows up via email to ask about the picture quality and experience - a surprising but welcome email (excellent customer communication):
So what needs improvement? The finding experience (recognize a theme in usability issues across the web? iTunes, eBay, Facebook, etc all suffer these issues) is nearly unusable. The best way to find (search isn't even an option) and manage content is through Netflix.com - which historically is a leader in UI.
With full online support clearly available on the PS3, there is an opportunity to merge the two experiences with a Netflix-lite module that users can opt to browse through.
Very promising start that certainly makes my subscription more valuable / productive.
Polaris portfolio company LOLapps has launched a new version of their website to conclude an active week where two of their new social games (Yakuza Lords and Band of Heroes) are the 8th and 9th fastest growing on Facebook.
If you are unfamiliar with LOLapps, you have probably used one of their applications on Facebook: over 44 million people use LOLapps apps each month:
- Quizzes (hundreds of thoussd of personally created quiz applications) - Gifts (user generated gift creator) - Diva Life - Band of Heroes - Yakuza Lords
Yakuza Lords and Band of Heroes are both new games and are growing very quickly on Facebook. From InsideFacebook's Top Gainers of the Week:
"Two other role-playing games are also growing fast, and although neither lists a developer, both appear to be made by LOLapps. While both have the same underlying interface components (more on that over on ISG), each one has surprisingly striking, unique-looking graphics. One, Asian mafia-themed Yakuza Lords, grew by 155,000 users to reach 930,000 monthly actives. It is on its way to graduating from this list. The other app, World War II RPG Band of Heroes, is smaller but growing relatively more quickly. It gained 161,000 to reach 269,000 monthly actives."
Diva City, Yakuza Lords and Band of Heroes are just the first for LOLapps: "[we] will be launching a new game every few weeks to address the huge demand and niches that our users care about."
If you are interested in partnering with LOLapps, you can contact them and learn more here.