The third time I removed "The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Athena" from my cart, I knew something was amiss. After half an hour of deliberation as to whether $7 was too much money for two quality Riddick titles, I let it fall by the wayside. It was in that moment I emerged from my cocoon as a newly formed stingy gamer.
I had long been familiar with the Steam platform, but had never actually purchased anything through the service. The most meaningful PC experiences I've had were playing the hell out of the Unreal Tournament 2004 Demo, and profanity-riddled sessions of Medal of Honour: Allied Assault at the internet cafe with my high school mates (we only ever played the beach invasion.)
The majority of my gaming life has been lived on consoles you see, and my disposable income spent there. With my recently acquired mortgage however, I suddenly had a lot less money for $120 special editions and constant day-one purchases. The recent Steam sales were seemingly the perfect solution to my budget problem, so about a week ago I took the first tentative step back into the PC gaming pool and picked up Deus Ex for $2.50. Soon after that came Torchlight for $5, then The Bombcast-recommended Introversion Pack for another $5. But when it came to Riddick for $7 (a game which I very nearly bought for $100 on the 360) I buckled.
You could say it was the mortgage. Or the maturity (ha!) that my 25 years on this earth has slowly given me. I have a better answer - the App Store.
For over a year now, I've owned an iPhone, and aside from the Sega Game Gear (don't judge me) it's the only portable gaming device I've owned. Granted it's a very different brand of gaming, and aside from the occasional "core" purchase (like the suprisingly solid port of Doom) it's mostly an avenue for casual experiences. Yet when a game like Angry Birds comes along, and for $1.20 can offer me weeks of enjoyment wherever I go, how do I justify spending up to 100 times the price for a shooter (with admittedly shiny presentation) but a 6 to 8 hour campaign and an online multiplayer in which I cannot possibly compete because it's populated by a community of headshot freaks who forego petty distractions like sleep and nourishment?
Suddenly I find myself refusing to buy apps becasue they're $3.99, and what a rip-off that is apparently. Rewind back a few years, and I'm happily dropping $130 on Extreme-G on the N64. I wasn't even INTERESTED in that game.
Am I no longer a hardcore gamer? I'd like to think my current dedication to Red Dead Redemption and my Nightmare playthrough of Alan Wake attest otherwise. There'll always be a need for me to immerse myself in the Triple-A titles. But how much should I spend on them? For what it's worth, I traded in 3 games and got Red Dead for free. I won my copy of Alan Wake in a competition on Twitter.
It's not all bad being stingy either. Or is that just being a smart consumer?
Gaming is gaming. Angry Birds, Zen Bound, Spider: the Secret of Bryce Manor, Need For Speed Undercover, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney; all on my iPhone, all terrifically good gaming fun. I still love the big budget Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Arkham Asylum titles (PC), but find the iPhone apps enjoyable too. I would rather buy an inexpensive app that I play a lot than even a single AAA title that loses my interest half way through.
How does the format or platform matter? Good gaming is where you find it, at whatever price point. Angry Birds can be as engaging as any other title, that's why hundreds of thousands of other souls are right there with you launching feathered missiles out of a giant slingshot repeatedly trying to get all three stars for that one teeth grindingly difficult level.
Despite the pigs snorting at our failure!
See you at the app store, and don't forget to get the "Free App A Day" (FAAD) app while you are there. My son-in-law just gave me this one. Get the free FAAD app, check it daily on your phone to see that day's free app. Comment on it, either, "Yes I liked it" or "Not for me", give the weather and country you're in, ie, "Sunny and warm in Sydney" then your wish for what app/game you would like to see free on FAAD. With 1/2 million users FAAD goes to the app publishers and requests one day free giveaways. They also have a great catalog of previous free and paid apps highest rated by FAAD users.
I think every iPhone should have FAAD as standard equipment I like it so much! Hope you enjoy it as much as I am. PS, Sweltering here in Texas.
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