尽管亚马逊应用商店Appstore目前仅向美国用户开放服务，但它的亮相仍博得了业内的普遍赞誉。虽然这个新晋应用商店登台仅一周左右，但我们仍可从其游戏产品售价和类型这个角度，观察它与谷歌Android Market、苹果App Store存在的差异。

pocketgamer日前选择了该应用商店其中的50款游戏，与App Store和Android Market的同款产品进行了对比。

游戏邦发现，在亚马逊Appstore的这50款游戏中，有5款游戏未曾在Android Market露面，最明显的例子就是《Angry Birds Rio》，该游戏仅限亚马逊Appstore独家发售；除此之外，Glu Mobile公司的数款游戏以及Jet Set工作室的《Highborn》也仅在这个新应用商店提供下载。

另外需要指出的是，这其中有15款手机游戏并未出现在iOS平台。

以下是亚马逊Appstore前20名付费游戏（这是2011年3月29日的排名情况）与App Store、Android Market的售价对比图：

amazon-appstore-android-top20

至于游戏售价方面，这家应用商店出现了两种相反的趋势，游戏邦认为这或许与亚马逊掌握了游戏定价权有关。

据游戏邦观察多数Android游戏的售价都相同，但也有些发行商却选择将亚马逊Appstore的产品售价调得更低。

例如，HeroCraft推出的《Majesty》在亚马逊平台的定价是1.99美元，但在Android Market却是2.99美元，而《Farm Frenzy》在亚马逊是1.99美元，但在Android Market却标为1.99英磅（约合3.2美元）。另外，Android手机游戏开发商Hexage推出的《打蜜蜂》高清版在亚马逊是1.99美元，但在Android Market却需要1.49英磅（约合2.38美元）。

因为亚马逊主导了游戏定价权，所以韩国公司Gamevil旗下的《超级棒球明星2011》在Appstore的售价比在Android Market便宜了1美元。

另一种情况是，至少有一家发行商打算借机观察Appstore是否比其他平台更容易创收。

最典型的例子就是Glu Mobile，该公司的免费游戏《玩具店历险记》在Android Market同时提供了免费以及2.99美元的付费版本，但在亚马逊平台却只发售2.99美元的付费版本。

该公司的另外两款游戏《Glyder 2》和《Bonsai Blast》在Android Market均同时提供免费和付费版本，但在亚马逊Appstore仅发布付费版本。

由此可以看出，用户对亚马逊品牌的信赖，以及亚马逊简便的消费模式，或许是这些手机游戏采取不同定价策略的原因所在。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

Analysis: Amazon Appstore has cheaper and exclusive Android titles, but Glu is selling freemium games

There’s been plenty of excitement about the launch of the Amazon Appstore for Android, despite it only being available for US consumers.

And while we’re just a week into its life, it’s a good opportunity to take a quick look at how it’s shaping up compared to the Android Market and the Apple App Store.

New kid

In order to do this, I’ve broken down the availability and pricing of 50 games on the Amazon Appstore with its competitors.

Obviously, all 50 are listed on Amazon, while five aren’t listed on the Android Market, notably Angry Birds Rio, which is currently exclusive to Amazon, as well as a couple of Glu titles and Jet Set’s Highborn.

Incidentally, the growing maturity of Android as a platform can be seen as 15 of the 50 aren’t available for iOS.

You can see how the top 20 paid games (from 29 March 2011) on the Amazon Appstore compare in the following table.

A value proposition

When it comes to pricing – something Amazon is expected to shake up with its deals system – there are two contradictory trends.

Most Android prices are the same, but, as expected, some games are cheaper on the Amazon Appstore due to publishers’ decision.

For example, HeroCraft’s Majesty is $1.99 on Amazon but $2.99 on Android Market, while its Farm Frenzy is $1.99 on Amazon and £1.99 (c. $3.20) on Android market. Similarly, Android specialist developer Hexage has Radiant HD at $1.99 on Amazon and £1.49 (c. $2.38) on Android Market.

Alternatively Gamevil’s Baseball Superstars 2011 is $1 cheaper on the Appstore for Android because Amazon has itself cut the price as one of its deals.

All about context

What’s much more fascinating though is at least one publisher is using Amazon’s brand as the opportunity to see if it can charge more than on other platforms.

That example is Glu Mobile, which is playing a very interesting game. Its freemium title Toyshop Adventures is – as you’d expect – available for free on the Android Market, or you can get an ad-free, Extra Bonus version for $2.99. On Amazon Appstore, only the $2.99 version is available.

It’s a similar situation with Glu’s Glyder 2 and Bonsai Blast, both available for free or paid ad-free versions on the Android Market, but only in paid versions on Amazon.

The consumer trust of the Amazon brand, combined with the easy of purchase, would seem to reason for what would otherwise would be a very strange pricing decision. （source:pocketgamer）