Natsume's reply to End of Serenity complaint

[idillicah]

Hi, guys!

My first thread here! Hope I don't do anything wrong, haha.

Anyhow, I've just read the review of End of Serenity for PSP (Vita, also) which can be found here: http://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2014/07/10/end-of-serenity-review-yet-another-handheld-rpg-psp/

And as the review mentions, it's hard to justify the extra cost considering the game has been out for a long time on Google Play for a lot less.

Also, at no point did Natsume say that it was a port, at least in the press releases that I saw.

So I took to Twitter about it, and here is the conversation with Natsume's Community Manager.

While I really liked the way she handled my complaint, at the end of the day I can't see the extra cost being justified.

 

[Lifewish]

The rep handled it well but also didn't really address the complaint fully.

And you did your post just fine

 

[idillicah]

I agree. Plus I also think that they are NOT being honest about it, and it's actually hindering the game, because they didn't come out and say "Yeah it's a port but it has extra content". As it stands right now there's no way of knowing there's any difference between the Vita version and the Google Play version.

That said, I like the idea of the game, and what I've played of it (free with ads on Google Play), I've enjoyed. It's generic, yeah, but a decent time waster for my phone.

The price doesn't make sense, though.

The sad part of it all is that this issue of over-pricing on Vita for ports of games that are extremely cheap or free in other platforms has been ongoing for a long time.

I understand the need to cover port and license costs, but I think most developers are not handling it very well.

 

[Jacky]

Price never really makes sense, and they probably felt no need to let people know it's a port. They probably expected the gamers to already know that.

 

[Lifewish]

unfortunately the porting to Vita probably has to be covered by hiking up the price, though I think what they have priced it at is still a bit much even with that defense.

 

[idillicah]

I agree. Plenty of good indie ports launch at $10, some even with day-one discounts and PS+ discounts to discourage the wait for a sale.

As for them expecting gamers to know that it was a port, I don't think so... because nobody will pay $15 for a port of a game they can get for free or for less than a third of the price on another device.

 

[stolenxnametag]

The price doesn't make sense, though.

The sad part of it all is that this issue of over-pricing on Vita for ports of games that are extremely cheap or free in other platforms has been ongoing for a long time.

I understand the need to cover port and license costs, but I think most developers are not handling it very well.

I still can't make myself understand why Angry Birds is $40 ($50 on PS4!!). That's an enormous ripoff.

Source: Sony Entertainment Network Store​

 

[Jacky]

I still can't make myself understand why Angry Birds is $40 ($50 on PS4!!). That's an enormous ripoff.

View attachment 1031
Source: Sony Entertainment Network Store​

Popularity i guess, i'm still trying to firgure out what makes it so fun as well as "worms"

 

[idillicah]

I think a lot of the cost of Angry Birds has to do with the fact that people playing on mobile devices have to deal with in-app ads and in-app purchases, which give A LOT, and I really mean A LOT of income to the developers on a daily basis.

Greedy, though? Yes. For sure.

 

[BigPete7978]

I still can't make myself understand why Angry Birds is $40 ($50 on PS4!!). That's an enormous ripoff.

View attachment 1031
Source: Sony Entertainment Network Store​

Because people buy them. I've never been a huge fan of the series, but the games are hugely popular.