'Free' Games Dominate Top-Grossing Game List On App Store 161
An anonymous reader writes "Why are there so many free games listed in the top 10 grossing games over in Apple's App Store? Because some feature exorbitant in-app purchase fees for virtual items. Quoting ZDNet: 'Developing "free" games aimed specifically at children, and then bundling ridiculously priced in-app purchases inside those "free" games feels scammy to me. Sure, it's not illegal, and it's not against Apple's developer terms and conditions, but Apple is a company that prides itself in protecting users from harm. Most of the game developers do make an attempt to warn users that the game "changes real money for additional in-app content" but it's a lame attempt. It's easily missed, and kids aren't going to read it anyway.'"
If kids have your iTunes account password ... (Score:2)
... seems to me there's a lot more to worry about than in-app purchases.
It must be a slow news day (Score:2)
or that people have run out of valid things to complain and now they are complaining of free games with OPTIONAL in game items which cost money.
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That depends who these free games are targeted at, how much this optional stuff costs, and how essential it is to play the game. Smurf Village (for example) is aimed at 4+ year olds yet allows kids to purchase in game items with real money. Not pocket money either. A "wheelbarrow of smurfberries" costs $60 and can be had with a few taps.
It's not aimed at four year olds, it's rated 4+ because there is no objectionable content. And on every screen where you can purchase it there is a disclaimer, "PLEASE NOTE: Smurfs' Village is free to play, but charges real money for additional in-app content. You may lock out the ability to purchase in-app content by adjusting your device’s settings."
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I forgot to mention that in the app store the graphic is Scaredy Smurf so you are effectively warned twice.
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How hard is it for a child to download the game though? What child really understands money? I still am teaching my kids the costs of their wants, and what it takes to earn that money, but I wouldn't trust them with the keys to purchase on my phone or tablet even though they are old enough. Most kids wouldn't even read the warning, I have watched my son installing apps on my android tablet, and he doesn't even realize there is a security screen, it is just an additional tap to him.
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or that people have run out of valid things to complain and now they are complaining of free games with OPTIONAL in game items which cost money.
While spending real money is optional to simply play the game, it's not always optional if you want to actually finish the game. I've played some games like Pumpkins vs Monsters [apple.com] where you'd have to play hundreds of hours to beat the game unless you pay real $$$ because a level will only give you ~100-300 gold but a single upgrade is 10,000+ gold.
It's not impossible to win but almost. Imagine playing Half Life but health, additional lives and weapons cost real money, you're left to run around with whate
Re:If kids have your iTunes account password ... (Score:5, Informative)
You don't need the password to make in game purchases (in the default configuration of iOS). You need the password to install the game.
The mechanic for in-game purchases is a cynical, well engineered, well researched hook [insertcredit.com].
The OS establishes a precedent - that privileged actions like installing apps require a password - and then goes on to breach that precedent in a kids game for actions that spend real money in large gobs, with single clicks.
It's like combining a daycare centre with a nuclear launch control facility. Getting past the door guards requires a security check. But the launch control console has been cunningly disguised as Whack-A-Mole.
Re:If kids have your iTunes account password ... (Score:5, Informative)
You do need the password to make in-app purchase since iOS 4.3. Apple did listen to parents complaints. Your comment is true for older versions however.
"We are proud to have industry-leading parental controls with iOS," said Trudy Muller, a spokeswoman for Apple. She said users have always been able to use parental control setting and restrictions of in-app purchases to protect their iTunes accounts from accidental charges. "With iOS 4.3, in addition to a password being required to purchase an app on the App Store, a reentry of your password is now required when making an in-app purchase."
(http://www.macrumors.com/2011/03/10/ios-4-3-requires-password-reentry-for-in-app-purchases/)
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Still, that window of opportunity spawned a whole load of exploitative software. Glad it's closed now.
Re:If kids have your iTunes account password ... (Score:5, Informative)
No it didn't, because there never was a window. Prior to iOS 4.3, and contrary to what _Chris_ said, passwords were still required for in-app purchases. The change that 4.3 made was that for in-app purchase it removed the 15 minute grace period after you entered your password before you had to enter it again. Prior to that, if a parent entered their password to install a game, a kid would then have a 15 minute period where they could make in-app purchases. After 4.3, in-app purchases require a password, no matter what. There never was a time when kids could make any in-app purchases they wanted without needing to have a password entered at some point.
