What happened to game demos?

So this has been bugging me lately, but why can't you find demos for games anymore? At least not for big titles. Several times now I've bought games, that had I been able to play a demo for just 5 minutes I would have known I didn't want to buy. Or the opposite, I end up not buying games because I feel too unsure. When you get a demo, you get a feel for the gameplay, but you also see how well the game will run on your machine!

I suppose more sales are made this way though, when you have people buying the game who otherwise wouldn't have. It still bugs me, there's an ethics and courtesy to developers releasing a demo that should still be present. What's your opinion on this?

 

I wish more developers released demos as well. I know i want to play mass effect 2 but i don't know on which platform. If they released a demo i could tell how well it would perform on my pc and make the decision. Since they didn't i'll probably go with the 360.

 

what sort of titles are you looking for spooky as there are quite a lot out there.
ok you wont find cod mw2 or mass effect 2 but a while ago i posted batman AA and crysis to name just a couple and you could always join up to be a beta tester.

 

Game demos are still available; they're downloads at most of the official sites for games.

The problem IMO is game marketing. As I've said before, demos are there, the question is knowing x game actually exists. Idk about other places in the world, but in Canada, PC gaming doesn't get a lot of marketing(even console games barely get any) so the only real way of knowing of upcoming PC game releases is to be an enthusiast i.e. be subscribed to some form of extra marketing(ex: game magazines or forums). The average Joe most likely won't know of lots of games save the popular titles which make it on TV(and as I've said before, I haven't seen that many TV commercials for games).

 

not nearly as many as games without demos. talking about recent games of course.

 

Most of the big titles (mass effect, cod4, etc), ones I want to try before I buy that are going to put me out 60 USD and are the biggest risk for sucking/running poorly on my machine, don't have demos. Crysis had a demo? really? I didn't know that. That seems to me the ethical thing to do. You're buying something that is non-refundable, it seems reasonable to be 100% sure you won't have major problems with it. You go back 10 years and all the big releases had demos to download!

 

You've answered your own question: the lack of a demo probably means greater (or at least not significantly smaller) sales. Keep in mind that a demo isn't free for the developers: they have to rip out a piece of the game and verify that it works perfectly without the rest (they don't want to release a buggy demo). This is a lot of extra work and they're not going to do it unless they're sure it will increase sales.

Demos made more sense when games were a relatively new medium and you wanted people to give your work a try with the hope that they'd like it. Nowadays, when games are big enough business to get a long commercial near the ending of the NFC championship game, the publishers don't feel they're necessary anymore.

 

True, all true. I guess I was hoping that it wasn't ALWAYS about sales and money. Stupid me

 

Demos are great, they're fun, you usually get to make a much better informed decision when choosing whether or not to buy/rent the full game.

For PC games I particularly like demos for the purpose of benchmarking the game on my system. The PC version of RE5 doesn't even have a playable demo but it has a great benchmark version you can download and that was all I needed to know I was going to buy the PC version once I knew it could run on high on my laptop.

On the other hand, demos don't always give you the same impression that the full game would. For example, the Brutal Legend demo focused entirely on the 3rd person action aspect and didn't even hint that the main gameplay was mostly RTS based. This can backfire on both the consumer and the company if the demo doesn't represent the game well.

And of course, demos take time and money. And some consumers will buy less games if they can get enough entertainment value out of just free demos.

I like demos though, I want a company to go the extra mile and give me something solid I can use to have some fun and really figure out what the full game will be like. And for PC games I'd at least like to see benchmark demos because it's really hard to pull the trigger on a game I might not be able to run at the framerate/quality I want.

As kind of a side note, I will never even consider buying an MMO unless I get at least a few days to try it out first through a beta or a trial. Sorry, Aion.

 

ok, dont tell anyone but there is a closely gaurded link im about to post that will give you 1 or 2 ok about 40 free demo games and its all thanks to Nvidia

Clikety Click

reps are more than welcome only joking.

ps. if youve got a nvidia card with phsX loaded then i recommend Batman Arkham Asylum

enjoy

 

Closely guarded? Not a damn one of the demos there is any kind of a secret.

Still, I guess it's nice to have them all on one list.

Steam is a good place to find (and download) a nice list of demos as well.

 

^it was a joke

 

It is to cut the invested money in the project. Nothing new, even some companies like capcom have released 'demos' that actually are benchmarkers (RE5 like mentioned, SF4). Sadly they have also used more frequently the infamous (no pun intended) DLC... so for a non-refundable product a minimal demo should be the norm.

Also, of the demos out there there is hardly any you can get a lot of game like back on 1993 with the demo of Doom 1, which contained 1/3 of the whole game!!!

 

Mhmm, and honestly it's not about getting to extract entertainment without paying anything. Just 2 things:

1) Making sure the game runs.
2) Making sure the game runs WELL, not buggy, etc

Though I do applaud those companies that DO put out a demo or even just a benchmark utility (that effectively does what I'm looking for). Its not so much as the gameplay as ensuring you're getting a working product, and no "compatability tool" or list of system requirements will ensure anything. I think I'll make a more active effort to give games with demos more of my money

 

Actually I said that because someone posted that if there were demos people would not buy the actual games, just enjoying the demos. My point is: in today's demos there is hardly 2% of any game, not like many years back when the demos included a good chunk of the game itself.

 

I have to admit. I will NOT buy a game without trying it first. I rent games for my 360 before I buy them. I also find people who will let me 'borrow' games before I buy them. If I play the game enough I will buy it.

 

COD4 has a demo LOL.

 

Mmm I also think that by not releasing any demo, the game's content won't be revealed to the public...thus not giving away the storyline. e.g Mass Effect 2 in the beginning ALREADY has a big story

But I could be wrong ^^

 

Noticed Tron 2.0 was on the list. Don't know if many of you have ever heard of the game, but to me was one of the most over-looked FP games of its time !

Try the Demo !

Gameplay video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0tSo1xldRc

 

If you watched ANY of the teasers or anything that was revealed to you right off the bat didn't need a demo to do that.

 

Steam has a huge list of demos too. And they are not limited to Nvidia branded games

 

Demos don't always have to be from the beginning. For instance, the Call of Duty 4 single player demo is from the middle of the game, in the mission where you have to fight your way to rescue War Pig, the stranded tank. In the context of the game, it's a necessary scene to move the Marines' campaign plot along, but on its own it really reveals nothing meaningful.

Also, Half Life 2's demo contained the first half of the chapter "We Don't Go To Ravenholm", pretty much smack dab in the middle of the game. During this part, nothing important to the plot is revealed; in fact, there's only one speaking character, and he serves as more of a guide for where to go, and occasionally fire support. The entire content of the demo is basically fighting headcrabs and zombies, and it's a good opportunity to show off the Source engine's physics capabilities and basic mechanics of Half-Life 2 without giving much of anything away. There are still plenty of weapons that you can't use, and you only meet one very minor character.

 

Yea it pissed me off when I know for BF2 BC you have to BUY the game demo, even I have planed a while ago that I will pre-order it. What's the point of having demo after pre-order?

Btw do magazines give out BF betas?

 

The FEAR 2 demo was great. It seamlessly moved through a number of different parts of the game. I'd say it was one of the best demos I ever played!