Fuck you, i prefer playing a demo before gambling away my money on either a great game or something that sucks.
Granted there are trailers and people streaming games but i prefer to play a game myself.
The demo of the first Crysis drove me to purchase it on release.
I can only believe that a demo of a game not worth playing would hinder sales. Such broad and close-minded statements like this are idiotic when there are factors such as the quality of the game or the release date of a demo in relation to the release of the game.
Hell the Just Cause 2 demo is another example of a well timed demo with a good amount of content to represent the actual product and that as well made me buy the full game.
So what he says is that its better to sell a ton of overhyped product that will become a disappointment to 1/3 of the customers, most likely ruining any chance of a sequel, then it is to allow people to see if they like it before they buy it and gaining a stronger base for another game in the series.
[editline]dasas[/editline]
Makes perfect business sense, in the short term at least, but long term people start to REALLY dislike the company that does it.
Jesse Schell, retarded winner of 2013.
Whether demo or closed alpha/beta testing, it is a required step, for both devs and future buyers.
Fixing stuff and launching an almost complete game, with no bugs, glitches, etc.
He must have got those numbers from a shitty xbox game, not a major IP launch.
That's wrong as fuck.
I know a couple programs I only used the demo of, and decided I wanted to upgrade.
I would never have gotten ArmA 2 if I didn't play the free edition first. I simply didn't know how good it was. If one were to release a demo that harmed sales, I can only imagine that would be down to false promises of what the game could provide.
What he's saying is shitty demos sell games badly.
People don't just buy the games they want, they also buy the games they think they want.
Yeah because people might see what a pile of shit their game is.
Just giving us more reasons to pirate games instead of actually buying them.
I won't watch TB asslick a game to insanity, and decide to buy it instantly.
I'm subscribing on the official site, for a closed beta key or something.
If a game doesn't have alpha, closed beta, open beta, then it's a fail game.
Now, there are mmo devs who think that doing closed beta with xyz number of players guarantee their servers are up to the task (take D3, for example), and suck balls at release.
It's one thing to overestimate the sales and incoming players, it's a totally other thing to launch a game unprepared at all.
Demo or no purchase...
short term-ism, SALES MUST BE NAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO bcoz sales after release week or fortnight don't count to shareholders, right?
He is correct though. First, he has the data to support him and second, he isn't the only one to say this.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QM6LoaqEnY[/media]
Of course this is the perspective of the developers and publishers and it's obviously counter-intuitive for the customers/players.
Contrary to what most of you seem to be thinking, I actually agree. I can easily count more times where I've played a demo and didn't buy a game because of it, than the times I've played a demo that drove me to buy the game. Demos can also cost time (and money as a result) to make, depending on how the game works, as well. This can potentially be a lose-lose depending on the game and person playing it.
Don't get me wrong, I love demos as much as the next guy, and it kind of irks me that I'm seeing a lot less of them than before, but I also think it makes no business sense and can see why they'd stop making them.
If a dev team + publishers aren't interested in getting a demo rolling (time and money cost to make), it means they don't care about the final product and any other future implications.
You want people to buy your game? Do your best to polish a demo version, something to attract buyers, else you'll fail and complain at year's end that your profits sucked.
Of course, demo < alpha/beta in any situation, and most development teams want the feedback of users, and they won't have any way to deny failure to fix errors, etc, in the final product.
Evolve or get the boot...
The only reason not to release a demo is if your game is shit and you don't want people to know until their money is already in your pockets. So yeah, if you have a shit game, don't release a demo for it. This advice isn't surprising coming from the CEO of something called Puzzle Clubhouse.
I'd have thought the sales gained from people trying the demo and subsequently buying the game would more or less equal sales lost from people who tried the demo and didn't like it.
[QUOTE=n0cturni;39549105]Contrary to what most of you seem to be thinking, I actually agree. I can easily count more times where I've played a demo and didn't buy a game because of it, than the times I've played a demo that drove me to buy the game. Demos can also cost time (and money as a result) to make, depending on how the game works, as well. This can potentially be a lose-lose depending on the game and person playing it.
Don't get me wrong, I love demos as much as the next guy, and it kind of irks me that I'm seeing a lot less of them than before, but I also think it makes no business sense and can see why they'd stop making them.[/QUOTE]
From a business standpoint it's right, doesn't make it less of a dick move though. A dev could make a great looking game but it could turn out to be complete shit gameplay-wise.
But there's a point where the demo itself can be bad enough to lose a sale. For example SPAZ, I grabbed the demo because it looked interesting but didn't enjoy the demo enough to buy it. Played a friend's full copy and enjoyed it very thoroughly (I beat it in fact) then got it very soon after.
