Anyone notice a lack of demos for games these days?

Remember the days when a demo of a PC game came out a few days before the actual game was released? Now it seems that PC games either dont have demos, or the demos are released months after the actual game comes out. Demos are especially important for PC games as users may want to see how the game performs on their system.

Yea I noticed, I find it stupid that they release a demo like 5 months after the actual game. Makes no sense. millerlight89

[QUOTE="millerlight89"]Yea I noticed, I find it stupid that they release a demo like 5 months after the actual game. Makes no sense. blues35301

Yeah then companies are quick to play the piracy card and count each download as a sale lost; whether the downloader wouldnt have bought the game anyways because they didnt like it, it didnt run well or they are just cheap or if the downloader ended up buying the game in the end because they liked it but no demo was available.

[QUOTE="blues35301"][QUOTE="millerlight89"]Yea I noticed, I find it stupid that they release a demo like 5 months after the actual game. Makes no sense. NanoMan88

Yeah then companies are quick to play the piracy card and count each download as a sale lost; whether the downloader wouldnt have bought the game anyways because they didnt like it, it didnt run well or they are just cheap or if the downloader ended up buying the game in the end because they liked it but no demo was available.

I'm pretty sure they did some market research and found that nobody buys games based on playing the demo. I know I never did. I only downloaded demos of games I was curious to play, but not curious enough to want to buy.d-rtyboy

I'm pretty sure they did some market research and found that nobody buys games based on playing the demo. I know I never did. I only downloaded demos of games I was curious to play, but not curious enough to want to buy.d-rtyboy

I've personally bought many games based on how the demo played and how much I enjoyed it. I'm much more willing to shell out $50 after experiencing a game for myself rather than spending $50 because some half-witted reviewer (or inflated Metacritic score) says I should. In short, I trust my opinion on what I'll like more than I trust a strangers (so-called "professional" or not).

[QUOTE="d-rtyboy"]I'm pretty sure they did some market research and found that nobody buys games based on playing the demo. I know I never did. I only downloaded demos of games I was curious to play, but not curious enough to want to buy.-wildflower-

I've personally bought many games based on how the demo played and how much I enjoyed it. I'm much more willing to shell out $50 after experiencing a game for myself rather than spending $50 because some half-witted reviewer (or inflated Metacritic score) says I should. In short, I trust my opinion on what I'll like more than I trust a strangers (so-called "professional" or not).

I agree I am against piracy but I am also against wasting money on something I don't know that I will like. I see it the same as trying on shoes. I am not stealing the shoes..just trying them on for size first.

On that note, two recent demos are Mafia 2 which is very good, and Kane and Lynch 2, which is less good.f22rf

I'm pretty sure they did some market research and found that nobody buys games based on playing the demo. I know I never did. I only downloaded demos of games I was curious to play, but not curious enough to want to buy.d-rtyboy

[QUOTE="f22rf"]On that note, two recent demos are Mafia 2 which is very good, and Kane and Lynch 2, which is less good.millerlight89

[QUOTE="d-rtyboy"]I'm pretty sure they did some market research and found that nobody buys games based on playing the demo. I know I never did. I only downloaded demos of games I was curious to play, but not curious enough to want to buy.millerlight89

Or if they'll like it, period. Personally, I'd like to try out games that I'm on the fence with, but because there is no demo.. the majority of the time I will not take that chance and drop the cash to buy a game that I'm less than 50% sure about. With that said, if games were to have demos before release date or a few days to a few weeks after launch, it would help gamers decide whether they will buy a certain game or not, rather than not buy it at all. This is where game developers and publishers lose out.

It's also not true that people who play demos are gamers who will not likely buy that game anyway. That's a false assumption, as some people want to try a demo and if they like it enough, they will buy it. By not putting a demo out there, they're shutting out a pretty significant market of gamers that would have purchased the game.

And how many people do you know that buy games on launch day that regret their purchase? Quite a few. Why? Because they couldn't try the game out with a demo. But in this situation, the gamer loses and it's pretty much their own fault.. But the game companies win here obviously. I think this is the main reason why game demos are not being pushed out. Sales. If they could get more people to jump on the bandwagon and not know what they're getting into, they are happy.

They don't really care so much whether you'll be dropping down cash for a game that you will probably be disappointed in. But like I said, that's the consumers responsibility, but at the same time, it's very deceiving on the game company's part. There are many sides to this argument. Quite frankly.

[QUOTE="millerlight89"][QUOTE="f22rf"]On that note, two recent demos are Mafia 2 which is very good, and Kane and Lynch 2, which is less good.blues35301

Better for company to release a demo after the game is out that way people who wanted it just go ahead and take it then the demo later to get more people.

Demo worked for me on Just cause 2 liked it alot but got bored of original game fast, played it like 2hrs. But theres alot of games i didn't buy because of demos.

More BETAs and less demos is cool imo. I like it like that. Altho I have to admit, I miss the gamer magazines' discs full of game demos.Crimsader