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Tell me to get back to rewriting this site so it's not horrible on mobile
Cost for them to design and program it in using a full team of well-paid staff, probably under $2,000. I would tend to agree. Not bad for one item out of a one-week Valentines event. They raised 1.5 million for Haiti in 5 days, so I think we'd all be shocked at how much they really make in a year.
Yarcofin said:
Oh, and Farmville currently has 78 million monthly active users, not 30 million... so double that.
That's why I said over 30 million. 78 is over 30, after all. 
Yodariquo said:
I remember that one. With Apple's draconian application approval process I'm amazed that one got by (but then that was the early days).
This Farmville thing is huge. Everyone from Leo Laporte to the young lady at my local gas station (out here in the middle of nowhere) is addicted to it. That's reach.
Robio, you ever seen Shepard's Crossing for the PS2? I found it in my collection the other day, it looks pretty good.
aspro said:Robio, you ever seen Shepard's Crossing for the PS2? I found it in my collection the other day, it looks pretty good.
Never heard of it, but the pictures look very interesting. Reviews for it unfortunately aren't exactly golden though. Apparently a DS sequel was recently released so I may pick that up if I can find any reviews for it.
I'm no stranger to in-game purchases after playing Free Realms off and on for almost a year now... everything from outfits, to weapons, to pets. I was shocked enough to see an outfit in that game last summer with a pricetag bearing the equivalent of $10 USD, but now that has been dwarfed in comparison by this ring.
After a bit more thinking, I can't decide if I think the game designers over at Zynga have lost their minds, or are sheer geniuses. There are angry people over in the Farmville forums making complaints and threats about the ridiculously overpriced item for sure, but really they have nothing to lose by offering it. Farmville is on the forefront of the "paying money for nothing but pixels" forefront, especially considering that it isn't a full game but simply a Facebook app. It's rather fun to watch as new markets are being pushed and tested to see what people's spending limits are. One thing I'm fairly sure of... they're bound to sell more than just a couple of them.
