Well, it’s something at least.  

Many indie developers, including myself, have been saying how important some sort of “Premium” App Store is to the long-term attractiveness of the iPhone as a games platform for a while now.  

Yesterday Apple finally announced they were going some way to addressing these concerns by introducing an additional channel to the App Store.  In addition to “Top Free” and “Top Paid” apps they’re also going to separate out “Top Grossing” apps.

Hopefully that’s just a working title – it certainly doesn’t sound like it’s been through Apple’s mighty marketing machine – but regardless of the somewhat unpleasant nomenclature, it should ensure a reasonably convenient way for developers to differentiate games they’ve invested significant time and trouble to build from all the 60p “pull my finger” gags and their equivalent.

Is it enough to tempt Denki in to the iPhone market? Hmmm… we’ll see. It certainly hasn’t hurt, so I’ll be keeping an open mind as always.

Meanwhile, here’s what Mobile Entertainment had to say about the announcement.

Colin.

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