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How to get notified when BioShock for iOS has a price drop

Not keen to spend $15 on the mobile version of the desktop classic? Wait for it to go on sale. Here's how to keep tabs on BioShock's price.

Rick Broida Senior Editor
Rick Broida is the author of numerous books and thousands of reviews, features and blog posts. He writes CNET's popular Cheapskate blog and co-hosts Protocol 1: A Travelers Podcast (about the TV show Travelers). He lives in Michigan, where he previously owned two escape rooms (chronicled in the ebook "I Was a Middle-Aged Zombie").
Rick Broida
2 min read

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The real shock is the price! Photo by Rick Broida/CNET

In case you missed the news, BioShock just arrived in the App Store for iPhone and iPad.

Actually, that's the good news. The bad news is that it's priced at $14.99 (AU$18.99 and £10.49), making it one of the most expensive iOS games around.

Is it worth it? As a longtime fan of the game, I definitely think BioShock is worth playing. However, the desktop version sells for just $5 more, and routinely goes on sale for under $10. (I've seen it as low as $4.99.) So $15 for the mobile version feels a little steep.

But I guarantee you it won't be that steep forever -- and maybe not even for long. Historically speaking, other "premium" iOS games that have debuted with higher-than-average prices have gone on sale -- or seen outright price drops -- within a couple months. Dragon Quest VIII, for example, debuted in May with a $19.99 price tag, but it's currently on sale for $14.99. Once the dust settles on BioShock, I'm sure it'll come down.

OK, but short of visiting the App Store every day, how will you know when that happens? As it happens, there are a couple ways to let bots do the work for you.

For starters, check out Jason Cipriani's recent tutorial on discovering when apps go on sale. It relies on two services, AppZapp and If This Then That (IFTTT), to deliver alerts when top App Store apps go free or on sale.

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Use AppShopper to track BioShock price drops. Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET

That's a handy option, to be sure, but it's not specific to BioShock. For that, head to AppShopper, sign up for an account, then search for BioShock. (Needless to say, you could do this for any other game or app as well.) In the search results (making sure to zero in on the "iOS Universal" version), click Want It to add the game to your wish list.

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Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET

Now, click the Wish List tab up top and then look for the Price Drop Notifications box on the right. Enable "Notify me of price drops via e-mail" and you're all done! Now, as soon as BioShock's price drops, you'll know about it.

That leads to the following question: How low does the price need to go before you'll pull the trigger?