Demos Should Be Released After Retail - rudyjuly2's Blog

rudyjuly2's Blog

Demos Should Be Released After Retail

Posted on September 4, 2009 at 10:20 AM.

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After playing the NCAA 10 demo, I was very unimpressed. There were a ton of glitches and problems that I found annoying. Of course we get treated with the same old excuse � the demo was cut from an older build and the retail version will be better. This is true, due to the lengthy certification process, but why release a buggy demo that could hurt potential sales? I think game companies would be better off releasing a demo a couple weeks after a game comes out that reflects the final game code and is a better example of how good (or bad) a game truly is.

There are three different groups of buyers for video games. The first group is the guy that buys the game day one. It doesn�t matter when you release the demo as these sales are unaffected.

A second smaller group are the guys who are probably not going to buy the game regardless unless you knock his socks off. How does a bad demo boost these sales numbers? Only a great demo can pull these sales in.

Lastly and most importantly, there is a large group of gamers sitting on the fence trying to decide if they should buy, rent or pass on a particular game. Does it really matter if these guys get a demo two or three weeks before the game comes out? I don�t think so. What really matters is getting a good demo in their hands and generating strong word of mouth. That�s why a later demo based off the final and largely bug free code would help the most. A bad demo that annoys this consumer will largely hurt sales so why release them so soon?

A side benefit is that valuable development time before a game's release isn't spent on creating the demo - it's spent on the actual game! When the game is done, then you have time to create the demo disc properly. Other than pleasing the impatient gamer, myself included, I see too many negatives of early and crappy demos.

Most sports games are released weeks ahead of the actual season they represent. Having a fully functioning demo come out after the retail release but still before the actual season starts would be best. This would give the fence sitters a much better demo to judge and probably boost sales. Seriously, how on earth does an early but crappy demo help sales at all?

Comments

# 1 stlstudios189 @ Sep 4

the point of the demo is to hype up the game. After release the people on the fence are expected to read reviews or rent the game. Not a bad idea though.

# 2 adayinthelife @ Sep 4

Personally a demo has never made me not buy a game that I was planning on getting. I've played pretty crappy demos for excellent games (see Bioshock and to a lesser extent Batman) which have made me think twice, but after glowing reviews I've always given said games a chance.

On the other hand, demos have made me purchase games that I might otherwise not have even looked at so really I prefer the idea of demo first.

# 3 rudyjuly2 @ Sep 4

I cancelled my pre-order of NCAA 10 after playing the demo. The Show 09 cemented my decision to buy it. Madden 10 didn't blow me away - if they gave me an option to change the speed on it and had announcers it might have pushed me to pre-order. But it was way too bare bones for me to really like.

For non sports games, I did buy Bourne, Uncharted and inFamous after playing really fun demos.

# 4 ZFarls @ Dec 22

When a game sucks as bad as NCAA 10, the Demo is going to be just as terrible. Demo's should help sell a game and swing in peoples favor. You shouldnt be scared to release it, you should be excited to give them a taste and hope they want more.

If its to early of a version thats a problem, but when the game comes out 3 weeks later and sucks, it isnt the demos fault. I bought UFC due to the demo and wasnt disappointed!