Demo Question

[lacubs]

why did they stop putting out demo for popular PS3 and 360 games? like MLB 13 and the Walking Dead

[Goodintentions]

Demos are up to the devs/publishers to release and its an added cost to them.which can backfire on them if people dont like the demo. Then that demo cost them teice as much ad they also lose a sale

[lacubs]

i would like to see if i can even play the game before i buy a $59.99

[bobbydrugar]

I think you just made goodintentions point with that statement.

I think this topic has been the source of many a discussion. For a Dev to put out a demo that fully represents a games quality can be both a good and bad thing for the Dev (Mostly because they don't even factor the customer into the equation as to what is good or bad) It can be good in that it could encourage some customers to say this game is awesome and go out and buy it. but on the other hand if it provides a good representation of the game it could completely satisfy the customers need to buy the game because they played it enough and have scratched that itch.

If the Demo is too short and does a poor job representing the game then it will lead to customers going that game sucked and not buying it.

The risk of a dev to release a demo is simple math.

1.) game is represented well and leads to a sale
2.) game is represented well and leads to customer not buying game because they scratched that itch
3.) game is represented poorly and leads to loss of sale.

So in short demo's are really not good business for the devs because they cost time and money to make and two out of three results are no sale.

I know from a customer perspective it would be nice to have some idea what to expect but the dev doesn't care. If you are interested enough you will buy it and that is a sale. if you would not buy it without a demo then you probably would not buy it with a demo or at least not at full price so again they don't care.

Sorry business is business
T

[steve_dave]

Sony, unlike the others, charges devs and publishers to have content on the PS Store. If free content (demo, DLC, etc) is put up, for 60 days a fee is charged for each download. All paid content (games, DLC, etc), the fee is charged for each download for as long as it is on the store. This works against the devs and publishers since the user isn't paying money rather each demo download ends up costing them money.

Source

A few coveted demos and betas end up being PS+ since that helps recoup those costs. Don't want to blind buy or PS+ then Redbox offers game rentals charged per day or take your chances with Gamefly.

[MOONPHASE]

Originally Posted by lacubs

i would like to see if i can even play the game before i buy a $59.99

Well many times there are those 1 hour trials for PS Plus members. But yeah demos are getting more and more rare or sometimes having region-specific demos. Companies want you to spend the $60 for their game no matter how the game turns out and spending time and money making a demo just to them isn't worth the effort. So usually they just make a Youtube trailer for the game just to say this is what the game is like.

[bobbydrugar]

You could also check out online reviews and lets plays to get at least some sense of the game mechanics and if those mechanics fit your play style or interests. Also as mentioned there are usually some form of rental services. not sure where you live but gamefly might be an option.

Thanks,
T

[Groo The Perverted]

Aside from the costs, why would the devs put out a demo when they can potentially sucker in a lot more purchases from those who don't realize the game's gonna suck, or it's not their kinda game?

Doesn't make sense.

[lacubs]

i know this seem dumb but like i am disable and most games i can't play because i can't do the stick, i am little better with the stick but i use the D-PAD mostly 99% of the times so i like to see if i can play a game before i paid $60

[bobbydrugar]

That's not dumb at all. It is in fact a very valid reason for wanting a demo to try before you buy. I myself although not disabled per say am not extremely coordinated and have difficulty with twitch reflex games so I find myself often spending many hours looking at lets play videos and reading as much info as I can before making a purchase that will result in lets just say a secondary purchase of a new controller and wall patching supplies (yes this has happened ) I would think that a service like gamefly if available in your area would be a good way to start so that you could in effect rent the game try it out and if it works for you then you can consider a buy to free up your queue for another game. You may also want to see if any of the game shops (yes even game stop might) allow you the option of testing an in store copy of the game before making a purchase, couldn't hurt to ask.

I do hope you can find a solution to the problem because I think personally demo's may be a basic thing of the past for most games moving forward unless Sony comes through on the promise of try before you buy that they made during the ps-4 announcement.

Thanks,
T

[MOONPHASE]

Originally Posted by Groo The Perverted

Aside from the costs, why would the devs put out a demo when they can potentially sucker in a lot more purchases from those who don't realize the game's gonna suck, or it's not their kinda game?

Doesn't make sense.

Because it's risky. If you have many people who download the demo and say the game sucks, then basically it was a waste of time to either A. Make that demo or more importantly B. That it was a waste of time making the entire game. But if you buy the game and find out for yourself from your own experience playing it, people who make the game get their money to recover the cost of making it, and you have the whole game in your hands to play.

I usually just go by the coverart, trailers, or if it's just made by a company I like before buying the game. I usually don't play demos since it's not really necessary for me since I know what games I would enjoy.

[lacubs]

Originally Posted by bobbydrugar

That's not dumb at all. It is in fact a very valid reason for wanting a demo to try before you buy. I myself although not disabled per say am not extremely coordinated and have difficulty with twitch reflex games so I find myself often spending many hours looking at lets play videos and reading as much info as I can before making a purchase that will result in lets just say a secondary purchase of a new controller and wall patching supplies (yes this has happened ) I would think that a service like gamefly if available in your area would be a good way to start so that you could in effect rent the game try it out and if it works for you then you can consider a buy to free up your queue for another game. You may also want to see if any of the game shops (yes even game stop might) allow you the option of testing an in store copy of the game before making a purchase, couldn't hurt to ask.

I do hope you can find a solution to the problem because I think personally demo's may be a basic thing of the past for most games moving forward unless Sony comes through on the promise of try before you buy that they made during the ps-4 announcement.

Thanks,
T

thanks for a few ideas!

[Icemage]

I'd honestly rather not have developers wasting time and resources on demos if a game isn't going to particularly benefit from it (for instance, what on earth would a demo for a 100+ hour game like Skyrim even show you?).

There are also a lot of demos that aren't particularly representative of the final product even for games that could showcase good gameplay.

Give me some reviews and some in-game video footage and I'm golden. Save the money and time and give me more/polished content instead of wasting energy on a demo.