Thoughts on studios not releasing demos?

[Groo The Perverted]

So over the course of this past year I've spent a shit ton of money on games via the PSN. I'd say the vast majority of those were ones I had zero knowledge of before buying it.

And I found that many of the regret purchases would not have been purchased if there had been a demo that I could play and see how it goes.

Now a few of those I'll chalk up to being a fluke with me, as I seem to have been the only people in the world that never played Marvel v. Capcom 2 or Dragon's Lair, both I bought for a total of 25 bucks, and both I despised and only played once.

The Demo for MVC2 was a multiplayer only, and I have only one controller, so it was the same in my eyes as not releasing a demo at all, at least for me.

Those I can write off as a fluke because most people had played those before and knew they either liked or disliked it.

However there's a trend of studios not releasing a demo until a month or so after it's released, or not at all. In my eyes, this is simply the exact same thing as a movie studio refusing to screen a movie before critics in advance of it opening. We all know what that means, and when we see "was not screened for critics" we know that the movie probably sucks, and the studios didn't want to risk bad word of mouth from ruining the 1st weekend take.

There's no reason I can think of, unless they're just pinching their pennies, that they can't release a demo of at least a single level so people can get a feel for the controls and how it works, plays and feels.

Even that shitty ass Soul Calibur IV demo which doesn't even let you play a full fight is better than nothing, and it could prevent people from wasting money on games they'll never play after once or twice.

That's why I've decided that from now on, on the PSN store if there's no demo, it's not getting my money. Unless it's offered for free from the PSN+ section. I feel, and this could just be me, that some of these studios know for a fact that their games are a piece of shit, and if they offer a demo up that it will cut into the blind buy sales that would never happen if a demo was available.

As I said, maybe this is just me. But I've grown tired of spending money on worthless trash games, and I'm sure my boycott of games without demos will affect them in zero amount, but it's my little boycott nonetheless.

[iam1bearcat]

demos would be great for all titles.

i mean, i guess if the title is less than $5 it's not much of a loss, but since most titles are at least $10, i wouldn't want to drop that on something i know very little about. and reviews can only tell you so much, and again, that's all just based on opinion.

the way i see it is - it's a product, and like most products - you either get a demo / free trial period, or you can return it in a selective number of days. but PSN of course doesn't allow that. you buy it, and you're screwed. that does suck.

i don't know how hard it is to make a demo, but there should be one - and not MP - for all titles in general.

[Icemage]

I always take a look around for gameplay videos if I can before purchasing, but there were still a few titles that slipped under my guard this year (I'm looking at you, Crescent Pale Mist!).

I buy a ton of stuff from PSN, so much so that PS+ is a zero value proposition for me; anything they offer a discount for I probably already have or don't care about.

As for demos, I have tons of controllers (3 SixAxis, 2 DS3s, 2 Move wands, a Nav Controller, and more plastic Rock Band/Guitar Hero instruments than you can shake two drumsticks at).

Bear in mind that it costs studios money to release a demo, and for niche titles, that may not be a cost-effective strategy for them.

If you're really tired of getting burned, do your homework first before purchasing.

[UK_fan_05]

Originally Posted by Groo The Perverted

So over the course of this past year I've spent a shit ton of money on games via the PSN. I'd say the vast majority of those were ones I had zero knowledge of before buying it.

And I found that many of the regret purchases would not have been purchased if there had been a demo that I could play and see how it goes.

Now a few of those I'll chalk up to being a fluke with me, as I seem to have been the only people in the world that never played Marvel v. Capcom 2 or Dragon's Lair, both I bought for a total of 25 bucks, and both I despised and only played once.

The Demo for MVC2 was a multiplayer only, and I have only one controller, so it was the same in my eyes as not releasing a demo at all, at least for me.

Those I can write off as a fluke because most people had played those before and knew they either liked or disliked it.

However there's a trend of studios not releasing a demo until a month or so after it's released, or not at all. In my eyes, this is simply the exact same thing as a movie studio refusing to screen a movie before critics in advance of it opening. We all know what that means, and when we see "was not screened for critics" we know that the movie probably sucks, and the studios didn't want to risk bad word of mouth from ruining the 1st weekend take.

There's no reason I can think of, unless they're just pinching their pennies, that they can't release a demo of at least a single level so people can get a feel for the controls and how it works, plays and feels.

Even that shitty ass Soul Calibur IV demo which doesn't even let you play a full fight is better than nothing, and it could prevent people from wasting money on games they'll never play after once or twice.

That's why I've decided that from now on, on the PSN store if there's no demo, it's not getting my money. Unless it's offered for free from the PSN+ section. I feel, and this could just be me, that some of these studios know for a fact that their games are a piece of shit, and if they offer a demo up that it will cut into the blind buy sales that would never happen if a demo was available.

As I said, maybe this is just me. But I've grown tired of spending money on worthless trash games, and I'm sure my boycott of games without demos will affect them in zero amount, but it's my little boycott nonetheless.

You will be boycotting a lot of games, a lot of good games then. Maybe you are just a little reckless with your money? Okay, so it doesn't have a demo on PSN, but if you aren't sure you will like it or not, why don't you read some reviews of it? I' am usually dead on when seeing previews of a game if it will be good or not, but if I' am on the fence about a game I go to http://www.metacritic.com.

Since they tally all "reputable" reviews into an average for the game, and post the reviews on the site as well, it is my one stop source. I always start reading the "bad" reviews first and move up to the better ones. It could definitely benefit you. You would learn about all of the faults of the game from multiple sources and not just one as you would by reading a review on a single site.

Of course some studios know that their game is crap, so they won't put a demo out. Some games that come out doesn't have demos and they are really good games that have came out that hasn't had a demo. Just do your research before you buy a video game, or anything.

[PirateBooty]

Originally Posted by skins_fan_05

Just do your research before you buy a video game, or anything.

That's what I do if I'm unsure about a game and there isn't a demo available. The other thing is I may wait until the game is $10 and give it a try.

[MOONPHASE]

I have no need for demos since I know what I want to buy before it even comes out and don't even need a demo to see if I like it or not since I just know what i'm getting into before purchasing the game the day it comes out in stores. Only in a few rare cases I may end up not liking the game afterall but that's very rare. Plus sometimes demos can be so short that it makes you wonder why the company even made that demo to begin with.

So for me it's pointless but I guess some people might need it but with the internet, if you're not sure just watch a trailer but never read reviews because those are just people's opinions on the game but your opinion can say the opposite of what the reviewer says or maybe you might agree with the review.

[UK_fan_05]

Originally Posted by MOONPHASE

I have no need for demos since I know what I want to buy before it even comes out and don't even need a demo to see if I like it or not since I just know what i'm getting into before purchasing the game the day it comes out in stores. Only in a few rare cases I may end up not liking the game afterall but that's very rare. Plus sometimes demos can be so short that it makes you wonder why the company even made that demo to begin with.

So for me it's pointless but I guess some people might need it but with the internet, if you're not sure just watch a trailer but never read reviews because those are just people's opinions on the game but your opinion can say the opposite of what the reviewer says or maybe you might agree with the review.

You discredit reviews too much. Sure, they are peoples opinions, but you can get some very useful information out of them. I scan reviews for what and why the reviewer doesn't like the game, and when they compare the different features of it to another game it helps me get an idea if I would like that feature or not, depending on if I played the game before.