But if there's a game I'm unsure on and there's no demo, especially if it's a developer I've never heard of or don't trust, I'll flat out pass on a game rather than just giving in and buying it. Although that depends on the price of said game. If it's $10 there's a decent chance I'll go ahead and get it. But anything more than $20 and I won't because I'm not sure it's worth the cash.
[QUOTE=n0cturni;39549105]Contrary to what most of you seem to be thinking, I actually agree. I can easily count more times where I've played a demo and didn't buy a game because of it, than the times I've played a demo that drove me to buy the game. Demos can also cost time (and money as a result) to make, depending on how the game works, as well. This can potentially be a lose-lose depending on the game and person playing it.
Don't get me wrong, I love demos as much as the next guy, and it kind of irks me that I'm seeing a lot less of them than before, but I also think it makes no business sense and can see why they'd stop making them.[/QUOTE]
Well yeah, the demos stopped you from buying bad games. What's the issue here?
Yeah of course, it's pretty logical. It's easier to turn up the marketing budget and hype the shit out of a game than it is to actually make a good one. It's better to let people settle their curiosity with a game by forcing them to buy it in its entirety first and get disappointed, than it is to give them an honest chance to try and see if they like it first. Once they've activated their game online they can't return it anyway.
Asshole-ish anti-consumer strategy, but hey, as long as the money is in your pocket you don't have to care, right?
That's what people who make crappy games say :v:
[QUOTE=irukandji;39548546]Jesse Schell, retarded winner of 2013.
Whether demo or closed alpha/beta testing, it is a required step, for both devs and future buyers.
Fixing stuff and launching an almost complete game, with no bugs, glitches, etc.
He must have got those numbers from a shitty xbox game, not a major IP launch.[/QUOTE]
He is actually right.
But only when its a shitty game.
The only time i've seen this to be true is phantasy star online. The demo was the full game only it reset your progress every month.
i like how there's a really simple solution for this
make a better game.
instead of cutting your sales in half a demo of a good game will boost them.
[QUOTE=Funny Hats;39549857]Well yeah, the demos stopped you from buying bad games. What's the issue here?[/QUOTE]
That's exactly the issue. If you watched the Extra Credits video, they go through 9 possible outcomes of releasing a demo, with only two of them result in someone buying.
[QUOTE=Funny Hats;39549679]This advice isn't surprising coming from the CEO of something called Puzzle Clubhouse.[/QUOTE]
This guy is actually pretty solid reputation. He wrote this book:
[url=http://www.amazon.com/Art-Game-Design-book-lenses/dp/0123694965][img]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31qDkkSxrdL._SL500_AA300_.jpg[/img][/url]
So he knows what he's saying.
[QUOTE=KillerJaguar;39550173]This guy is actually pretty solid reputation. He wrote this book:
[url=http://www.amazon.com/Art-Game-Design-book-lenses/dp/0123694965][img]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31qDkkSxrdL._SL500_AA300_.jpg[/img][/url]
So he knows what he's saying.[/QUOTE]
And yet he is promoting doing customers disservice by removing their possibility to try a game and form their own opinion before they buy it.
[QUOTE=Chrille;39550202]And yet he is promoting doing customers disservice by removing their possibility to try a game and form their own opinion before they buy it.[/QUOTE]
Would you do something where 77% of the outcomes result in harm to yourself?
[QUOTE=Chrille;39550202]And yet he is promoting doing customers disservice by removing their possibility to try a game and form their own opinion before they buy it.[/QUOTE]
Rental stores exist for a reason.
Expecting a demo is not something people should do. They require extra effort and money that most devs don't have in the modern day regardless of the fact that 7 times out of 9 they actually don't help sales. The only demo in recent times that has convinced me to buy a game is Metal Gear Rising. If I was to go based off the demo of games that I own, I would have never bought Dragon's Dogma.
I think demo versions should never go away. Got some personal experience with this!
I kept hearing horrible things about RE6, was avoiding it. Last month I finally decided to try the demo, invited a friend (who was never interested in Resident Evil) and oh look, we're gonna be playing the full game today or tomorrow! :v:
Demo versions are a good thing. They should stay.
I remember back in the days when, on a game CD you would get an exclusive demo for future game...
Remember that?
With all the recurring hype, for an (un)known IP, playing an exclusive demo was worth the price of purchase.
But that's back in the day...
Now all asslickers get their money and hype the stuffing out of shit games, and people buy them galore, only to realize they are worthless, unoptimized, buggy craploads.
Also, limited versions (not demo), trial versions aren't the final product... Why would I prefer a trial vs the final product? It's the same as onDisk dlcs or waiting for a season_pass pack on Steam, to get access to future missions.
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