What happened to the game demo?

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jbltecnicspro

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So there are some great games that have been released in 2012, and there are some great games that are going to be released. I'd love to try them out, but I can't! Where the hell are the game demos? And why aren't companies doing them anymore?

Far Cry 3, Borderlands 2, Crysis 2, Crysis 3, Hitman Absolution... Hell - Bioshock 2, Far Cry 2... Why aren't there any downloadable demos for these games? Especially since a new game costs $60 when it releases, I want to be damn sure I'm going to like the game before forking out the cash...

I remember when I would get PC Game demo disks back in the day. Doom 3 - one of my favorite games (yeah, I know all the flaws)... The demo was what convinced me to get it. Same with the first Far Cry - I LOVED the demo so much that I kept playing it again and again, seeing how many different ways I could sneak into the installation (the island demo). Bioshock - I haven't played it, but I'm asking for it for Christmas. Condemned: Criminal Origins. The list could go on and on...
 
Demos simply aren't a priority for most developers or publishers. It takes time to make them and likely in most cases they don't increase sales enough to be worth it if they don't have the time to spare. There is also the cases where devs might be scared that a demo would hurt their sales.
 
Because most games are shit and if they released demos game sales would collapse.
 
I agree, I'd really like to try a Farcry 3 demo. I'm not totally convinced of it honestly.
 
Demos kill the hype machine that many games now rely on to get big sales numbers - you get bored of the game while still playing the demo. Companies would rather you get bored of the game AFTER you have already shelled money out for it.

I just watch YouTube walkthrough demos
 
Pretty sure it's called F2P these days. Happens on Steam a lot, why play half the game when you can try the entire game the entire weekend?
 
A demo would only be useful for PC only titles (if they are making console AND PC versions they are not usually too concerned with enhancing PC sales) ... like movies they also make most of their money off a game during the first couple of weeks of release so they are probably more worried about marketing since that would sell more titles in the first week ... they also would prefer you preorder and a demo doesn't help with that :)
 
Why spend money on demo development when you can just pay Robert Downey, Jr. to make a 3-second cameo in a $200 million marketing campaign?
 
krogen said:
Demos are just called "betas" now.

:p
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Funny, considering "beta" versions are usually the released version of most PC games these days.

SniperElite V2 had a demo - it got me to buy the game. So it still works. Especially if it has a digital portion ("buy now"). I used to hate when they'd put all the effort into making a kickass demo for a sucky game, that used to bite and was more of a "gotcha!" thing.
 
and they wonder why so many people pirate games when u cant even try a demo, i thought it was good and its not fun buying a game finding out it doesnt work well for any reason on your computer.
 
Spidey329 said:
Funny, considering "beta" versions are usually the released version of most PC games these days.

SniperElite V2 had a demo - it got me to buy the game. So it still works. Especially if it has a digital portion ("buy now"). I used to hate when they'd put all the effort into making a kickass demo for a sucky game, that used to bite and was more of a "gotcha!" thing.
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yep game demo's are always hit and miss.. either the games complete garbage so the developers put all their effort into the demo in hope that they make a few extra sales or the demo's complete garbage because they used a pre retail build playing the first level of the single player with no graphic options what so ever. which doesn't represent the actual game at all thus never really telling you if the games any good or not.

personally i just look and see if anyone is streaming the game on twitch tv these days, if no ones streaming it then the games probably worthless and i'll pass on it til i see it in a 5 dollar bin at walmart or bestbuy.
 
Dion said:
Can you blame them ? People these days nit pick the most retarded shit.
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Eh, if you are going to spend money on a video game, you'd better make sure you like it. Does it matter if a person dislike something that isn't a big issue? No. Ultimately its their money and they are free to decide however they see fit.
 
I won't lie, for a lot of my acquaintances, torrents have become the new shareware like back in the Doom days. They'll play a few levels and if it's worthy, will delete it and purchase a key. It's rare someone I know won't go legit if we'r all playing it, unless they truly couldn't afford it or was protesting the publisher for something they perceived as an injustice.
 
Developers would rather take the money they would spend on producing a demo and put that money towards advertising *cough, payoff game reviewer's for better scores, cough* FarCry3 is a perfect example of this because its getting 10/10 reviews everywhere....yet I have played the full game and its a mediocre shooter with uninspired fetch & gather elements in a vast repetitive environment that lacks soul. FC3 deserves a 7 out of 10 at best because it brings nothing new to the table. Everything that FC3 does has been done before, and done better by other games. A 10/10 should be a game that reshapes the entire industry and defines a turning point in interactive entertainment.

