Should Games Be Delayed To Release Playable Demos?

Thanks to GameSpot for its 'GameSpotting' editorial discussing how important it is to release a playable demo of your games before the game debuts. Although he points out: "If your demo does not go over well with the public, it may end up being detrimental to the retail product", the writer notes: "My observations have consistently indicated that a demo's impact can be far more significant if it is released before, rather than after, a game. Look at Doom and Quake. Look at Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Battlefield 1942. The demos made these games." He even suggests games deserve delaying to get a representative demo released: "Given that resources are limited, should a game be delayed just so a demo can be released? ...I'm going to say the answer is yes."

Comments

Gotta do it

[77Punker]

These demos often expose horrid bugs so that they can get squashed before the games hit the shelves, since they have a much larger playing base than just the beta test group.

Half-Life demo

[jmlyle]

I'm pretty sure half-Life had one of the most successful demos of all time, released with some video card, months before the official release.

Day One

[jmlyle]

Yup

GameSpot recently received a preview version of Half-Life: Day One, an OEM version of Half-Life that contains the first few hours of the game. It will be available this month in bundles with the Diamond Monster Sound MX300, Guillemot Maxi Gamer Voodoo Banshee video card, and Thrustmaster Frag Master joystick. Now that GameSpot has finished playing Day One, we give you our impressions of Half-Life and update our preview with what we've learned....

UT2004 demo was a good move

[catphile]

After UT2003 got mixed reviews (okay - bad reviews, but I liked it) the release last week of the 2004 demo has probably guarunteed they'll have a hit when the retail game hits stores. I've rarely, if ever, seen any demo get better reviews, and in this case, I think it will pay off well for Epic. They have used this tight demo to win back a fan base.

Re:UT2004 demo was a good move

[der_joachim]

And don't forget the UT2004 linux demo. Finally a decent game for which I will not have to boot Windows.

der Joachim

Re:UT2004 demo was a good move

[UWC]

And then there's also the Mac demo. I don't recall such an all-encompassing demo release in recent memory.

Re:I don't buy it

[Goldberg's Pants]

Doom was shareware. You got episode 1 for free, and episode 2 and 3 you got when you paid. Just dig out an old copy and run it, it'll say about registering when you quit or finish the game.

Demos in general are pointless in my experience. I've played demos which sucked for games that ultimately rocked. I've played demos that rocked for games that ultimately sucked.

About the only use for demos in my experience is to see how the game will run on your machine.

It can hurt the game

[M3wThr33]

Deus Ex: IW sucked. It just did. I don't care how fun it is. It isn't the same game I wanted.
On top of that, they released it with the Xbox settings on. A company that doesn't care about demos turns me off.

Great demos

[Little Dave]

I tend to fall into the camp where I'd like to see things moving before I lay down my money. I can certainly remember times in which I've been looking forward to a game, and then been warned off it by playing a demo: Deus Ex 2 springs instantly to mind.

I also think that its possible for a demo to become a memorable gaming experience in and of itself. Some standouts:

Civilization (Atari ST): A limited demo that ran from the start to 0 AD. No limits to what you could do in the time. I must've played this nonstop for months, trying desperately to get just one step more advanced before it timed out.

Unreal Tournament (PC): Jeez, I've never been so blown away by demo level than I was by Mobious in this demo. Played online and off for weeks.

Far Cry (PC): Was fairly nonplussed by the build up to this game, but the demo fair blew me away. So much detail, so much to see and do. So many ways to accomplish your objective. And it looks lovely.