Where are Game Demos These Days?

So what's the deal with lack of game demos these days? In the past game demos would be released prior to or close to release date of the full game. Now we're lucky to get ANY demos.

I was interested in Bionic Commando, but looks like it's getting crappy reviews, so would rather check out the demo first. Upcoming games like Wolfenstein, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Section 8, and Red Faction: Guerrilla all look great, but no demo in sight.

I guess more of a rant than anything, but do they not care any more? Reviews are ok, but even if a game is good, if the game lost its luster in the demo, then I'd just not buy the game.

 

I miss demo's, so many hours wasted on some of them...back 5 years ago pretty much every game had one, so good, some bad. They did become helpful in deciding if a game was worth it, as well as giving your system a judge if you could run it.

 

mmmm... you're right dude, but who knows! Maybe its some kind of Merchant Strategy? lol

 

It is, cause why would Rockstar want to put out a demo for GTA 4 when they know that you need a quad core to get a decent frame rate and image.

 

it all boils down to cutting costs and not to mention the sheer size it would have to be w/ hi res textures these days.

 

Same here. Miss those samplers of games.

 

Cost maybe, but download size never seems to be an issue with any publisher. Most full games are available for download anyhow. Major game sites like Gamespot don't have an issue offering the bandwidth either.

 

I wish there were more demos offered nowadays as well. I think the reason they're seldom released anymore is because demos generally aren't the finished code (ie there are usually some improvements between demo and final release), and many people based their purchasing decision on the demo rather than on how the final game ran. If the demo ran poorly (even if the final game ran smoother), people wouldn't buy the game. Basically, I think it's become too risky for them (from their point of view - I think it's a good idea to have demos).

But, it could just be a cost issue.

 

Maybe MW2 will have one since COD4 had one before it was released but im not too sure they will release one but i hope so

 

I think it's a cost issue. Probably the companies realized that the release of a demo will not influence in a significant manner its sales, especially that nowadays you can get reviews of any game online (meaning quasi-instantly) and also videos like the entrance cutscenes or a few minutes of gameplay.

 

Maybe it's just because I didn't have high-speed Internet half a decade ago, but I've actually been pleased with the amount of demos I've found recently. Steam is a decent source for them, and I've had okay luck elsewhere on the 'Net, too. Been playing the GRID demo recently, Plants vs. Zombies before that, and tried out Buccaneer: Pursuit of Infamy, too.

It is nice to have demos, though - if a game doesn't have a demo, how are you supposed to know that it's a good game and not just an attempt to get your money for a poor product? Sure, there's reviews, but even then you don't know if you'll enjoy it - I know I wouldn't enjoy a horror film even if it did get great reviews, and probably not a puzzle/action game, either.

 

Lol HT, you made the topic i was thinking of making months ago.

So obviously i agree with you 100% about a couple of months ago i was at gamespot because they have a section that shows you latest Demos(This is when HAWX came out) And there was NOTHING good at all! This whole 2009 years had crappy Demos. I hope this isnt the beginning of some trend for PC gaming because i dont like it one bit. Even on STEAM you are lucky to get a good Demo at least once a month.

 

i think it is also the fact that games are getting shorter. if a developer gave out say 2 levels of a game, thats probably about 20% of the game.
add to that the fact that games are now so story orientated, it would ruin some of the plot for you.
if you then think that most people would buy a game based on good reviews and/or hype, demos are only gonna put people off buying a game.

 

I would pay like 3-4 bucks for a demo if it saved me 40 bucks on a new game

 

i think there are many reasons:
1: Large size, even for a small section
2: Beginnings of games are often dull and a bad part to put on demos
3: Puts some people off buying the game.
4: Takes extra time for the developer when thier main goal is to finish the game
5: The mass market is lemmings. they hear a game is good or if it has an awesome commercial they will buy it.
6: Most people wont try it before they buy it.

 

^^^
The Moo speaks The Truth!

 

Look at FEAR 2 though. They managed to make a demo that showed a little bit of the game, but it was different from the actual game. I thought it was genius!

Maybe they figure people demo it themselves over the torrents

 

never played fear 2

and yeah, more developers are pushing away from pc because of piracy anyway, im sure that is part of the reason.

 

Old demos used to just be pre-release versions of the game that a dev would put a little extra polish on and push out the door. Due to how the industry has matured, you can't do that any more. A demo, from a dev/publisher standpoint, is almost as significant as a full release. That means time and people diverted to working on the demo, and that means money. Lots of money.

