Question of the Day, January 21, 2011

[JoshGod]

Every game should have a demo. While they may not be fully representive it's better than nothing. Also its free gameplay, Fuck Yes!

 

[Woodsey]

They tend to be 15 minutes long, and give you no feeling for the game whatsoever, so unless there's a hardware concern (which I rarely need to worry about these days) then they're mostly unimportant.

 

[Nouw]

It is incredibly important, I rarely buy a game without trying it first.

 

[Snotnarok]

They're important as hell, in a world where companies bullshit system requirements and make shoddy ports I want to be certain my 50-60 bucks will actually be playable.

 

[StriderShinryu]

Demos used to be extremely important to me, and I would pretty much only buy something after I had played the demo unless it was a known property from a developer I was a huge fan of. Now a days, however, there are so many different written reviews, video reviews, previews, lets plays, etc. that if you can't get a good feel for a game without playing it then, quite frankly, you're not trying.

Is any of that as good as actually going hands on with a game? No, of course not, but it's a joke to say you have no idea how a game plays or if it's any good these days without getting your hands on it directly.

 

[V8 Ninja]

I'm one of those "I'll play the demo if I'm iffy/very interested about the game" people.

EDIT: I'm also one of those people that likes to see if a game will actually be playable on my gaming PC.

 

[hottsaucekid]

Considering it was my love of the Super Mario Sunshine demo that earned me a PS2 and thus got me into gaming, so I'd say demos are extremely important to me.

wait... im confused by this post. they didnt have super mario sunshine on the ps2......well yeah demo's are awesome and any game that takes the time to make a demo probably had enough time to make the game good in the first place.

 

[Sarah Frazier]

I personally tend to fall for raving reviews and pretty pictures plastered in magazines and on the game boxes. Almost all of the games in the closet are untouched because I relied on outside opinions and found the game itself to be less enjoyable than was advertised. If there's an actual demo somewhere, I can more easily determine how fun the game is for me by how bored I get with the snippet of game material, or how frustrating it is when the demo is done and I want to do more. Demos may cost quite a bit to put them out in different formats, as opposed to a generalized review on paper, but wouldn't they get more money in when people find they really do want the game after all rather than pirate it in case they don't?

 

[Soviet Steve]

I never play demos because I feel that the developer will probably put much more efford into those than the actual product - Instead I watch let's plays and let the first few bits of the game sway my opinion.

 

[Geamo]

For games i'm eager on buying, then it's not that big a deal but it's usually a nice sign if there is a demo out - plus they allow me to try out new genres without having to invest in the full game.

One thing I will not buy without a demo is MMORPGs. I find it's always necessary to try out the game for a trial period (which thankfully most do) before investing, hence my dissapointment with DC Universe online not providing one.