Don't Do Demos After Game Releases (ObnoxiousGamer)

Demo’s are just that – demonstrations of what a game may offer. They are primarily done before a game is released and are intended to lure buyers in with there shows of gameplay, graphics and design. So why, oh why would publishers decide to create a demo AFTER a game has been released.

[MariaHelFutura]

2 reasons.

1. The game sucks.
2. The game is gonna sell w/ or w/o a demo because it already has a following from a previous itteration.

[AAACE5]

The idea behind demos are to give people who are interested in a game a taste of what to expect and to help build interest in a game by word of mouth!

This works well when the game is highly anticipated and good. So they release the demo before release to make this happen.

This also happens when they really want to get people interested in a game that is being overlooked!

The thing I hate is when they release demos after a highly anticipated game releases and the game sucked!

That means they knew the game wasn't that good, but they decided to let us impulse buy the game because it's cover looked cool!

Then you got the ones who don't release a demo at all and would just force you to spend your money to find out if the game is good or not!

That last one used to be ok when you had a company like Nintendo who put their seal of quality on games meaning it had to pass certain criteria to make it on their console.

Buy with the way the industry has morphed since then, you can easily buy some garbage games!

Which brings me to my final point...

You d*ckless b*tches need to quit complaining about games like CoD and Halo and Killzone! Millions of people buy, play and love these games!

You just have to accept the fact that these games just aren't for you! millions of people love Oblivion and Fallout, but I don't like them...

Guess what?

I accepted that those games weren't for me and moved on!

CoD is a somewhat arcadey fast paced shooter, and I get enjoyment from playing it!

Is it the most realistic shooter?

Who gives a f*ck as long as people are having fun with it!

Battlefield 3 may be the most realistic shooter we see this gen, yet it won't change the entertainment value I get from playing CoD games!

I will like both of them equally!

The bad thing about a lot of gamers is that they are looking for the best!

What they fail to realize is that looking for that 1 thing to be the best pushes us towards that 1 console, limited game future!

Gaming became great because of variety!

NES brought variety in having many different choices in games. Ps1 and 2 brought many different choices in games which is what helped Sony dominate.

With this gen, we have lost at least 60% of that variety and dumb sh*ts have the nerve to argue over who has the most exclusives?

Most games are going multiplat and pretty soon we may all be playing on 1 console developed by Nintendo, Sony and MS!

[ASSASSYN 36o]

Have you ever heard of a paragraph? And there will never be one console. That is a pipe dream.

[electricshadow]

Holy Batman wall of text! But, I read it all and I agree with you with the majority of things you said, except for the one console point. That probably won't ever happen, but it's not completely out of the question.

[BongSmack]

How! Could. You! Possibly! Know! If! You. Will! Enjoy... Them! Equally... If? They're! Still! Several? Months! Away! From! Release! Sony! And! MS. Together? NO!

[PirateThom]

"That last one used to be ok when you had a company like Nintendo who put their seal of quality on games meaning it had to pass certain criteria to make it on their console."

No, that was some crap to stop publishers releasing too many games a year, hence Konami publishing things under Ultra Games to release more titles. Basically, that seal was Nintendo's way of controlling the market and stopping flooding of games, if publisher could only put out a certain numbr of games per year, it was in their interest to make sure they were good... however, in no way, did it stop terrible games being released, there's a ton of awful games in the NES library. Bad Dudes vs Dragon Ninja? Dragon's Lair? They bare Nintendo's Seal of Quality but, in the NES days, that was just to say "this game works" and "this is one game of a publishers allowance".

[shaun mcwayne]

there was a reach beta before release, i think of some betas as a demo that helps the end product.

[awiseman]

So why is he ranting about Halo Reach when MW2 and Broken Ops both did the same thing? At least we know that Halo Reach was actually a good game..

[Aloren]

And so did uncharted 2 and MGS4. A demo is always nice...

[WildArmed]

Aye.
It's important to understand that to make a DEMO means to allocating precious resources. This sometimes isn't feasible with some games. as they need everyone to be focusing on the retail game.
Once their game launches, it's a great time to release a demo so the market on the edge of their seats can make their impression.

[Dark_king]

Yea but Uncharted and Reach both had public betas with were as good as demos to me.

[egidem]

It's for a good marketing strategy. Activision does the same thing with their Call of Duty games. They want to capitalize on the hype and launch sales this way if there are problems and bugs discovered in the game after launch, they can fix them with patches (if they are in the mood to) but AFTER they have collected your hard earned cash.

