The Friday Debate – Trial Or Tribulation?

i really dont care if the demo is timed or not but i like trying out games that i wouldn’t touch like Mafia.

I’m glad there was one for Castlevania because i wasn’t sure about but now have it preodered

Anyway back to F1 2010

James, how come PSN lacks demos compared to XBL?

Too many demos end up being nothing like the end game. I’ve been stung one too many times by thinking a demo represents the end product, only to find that £40 ended up being wasted on a game I played once and found bugged, dull, or just unplayable.

On the flipside there are those demos that make a game look terrible, but the end game is one of the best games made.

The only demos that work for me are the ‘plus’ timed-full-game (1 hour of the full game to play with) – although if said game is heavy on story and cut scenes it leaves me wondering whether to skip them to keep playing as much as I can in an hour, or watch the story unfold to see if it intrigues me (so many games are low on gameplay, but story-wise marvellous to participate in)….such a dilemma, but at least you get to play the end product, albeit briefly.

So, for me, whilst a demo can be a fun waste of an hour or so (or usually less), I don’t care too much for them and would rather await the full game (and then rent it out from one of the many online rental options to test it out).

When I got my psp go, all i played was demos for a few weeks until I decided to buy LittleBigPlant PSP. Great game. So demos are a necessity.
As for PS3 demos, my download list is crammed full of them.

Having a time limit can sometimes be justified but unskippable cutscenes are just ridiculous. Put me off buying Killzone 2 and Wolverine’s Revenge because they made me not want to play the demo which, in turn, left me on the fence.

For the big games that i would be excited about and generally games that concentrate on a good solid single player campaign, i would avoid demos altogether. But for the likes Enslaved and Castlevania, which i was kinda excited for but wondered were they worth a buy or rent, then demos are essential. Like Enslaved recently, i wasnt even considered buying that until i played the demo which really impressed me and made me change my mind.

Demos can also be unreliable, for the likes of FIFA & PES, demos are never as good as the full release for me. Mafia II was a perfect example of this, i was excited about it, really thought it was gonna be a masterpiece, played the demo and hated it, very disappointed, then got it off a friend and surprisingly i really enjoyed the full game, not the masterpiece i was hoping for but still a solid gaming experience.

i only buy games if i played the demo

try before you buy

i hear alot about people rent games, they not do that here in my place, so without demos i dont take any risk to buy a game that i not played before.

like castlevania, if they didnt gave us a demo, i would never seen this beautiful piece of game, i would not even consider buying this, becuase normally i not liked any castlevania game, so this demo showed me that it was great, so i will buy it, all becuase a demo

the more demo’s the more games i will buy!

Now Gief dead nation beta our demo! then i buy!!!

@ James Gallagher

i think its different for you

you get demos always even before us.

you get 4 games free monthly from sony if im right, our thats different

from every studio, guerilla does.

i bet you also have every beta closed our open.

and you do the job most of us wants, guerilla have jobs open, QA Tester, but im little to far from amsterdam, so i need to do it with the demos you guys give us:D

@ James Gallagher you talked about your first MGS i had MGS on psone in japanese language i completed the game without understanding one word of it been searching days for that key card that that mouse/rat picks up you know what i mean:D

i finished that game and from then i bought all metal gear solids, one of the best story’s and cut scenes i seen

ontopic like i posted, demos are important in these days, shops ask 54 till 65 euro for a game, so i need to know what i buy.

When I first got my PS3 back in the day ( xD ) all I could afford was MotorStorm, so it was nice to be able to play demos to try out other games. Also they help me to decide whether I want them or not, which is why it’s great that all the Move demos are up. Downloaded them all! I also played the Enslaved demo, as I knew from when I first heard about it that I would like it. The demo confirmed it!

(By the way I voted option 3)

demos are a great way to convince players to buy a game. or not. sometimes demos make me want the full game, others make me run away from it. Like Mafia II. I was almost sold on it, until i played the demo… i hated it.

then there’s the PSN games case. this week’s Sky Fighter looks like a good game to buy, but because of it’s price i will not do it until i have a demo to see for myself. Most of the PSN games i bought had a demo.

on a closing note, when people demand a demo (people as in the minority that reads the blog) and it never gets to be delivered, it often strikes me as the creators not having full confidence in their product. If you have a good game and you believe in it, why not give a free taste to lure us?

