What 's better value: a £ 300 virtual gun in one game or a freemium £ 10.99 PSP port of 2007?

If you 're not a fan of gaming Freemium models, you might want to look away now. Smartphone publisher Glu Mobile, a gun sold in his gun Bros game for the virtual currency equivalent of $ 500 (£ 306). Not much less than the price of top-end 64GB iPod touch.

This is no joke. The gun is the octopus, which is for mobile gaming site TouchArcade "the Mack Daddy of all premium unlockable weapons ... which to vaporize all enemies in the immediate vicinity promises". It costs 3499 by Gun Bros 'war dollar currency, sold in packs of 710 for $ 99 over in-app-payments: therefore the $ 500 figure.

Money for a weapon that makes you essentially unbeatable spent? Or just an expensive way to make the game no fun at all? As the heated debate about these shows apps blog post about Freemium gaming, many people are confused at the thought - in the words of Guardian Community Member R042 - "Just pay what little gameplay there to remove it immediately from everything ".

The phenomenon of so-called whales, the amount of money paid within freemium games is well known, but charging $ 500 for a virtual object is a rarity. Social situation Gbanga game sensation March 2011, when there is a $ 99 World Domination Satellite position (and sold a few hours) are presented, but you could buy five of this gun for an octopus.

In contrast, Square Enix 's pricing of its new Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions iPhone game is relatively restrained. Nevertheless, here's an example looking for a publisher to stretch the accepted limits for IOS game pricing.

The game - a tactical RPG \ on the publisher's renowned fantasy franchise-base - went live today on the App Store as a paid app costs £ 10.99.

As of this writing, it 's eighth top grossing iPhone game in the UK App Store, two places ahead of 69p Angry Birds, although behind Freemium Title Zynga Poker, Smurfs' Village, Tap Pet Hotel, Tap Zoo, Zombie Gunship and Tiny Tower.

£ 10.99, though. It feels like a piece, given the history of the title. It was first released on PlayStation in 1997, then launched in 2007 new for Sony 's PSP handheld with the War of the Lions subtitles. It 's that has been released for the iPhone, albeit with a touch-screen controls, faster load times and optimize graphics.

You don 't have to ask a cheapskate that both Glu and Square Enix are, frankly, by selecting them with their pricing strategies. But it 's their right to any price they like for their games and things, and either reap the rewards or commmercial quickly bring the cost lower, if the players their (virtual) keep wallets in their pockets.

Part of the fascination of mobile gaming in 2011 is that there is still a tremendous amount of experimentation happening around pricing. A marketplace where companies like EA routinely drop the cost of its biggest brands to 69p, but where virtual weapons for 443-times that price at least could never be accused of boring offered.