No Demo for NHL 2K10

[original6]

All I can say now is WOW...........just WOW. Major disappointment. There is no way I'm buying a hockey game on release day without trying it out first via a demo. I was giving 2k the benefit of the doubt when it came to their marketing strategy with 2k10, but now they've lost that. Just amazing how they can put so much effort into improving a game and yet have no solid plan to market it. Methinks like others this could be the end of 2k hockey games.

[VanCitySportsGuy]

Considering this is coming from 2K Sports, I'm not surprised about the lack of a demo.

I don't care what kind of PR Spin they put up, but by not releasing a demo, they are telling me they don't want to show off the game to the masses.

This reminds me of movie companies not sending out screeners to reviewers.

The release date is soon and there's not one single lengthy gameplay video out there. Frankly, whoever runs 2K Sports should be fired.

Edit: A Gameplay video has finally been released

[rudyjuly2]

Not releasing a demo sounds bad. But a bad demo like NCAA 10 can do more harm than good. If you do a demo you have to do it right.

Quite frankly, I think companies would be better off making a demo from the final build and releasing it a few weeks after the game comes out anyways. The people that will buy it will buy it regardless. And the people on the fence will have a high quality demo to judge the game with.

[adayinthelife]

Quote: Originally Posted by Eddie1967

Hey I feel what your saying but who's to say they won't steal EA fans even without a demo. Some people purchase games based on the gaming site reviews and everything we had read so far has been nothing but positive. I have a feeling the final version will have positive reviews too. If that's the case then I don't see why that alone won't increase sales. Heck Madden (and I have to go there) gets glowing reviews year after year and I believe that has a definite impact on whether people purchase that game or not. People are so quick to take negative 2k reviews as gospel, well let's see how they react to positive reviews. I'm not saying the demo is worthless, but it's not happening this year so the fence sitters have to rent the game and/or read the reviews to see if it's worth buying.

I agree with you that most people base decisions on review scores that these games get from major sites, but that's all the more reason 2k will be hurt by this. I'd say it's pretty much a no brainer that NHL 10 will get an exceptionally high score considering the praise the series has had in the last few years and judging from the demo, it's only gotten better.

2k10 on the other hand is a game coming from a very lackluster couple of years so it's already starting out slow. Combine that with the lack of information and now no demo, I just don't see how fence sitters are going to be swayed in their direction, I really don't. This is what, the third year in a row they're claiming to be reinventing the series? Just saying things like that gets old quickly (look at the Madden forum) when there's no results. I'm not saying there won't be results, but as I said before if I had a really great game I'd want to show it off.

[adayinthelife]

Quote: Originally Posted by rudyjuly2

Not releasing a demo sounds bad. But a bad demo like NCAA 10 can do more harm than good. If you do a demo you have to do it right. Quite frankly, I think companies would be better off making a demo from the final build and releasing it a few weeks after the game comes out anyways. The people that will buy it will buy it regardless. And the people on the fence will have a high quality demo to judge the game with.

This is an excellent point and definitely something I think they should look at. A few of us will probably rent it on day one but most others will get NHL 10 and most likely forget 2k10 even exists - for that reason even doing a post-release demo would be a good plan. Also someone said earlier that if you don't have 8 bucks for a rental you shouldn't be spending 60 on a game. Logical yes, but in reality some people just think differently when spending money depending on what they're buying. Also some of us might have a nice cache of late fines built up..

[18 eighty 5]

Quote: Originally Posted by Scottdau

1) Come to our office in Novato, CA (just north of San Francisco) We are so ecstatic about this game that we will accept a visit any day of the week. 2) Check out the game at The Best Buy in New York City on 622 Broadway, New York, NY 10012 3) Check the game out at the NHL Store in New York City on 1185 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036. You will get a special opportunity

Well how does this help me...I am in Australia!!! Arghhhhhhhhhhh! No demo come on, what year are we living in? This game doesn't release here again this year so no chance at renting it first either!

I bet if I even arranged to especially fly to the States and go to one of these places as soon as I walk in the door I would be told 'I'm sorry, we had to pull the game from showcasing for now. We assure you it will be back on in two weeks after the game is released. Sory about that, hope you didn't have to travel far, good day then, bye bye.'

This game should be released with two wooden forks so we can all poke ourselves in the eyes just to remember this is how 2k treats would be customers!

I am soooooooo annoyed. I just feel like 2k says one thing about listening to the fans and then does another thing to cause dissapointment.

OK, my rant is over. Yes I will still order this game because I love hockey too much and I do think they will have a better product than last year. Arrrghhhhhhh!

[VanCitySportsGuy]

Quote: Originally Posted by rudyjuly2

Not releasing a demo sounds bad. But a bad demo like NCAA 10 can do more harm than good. If you do a demo you have to do it right. Quite frankly, I think companies would be better off making a demo from the final build and releasing it a few weeks after the game comes out anyways. The people that will buy it will buy it regardless. And the people on the fence will have a high quality demo to judge the game with.

As long as the pre-release demo isn't vastly different from the final build, I still feel like it's better for companies to release a demo before the release date.

If the demo is good, some people will go out and pre-order or at least set aside the money to buy it on Day 1. If you release a demo, let's say 3 weeks after the release date, the consumer may no longer have that $50-$60 to spend on the game even if they liked the demo.

By releasing a demo before release date, it also builds buzz (assuming it's good).

[davep]

That's unfortunate. I used to play the 2k series and then switched over to EA 2 years ago and really enjoyed it.

This year I really dug the EA demo but was going to hold out until I played the 2k demo. EA is a known quantity for me and it's fun, while 2k is still an unknown. EA is getting my $60 this year since I only have time for 1 hockey game.