Gosh! It seems you humans really enjoy buying Peggle for a dollar!
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Thanks everybody who helped make PopCap’s big “What happens if for a limited time we only charge 99 cents for Peggle iphone?” experiment a success. Many people took up the offer, embracing it warmly as though a long-lost sibling. Indeed, more people bought Peggle over four days than had in the first three weeks! Fantastical!
From what I’ve gathered from the PopCap people, though, this was a bit of a gamble, and like all gambles it had a downside. In this case, I’m told the downside is that some people who bought the game at full price—a back-snapping five dollars—now feel cheated.
I must confess I don’t quite understand. I remember, not that long ago, Squeamers Inc. came out with their new digital horn-polishing system, the DHx. I wanted it so bad I lined up outside the horn store the day it arrived, bought it on the spot and spent the week trying out all the new features. I shined my horn red, shined it green, shined it orange and gurple, made it partially invisible – the whole deal. Best 40 coins I ever spent.
A month later the horn store had a half-price sale on DHxes. Some unicorns I know grumbled but I couldn’t join in. The way I see it, I could’ve waited—but that would’ve involved waiting! Every day I didn’t buy it would’ve been a day without a gurple-striped horn! When I think about all the days of enjoyment I got out of that DHx that more frugal unicorns didn’t, it makes me kind of sad. They can never get those days back. For me, 20 coins was a cheap premium to pay for the gratification of instancy.
Obviously not everyone agrees. But as I say, it puzzles me.