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David Barnes
March 10th, 3:54am
0 comments
Tweet Defense has a great NEW concept, top quality art and video, and gets rave reviews. Why is it 99c?
- The real "value" in the game is the unique way that it integrates with Twitter. Instead of using Twitter directly for annoying viral growth, players benefit from being good Twitter users -- following lots of people, having followers, and tweeting lots all give you benefits within the game.
- It's wittily scripted. It raises a smile without quite crossing into satire. The set up is funny -- zombies are unleashed by "a marketing virus", and of course the game plays on the idea that viral marketing techniques turn people into zombies. Clever and funny.
- It looks great. It has beautiful graphics, a well done animated introduction, and a gorgeous interface. The web site also looks great. Serious investment must have gone into this.
And it's 99 cents! If all they'd done was produce a basic knock off of the other tower defense games out there, they'd have no choice but to charge a low price. But these guys have a unique concept and quality execution. Surely that's worth more than 99 cents to anybody. Or at least, it must be worth $1.99 to at least 50% of the people who are prepared to pay 99 cents for it. If all they wanted was fast viral growth they should have made it free, focused on the concept and rushed the artwork. If they wanted to make money, they should have charged a fair price (the top grossing iPhone games do NOT cost 99 cents). Let's hope they have the smarts to whack the price up ASAP, and get out a version for other platforms with a decent revenue model.
