pdenton on 23/10/2008 at 02:50
Some of my fondest memories of my early gaming years was getting the PC Gamer Demo discs and just trying games, even ones I never would've though to try like MDK2.
The publishers are probably realizing that no demo+hype=leads to instant sales....I'll be honest, I bought Dead Space and wish I'd only rented the damn thing. Had I played a demo, I think I would have just saved the cash for Fallout 3.
nicked on 23/10/2008 at 02:58
I guess the other main problem is that to get a decent-length playable demo of most AAA titles these days you're talking 500Mb-2Gb, which is a pretty hefty download for most people, even with broadband. Gone are the days of magazines being able to put 500 demos on a CD.
Shadowcat on 23/10/2008 at 03:35
I will continue to dislike it when demos are built and released significantly in advance of the retail game. A pre-release 'demo' is demonstrating old code, and as such is probably missing many of the vast number of fixes and improvements that happen in the final stages of an application's development, when so many loose ends get tidied up.
Regardless of whether I want to find out if I'm interested in the game, or if it's primarily just to see whether my machine handles it well enough, I want a demo to demonstrate the retail game to me, not some noticeably inferior alternative. Sure, there are bound to be exceptions, but I think they are very much in the minority.
Unless the company makes a subsequent post-release demo (which almost never happens), the early demo routine is just annoying.
CCCToad on 23/10/2008 at 03:43
Its not so much in the quantity, as most games still offer free demos.
The difference is quality: Whereas previously you coul often get a good 15-20 minutes of gameplay, as well a good feel for the finished title's quality, now you usually get about 5 minutes of gameplay.
Matthew on 23/10/2008 at 10:03
Quote Posted by pdenton
Some of my fondest memories of my early gaming years was getting the PC Gamer Demo discs and just trying games, even ones I never would've though to try like MDK2.
Indeed, I wouldn't even have heard of Jagged Alliance had it not been for a (pretty poorly advertised) demo on a coverdisc.
EvaUnit02 on 23/10/2008 at 12:43
One awesome game that I remember discovering via a shareware was Cannon Fodder (for DOS. Over here, unlike in the UK, people didn't smoke the cock of failed computer platforms like the Amiga.).
Matthew on 23/10/2008 at 13:07
More fool you, then.
EvaUnit02 on 23/10/2008 at 13:21
The fools were the ones whom were stubbornly staying on the sinking ship. Amiga was like the Dreamcast of the PC world.
Matthew on 23/10/2008 at 13:38
Hmmm ... no.
Neb on 23/10/2008 at 15:40
I would never have heard of System Shock 2 had I not played a demo of it. After buying it, it was only by 2004 that I saw anyone even mention it.
