Do you think Xbox Live Demo's hurt hype?

[superguy]

Well I hear there may be a Ghost recon Demo.

I have to say my first thought was "it'll be unfinished/buggy, might turn some people off".

I think it will kind of ruin the hype a bit for the game. Plus what good does it do the publisher? They get no money.

While we all want to play these games faster, doesn't it defeat the hype factor, maybe the biggest marketing in gaming? I'd rather wait and buy the full Ghost Recon, and experience it all at once. But given the option, I wont be able to resist the Demo.

Put it this way...Halo 3 demo? No chance!!

 

[Serenity Painted Death]

I'd say it goes both ways. If your demo is good, or at least impressive in some way (see: FNR3), it probably helps. If your demo sucks... oops!

Though I don't imagine that most people will ever actually bother. The percentage is only going to go down as the less and less "hardcore" end up with systems (core sales without HD attachment will rise as well).

 

[NavNucST3]

I'd say it goes both ways. If your demo is good, or at least impressive in some way (see: FNR3), it probably helps. If your demo sucks... oops!

Though I don't imagine that most people will ever actually bother. The percentage is only going to go down as the less and less "hardcore" end up with systems (core sales without HD attachment will rise as well).

I disagree with that sentiment, only because of Live Arcade, the more casual you are, the greater the chance you will be a fan of Arcade, and from that perspective I still see the hdd being popular.

I also see the demos as helpful to the smaller devs. maybe now they are on an even playing field in terms of getting their demo in front of more people than before; instead of their game sitting in obscurity somewhere on a shelf, people will be aware of it (all assumptions on my part, I have no clue how it is determined which demos get placed on marketplace) and the "good" games will actually start selling again.

 

[thatdude90210]

Yep, it depends. FN3 sold me on it. I don't play sports video games at all, but that one was fun so I'm buying it.

Whereas with Condemned, I heard it was short so I was going to wait 'til it gets cheaper. I thought I was going to like it since I mostly play FPS games, I didn't like at all so I crossed it off my list altogether. I didn't even finish the demo.

 

[rabidrabbit]

Haven't some of the demos in "Live" come after the game has released?
What demos have been available in "Live"? Which of those were released before you could buy the game in the shops?

 

[NavNucST3]

Haven't some of the demos in "Live" come after the game has released?
What demos have been available in "Live"? Which of those were released before you could buy the game in the shops?

Full Auto and Fight Night Round 3 were released before their store dates.

EDIT: Can't remember all of the demos, but Madden, Full Auto, Condemned, FNR3, PGR3, FIFA, thats the best I can do off the top of my head.

BTW: Condemned is MUCH better than its demo.

 

[winstonsmith1978]

Games like Halo and RE5 have nothing to prove and can ride the hype as long as possible, so i don't think we have to worry about huge AAA titles having a downloadable demo.

+ games that suck probably won't have a demo either.

but a demo could be great for games like: Darwinia, SotC, Pikmin and Monkey Ball, etc. All the odd games need this service.

 

[Brimstone]

I'm not sure but I think publishers can disable the online portion of a demo whenever they want to because LIVE is a centralized service. So they can offer a pretty fully featured online demo without the worry of people just playing that forever over LIVE. This would make releasing demo's over LIVE more appealing to publishers compared to the PC market where can play that demo online for a very long time.

As far a GRAW goes, I see this is probably a big win for sales of the game. People will download it and invite buddies over to play split screen over LIVE with them. The Ghost Recon brand name going to become more well known.

 

[Danalys]

there aren't any new problems really. demos are still demos. all that's changed is the delivery method. i think once i found a demo so fun that i didn't feel a need to ever buy the game. the demo was enough. so they should be carefull of that. a well concieved demo is the best advertisement a game can ever have.

 

[Inane_Dork]

Of course, it all depends on the quality and draw of the demo.

 

[Magnum PI]

when the hype is kind of decieving and the demo reflects the true quality of the game yes a demo can hurt the hype... but is it a bad thing ?

 

[scooby_dooby]

it's a good thing for sure, bad games will sell less, good games will sell more. It gets many more people exposed to a game, revealing the flaws in some, and the great gameplay of others.

The one time demo's are bad though is like Kameo, where the Demo does not reflect the game, is just done poorly, and actually turns people off the game. They should've just plopped you in the middle of one of the villages...

 

[GB123]

The whole purpose of a demo is so that people can experience the game and make a judgement, if the developer releases a demo which doesn't live up to the full game they only have themselves to blame.

 

[drpepper]

Demo's definitely help the hype. When the Demo of Sons of Liberty was released on Zone of Enders, it not only helped sales of ZOE but it also got people wanting more of the game, even though the tank chapter was the best part of MGS2.

However, demo's on consoles should be something "special". A rarity. Frequent release of game demos seem very PC centric IMO. It may dilute the experience/anticipation leading up to games release if done too often.

 

[3roxor]

Seems to me the topic starter is worried of games not living up to what was promised.. I think demos somewhat remove hype and replace it with objectivity..which is a good thing. Yes, this could definately hurt certain titles.

 

[blakjedi]

Demos are better for publishers with unknown IP. If your worried that a game is worthy of publishing but might not be sure of the publics commitment.. release a hot downloadable IP...

 

[GB123]

No different than buying a Magazine with a demo cover mount, except its free..