1 - Race to the Bottom



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In the early days of the iPhone App Store, game developers found themselves locked in a race to a $0.99 price point that none of them wanted to become standard. This is the story of how that happened, and how it affected mobile games going forward.

Featuring interviews with Pocket Gamer and Pocket Gamer.biz co-founder Jon Jordan and Brian Greenstone, the main man behind Enigmo and Airwings developer Pangea Software — the most successful early iPhone game developer and one of only two companies to have five apps simultaneously in the top 10 best-selling paid apps chart. Brian Greenstone retired from app development last year; he now sells fine minerals and fossils.

Music for this episode came from Slovakian composer Ondrosik's album Nostalgic and Procastination and chiptunes artist Visager's two Songs from an Unmade World albums.

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If we can get to at least $350 a month on Patreon, I'll be able to commit to a second 13-episode season to follow soon after this one. So whaddya say? Are you with me? Sign up here: lifeandtimes.games/patreon.


   

The Life & Times of Video Games

The Life & Times of Video Games: A documentary and narrative-style audio series about video games and the video game industry — as they were in the past, and how they came to be the way they are today.

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