Schell Games CEO and Puzzle Clubhouse creator insists game demos harm game sales

GameDynamo - "According to Schell, and the figures he presented, the best way to generate sales was through a teaser trailer; something that makes people want to try a game, but doesn't give them any opportunity to actually do so without purchasing it."

[majiebeast]

Yeah cause ppl can try your shitty game before they buy it.

[Gamesgbkiller]

But sometimes the demo is a really different thing from the final game .. happens a lot.

[Topshelfcheese]

Doesnt happen that often, I've yet to actually see a demo be that much different than the game, except for the fact that they usually string together story sequences in a different order.

[SilentNegotiator]

Solution: Create a demo that actually REPRESENTS the game.

Non-issue.

[Muffins1223]

That's the developer's fault for releasing a bad demo...and if its a game that is only good when you get really far into it,then dont release a demo at all.Simple as that.

[AJBACK2FRAG]

I think Retro studios is working on a new Eternal Darkness.

[Mounce]

Who's Schell Games? Never heard of em....really...who?

Unwarranted-Self-Importance speech? Now....if Hideo Kojima said this or Miyamoto or David Jaffe orrrr Ken Levine even....but, who the fuck is this guy?

Demos can certainly hurt retail sales....if you HALF-ASS the demo and your game is ALSO half-assed. Him saying "Dont make demos' as a way of saying "Our game sucks so much ass, that we can't even give you a Demo-nstration of it because we fear you'll see the games' true colors before launch, making us not gain any money based on forcing the consumers to be in a corner of ignorance"

Sounds like that summed up. Give a demo and risk perception of it being Honest and truthful.....or confidently give a demo when you know your game is ready, has a chance, and the Demo-nstration succeeds at its job....Luring more interest than what was originally conceived.

Jesse Schell is a moron. Case closed.

[fsfsxii]

Because it would harm your shitty game's sales???
Idiot.

[MasterCornholio]

Just make sure your demo isn't terrible then or better yet make better games.

[PopRocks359]

That's really awful logic. As if no good games failed simply because no one knew about them or crappy marketing. The likes of Oddworld and Double Fine's work come to mind.

[Kyosuke_Sanada]

Then you know what else will harm sales, the sudden increase in refunds........

[isarai]

it only harms your game if your game is shit, in which case you don't deserve the sales anyways

[Godmars290]

Simple solution: make demos that are more representative of your game. Don't put out old or dumbed downed builds.

Unless he's talking about $1 to $5 games, I'm not seeing how you can expect buy something unseen that ranges from $60 and up.

[Reborn]

Put out a good quality demo, sales will follow. Poor attempt to justify sloppy work.

[GaySkull]

There are so many great demos that compelled us to buy the whole game.

[smashcrashbash]

Well everything has it's pros and cons. I guess that is just one of the cons.Pro it helps show people a sample of your game. Con, it makes people make irrational knee jerk judgements about your game.

[Munnkyman]

Yeah of course it does if you make a crappy game. He is basically saying if you make a shitty game don't put out a demo and have people buy it off of hype and get screwed.

[cyhm3112]

This dickhead want to cheat on your money,hahaha

[Skynetone]

For a lot of demos i wish they would give more then one level, because for the most part i cant make up my mind on a single level, so that means no sale

finish the demo on hard and get 5 bucks off the game, or 50 ms points / psn points, you can bet your demo will be the most played demo

[Qrphe]

The Sly Cooper demo made me buy it.

[Enigma_2099]

What a load of bull****. You know, we had an entire generation of PSX/Saturn/XBox/PS2 demos, and this didn't happen. Just how crappy was the game you were trying to pedal?

[Stedron]

Did any of you watch the video?

[Skate-AK]

Never heard of him or the company.

[jeremyj2913]

Made since from a business standpoint, but as a consumer I'm not really too enthusiastic about spending my money on something i've only seen per rendered and/or played by someone else who is usually not as good at gaming as others.