Why did Tidalis "fail"?

[Mánagarmr]

I really didn't know piracy was that common on Android. After all, if you want to pirate something on iOS, you jailbreak. You want to pirate something on Android, you root. It's equally easy, as far as I've understood it.

Regardless, I've never had interest to pirate anything for years, so maybe I'm just "out of the loop". But I've heard both that piracy is rampant, and other devs claiming it's "bullshit" that piracy is rampant so...meh, I just don't know

[tigersfan]

The thing is, you don't have to root an Android to pirate stuff on it. It's really just a matter of changing one setting, then side-loading the files.

[x4000]

I don't have any first-hand knowledge of the piracy there either way, as I don't have an Android device (though my mom has an android tablet I've used some).  But devs I trust say that it's pretty bad.  And either way, they've said what their sales figures are and it's embarrassing compared to their iOS sales numbers.

[Mánagarmr]

The thing is, you don't have to root an Android to pirate stuff on it. It's really just a matter of changing one setting, then side-loading the files.

True. I see what you mean there, and of course that's possible, unless the app in itself has some form of online check. But to actually "steal" the app in the first place, you have to root, otherwise you can't access the apps .apk file.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

iOS piracy is definitely understated, it exists and is not difficult to do. I've looked into it but not participated in the practice. It's not worth my time.

But as you said, the sales are generally better on iOS than on Android from what I've heard. There are exceptions of course, but having people locked into the App Store and most are unwilling to tamper with their devices so they have no choice in the matter really. Well, other than not buying the device OFC. So yeah, Tidalis on iOS has a pretty good chance to sell. Maybe Apple will feature it, but that's a hit and miss, they seem to prefer featuring AAA made games from Angry Birds creator, EA or Gameloft. Who have the worst business practices on the store.

But what is really the sad state of affairs with iOS is the crappy freemium games. The gaming part of the store is filled with complete shovelware freemium games at this point. If it isn't shovelware, it's apps that have terrible business practices. I haven't bought an app in about....6+ months now because I no longer trust app devs. I'll buy Tidalis when it shows because I can trust that you guys won't screw me out of some feature later down the road. But the rest of them? Hell no, I don't even remotely trust them. And when I did, the apps would get updated, lose features which I'd have to pay for and then would tell us to suck it up. Ticks me off...

Sorry for my ranting, but I'm not happy with iOS state of affairs right now, as you can tell.

[x4000]

There are tons of good games out there on iOS that aren't freemium, just FYI.  A couple of good ones a month, on average.  Check out toucharcade if you want to see the ones that are good in particular.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

There are tons of good games out there on iOS that aren't freemium, just FYI.  A couple of good ones a month, on average.  Check out toucharcade if you want to see the ones that are good in particular.

That's news to me, all I ever see is freemium apps. Dunno why people keep on playing them too... I'll give touch arcade a shot then, maybe my sour opinion will change.

[chemical_art]

i
But what is really the sad state of affairs with iOS is the crappy freemium games. The gaming part of the store is filled with complete shovelware freemium games at this point. If it isn't shovelware, it's apps that have terrible business practices. I haven't bought an app in about....6+ months now because I no longer trust app devs. I'll buy Tidalis when it shows because I can trust that you guys won't screw me out of some feature later down the road. But the rest of them? Hell no, I don't even remotely trust them. And when I did, the apps would get updated, lose features which I'd have to pay for and then would tell us to suck it up. Ticks me off...

Reminds me of the gaming crash in the 80's. Of course these games are free so there won't be a crash in sales to such an extent, but the drowning of noise still does hurt the occasional great games, and the vast majority of consumers are either going to look for the best free games or not at all.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

i
But what is really the sad state of affairs with iOS is the crappy freemium games. The gaming part of the store is filled with complete shovelware freemium games at this point. If it isn't shovelware, it's apps that have terrible business practices. I haven't bought an app in about....6+ months now because I no longer trust app devs. I'll buy Tidalis when it shows because I can trust that you guys won't screw me out of some feature later down the road. But the rest of them? Hell no, I don't even remotely trust them. And when I did, the apps would get updated, lose features which I'd have to pay for and then would tell us to suck it up. Ticks me off...

Reminds me of the gaming crash in the 80's. Of course these games are free so there won't be a crash in sales to such an extent, but the drowning of noise still does hurt the occasional great games, and the vast majority of consumers are either going to look for the best free games or not at all.

Granted, I am also pretty biased because I'm a core gamer and its pretty clear that a lot of these developers are not aiming their games at me anymore. Their aiming it at the casual people and kids. The ones who have a lot of money to spend. So its likely they, customers, don't care one way or the other. Its just my guess, but based on the behavior of app purchasers on the store, its probably not too far off.

[brianc]

Hey; I have a suggestion and would love to hear your thoughts on it.  What about Playstation Mobile?  I have an Android phone (Xperia Play) and would be so happy if I could play Tidalis in the break room!  Anyways, Playstation Mobile helps remove the fragmentation and I can't imagine it would require too many man hours with that out of the picture.  The service is new and I'm not a developer nor do I know any so I can't comment on it past that but it might be something worth looking in to.  Keep up the great work Arcen!

Edit: Oh yes!  Forgot to add that Playstation Mobile should greatly hinder piracy as well.

[Cyborg]

I've been trying to wrap my head around this, but I just can't really get it. Tidalis is a great puzzle game, heck even I who absolutely hate puzzlers, sunk over 6 hours on it, and that's saying something for me. It has massive content, multiplayer and is ridiculously cheap. By all that is holy, it should've sold a lot more than it did.

Was there too much content? Was it not unique enough? (I have trouble believing that) Did it come at the wrong time? Should it have been a mobile game?

*boggle*

Because it's a match three game.

It's one of the better ones, and I like the art and the music. But it's still a match three at the end of the day, and the match three crowd is all about pedigree. That's why bejeweled sells even though every version is the same game with a couple new modes added; it's got pedigree. With so many titles competing for attention, it's just not likely for something unheard of like this game to rise to the top without some viral marketing support.