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Apple changes purchase policy so your kids don't max out your credit card
The Washington Post is reporting that Apple has changed its policy on in-app purchases on iOS devices to protect users from accidentally toting up huge iTunes charges. iOS 4.3 has a feature that requires a password when any purchases are made within an application after it has been downloaded. This is in response to situations where children were sometimes purchasing hundreds of dollars worth of in-app purchases within 15 minutes after an app was first downloaded. Two games in particular were responsible for numerous occurrences of big purchases by kids -- Smurfs' Village and Tap Zoo. Now that iOS 4.3 is making its way to many iOS devices, a password is not only required to purchase an app on the App Store, but the password will also be required when you make an in-app purchase. By doing this, the user is made aware of the iTunes charges being made by having to enter their password. Once you've made one in-app purchase and entered your password, you can make other recurring charges within 15 minutes without reentering the password. That makes it possible to quickly make multiple charges without having to reenter your password for every charge. The changes were added to iOS 4.3 as a response to numerous complaints from parents who were upset that their kids were buying "snowflakes" and "Smurfberries" at $99 a barrel without realizing that their parents were being charged actual money for those purchases. These complaints were beginning to surface in the Attorney General's office in a number of states, forcing Apple to look into the issue and respond. It will also help if developers take some responsibility and take the temptation to purchase expensive "virtual products" away from children. [via Techmeme]
Capcom denies rift with Apple over Smurfs' Village in-app purchases
Did Apple take Capcom to task over the in-app purchase fiasco in the company's Smurfs' Village game for iOS? That was the rumor going around earlier today, after Pocket Gamer reported that it had heard from a "well placed source" who said that Apple had some "strong words" for the game maker. Capcom has now come out and denied any such rift, however, saying in a statement that "we are in frequent communication with Apple, and at no point have they expressed any displeasure to any representatives of Capcom Mobile in regards to our handling of in-app purchases within Smurfs' Village." Interestingly, Pocket Gamer's original report also claimed that Apple was considering a change to its current 15 minute password window to reduce inadvertent in-app purchases, and Capcom says that it would welcome such a move -- although it's not aware of any impending change.
Parental supervision shocker! iPad use leads to costly in-app Smurfberry orders
After the Soviet Union collapsed, many of its so-called satellite states had to struggle to find ways to keep afloat -- none more so than Smurf Village, that bastion of communal living where everyone looks nearly identical, has the same surname, and works "according to his ability" (and in return lives "according to his needs"). How has Papa Smurf and Co. survived in the post-Soviet geopolitical climate? It seems that Capcom's Smurfs' Village game for iOS might be free, but the in-app purchases will cost you dearly. Actually, it's the in-app purchases that your pre-literate toddlers make that will cost you dearly. And this is a lesson that a lot of parents are finding out, according to a recent AP article, which notes that "warnings may alert parents, but it's doubtful that they'd deter children who can't read and don't understand money." Sure, Smurfberries may grow freely on magical trees, but a virtual wheelbarrow full of 'em will run you $60.
Capcom's free-to-play Smurfs' Village out-grossing Angry Birds
If you, like me, responded to the release of Smurfs' Village by saying, "Really? A freemium game from Capcom? Based on the Smurfs franchise?" then you probably want to rethink how the App Store works, because apparently it's a hit -- Smurfs' Village has topped even Angry Birds recently for the top grossing app on the App Store. The game is free-to-play, though players can buy "smurfberries" via in-app purchase that work like mojo in We Rule to speed up growth of players' crops or buildings. And those smurfberries must be selling like hotcakes, because the game is trouncing Angry Birds' millions and millions of 99-cent downloads. It'll be really interesting to see what effect this has on the market as a whole. Sega just released a freemium MMO in the form of a game called Kingdom Conquest, and EA is scheduled to do the same very soon. Capcom has been fumbling around for a big hit on the iPhone with all of their various properties, and while the Street Fighter IV game has been doing well, it hasn't seen nearly the intake that this Smurfs game has. Which probably means we can see some more freemium games coming from Capcom and other big companies in the future. You have to wonder who's spending all this money on these things -- are there legitimate game buyers out there shelling out for smurfberries instead of Starbucks, or is this all kids whose parents will be extremely surprised when the iTunes bill comes in next month?