There is no recourse in the video game world if you don't like the game. If you buy a book and it sucks you can return it, if you go to see a movie and it sucks you can walk out and get your money back, but if you buy a game and it SUCKS and reviewers lied because they have a conflict of interest your SOL. Developers have found that there is no cost benefit for producing a demo unless they are trying to drum up interest for an original title.
 
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Most everyone gets it. Games are big business now, if developers released a demo most of their shock sales would plummet. Back when demos were mainstream I almost never felt robbed of my money. Within the last few years its almost as if they held me up and gun point stealing my money with the system the way it is.

It's rigged, review sites, massive advertising, rehashed shit, etc.

Very few companies / developers deserve the respect of day one purchases. It's a nightmare to try and shovel through the bs getting passed down as AAA titles across all platforms.
 
Gaming isn't very fun anymore to me. Demos are a thing of the past, it's really changed alot. Take it however you want but us old timers know better.
 
Hornet said:
Eh, if you are going to spend money on a video game, you'd better make sure you like it. Does it matter if a person dislike something that isn't a big issue? No. Ultimately its their money and they are free to decide however they see fit.
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Maybe if it was a legit reason. Most are childish stupid things. And PC games are cheap. The Steam back loggers can tell you about that.
 
jbltecnicspro said:
So there are some great games that have been released in 2012, and there are some great games that are going to be released. I'd love to try them out, but I can't! Where the hell are the game demos? And why aren't companies doing them anymore?

Far Cry 3, Borderlands 2, Crysis 2, Crysis 3, Hitman Absolution... Hell - Bioshock 2, Far Cry 2... Why aren't there any downloadable demos for these games? Especially since a new game costs $60 when it releases, I want to be damn sure I'm going to like the game before forking out the cash...

I remember when I would get PC Game demo disks back in the day. Doom 3 - one of my favorite games (yeah, I know all the flaws)... The demo was what convinced me to get it. Same with the first Far Cry - I LOVED the demo so much that I kept playing it again and again, seeing how many different ways I could sneak into the installation (the island demo). Bioshock - I haven't played it, but I'm asking for it for Christmas. Condemned: Criminal Origins. The list could go on and on...
Click to expand...

Crysis 2 had a beta demo, I still pretty much follow a general rule from when Demos were still widespread, if there isn't a demo of the game, it's probably s#!t anyway...Now I wait for word of mouth, or actual footage of the game to show up.
 
krogen said:
Demos are just called "betas" now.

:p
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Beta.jpg
 
Market the shit out of the game, and ppl will buy the game anyways with or without the demo. It disappeared ever since customers bought the most hyped thing out there, instead of what was fun for them.
 
Formula for a successful game these days -

- announce it years ago
- hype the hell out of it using E3, blogs, dev diaries, previews
- 'when it's done'
- specialize with console exclusives and special editions
- pre-order bonuses and retailer exclusives
- place glowing reviews in major gaming sites
- make most of the money on launch day/week sales
- move on to next sequel

The whole thing depends on moving as much product as possible based on hype. Demos are like the drugs business, give them a sample and get them hooked, and that model doesn't work when the product isn't addictive :)
 
If it's a good game with a good price like Bastion or Torchlight, those demos help.

I played the demo of CoD 4: Modern Warfare, and if the price hadn't been propped up for a 2007 game I probably would have bought it for SP.

But the ME3 demo crashed and I lost interest.
 
They exist on consoles. Every XBLA game lets you do a free Trial and there is a massive catalog of demo's for retail games on xbox live.
 
Demos have gotten so big nowadays that usually I'll just pass on it and download the full game off Steam. I mean why spend 1-2GB on a one-level demo when the whole game is only around 6GB?
 
Make crap game, dont let any one play it with out paying for it, profit.
 
JoeUser said:
Because most games are shit and if they released demos game sales would collapse.
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That's what I used to think. There was a time when there were a lot of shit games. If there was a demo and I played it, no way I'd buy the full game. Not sure if that started the collapse of the demo market. Games did get better, but I just don't think it's economically feasible in these days to do a separate demo for these big games.
 
Kinsaras said:
Large open world games with tons to do. You need a few hours at least before you get a good taste of what the game is about. No 15 or even 30 min demo will give you that.
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Well the thing that sold me on borderlands 2 was the game engine and how polished it felt and for the fact it wasn't capped at 30 frames per second and because it supported co-op. Even a short demo would have easily proved these things to me and convinced me to buy the game much much sooner than I did.
 
piratepress said:
Demos have gotten so big nowadays that usually I'll just pass on it and download the full game off Steam. I mean why spend 1-2GB on a one-level demo when the whole game is only around 6GB?
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Because a one-level demo is free and the whole game is $60?
 
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