I do think that demos help when looking at games to buy. I also think that every PSN game should have a demo.

one more thing: because, like killzonexx says, retailers sell games from 60€ to 70€ (little more expensive here), demos become essential.

i remember buying several games based on the demos (Burnout, Bioshock, even The Darkness). when there’s no demo, i simply wait until the price drops and then buy it.

I have to admit, I’d not looked up anything about Enslaved before I tried the demo, last night. I’m now pretty tempted to buy it, after finding I was very surprised by it, so they can work at times. On the other hand, I tried the demo mode of Alien Breed and it completely killed my interest in it; this update bears no real relationship to the frantic shoot-em-up that the Amiga originals were, the controls are so clunky you end up going move-stop-shoot-repeat.

They help me decide if I’m on the fence over an upcoming title.

Really REALLY good games dont need demos, but deciding between 2 sports games like NBA really helps. Or you can spot a sleeper hit thats not on your radar by playing the demo.
they are also useful when you’re bored with your current library.
overall as of now i rarely DL demos because only game im really hyped about is bioshock infinite.

What’s happened to all the comments after the 5th one? Massive list of coding, and everythings crossed out…

Nevermind, it’s fixed. [need an edit button!]

Before the Enslaved odessy to the west demo was released, i had omly sen a hand full of screen shots and gameplay. I never gave it a secon thought but now since i played it, my view has drasticly changed and i cant wait for ts release! Thanks to all the developers spending time create some of the top demos that have swayed my opinion othei final games.

It’s a bit of a combination of the second and third choice for me.

If a game doesn’t have a demo then it makes me feel the publisher is not confident about the game, particularly with PSN Store games.

In the frenzy of releases approaching xmas it is essential for companies to release a demo, or they will get forgotten under the hype of COD/FIFA etc.

I hate the timed demos, to be honest. Absolutely hate them. Some demo’s show the game in a superb light and others make the game look horrible when it’s actually amazing! Quite a dilemma.
In my opinion
there’s no REAL way to structure or form a demo it will depend game to game, how it should be done; and devs should take time considering this. Trying to show off the product to the consumer in its fullest extent. Instead of just cutting a small section of the game. I do understand it’s a great hassle for the developers, but hey. It’s up to them.

In my opinion, I feel demo’s are very important as it gives people the opportunity to easily try out a game before they buy. I myself have gone out and wasted money on a game that I wished I would of tested on a demo before I bought it and was really disapointed in the game that I had purchased. I feel that demo’s should be out for every game, so people have an idea what the game is all about and what they prefer.

Also, I like to buy games for my daughter and obviously children are very difficult to please. So more demo’s for childrens games would be brilliant.

As for ‘What makes a good demo’. I think one level on a game is good enough. If it’s a game like Mafia II or GTA, there should be a timer of how long you’re allowed to play it. As long as we can see the potential of the game, to make us go out and buy it.

I went to match of the day live in birmingham and played in a footy match, after the game I got a playstation football. Still have it in mint condition.

The way I see it, if there’s a game I’m set on, I don’t care if it has a demo or not, I’ll buy it. The demo might just hype me up even more for it.

For games, I’m not so sure on, a demo is incredibly important as it gives me a good idea of what to expect on the game. Take Enslaved for example, I wasn’t sure about it, and then I played the demo and I loved it, I’ll certainly be buying it in the future.

Demos are also quite important for impulse buys, if I’m browsing the store and see something I’m interested in, I probably won’t purchase it unless there is a demo available – a demo which made me enjoy the game.

I think developers should try to get demos out with every game possible, and I appreciate that they really do try but sometimes it just isn’t feasible – especially for more open-world games.

So, in short, demos are particularly important if devs want to bring over the customers who could go either way, at least that’s my opinion.

