Game demos

[snowieken]

I was pretty interested in the new RPG from Zuxxez, "Two worlds", but there is no demo to be found. Come to think of it, there are several games without a demo... I don't know about the rest of the world, but I like to test games before I am spending around 50 € to buy one. For now I will not buy the game, because I am not certain it will appeal to me before I have experienced a demo. Screenshots and trailers don't tell me enough, and even gameplay movies are far from the real thing.

Am I the only one who doesn't understand the business stupidity of not creating a demo for your new game? Is there some kind of reason I am missing here?

[Vulcanz]

im pretty sure its on the 360, and i think if it is there a demo on xbox-live but thats about it i guess......

[Summër]

Here's the deal. I'll download it off of the Xbox Live Marketplace, play it, and tell you how it is. >.<

I WOULD say rent it, but if it's a PC game, I guess that's kind of out of the question...

[snowieken]

Thanks for the offer, Summër, but if a gameplay movie doesn't cut it for me, someone playing it and then giving an opinion isn't exactly what I need. I can read reviews as well. :grin:

And I am a PC gamer. The only console I own is my old NES (yes, the full whooping 8 bit one). Granted, I'm still getting a lot of enjoyment from that one, but I won't get into the so-called "next-gen" consoles - not yet anyway. They just don't peek my interest...

But "Two Worlds" aside, what would be a good reason for not making a demo? They are losing at least one possible buyer because of that.

[Summër]

Send a disgruntled e-mail then. It does seem pretty odd that they don't even have a demo.

"Dear creators of 'Two Worlds', I R ANGRY AT U 4 NOT MKING A DEMO!!!111"

If anything, that should get their attention. Other than that, I guess you're going to have to rely on a gameplay video. :sad:

[Tikki]

I know you can apply to try a free beta version for a lot of games...perhaps you may want to check into that :)

[snowieken]

Maybe they're worried that their game is crap and a demo would reveal that! :wink2:

[Summër]

Ha, sounds like a good selling method.

"As long as they buy it first, we'll STILL make oodles of money."

[Sibkik]

They may lose alot of customers to not having a demo but I'm sure they sell enough without a demo that they could care less.
I think word of mouth has alot to do with it, or they figure one guy out of a group of 10 buys it, all 10 of them try it and the rest will go buy it if they wanna play with out having to listen to their buddies old lady whining about friends being over all the time... That's their demo.

[Valas Azuviir]

Maybe they're worried that their game is crap and a demo would reveal that! :wink2:

There's that angle as well. Applies to a number of games too.
Other issue is that demos tend to have the same executables, makes it easier for the crackers to crack the games, head start and all that jazz.