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15 minute hole... top grossing apps in the store. When I sold my Palm OS game, most purchasers didn't realize it was shareware and paid the $9 by entering their credit card number into PalmGearHQ. I made it plain on my website that payment was at the discretion of the user and gave clear instructions on how to download, but PalmGear's marketing was less explicit about how shareware worked and lots of people paid for the app before they realized it was optional.
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RTFA?
Hell, RTFS?
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Might I suggest you read them and the comment thread here, then rethink what you said? The article and summary don't discuss the 15 minute window that JoeMerchant was claiming was being exploited at all. This story is about the fact that freemium games are grossing well due to in-app purchases, but makes no references to exploits or the like. The thing we were discussing (before AC and you interjected) was a perceived issue that existed prior to iOS 4.3 (specifically, that after a password was entered, ther
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It is pretty much a given that most people in the world don't change the default settings. My understanding is that the change was not made to the default, but was made to give you the option of changing the behavior. I don't have an iPhone, I prefer Android, so I can't check the setting, but if it still defaults to the 15 minute window, that would be good reason to believe that many kids would utilize that 15 minute window to their advantage, and most likely mom and dad wouldn't even notice.
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Apple makes big bucks selling iPhones, and their primary source of income is repeat customers. There is no way they would make more money by leaving such a loophole open. Such a move would alienate too many customers.
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You need the password to make an in-app purchase. You have always needed the password. There is a 15-minute grace period, so if you entered the password 14 minutes ago, you don't have to enter it again. They have recently shortened that grace period for in-app purchases to almost zero.
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So don't give your kid an expensive device that has a chance to be more expensive unless you put on parental controls. That's just good parenting.
I mean really, they give you the "freedom" to do what you want and you complain it's too easy. Take some responsibility!
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What you say sounds very interesting, except for the fact that it's not based in fact. Slashdot covered it [slashdot.org] when Apple changed their password requirements earlier this year. Prior to then, in-app purchases still required a password, but they could piggyback on a password entered for something else since there was a 15 minute grace period after entering a password before it needed to be entered again.
Here's some of what I wrote then in relation to how it used to work:
As I recall from the last in-app purchase I made, it's actually a rather jarring break (intentionally so, I believe), and is not nearly as integrated as you claim. You have to go through a few rounds of pop-up notifications, each one saying that you WILL be charged, dictating the amount, and asking whether or not you are certain, not to mention that someone has to enter the password at least that first time (and now, every time). It's pretty far from One-Click type of transactions, and it breaks out of the UI for whatever app you're in, so it should be apparent what is happening.
Since then, it's required a password for e
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There is an option on my iPhone to restrict in-app purchases. You can password protect this option. I turned the option to make in app purchases off anyway and I have no children using it. If I want to pay for an app, I will buy one that is up front about the price. I never make in app purchases. Ever. But I have purchased many apps.
As the GP said, "in the default configuration of the OS". GM cars have an option to turn off their headlights. Doing so would save money on gasoline spent on turning the alternator load, small money sure, but this is America we're talking about, if you can save $2 per year "turning off lights" in your house... anyway, look around, how many GM car owners do you see utilizing this money saving configuration option?
Almost everybody runs default settings. Most people don't even know they can be changed.
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...and headlights are not on by default...
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At the very least they could be tied to a light sensor somewhere on the car, though. I mean, what the hell situation could you possibly be in where you are driving around in full-daylight and those daytime running lights provide you with more visibility than the sun already does?
And yes, I realize that when you are going into tunnels and under bridges and such they may help, fine. But they don't need to be on when you're driving in the open air under midday sun. Negligible energy savings for the individu
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It's not that the lights allow you to see better, it's that the lights allow others to see you better, you self-centered dink.
As for your ridiculous efficiency argument: we would save roughly 100,000 barrels of oil per day [howstuffworks.com], not millions. The next step is for you to decide how many more people dying per day is worth saving those 100,000 barrels, and then go look up the statistics on DRL.
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So the other drivers that are also driving around in the full sun along with me, my headlights actually make a difference in how well they see me? Come on, now...if they can't see me in full daylight in a fucking car they should not be driving. Does NOT having my headlights on during the day absolve someone from hitting me in the event of an accident? Good fucking luck with that.