If you are developing a game and want to put out a demo these days, you have to go through a release from the perspective of test and legal. As long as the game stays in house, while it is in development, placehodler art, bugs, and legal issues like language that is wrong for the target audience or content that you don't have rights to use can show up throughout the game. But as soon as you go to put soemthing out in the world, you have to get it pretty bug free (test), and you have to cut out all the junk content (test+legal). This represents a significant effort.

Unfortunately, I don't think that we will see demos much any more. They represent too much cost and risk, and really, they have to be concidered as marketing, and we all know how much marketing most games get these days.

 

Us console players get lots of demos, like RFG or Bionic Commando's MP

 

What percentage of console games get demos though? Outside of the blockbuster titles (that get heavy publisher/console maker support), my bet is an extremely small proportion get demos.

 

I miss demos just t see if my computer can run the games.

 

There's the other approach of releasing the full game first and then developing a workable demo later, the Witcher used this approach.

Some smaller studios still release demos the traditional way, Overlord 2 had the demo released at least one month before the full version came to retail.

 

If they released the demo a month before the game was in stores, they probably just released it at RTM right along with the full game. The gold version of a game is usually done 1-3 months before you see it on store shelves, then they send it off to manufacturer to have the retail discs pressed and shipped. That means they have less double up of work in terms of meeting another ship milestone for the demo.

 

ACtually every week Xbox live gets demo's. But sometimes its only one they recieve. While some weeks they get like 3-5

 

I hardly download demos these days anyway, simply because theyre so damn big!!!

 

dont forget steam do demos. ok, they may not be the best in the world but some are quite good >>> STEAM DEMOS

 

I always laugh at that excuse. If you check ANY torrent site, there's more Xbox 360 games for download than PC. Only reason PS3 games aren't pirated much is who wants to download 15GB of data, spend $250 on a BR burner, and $5 per disk?

The thing I don't get is that console manufacturers are so against cartridge systems because they claim it's too expensive. Well, Sony taking a $400 hit on the BR drives is a lot more expensive and ludicrous. At least cartridges are a hindrance to your common pirate thief using media and technology that is readily available to everyone for cheap (CD and DVD).

 

Yes, it's expensive for Sony, but if the PS3 didn't have a Blu-ray player included, it would have sold like crap and Sony would be out of the console market. That Blu-ray saved their tails.

 

Like others have mentioned...most companies have recently shifted in focusing game demos for next-gen consoles instead of the PC. Developers are probably seeing that more opportunity for sales are in consoles instead of the PC. After all, consoles are primarily made for games anyway. It's kinda given that not all people with PCs are gamers, but on the other hand; everyone who owns a 360 or PS3 is definitely one.

Take into account the fact that Microsoft's Natal will have a big impact on the Xbox market in the near future, possibly diverting their strategy to motion gaming on consoles instead of the PC (although Natal will be on the PC soon enough as well).

But yes, I still agree that PC game demos should still be existent until today. There are still a great population of us, and not all are willing to go console.

By the way, you mentioned Batman Arkham Asylum which I'm also really looking forward to. They are releasing the demo on Friday...but not for PC. It's on Xbox Live...

 

I know what you mean, the N64 cases are indestructible.

 

You fail at reading. I said what percentage, not pure numbers. If 30 games are released in a week, 3 demos is only 10% of games getting demos. Pure numbers don't really tell you anything.

 

Yes, and it's kinda given that 90% of the free world owns a PC already, while probably only 10% own a game console. So IMO, I'd develop for the largest mass audience. Make a game to play on 90% of PC's out there, make it affordable, but most importantly, fun.

Despite all the flack that users give the Intel GMA chips, it surprises me how capable they really are. Also, even the GMA 950 in my netbook has been able to handle some awesome older games without issue (i.e. Rainbow Six Raven Shield, Aliens vs. Predator 2, Comanche 4, No One Lives Forever 1&2, Splinter Cell, Warcraft 3, and on and on).

Not only indestructible, but the fact that to pirate it and play a pirated copy would most likely require expensive hardware.

 

"MW2" as in MechWarrior 2??? Dude, the game was released like 14 years ago! I'm sure you can find the demo. We are waiting for MW5 now.

Unless of course by 'MW2' you mean something else....

 

Modern Warfare 2.

 

eh, while there may be more 360 games available to pirate most console users (that i know anyway) are idiots and have no idea how to pirate thier games. pc's have much more pirates and its much easier.

 

Ah. Thanks for the clarification. Guess I'm 'old school'.

 

Don't worry, you're not the only one.

 

Hey! I resemble that remark!

 

Uhhh, download from torrent site, insert blank DVD, extract ISO. Same for Xbox or PC.

 

Haha, I couldn't resist