“For ‘new’ gamers, demos are massively important in my opinion.
Consider the chap who’s just bought his family a PS3. He’s completely new to the world of gaming, knows nothing about the oodles of news sites, forums and blogs dotted around the internet and is absolutely boggled as to what games are actually any good.
So, he goes to his high street shop and picks up a box that screams I’M AWESOME! BUY ME! at him without actually telling him anything about the game. Confused, he goes back home.
He boots up the PlayStation Store and finds a few free demos, downloads and plays them and suddenly he has an experience to go by.
And that’s why demos are massively important; they offer direct experiences to the gamer, rather than words and opinions
/essay
MB”

this but is does beg the question why more publishers dont submit demos for new releases if they want this piece of the pie?

Demos are good but unfortunately they dont say anything about how long the actual game is. To many games today are to short to be worth full price in my opinion,

Maybe they can state that in the end sequence of the demo, how long, approximately, the game will be

I don’t rely on demos to make my mind up on a purchase but they do help if i am wary. Ihen again in 2 cases demo’s have helped me and surprised me. I didn’t care about Uncharted when it was coming out but played the demo and bought it on launch day and it’s now my fav series on PS3.

Was looking forward to Mafia 2 played the demo and put me off purchasing it completley. Those are 2 rare cases i personally think but i can usually make my mind up with a vid but they do help when i’m unsure

I love demos but like reviews they rarely influence my decision to get a game if I’m already set on getting it, unless it’s completely broken.

They do come in useful though for games I haven’t decided on or know nothing about. Tumble is a good example of the latter. I was that impressed with Tumble and how it showed of what Move is capable of, I ended up buying it and playing it for 6 hours straight…

@Dante_Zero “this but is does beg the question why more publishers dont submit demos for new releases if they want this piece of the pie?”

my opinion on why they don’t is:

1 – their game always sells; if they have a good track record of sales, they think “why bother making a demo, the pounds/euros/dollars will surely come to us”;

2 – their game isn’t that good. maybe because they fell short on their skills, maybe too ambious, or maybe they could do it alot better if they had more time/resources. whatever the reason, i think many of them don’t put the demo out because they don’t feel confident in their product and, by making the demo, they would end up scaring away some of the players that would by it based on “oh, that’s a nice concept”, or “oh, the pictures and trailer look good”, or even because not all of us need to be so picky on where to spend money

I never thought of playing Uncharted Drakes Fortune until my friend suggested it one night. I downloaded the demo and immediately got the game after playing it. I loved it.
Demos are really important

@CEK11 happend to me too. At the time, i thought that game was just a tomb raider look-a-like… that demo made buy the game.

on the other hand, after having played it i didn’t even need a demo for U2, i just bought it day one :p

a good/bad demo can sway me on wether i’m going to buy a game or not.

for example.. the sports champions demo i downloaded today, i absolutely LOVE it! i’ve been playing ping pong for hours.
i can’t wait to get the game.

whereas on the other hand… the mafia 2 demo i played resulted in me not buying it.

ultimately though, in the end if was really looking forward to the game but the demo didnt impress i useually buy them some time after launch when the price has gone down.

i am a TOTAL BEAST at MOVE ping pong BTW only just got MOVE about 4 hours ago, i love it.

I’ve gotten into the habit of downloading them and not playing them at all recently. All new releases too..

Vanquish, Alien Breed, PES & FIFA, Castlevania and Enslaved.

I think every game needs a demo.

If I’m not 100% sure about buying a game i want to play a demo to convince me.

The way that the XMB is arranged, I’ve tended to use my PSN demo, even trailer array, a little like a future shopping list. But, it’s great to have tried a game, after it’s caught my attention, and then, be one or two clicks away from upgrading that free trial, in to a full, new game to enjoy – I’m a big fan of trial/unlock! It’s a nice bonus, to be able to retain first-run progress, like that, as well.

I don’t usually download a trial in the first place, unless there’s been positive reaction before, though, perhaps to reading something on here, or in articles on other sites, or from good reaction to screens, or a trailer that appealed.
In terms of what type of demo I prefer, every game is different! I guess, I trust each maker to do their best, here, since they know their game far bettter than me, so, will have decided how to most accurately and appealingly put across the game. Time limits, yeah, I don’t like those much, come to think of it.

