Comments on: Egerter Software's 2D Top-Down Shooter 'Blue Skies'

By: Blue Skies and 5th Grader on Sale. Space Monkey and Amnesia Free. | Smartphone User Guide

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 03:05:46 +0000

[...] Skies (.99 -> .99) - a great 2d scrolling shooter that we reviewed. The game is popular amongst our readers and is on sale for .99 (normally .99) this [...]

By: Blue Skies | Student Tech News

Blue Skies | Student Tech News — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:14:20 +0000

[...] [via Toucharcade] [...]

By: john

john — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 02:29:55 +0000

Nice advertisement for your own game. I'll be sure to look for it and not buy it.

By: Ducky Luv Fish > » Blog Archive » Helicopter Shooter ‘Blue Skies’ Drops to $5.99 in App Store

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 18:35:38 +0000

[...] Skies’ Drops to $5.99 in App Store Powered by Max Banner Ads Earlier this week we reviewed Egerter Software’s top-down helicopter shooter Blue Skies [App Store]. The game debuted at [...]

By: ArtOfWarfare

ArtOfWarfare — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 00:36:32 +0000

*sweeps brow*

thank god, I was worried this was the exact game I'm making right now. The review shows that they've taken the same starting point (wingnuts) except they've done absolutely nothing with it. I've taken Wingnuts and pumped it full of steroids... action is non stop, bosses are original, replayability seems endless, graphics are... well, better than this although still tile-based (StarCraft is my inspiration for graphic style... wingnuts/space invaders/StarFox are my game play inspirations...)

By: rpgguy

rpgguy — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:23:03 +0000

I considered Blue Skies to be finished, but the community had some good ideas and suggestions that I'd like to add to make it even better. Take a look at the bottom of this page for version 1.1 screenshots:

http://www.rockingpocketgames.com/BlueSkies.htm

By: Customer053

Customer053 — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:07:59 +0000

Sure, you can improve your game and offer the updates for free. But you could also leave it as it is and release Blue Skies 2 instead. How and why should a customer trust an unknown developer? And why should he pay for a full featured game in advance, when he only gets a v0.2 labeled as v1.0?

I really like your contact with the community and how you dropped the price for your game. I even consider buying it, to support your positive attitude, but I'll wait for 1.1 or 1.2 and check if you really improve the game as you told us.

By: mavis

mavis — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 06:04:54 +0000

@rpgguy: true, but the flip side of that is that at least when we buy a DS game, we know exactly what we're getting. What you're describing is an incomplete game that we're basically paying to beta test. That doesn't sound like a very good deal to me. Frankly, I wish developers would release finished apps rather than incomplete projects because they know how easy it is to release updates.

@blakespot: thanks for your honest assessment. It's nice having a resource like TouchArcade to help with our buying decisions ... I hope you and Arn keep up the good work!

By: rpgguy

rpgguy — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 01:03:34 +0000

The nice thing about iPhone games is that a developer can modify them and provide new features for the rest of your life. That is not possible with a DS title.

There are plans to add things to Blue Skies like boss battles, different types of enemies, more scenery, survival mode, and weather effects. The entire story and gameplay could changed to give the game more replay value later on.

This market is completely different than a DS or PSP title where you only have one shot to make the game and can\'t change it later. If you want new features you\'d have to wait til next year for a sequel. Not so on iPhone.

By: John

John — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 01:01:01 +0000

Here here on the R-Type request.

By: Mirza

Mirza — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:55:57 +0000

I just bought it for $5.99. Click on Games>Action and its on the first page for $5.99 (click buy, don't click on the picture), if you click on its description its advertised for $9.99.

By: Customer053

Customer053 — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:42:44 +0000

You can't compare prices for physical game copy with downloaded software, because you can't sell your downloaded software and you can't buy a used copy to save some money. For that reason only very good iPhone games with nearly unlimited replay value and/or very good game design, graphics and sound are worth $10.

Sorry, but I have to say, that Blue Skies is not good enough to justify that price. Look at something like New Mario Bros. or Mario Kart DS. That is high-class software, developed by big pro-teams for months or even years. If you take a look at Blue Skies (and other Appstore games) you see that is developed by 1-5 people with medium skill and within a few weeks. There's not enough variation, not enough balancing, not enough playtime. You can play through Blue Skies in a few hours and there is nothing to come back - it even gets repetitive the first time you play through.

By: blakespot

blakespot — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:24:53 +0000

@mavis: I had played through mission 12 when I did the review. I've since moved beyond level 20, going through most of the game. I will say that after this much gameplay, a bit more play variation would be nice. Blue Skies starts feeling somewhat a "more of the same" situation. Even a significant terrain variation in the higher levels would be a plus.

By: mavis

mavis — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 01:41:21 +0000

And cell phone games average $3. iPod games, $5. What's your point?

Besides, I find it amazing that so many developers happen to feel that their games are worth $10. Why is that the magic number? It obviously isn't as great a number as they had hoped, otherwise we wouldn't constantly see price drops.

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 23:36:04 +0000

Too bad the iPod Touch has no speaker. Makes it less than ideal for games such as this one.

Also, jeez, $10 for a game isn't a lot. Not when you look at all other platforms, including the Mac/PC. Most games are at least $15, most console/DS/PSP games are twice that.