Imagine what would've happened if they released a Black Ops demo before the game went on sale. We know that the PS3 and PC versions particularly contained bugs. Had people discovered these bugs during a pre-launch demo, they would have had doubts on getting the game on day one. Or had they discovered that this game looked worse than its predecessor (MW2), they wouldn't have just bought it out of hype.

This very same hype is what matters to Activision and encourages them to keep on applying the same formula for every release since it works. They want you to buy the game. They don't give a crap about your feelings if, say you happen to be disappointed or let down by the fact that the game didn't meet your expectations. Not at all. All they wanted was your money. It's a cruel marketing strategy but it works. On the topic at hand, I find it retarded of them to release a demo of a game while pretty much everyone who wanted to play the game already has a full copy. It just doesn't make sense. :S

In short:

Gamer: "Cool, a new Call of Duty! Is it better than the last one?"

Activision: "Yes indeed! Brand new engine, new destruction technology, bigger battles and so much more! Look at the trailer we gave you. This is just a mere glimpse of what the next Call of Duty will look like!"

Gamer: "Really?? Are you kidding me?? Awesome!! Can we expect a demo before the game releases? I can't wait to try this on my PS3!!"

Activision: "Er...Hmm...Demos don't really do justice for the game and don't represent the final product! This is a completely new revolutionary experience for the Call of Duty brand, one that can ONLY be experienced in the FULL game for a mere $59.99! Pre-order now!!"

-The day finally arrives. Gamer gets his copy of Black Ops, puts it in his PS3 and discover lots of bugs and features not working.

Talks to Activision: "There are lots of bugs...and some features and joining matches isn't worki-" turns around to look at Activision, sees them running away to the Bank with the money.

Gamer: "Oh Bobby you son of a "

[Bigpappy]

Nah! A demo at any time in the life cycle is a good thing.

[bumnut]

It is but no demo before release makes me thing someone is trying to hide something.

[ASSASSYN 36o]

Who was hiding when a public beta for halo reach came out months before the game released?

[bumnut]

What I mean is a lack of a demo before release makes me think that the devs are trying to hide how bad their game is, I bought Homefront and Testdrive Unlimited 2.

If both games had a demo, I would not have bought them.

[Rybakov]

do a demo for big game releases not dumb things like sonic riders or Apache Assault

[KMxRetro]

The big game releases are big game releases because of hype. Demos help to build that hype.

Plus, just because you don't like Sonic Free Riders or Apache Assault, doesn't mean that someone else won't.

[Rybakov]

lawlz but no one did

[dirthurts]

I'll take a late demo over no demo at all.
What really gets me is when the pc gets no demo, when consoles do. I don't buy any game that does that.

[showtimefolks]

before the release of the game if a game is more for single player that's what needs to be released but if MP is just as big of a thing for a game than having both is the way to go

but if a publisher or devs don't have confidence in their game than we will never see demos before release

i give you a clear example why demos are great for gamers yet bad for business

ENSLAVED: many gamers were interested in the game till we all played the demo and said to ourself this game isn't worth 60

[KMxRetro]

"ENSLAVED: many gamers were interested in the game till we all played the demo and said to ourself this game isn't worth 60"

And these "gamers" want what from their games, exactly? Enslaved was a beautiful, intelligent game with some superb voice acting. It wasn't the greatest game in the world, but given the absolute crap that gets released for $60 these days, I'd say that its up in the top 10%.

[WetN00dle69]

I was in a WTF kinda state of mind when i saw the Halo reach demo this morning. I mean seriously if you have nothing to release then WHY in the fck will you post the demo to a title that has been released for awhile now.

[KMxRetro]

I haven't played it yet, as it didn't interest me all that much, and I was busy with a thousand other games when it released.

I downloaded the demo last night, then ordered a copy from Amazon, because I enjoyed it.

Does that explain why?

[ASSASSYN 36o]

Yeah never mind that beta months before release of reach. I guess you didn't get the memo.

[KMxRetro]

Or, alternatively, I wasn't all that interested when I got my VIP press invite to the Beta. Was burned out on shooters, at the time.

Guess you didn't get the memo about everyone having the same opinion of everything.

[ASSASSYN 36o]

I was not talking to you.

[WetN00dle69]

Its still late for the fracking party! Plain and simple. I couldnt give a rats *** if Johnny Whistler or Two Ton Bill hasnt played it! THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS, they released the demo WAY after the game was released on the market! Shouldnt demo be released before titles come out? That way people wont get shafted from their hard earned money.