Someone tell Namco you don’t HAVE to charge $9.99 for everything
With the dusting off off of the Arcade classic Pole Position, Namco now has 4 iPhone games available on the iTunes store, all 4 of which are listed at the “imaginary glass ceiling” price of $9.99 (so far the highest price the masses seem to accept for game pricing on iTunes).
These are not 5 star games we are talking about here (some rate 1.5 stars) – these are decent ports of games which have made their money many times over, and regularly sell on compilation nostalgia discs (along with 15 other ancient games) for $15 on most consoles. In fact, these games are older than most iTunes customers, and Namco is missing a golden opportunity to reintroduce these franchises to a younger audience. I bought Ms. PAC-MAN out of curiosity to see how the controls would function on the iPhone, and it’s OK, but it’s “$4.99 OK” at best.
It’s one thing for a developer to not want to get out of bed for less than $9.99, it’s another to not want to get out of bed because you’re so used to F’ing the customer there.
… $9.99 for pacman? Pacman better have a hidden 3rd person 3d shooter level or something… or Ms Pacman better show you how she kept the Mr. happy for the past 30 years.