And as for my ridiculous efficiency argument, it's still 100,000 less barrels of oil less a day we are burning. Saving just ON
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Given that you not only haven't looked up the efficacy statistics of DRL, but appear to believe that your gut feeling that they're completely ineffective trumps any amount of research and any research that disagrees is fundamentally flawed, I guess the fact that the 100,000 barrel a day figure assumes 90W DRL when the dedicated LED lights on newer cars use closer to 9W doesn't matter.
Even if it did, the 10,000 barrels a day is still more than one, and you've established that saving one barrel a day is worth
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There are only two password options for restrictions. A 15 minute timeout (after which you are required to enter a password), or an immediate setting. In-App purchases always require a password regardless of this setting.
You can optionally turn on the Restrictions (Settings -> General -> Restrictions) to enable more fine controls, for example to disable app purchases entirely, disable In-App purchases entirely, turn off browsing, Ping, etc, or to set an immediate password requirement for all purchases
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You do realize that children don't come from the womb fully trained right? Kids like playing games, they have bright colors. When there is a button that allows them to play the game better, they will press it. Kids up to around 14 don't understand, and even college level kids often don't understand the value of money. I am not allowed to have my 11 yr old son get a job to earn money, so he has no concept of how much work is involved with the earning of money. It is a rather difficult thing to teach chi
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You do realize that children don't come from the womb fully trained right?
No, actually they are pretty stupid. I know mine were. That's what parents are for, to train them. There really is no excuse. I've never had a kid use my credit card, and I've never had to smack them around or be otherwise cruel to them to achieve this. It can be done by YOU - not the government.
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So, if all your kid had to do at 4 was to click a button, and it charged your credit card, you think s/he would hold back somehow? As far as I recall (it has been a few years) my kids knew their alphabet at 4, but could not read much yet. Giving a child (through default settings) the ability to charge their parent's credit card through in app purchases should be considered fraud. You should always have to type a password to charge a credit card. PizzaHut.com makes me enter my password every time I order
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Why the fuck are people giving children that are too young and immature to handle the responsibility smart phones anyway??
I see grade schoolers rolling with iPhones now, and I just don't understand what their parents are thinking. There is no reason whatsoever that a child needs a smart phone. A cell phone I can understand, something simple that they can use to call a parent if need be, that makes perfect sense to me, but a grade schooler does not need apps and itunes and all that other nonsense.
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Just about every 4th grader I know has an ipod touch - the problems still apply even though it's not a phone. Grade schoolers LOVE apps & all that other nonsense. My kids don't have the itunes password, and I have enabled restrictions so they have to ask me to install whatever they saw on their friends' device & now have to have too.
The article talks about Smurfberries - my kids like that game, but they don't even bother asking anymore if they can get the in app stuff, they know the answer is no. (I
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Such as buying a lot of stuff. It's like letting your kid play on Amazon.com when you have One-Click purchasing turned on.
Apple has parental controls and iTunes passwords to prevent people accidentally/maliciously buying stuff on your device.
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Or... just the content of the games you buy.
There's a lot of crap in the app stores, and a lot of ways to make that crap look good (ie. fake reviews). Putting down $2.99 for a game that you think you will play a lot is a risk if you haven't played it yet.
I'm happy with the current model. I've put down $1 in two different games (in one case to remove ads, and in the other, just because I liked the game so much I wanted to support it). Both of them were significantly better than the 30-40 games I've tried
Setup parental controls now (Score:5, Insightful)
Even if you leave every other setting unlocked you should go in and setup parental controls on your device to block in app purchasing. Do it now before you head out to the restaurant and you load up something to keep the kids amused not realizing that because you just finished downloading it your itunes account is still unlocked and the kids can buy whatever they want without a password for the next few minutes.
Even if you don't have kids of your own, you might be out with friends or family that do and your generous act of amusing the kids turns expensive.
Download auth can't be reused for in app purchase (Score:5, Informative)
... you load up something to keep the kids amused not realizing that because you just finished downloading it your itunes account is still unlocked and the kids can buy whatever they want without a password for the next few minutes ...
I believe Apple updated iOS so that the authorization for the free download could not be used to authorize an in app purchase. The in app purchase requires its own authorization.
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Problem with that is so many iDevices are jailbroken these days.....[blah blah blah]
You jailbreak your kid's iPhone?
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iPhones required entry every time, but gave a 15 minute grace period that wasn't configurable. Now it's configurable, but I don't know how many parents know about it.
