Most iPhone games aren't about you having a good time anymore. I don't play Bike Race or Temple Run to enjoy their carefully designed game mechanics. I play them to beat my peers, to be better and higher up on the totem pole. And a game like that is only fun for as long as everyone else is still using it as a tool to measure their superiority by, which doesn't last for very long. Games like that feed off of the social aspect, so they need a low price point so that as many people can enter as possible.
But what happens when all these similar tools are available and open? People don't stick with them for very long. People can hop from one superiority-measuring stick to another every week, or every few days at times. There's nothing substantial about the games, and so their time is over in a flash.
There's nothing wrong with this kind of game, but I don't think most OUYA developers are aiming for that status. I think most of us would rather create a more substantial experience -- the next Halo, Mario or Legend of Zelda. And that's great!
When it's not about measuring up to people, when it's about enjoying a game for the game that it is and the story and graphics and emotional experience, I think people will be much more willing to drop more money on it. A player will be able to tell that the game isn't just some fad, some thing they have to do to stay in the loop with their peers, but something they'll be able to enjoy on their own time and truly ruminate on.
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