Eliminate: Should you buy power cell packs? iPhone

All Formats

Mobile

N-Gage

iPhone

ABOUT US

NEED HELP?

BUY GAMES

FREE STUFF

FRIDAY FREEBIE

OUR SITES

POCKETPICKS

POCKETGAMER.fr

POCKETGAMER.biz

INDUSTRY

PARTNERS

IPHONE FEATURE

Eliminate: Should you buy power cell packs?

There's no such thing as a free frag

Product: Eliminate | Developer: ngmoco | Publisher: ngmoco | Genre: Multiplayer, Shooter

by Tracy Erickson

So you've already downloaded Eliminate and have been shooting with gay abandon online, but now your energy is depleted. No more credits for you until your suit is juiced up. Faced with the choice of waiting for the automatic recharge or purchasing energy packs, which do you choose?

Four hours for your energy to partially charge seems like a long wait, yet spending money to get back into the game is a serious economic issue.

Eliminate is the first free-to-play iPhone and iPod touch game that prompts the difficult question of spending money for the opportunity to earn experience. While it isn't the first to try in-app commerce, it's revolutionary in its approach and with all new ideas, there's bound to be a misfire or two.

Despite our general endorsement of the game's frenetic online action, steep in-app prices have us wary of purchasing optional power cells.

Three options are provided for in-app power cell purchases: 20 for 99c, 210 for $7.99, and 1350 for $39.99. The 99c option has been the most widely advertised, though it's important to note the other two price points. 1350 power cells for $39.99 is a daunting proposition, understandably, which leaves the only other reasonable option the 210 for $7.99.

Given the unlikelihood that you're willing to spend $39.99 (I'm not willing to fork over that much), let's focusing on the 99c and $7.99 options.

For the 20 power cells provided at 99c, you're going to get approximately 15 minutes of credit-earning time at about 6c per minute. Not a particularly good value and not a recommended purchase.

At $7.99 for 2 Eliminate

10 power cells, however, you're getting substantially more for your money. Here you're talking about a four and a half hours of energy at a rate of 3.5c per minute.

You could easily spread that time out over several days or even a couple weeks. Factor in the automatic energy recharge every four hours and judicious use of 210 could last you a decent amount of time.

Of course, they will run out at some point. Eliminate is designed around motivating you to purchase power cells and it's hard to imagine playing the game for long without purchasing them. The recharge wait is simply too long. That said, it's difficult to recommend purchasing the power cell packs at their current price.

A reconfiguration of the power cell mechanic would be best. Instead of offering packs of cells, a subscription-based model would be preferable. Spending 99c could get you unlimited energy for a day, $2.99 a week, and $4.99 a month. Although these prices are lower than the current model, repeat purchases could potentially to be higher.

As with a subscription to a massively multiplayer online game, devoted fraggers would consistently return to pay the monthly fee. Those not as dedicated would feel comfortable spending 99c for a daily pass.

Other suggestions include re-engineering the rate at which energy recharges or changing the number of power cells necessary for a full recharge. Whatever the solution, it's clear that adjustments are needed to make Eliminate in-app purchases more palatable.

Bookmark

| Subscribe

What's this?

	Tracy Erickson 4/11/2009

Have your say!

Sk8orDie | 4 November 2009

The only way I'm paying for this game is if they change it to a flat fee one off purchase (of no more than £10). I don't mind buying extra maps but the virtual coin-op they're offering now just sucks and I won't be any part of it.

BigBob | 4 November 2009

That's an interesting point, I suppose they might just do that once it's got a certain amount of traction. At least give you enough energy to play a certain amount each day?