Its a good system (Score:2)
That way you can still play the game for free. You don't have to purchase anything in the app if you don't want to.
Apple isn't a parenting service! (Score:5, Insightful)
I find it hard to blame Apple for this problem when parents are giving their unsupervised children an iDevice with credit card information.
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99% of "computer" users are dumb when it comes to IT, it's a sad fact.
Most do not even realize that there are such features until it's too late, and they probably would not know where to disable this until then either.
Just like I think 900 numbers should be disabled unless the subscriber specifically enable them, as should in-game purchase settings be set to disabled by default.
Additionally it might be an idea for Apple and other resellers to create the concept of "sub accounts" for the kids, where they eit
Re:Apple isn't a parenting service! (Score:4, Informative)
99% of "computer" users are dumb when it comes to IT, it's a sad fact.
No, it's not a fact. It's an urban legend perpetrated by geeks so they can feel superior to others. I've seen people with no computer knowledge whatsoever get their first PC and get familiar with it, and while they aren't IT experts, "dumb" doesn't describe it correctly. What they have is a different attitude - to them the machine has a purpose, it's not a toy by itself, they care about learning its fine details as much as most average geeks care about the difference between buckshot and birdshot and how to clean a shotgun blindfolded.
Additionally it might be an idea for Apple and other resellers to create the concept of "sub accounts" for the kids, where they either can't make purchases at all, or can have a pre-paid account which can only be replenished from the "master account". Oddly enough, everybody's favourite whipping-boy, Sony PSN, already have this, more or less...
As does Apple: http://www.apple.com/itunes/inside-itunes/2010/11/using-itunes-allowances-with-your-kids.html [apple.com]
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"dumb" doesn't describe it correctly. What they have is a different attitude - to them the machine has a purpose, it's not a toy by itself, they care about learning its fine details as much as most average geeks care about the difference between buckshot and birdshot and how to clean a shotgun blindfolded.
See, when you brought guns into the metaphor, you fell right on your face. Because if you're going to go out hunting with your shotgun, you had better fucking know the difference between buck shot and bird shot, and a lot more things besides, like which choke to use with a slug, and indeed, how to clean the weapon, though how to do it blindfolded is probably not necessary; ducks aren't going to shoot you if you flip on a flashlight. People use computers without knowing the equivalent, to their detriment. Pe
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ducks aren't going to shoot you if you flip on a flashlight.
You're doing it wrong. Turn your flashlight on, point it at a duck, walk towards them, and knock them over the head with it.
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$10 a month minimum is perfectly reasonable.
First: If you aren't giving a young child $10 worth of entertainment budget a month you're a goddamn monster. That's less than most toys, and far less than a couple of movie rentals or what-have-you.
Second: If you can't afford $10 a month, you shouldn't be having kids.
Third: Having such a budget will invariably teach the child something about budgeting and responsibility.
Fourth and last, if you can't afford $10 a month... forget kids *Why do you have a luxury tech
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"dumb" doesn't describe it correctly.
Yes, yes it does.
What they have is a different attitude - to them the machine has a purpose, it's not a toy by itself
Play is the best way to learn. If you get a new tool, and your first reaction isn't "Sweet, let's see what this thing can do!", you're probably dumb. If you learn a tool, any tool, by simple rote memorization of the tasks you need to do, instead of understanding the theory behind the usage, then you're dumb.
they care about learning its fine details as
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It depends, because no one has time to check out the features of their new "toys". If work gives you a cellphone, 99% of the population won't got and check out the features it has, because they don't car
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Play is the best way to learn. If you get a new tool, and your first reaction isn't "Sweet, let's see what this thing can do!", you're probably dumb.
You assume that everyone in the world either is or ought to be thinking like you do. Many people do not have that fascination with new toys, and live perfectly good lives without it. One part of evolution is that many strategies are explored, often in parallel. As regarding this curiosity, many variations are still around, the final verdict is still open.
If you learn a tool, any tool, by simple rote memorization of the tasks you need to do, instead of understanding the theory behind the usage, then you're dumb.
Not at all. Again, there are several different types of learners. And there are different kinds of tasks. Some do in fact get learnt best by repetition, ot
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I've written lengthy articles and given speeches about this topic. I'm trying to sum up a complicated matter in very few words, but your (and most tech peoples) expectations of the mindset of an average user are dramatically wrong.