Demos in my opinion should give the player a run around with the main features of the game (generally a little bit of everything). Like I said about the Enslaved demo, the main feature is both the characters and protecting Trip, yet the demo doesn’t show any of this. Usually I play a demo to help me choose when I’m on the fence but Enslaved’s demo didn’t help me at all.

I dont buy any games without demos on the US or EU ps store.

i wouldnt be playing DeathS.p.a.n.k,Bayonneta,God Of War,Dantes Inferno,SuperStarDust HD now if i didnt play the demos.

demos are Mandatory lol

open, like just cause
that was the best demo i’ve ever seen

demos tend to put me off games. :-/ looking through my PSN download list, i’ve downloaded 41 demos and bought only four of them, two of which (KZ2 and the original battlefield bad company) i would have bought anyway, and one of which (infamous) i didn’t buy until after renting it out (which i did after i played the demo).

generally if i’m on the fence about a game, i’ll rent it out for a few days. i usually get it with a blu-ray movie, so i end up paying about £3 quid for three nights from my local videostore. though my games trophy list is clogged with games with a couple of trophies because the game didn’t grip me. occassionally there’ll be a game that’s been decent enough to justify a rental and i’ll be able to complete it while i have it out.

i know 2012 is a long wait but as of now nothing has me going OMG OMG OMG like bio:i.
last game that got me this excited was MGS4. that doesnt mean i dont buy games.

haha is that an invitation james? i’d love to work with you guys, i could be the tea/cofee making guy

Demos often help me decide if i’m unsure about a game.
I don’t need a demo of the next R&C game or Uncharted but for newer IPs i think it’s especially important.
I had no idea how much of my time Peggle would consume until i tried the demo. I instantly bought the full game and the add-on when i’d completed it.
I hated the way the way the Alien Breed demo seemed to be interrupted constantly by the “Please buy the full game” pop-up. Let me enjoy the demo and there’s a better chance i will buy the game.

For me it’s also almost traditional to have a pile of demos on standby, and having them conveniently on your hard drive means that you can get that MGS or Dirt fix without having to load up the disk.

The sleeper hit of the year for me is Enslaved.
To be honest i didn’t even know that game existed, then I played the demo and I was amazed.
I’m def gonna buy when it hits the stores.

I think if you have played a game and you liked it, then you don’t need a demo for the sequel.
I love (and still play sometimes) Unchated 2, InFamous, Killzone 2, Fallout 3, Bioshock 1/2 and I wil buy the sequels to those games and I wont play the demos for those games (if available)

They would feel like spoilers to me.

I download every demo that hits PSN every week and my conclusion is, as with most things 50/50.

echochrome ii demo for example made the game look boring by giving you short, easy levels.

On the other hand, game I never heard of before (Enslaved) has become a Day1 buy thanks to the awesome demo.

I also am on the side that I don’t want developers ‘wasting’ resources building a demo. More work goes into a demo than many realise and I’m not sure if most of the time that’s worth it.

If I was a game company I’d only bother to build a demo for games like NBA Elite 2011 where they completely overhauled the controls so I would want people to test that new mechanic/ system out and give our game a chance (I should not I have no connection with EA lol).

But many developers don’t even do that, they add a new mode and only tell you about it in text (like Be A Keeper in FIFA 11 demo).

Other than those cases, 90% of the demos are: *play for 30mins*, “oh that’s nice”, *delete*.

Dear Sony, Why did you not have a Dead Rising 2 demo, I was forced to use your competitor’s resources to experience a product which was also on due be released on your hardware?

The same happened to me when I got my PS3 for Christmas the year it was released, parents forgot the games, controllers and the internet cord. I gotta say it was a heartbreaking experience:P

like on the xbox, every game in the store has a demo function
in contrairity to sonys network, where ou even cannot try the majority of the psngames.

ps 96 days before 2010 end and the promis of delivering the videostore to the rest of the EU also is expired