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Do they seriously expect anyone to buy this??

Rojo

Rojo

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 26, 2006
1,328
241
Barcelona
I keep seeing more and more apps like this coming to the store:
http://appshopper.com/lifestyle/haunted

It's a $5 app, with a bare-bones description, and just one screen-shot which is just a title screen (so basically shows nothing). Going to the developer's site doesn't give any more info. So is it a game? Is it a movie? Is it a picture of a peaceful scene for 30 seconds and then a bogeyman jumps out at you? WTF is this?!?!

Seeing this almost makes me long for the days when we could give reviews without buying apps, just so I can give this one 1-star for the audacity of being on the app store for $5 and not giving even a hint of what the hell it is, other than something "scary"...
 
W

WannaApple?

macrumors 6502a
Jun 9, 2008
629
70
I wouldnt buy it because I dont like scary things and because of the price, but I think it is supposed to be mysterious. If they gave you a screenshot of what it is, or what is scary about it, you wouldnt need to buy it LOL
I think its pretty creative marketing for people that love stuff like that.
 
Knowlege Bomb

Knowlege Bomb

macrumors G4
Feb 14, 2008
10,280
8,961
US
I agree that this is kind of ridiculous... Another shining example of Apple's misplaced priorities in the App Store.
 
jstanier

jstanier

macrumors regular
Sep 6, 2008
148
0
Brighton, England.
Oh, I'm pretty sure somebody will buy it. I assume it's probably just a scary picture and an "exciting" description to hook people into spending their money.
 
V

vandy1997

macrumors regular
Aug 15, 2007
160
0
It may just be a page stating, "Palin wins presidency!". Just kidding!! :D (And I tend to vote Republican, FWIW).
 
V

vandy1997

macrumors regular
Aug 15, 2007
160
0
Those would be two great scary election apps! The version for Democrats would have a picture of McCain and Palin saying "Maahverick" mixed in with thunder and lightning effects, and the version for Republicans would have a picture of Obama and Biden saying "Taaxes", also mixed in with thunder and lighting effects. Haha!! The sad part is that Apple wouldn't approve it by Halloween!!
 
Rojo

Rojo

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 26, 2006
1,328
241
Barcelona
WannaApple? said:
I wouldnt buy it because I dont like scary things and because of the price, but I think it is supposed to be mysterious. If they gave you a screenshot of what it is, or what is scary about it, you wouldnt need to buy it LOL
I think its pretty creative marketing for people that love stuff like that.
Click to expand...

I can understand being mysterious, and not wanting to give anything away in the description or screenshot -- but then give it away for free, or at least a buck max. Don't price it at $5 and expect people to buy it on faith. That's absurd.

vandy1997 said:
It may just be a page stating, "Palin wins presidency!".
Click to expand...

I actually put something like this in my original post, but then took it out because I was worried it would get shuffled into the "Politics...etc" thread. :rolleyes:
 
V

vandy1997

macrumors regular
Aug 15, 2007
160
0
I'm sorry, Rojo. I hope that arn leaves it in the App Store forum. And I don't mean to offend anybody. Sometimes I just wish there were a way to vote "None of the above". It would be quite useful this year. :D

Rojo said:
I can understand being mysterious, and not wanting to give anything away in the description or screenshot -- but then give it away for free, or at least a buck max. Don't price it at $5 and expect people to buy it on faith. That's absurd.



I actually put something like this in my original post, but then took it out because I was worried it would get shuffled into the "Politics...etc" thread. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
 
A

Alicia4065

macrumors regular
Jun 22, 2005
159
0
NJ
I know what you mean, I've only had my Ipod Touch for a week now and I go to youtube and pray that someone put up a video of what I would like to purchase. There is a video of haunted on youtube.

Rojo said:
I keep seeing more and more apps like this coming to the store:
http://appshopper.com/lifestyle/haunted

It's a $5 app, with a bare-bones description, and just one screen-shot which is just a title screen (so basically shows nothing). Going to the developer's site doesn't give any more info. So is it a game? Is it a movie? Is it a picture of a peaceful scene for 30 seconds and then a bogeyman jumps out at you? WTF is this?!?!

Seeing this almost makes me long for the days when we could give reviews without buying apps, just so I can give this one 1-star for the audacity of being on the app store for $5 and not giving even a hint of what the hell it is, other than something "scary"...
Click to expand...
 
R

RRutter

macrumors 6502
Jan 1, 2008
380
0
Austin, TX
Yes they expect people to buy it, those are people who have so much money, or even people that don't have a lot, but they just go through the App store, they see an app that they think will scare them, they get thrilled, and they lose $5. Simple as that ;)

Alicia4065 said:
I know what you mean, I've only had my Ipod Touch for a week now and I go to youtube and pray that someone put up a video of what I would like to purchase. There is a video of haunted on youtube.
Click to expand...

No, what Apple really should do, is make "demos" for Apps in the iTunes store, that only lets you play games a certian amount of time and makes it so you can't play it anymore (or something like that) so people can try the apps before they buy it. I have bought so many stupid apps!
 
Rojo

Rojo

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 26, 2006
1,328
241
Barcelona
Well it looks like there were some unfortunate consumers for this app after all (two 1-star reviews in the U.S. App Store), and they both said that the app is just a 10-15 second clip of an empty room, and Linda Blair from the Excorcist pops up and "scares" you. And...that's it. Basically one of those You Tube videos that you can watch for free turned into a $5 app.

Wow -- I knew it was probably going to be lame and probably not worth $5, but I wasn't expecting a full-on scam.

Just like with the "I am Rich" app, I truly hope Apple removes "Haunted" from the App Store. And while the two people (that we know of) who bought this app might have been naive to buy it, hopefully they're smart enough to at least request a refund...
 
NT1440

NT1440

macrumors Pentium
May 18, 2008
15,093
22,159
lostprophet894 said:
I agree that this is kind of ridiculous... Another shining example of Apple's misplaced priorities in the App Store.
Click to expand...

First people complain about all those restrictions to the app store, now people complain that some apps are crappy......

does not compute
 
njchris

njchris

macrumors regular
Sep 14, 2007
249
21
Palm Desert, Ca USA
So picture this possibility. You d/l it now for free.

Give it to a friend to try out and it scares the bejeezus out of them, causing them to fling your iphone out of their hands as they jump from fright and it crashes on their hard tile floor cracking the glass.

:D
 
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