You are telling your example user things that appear to you as simple, obvious and important. But to him it's a load of technical crap where he doesn't understand one half, and for the other can't see why the computer, this powerful machine that does all the other things all by it
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See, i have a 2 yr old daughter. I purchased Talking Tom, which is a f***ing talking cat. A simple toy, with which she laughs a lot. I checked every option, no risk invovled. I've seen that now, in-game, you can buy him glasses for 1$ a piece. Should I check every update if they've added scam features? That's why I paid apple "no-worry" premium?
It's a game specifically targeted for children, and frankly, you don't want parents to supervise every minute of their children's wake time; they grow assholes.
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It's not aimed at four year olds, it's rated 4+ because there is no objectionable content. And on every screen where you can purchase it there is a disclaimer, "PLEASE NOTE: Smurfs' Village is free to play, but charges real money for additional in-app content. You may lock out the ability to purchase in-app content by adjusting your device’s settings."
Line rental for an iPod touch (Score:2)
If someone is willing to pay a £45 a month line rental for an iPhone
How much does the line rental for an iPod touch cost?
Remember Habbo Hotel? (Score:2)
But only 5 look like kid's games (Score:3)
Only 5 of the free games mentioned look like they're targeting children. If they're installing the other 5, I'd like to know where the parents are that should be monitoring their kid's gaming and viewing habits.
I see no difference between trying to get kids to buy in-game items than trying to get them to buy real-world toys. In both cases, the parents are the ones who should be holding the purse-strings and taking their children shopping.
I think it might be possible to restrict these games on the basis of children under a certain age not being able to enter into a legal contract for the purchases.
At very least, there should be some requirement for parents to authorize the in-game purchases and limit spending on them on a per-game basis.
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I believe social media network games should be held to those same standards. The device you use to play games should not affect the legal restrictions on those games.
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I believe social media network games should be held to those same standards.
I believe parents should be held to those same standards
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At very least, there should be some requirement for parents to authorize the in-game purchases and limit spending on them on a per-game basis.
There is another way, an iTunes allowance [apple.com] which prevents over spending be creating a separate bucket of funds automatically incremented each month with $10 - $50.
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When $120 per year is too much (Score:2)
There is another way, an iTunes allowance [apple.com] which prevents over spending be creating a separate bucket of funds automatically incremented each month with $10 - $50.
Is there a way to have it add $10 every two months or every three months?
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At very least, there should be some requirement for parents to authorize the in-game purchases and limit spending on them on a per-game basis.
There is. Under Settings>General>Restrictions. You can turn off In-App Purchases or require a password immediately or every 15 minutes. Silly is the parent that gives up their password (basically their CC info to their kid to purchase as wanted). There is also an iTunes allowance that can be setup for kids. Allowance [apple.com]
Summary inaccurate, iOS shows purchase dialog (Score:5, Informative)
Most of the game developers do make an attempt to warn users that the game "changes real money for additional in-app content" but it's a lame attempt. It's easily missed ...
Apple puts up a dialog over the app's screen indicating the item to be purchased and the price to be charged. These are standard purchase dialogs displayed and implemented by the operating system, beyond the app's control. Apple also updated iOS so that the authorization for the free download could not be used to authorize an in app purchase. The in app purchase requires its own authorization. And then there is the parental control option regarding in app purchases ...
Not kids (Score:2)
TFA is being charitable when assuming the demographic is children. It's the same demographic playing FarmVille - adults. Adults with too much time and money on their hands. Both of which they are being helpfully relieved.
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Who really cares?
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TFA does.
Apple does (Score:3)
And Apples does protect its users - you can set up parental controls and disable in-app purchases. In fact, I'm using parental controls on my own device to disable Ping.
If you give your kids free reign with your credit card, you shouldn't be surprised when they actually, you know, spend money on it. Sheez.
On the other topic, though, I do agree. Apple should remove games with in-app purchases from the "free" list, because they really aren't. Many of them are just demos for the real game with an in-app purchase to unlock the full version, much like the old shareware concept. Others are social media games that allow you to spend the better part of a car on crap.
The only ones I support are the ones where the in-app purchase feels more like a "hey, I really liked this game, here's a couple bucks". There's a few, for example, where you get some 20 or so levels with the game and can buy another 5 or so for money. Yes, I didn't reverse the numbers there, you get the largest part of the game for free and if you enjoy it so much, can buy a bit extra.
But still, I'd love to see a search or filter option for really free games.
