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Wednesday, June 15, 2022

Simultaneous Remove and Replace: The Case of the Dollar Discrepancy for Ace Attorney Trilogy Mobile

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - I don't have all the answers, but I do ask the right questions.

Recall that in Japan and around the rest of the world, CAPCOM had announced that they were taking down Ace Attorney Trilogy HD from the mobile app stores that they were available on as of June 9, and then in “the summer” they would replace it with a proper port of the significantly superior Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy (2019) that released on consoles and PC. It turns out that they did the removal and the replacing on the same day (or the day after, June 10). Now you can download Ace Attorney Trilogy on your mobile device, and if you're in the United States, that's for the first time ever on Android. Here's a trailer:



This isn't the first time in very recent memory where CAPCOM doesn't know when summer is. You may remember that they had an announcement of an announcement of an announcement that there would be more Street Fighter 6 information available in “the summer.” However, the next Street Fighter 6 information available came from June 2, 2022 PlayStation State of Play, where it was featured as one of the biggest and central announcements.

But there is another mystery involved besides why CAPCOM repeatedly can't figure out when the [Northern Hemisphere] seasons begin. I'll see if you can figure out what the mystery is by giving you an archived page of the Google Play listing of Ace Attorney Trilogy and the Apple App Store listing of Ace Attorney Trilogy as of June 10, 2022. ...Keep reading if you need me to spell it out for you. (Or if you want to read my discussion about it and the rest of the article. Which you should want to do that.)


Why was the App Store version at $19.99, while the Google Play version was at $18.99? Now, they do say, “We're holding a limited-time sale until June 15 to celebrate the release!” on both listings. And if you look at the YouTube description of the above trailer, it states that the normal price is $24.99. (By comparison, the price of the original bad Ace Attorney HD that got replaced was $16.99 for all three games, or since you could buy the games individually, $5.99 for Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney [note that the first two cases of this game were free], $6.99 for Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice For All, and $6.99 for Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials & Tribulations.)

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Trilogy smartphone after Sahwit threw wig
Phoenix Wright isn't happy about this dollar discrepancy.
(And then the two dollar discrepancy on full pricing.)


The ACTUAL full prices, after the sale ended today, are $22.99 on the Google Play Store, and $24.99 on the App Store. I don't know why there is a TWO dollar discrepancy in these prices.

Let's compare the full prices to the other Ace Attorney titles currently on both platforms (in the United States):
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
A one-time $15.99 on the Google Play Store
$0.99+$14.99 ($15.98) on the App Store, or $.99+$16.96 ($17.95) if you buy all of the episodes separately
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney–Dual Destinies
A one-time $19.99 on the Google Play Store for the full story, the DLC episode, and the Costume Set
$0.99+$14.99 on the App Store for the full story (or you can get the full story for $19.96 if purchased separately), plus $2.99 for the DLC episode, plus $0.99 for the Costume Set (for a total of $19.96 for all of the content at the least cost)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney–Spirit of Justice
A one-time $19.99 on the Google Play Store for the full story, the DLC episode, and the Costume Set
$0.99+$14.99 on the App Store for the full story (or you can get the full story for $19.96 if purchased separately), plus $2.99 for the DLC episode, plus $0.99 for the Costume Set (for a total of $19.96 for all of the content at the least cost)
Ace Attorney Investigations - Miles Edgeworth
A one-time $15.99 on the Google Play Store
$0.99 for the first episode, plus $14.99 for the rest of the story (for a total of $15.98); or you can buy the rest of the four episodes separately for $4.99 each for some reason ($0.99 + $19.96)

It seems like if you buy everything optimally, you will basically have the same costs on both platforms. It's just that everything on Google Play is a one-time purchase, while Apple's likes to split things up into tinier pieces, presumably to fool people into thinking it's less costly than it actually is. AND YET... during this Ace Attorney Trilogy sale, Apple customers gotta pay more.

There was simultaneously a Monster Hunter Stories (the first one) sale until July 10 on both platforms where they are each $4.99. Why is that the same discounted price but not Ace Attorney Trilogy?

Despite the above list, for Ace Attorney Trilogy on the App Store currently, everything is included for $24.99. It was a 20% sale for them for the first few days of release ($24.99 → $19.99), and a ~17.4% sale for Google Play customers for the first few days ($22.99→$18.99). Why were the discount percents different? Why were the sale prices different? Why are the full prices different? Why does the Ace Attorney Trilogy trailer advertise only one of the prices, and why was the one they chose the more expensive one? Why didn't CAPCOM mention their new release of Ace Attorney Trilogy at the CAPCOM Showcase 2022 that just happened?

I'd like to know the answers to those questions. Any theories?



Why do Apple customers have to pay a higher price for Ace Attorney Trilogy normally and while it's on sale compared to Android users, when this premium pricing doesn't exist for CAPCOM's other mobile titles? To clarify: $25 is still less than the $30 that the Trilogy is priced at on consoles and PC.


CAPCOM would prove a third time in 2022 that they don't know the boundaries of the season of summer, with an “end of summer” sale that ended at the end of August.

8 comments :

  1. Ah, but are they REALLY not realizing when summer is, or is there just somebody with a voice to how and when these announcements go out that enjoys that particular flavor of smartassery?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Apple customers always pay more. One day we’ll learn, but that day is not today. I’m still made that apple changed the ends of their charger wires so that you can no longer charge phones from computers slots or in car ports.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OBJECTION!

      The evidence collected in this article demonstrates that, besides Ace Attorney Trilogy, Apple customers can pay the same amount as Google customers for CAPCOM's other mobile titles.

      Delete
    2. HOLD IT!

      That may very well be true, but as you yourself said, Apple customers are paying more for this ace attorney trilogy. So regardless of what apple and Samsung pay the same price for, if there was going to be one person to pay more, that person would be an Apple user. As the evidence and you yourself said.

      (Cue breakdown)

      Delete
    3. W-Well...
      Someone needs to do a comprehensive analysis of average price levels and differences for the same app between the two stores. >:(
      (I don't want "someone" to be me, but I went looking for this content on search engines and couldn't find it.)

      Delete
  3. I tried finding if there was any reason for this, and I saw discussions about other apps where people were wondering why they cost more on iOS. One person said Apple takes a higher fee, and therefore companies charge more, but other people said this is false.

    I also saw it suggested that sales have shown developers that Apple customers are willing to pay more.

    One reason given for that is that you can only get iOS apps from the App store, while Android users can buy apps from places besides the Google Play store, so therefore iOS users will buy apps at a higher price because it is their only option. I don't know if that's true, though, or if it would affect Ace Attorney.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If only Epic Games did a proper analysis to demonstrate consumer harm in their lawsuit vs. Apple and show higher prices.

      Others (might've been me, too) have pointed out that Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony all have monopolies over digital game distribution on their consoles, and if Epic won, something might've happened with those. Unclear if those monopolies are the reason for higher prices on consoles.

      Delete

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