Konami Slashes Prices of App Store Games
Konami proves that Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch are the future or portable gaming by slashing prices on ALL games.
It's no wonder that Sony and Nintendo are feeling the heat from that newcomer, Apple. Why? Because the device that was once considered just a smartphone--along with its sidekick, touchable media player--is now eating up a chunk of gaming revenue. With easy access and cheap prices, Apple and the App Store has a commanding lead over the other portable gaming units, especially in an economy where gamers are severely pinching pennies.
Feeling the pressure, both Sony and Nintendo have recently altered their products and services to match the iPhone and iPod Touch's capabilities, even mimicking the way consumers purchase and download portable games on the fly. Both Sony and Nintendo provide "bite sized" games for their portable consoles, however there's a long road ahead for both.
Needless to say, it's easy to speculate that Apple--along with its online store and pocket-sized hardware--has changed portable gaming as we know it. Today Konami proves this point to some degree by lowering the prices of all titles listed on the App Store to a meager $0.99 each. That's not crazy talk, that's just fact as seen on iTunes at this very moment: Power Pros Touch, Krazy Kart Racing, Silent Scope, Metal Gear Solid Touch, Dance Dance Revolution, Frogger and Silent Hill all cost just under a buck each.
So why are they so cheap? We have no clue, and we also don't know when this virtual sale will come to an end. But given many of these originally ranged between $3 to $6, this isn't a bad deal whatsoever. Can you get these for the Sony PSPgo and PSP? Not yet. In fact, the cheapest "mini" you'll find is Mahjongg Artifacts: chapter 2 for $3.99.Currently Sony only offers 12 "minis," making the iPhone and iPod Touch a bit more appealing despite the higher pricetags.
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Konami
I fail to see how slashing prices on a product proves the future of gaming.
You also fail to mention, these "mini" games don't exist on the PSP because it has real games, like the PSX library including FF7, Tomb Raider, etc. for $9.99. The DS, while it may not have a full library online yet, has the cartridge games for $10-$20 that contains hundreds of "mini" games which saves you $ when you compare games per dollar. In fact, if I count the "mini" games featured in fully functional games, like FF7, even the PSP will trump your little misfit toy.
You can keep your dollar mini games Kevin, I'll play a fully featured games while you get bored after 5 minutes of playing.
And since no "Kevin
Ok Kevin, I usually defend you against all of this Apple flaming crap (even though I'm a XP/Ubuntu person) but this is just bad. It should read "Konami lowering prices on Apple's app store." Not "Apple is now king of portable gaming because Konami decides to lower it's prices."
You also say "So why are they so cheap? We have no clue, and we also don't know when this virtual sale will come to an end." So why are you claiming it's because of Apple's "awesomeness."
[seems a less than sign and the letter 3 breaks post}
And since no "Keven loves his iPhone" article is complete without it:
Only thing the PSP is missing is 3G, and slightly open development (for those who don't want to hack their PSP) to allow some basic programs it's missing (such as an alarm clock, which is available if hacked).
First off, the PSP is a real gamer. It's designed for gaming. It has net, though it is questionable at best, pre-installed VoIP is nice. The PSPgo also makes a great MP3 player, though the Media Go program needs some work (just needs playlist syncing). A higher resolution screen with multi touch (for typing), a second analog stick, GPS, and it's damned near perfect.
Full 2G/3G (and maybe even the upcoming 4G), with full VoIP supprt, and who the hell needs a phone?
Media Go is just awesome too. Converts my songs into MP3 format as I transfer my songs, and it's very easy to buy games.
Though most PSP games are $20 (via PSN download), it's more than worth it to have real games.
Who the hell wants a new iPod touch? Give me a PSP 4000 or N2000, and I'd sell my iPod/iPhone if I had one.
It's sad that someone thinks the iPhone is the future of portable gaming. The PSP transfered to a phone would be better than a iPhone transfered to a gaming device.
Not appealing to me. I don't need a phone that eats $40+ a month. I pay $100 a year ($200 max with extra minutes @ end) for phone. I game with PC and X360.