The million-dollar question is how to convince people that an app is worth more than a cup of coffee? The developer that solves this problem will be the Starbucks of the mobile gaming industry.

I guess I am putting the value on my work at a level where I see more sales coming. Whether this is reality I probably will never know on my first app… although I did enjoy better rankings when I went free breifly; albeit a natural dissatisfaction from some users who paid for the app.

I guess there’s the balance; but possibly the low prices are devaluing what is; in reality a LOT of work and effort on the part of devs. Good or bad – the vast majority of apps have a lot of work in them.

But that said – the market now expects an all singing all dancing product at 99cents because that’s the way it has been modelled – as a volume sales channel, and a channel that mainly is a considered purchase; where a more expensive cup of coffee or chocolate bar is more expensive, and doesn’t last as long.

We have a lot of apps in the store by now – and we are enaring the end of publishing more. We simply cannot deliver quality apps/games with the sales numbers we see. And I know a lot of other developers with the same.

If consumers dont start to buy apps at a fair price (and $1-2 is not a fair price for a quality app that has taken 4 manweeks to produce) – if Apple doesnt start to do something about the junk thats comming in like e.g. raise the minimum price or do quality control – if developers dont stop betting on the “I can make it into top-10 and make up my loss once I get there by trying to push the game for $1″ – then the app store will be devoid of anything but $1 junk apps + a few of the big companies making yet another quick port of something never ment for the iPhone.

Inovation will simply stop and no one will be happy.

What the best approach is? I dont have a clue. We tried pricing our first game at $3.99 – thats less than a burger meal at McD in this country for a quality app that is quite innovative. And most every reviewer told us great game, but waaaaaay to expensive. Customers not buying because its “double the price of everything else” – and us ending up with $200-300 in total sales. Not even enough for us to pay the tools we used for the game – not to talk about putting food on the table for 3 weeks development.

So its a hen and egg problem for all 3 parts in this. And no one is winning this in the long run.

Any views or ideas like Andy’s postings are more than needed in this time.

/Thomas Lund