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It would be trivial for them to flip this and be 100% locked down until you unlock various purchase options.
Uh, you do need to enter your credit card details, you know?
And I personally like being treated like an adult. I hate that the entire world has to be made child-safe, even for those of us who aren't children anymore. If you don't want your brats to spend your hard-earned cash, it isn't too much to ask you to spend two minutes. And if you think the settings are poorly worded, about a thousand step-by-step instructions are one Google search away.
This is the tip of the iceberg (Score:2)
Gameloft is one of the worst offenders, Modern Combat 3, which is a clear ripoff of the CoD Modern Warfare series allows users to purchase kill streak rewards with real cash.
Worst thing is, they've only just started to f
If you.... (Score:2)
Buy your child a $350-$900 ipad for a toy, you deserve little johnny buying crap off of the app store and in game. WTF is wrong with adults that buy kids these things?
Hell, I told my 19 year old child that I will not buy her an iPad, she can go buy one on her own. Here have a stick, they can be fun.
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Here have a stick, they can be fun.
Pfft. Every hardcore gamer knows that logs are better than sticks.
What rolls down stairs
alone or in pairs,
and over your neighbor's dog?
What's great for a snack,
And fits on your back?
It's log, log, log
It's log, it's log,
It's big, it's heavy, it's wood.
It's log, it's log, it's better than bad, it's good.
Take you credit card off file (Score:2)
I took my credit card off my itunes account a while ago after I started hearing stories on the news of kids running up huge bills and what a nightmare it is to get Apple to act. I can still "buy" the free games, and I don't have to worry about my kid accidentally selecting something that costs money. On the rare occasion that I do want to buy something from Apple it prompts me for payment information and I just have to enter in my credit card inf
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Not a real worry (Score:2)
To them, all the "freemium" apps are great since they get to try a whole bunch of options.
This is a new but well understood business model (Score:2)
This is a new (in the last year or so) "freemium" business model which is turing out to be a very lucrative way for developers to make money in the new App Store mobile gaming world. It is all explained quite well in this blog post:
http://blog.flurry.com/bid/65656/Free-to-play-Revenue-Overtakes-Premium-Revenue-in-the-App-Store [flurry.com]
Most of these games don't require you to make in-app purchases to continue in the game, they just allow you to buy items to proceed in the game faster. Because the games are free, the
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Here in the EU, we're removing all the highest-denomination notes from circ
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Here in the EU, we're removing all the highest-denomination notes from circulation on the grounds that the only people who need to make such huge transactions in cash are criminals.
Do you have ANY evidence to back that seemingly far-fetched claim up?
I've never even heard of categorically removing high denomination notes in the EU.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8678979.stm [bbc.co.uk]
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The UK's currency is Pound sterling, not Euro.
They're banning large denominations of foreign currency. UK isn't banning any denomination of their own currency.
The article doesn't mention any of the Euro countries banning any denomination of their own currency either.
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you replied;
I politely give you a link about the UK (a member of the EU since 1973) removing 500 euro notes (what might be called high denomination) from
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Won't somebody PLEASE think of the children?
The one who should think of the children are the Parents.
Stop blaming others if parents have failed to take care of their own children
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"but Apple is a company that prides itself in protecting users from harm"
Apple doesn't really care whether its customers come to harm
Doesn't mean they can't still pride themselves of protecting it's users.
It's called "Lying" but you might be more familiar with the synonymous term "Marketing".
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Bullshit. A screwed over, destroyed customer is not a return customer. Despite any policies on hardware lockdown or software distribution, none of the companies you mention have any interest in screwing or destroying their customers. Fuck, AC, why do I even bother?
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Apple doesn't really care whether its customers come to harm... Liability and profit are the only concerns.
Derr. And guess which news story they don't want floating around. I'll give you a hint, they did a very quick update when the Smurf Berries thing came around.
Because you reminded me of it: (Score:2)
"Let's cut to the chase. There are two kinds of people: sheep and sharks. Anyone who's a sheep is fired. Who's a sheep?"
"Errr, excuse me... which is the one people like to hug? "
"Gutsy question. You're a shark. Sharks are winners, and they don't look back, because they don't have necks. Necks are for sheep. I am proud to be the shepherd of this herd of sharks!"
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Actually, all the contracts I've seen only require you to keep the voice plan. You could turn off data and texting if you wanted to. This will send you back to the '90s, but it's still an option.