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The Problem With Demos
By
-July 14, 2010
Developers hate making demos. To them it means making a playable version of an unfinished game, redefining the pacing in order to keep the player engaged, and give it all away for free. This all costs money and half of the time it’s not even profitable. Do you remember playing a demo for Grand Theft Auto, Modern Warfare 2, or even Madden? No, you don’t. Some games just sell themselves.
So, I agree with companies when they decide to hold off on the demo version. My thoughts on Bayonetta weren’t swayed in any direction after downloading the trial; it was exactly what I thought it would be. But at the same time I think demos are important for the industry. What would E3 have been like without the hands-on gameplay? Probably a film festival, which is much less exciting in my book.
EA decided to rectify this issue by charging for longer demos. I guess this means the free demo is just a demo of the demo, at which point you spend a few dollars before investing in the final product. Seems a tad bit convoluted to me.
Here’s a suggestion: finish the game first, then worry about the demo. The staff won’t need to split apart and bugs won’t be much of an issue either. Release it a week or so before the full release and let the hype train do the rest. It worked for BioShock.
(And for the record: the banner is Blur because that is the last demo I played.)
About the Author
Tristan Shelton Tristan Shelton
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