Demo-lishing Expectations

Prior to Xbox LIVE and Playstation Network, game demos only existed with periodicals on newsstands. Magazines usually had demos on the accompanying CD/DVD, sometimes with coverage of a game on the interior. Occasionally, certain games came packaged with brief, selected demos (Parasite Eve on PlayStation came with a demo of Xenogears, and videos of Brave Fencer Musashi, Bushido Blade 2, and Final Fantasy VIII). Now with Xbox LIVE and PSN, gamers can download demos and have time to test out a wide array of games without dropping any additional coinage. Does this hands-on time help in a purchasing decision?

Whatever I read in the magazines, I’ve probably read on some other website weeks prior. The decision to purchase a game comes down to two things: videos and a demo. I will watch almost every video released for a game that I’m interested in. The videos alone will bring my decision close to the 40% mark. A demo will push that decision towards the 90th percentile.

Game reviews are subjective, and I use Gamerankings.com just to see the averaged scores. There are games that aren’t top-tier that get average reviews, but I enjoy them more than some AAA titles that are released. I downloaded the Resistance: Fall of Man demo; while I enjoyed it, based on the demo, I decided to pass. Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm’s demo sold me the moment I started playing. Even with reviews giving it just above average scores, it’s in my queue for immediate purchase.

Unfortunately, demos aren’t released for every game I’m interested in, and sometimes I just have to take the chance. While PSN and Xbox LIVE release many demos, it is up to the developers to produce them. Some smaller publishers probably don’t have the ability to release demos, but on a marketing scale, it may be one of the cheaper ways to get advertising for their game.

Some may argue that a demo doesn’t give enough of a preview for a game to make a purchasing decision, but without the demo, what else would convince the gamer to buy a game? Even playing a demo of a game that you may not be highly interested in could sway your opinion, as opposed to reading the hype that exists online. Demos give you a chance to experience something new, and now you don’t even need to pay for the magazine or another game first.

I enjoy getting time to play-test a game. In some ways, I play the demo because it’s a small slice of the entire game, and when I don’t want to invest huge amounts of time, it’s like a twenty minute break in between other work. Hopefully, the majority of publishers will release demos for their upcoming releases; I would rather have tons of demos to try than bank on other gamers’ opinions about games I’m not sure about.