”Not intent with charging for games traditionally, [ngmoco has] opted to release games for free and require you to pay-to-play.

ngmoco’s slippery slope: Eliminate and TouchPets - matthewrex

My gut reaction is the same as Matt’s, accusing ngmoco of greed and falling from their pedestal. But then I wonder about what’s involved with running and supporting a mobile game that is as bandwidth-intensive as Eliminate. It’s a multiplayer high-action iPhone FPS in a deathmatch format, playable over both WiFi and 3G. Gotta wonder what the bandwidth costs are for that, especially since other high-bandwidth applications like Sling Player have been shot down by AT&T unless their 3G network abilities are handicapped.

Eliminate is free, and you get what sounds like about 15 minutes of free game time every day (or two?) before you need to purchase credits if you want to play more. Honestly, considering Eliminate’s mobility, that sounds fairly reasonable to me. Then again, I don’t have a lot of time to game during the day, and I much prefer to be armed with a keyboard and mouse for a FPS.

Love it or hate it, this brave new connected world is difficult and expensive to maintain. New business models for applications like this may be only the beginning.