So, where are the PC demos?

[Terramax]

Kane and Lynch 2, Call of Duty: MW2, Bad Company 2 to name but a few, I've noticed many of the big name games aren't getting demos for the PC anymore?!

Some of them seem to for consoles, but not for PC. Am I the only one noticing this and am I the only one that cares?

Is it due to these companies thinking "well, these games are gonna sell like hotcakes anyway so why bother?" or "our games aren't actually that good, and if we give them a demo it might actually pursuade them NOT to buy our product"?

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Maybe they're thinking that people will just pirate it as a "demo", and if they like it enough they'll go buy it.

I know a few of the users on this site do that, at least.

 

[TBR]

Modern warfare 2 had a few free weekends on Steam if I remember correctly. Basically (for the console players) this means you can download the MP part of COD6 sometime throughout the week, and for the weekend (Valve time, so basically 72 hours) you could play the complete Multiplayer game.

Shattered Horizon had this too, a couple of times.

Though for demos you sometimes have to go to the developer or publisher's website, I think for games like Indigo Prophecy and so forth that was the case.

BTW, Kane and Lynch 2 demo is on Steam. Same with Mafia 2, HL2, RUSE< Just Cause, etc...on the next page there's Sup Com 2 demo, Bioshock (why is the demo up that high on the list?) and others.

 

[Terramax]

They're just ones that I came up with at the top of my head, and the fact that I wouldn't mind playing a demo fo K+L 2. But grrr, why only for Steam?

 

[TBR]

They're just ones that I came up with at the top of my head, and the fact that I wouldn't mind playing a demo fo K+L 2. But grrr, why only for Steam?

If you consider yourself a gaming enthusiast, or 'gamer' or whatever, and DON'T have Steam, then you're doing it wrong. Sorry, but there is no real excuse to not use the system; it works, and works more than well enough to be way out ahead of everything else available, paid or unpaid.

 

[octafish]

Ah see I was just going to say, "They're on steam". I only dislike steam when it won't let me not update something that I only play single-player and don't have a problem with. With my crappy internets I just want to verify and play, I could patch it later if I have problems. I guess if you're going to download something why wouldn't you use steam.

 

[Terramax]

If you consider yourself a gaming enthusiast, or 'gamer' or whatever, and DON'T have Steam, then you're doing it wrong. Sorry, but there is no real excuse to not use the system; it works, and works more than well enough to be way out ahead of everything else available, paid or unpaid.

What kind of elitist crap is that?

 

[oplinger]

Demos have started to cost too much and are open to use by crackers to bypass DRM.

Mostly the second part of this.

Crack groups use game demos to pre-crack games before they come out.

 

[fix-the-spade]

But grrr, why only for Steam?

Basically, Steam is cheaper, faster and easier to monitor than demo discs on print magazines.

Plus it reaches magnitudes more people than any one print magazine who would all want money to include it on the disc and almost without exception are suffering declining sales. Steam also allows demos to be shipped with built in DRM (steam itself) and not cause too many shenanigens.

Their is an anti-crack maker angle as well, but to me that is moot as once a game is released it will be cracked in short order anyway. Even Ubisoft's dumb (and apparently abandoned) system lasted a few weeks before being busted open.

 

[Ironic Pirate]

They're just ones that I came up with at the top of my head, and the fact that I wouldn't mind playing a demo fo K+L 2. But grrr, why only for Steam?

If you consider yourself a gaming enthusiast, or 'gamer' or whatever, and DON'T have Steam, then you're doing it wrong. Sorry, but there is no real excuse to not use the system; it works, and works more than well enough to be way out ahead of everything else available, paid or unpaid.

*spit take*

So you can't seriously enjoy a hobby if you don't enjoy it in exactly the right way?

Well you aren't a serious gamer unless you're in the top ten on at least two games. Does that make sense? No, it doesn't.

Someone with one game on a Playstation one can be much, much more "hardcore" than you if their dedicated enough to that game.

*shakes head*

Anyway, with the three games you mentioned, the emphasis was placed on the console version, with the PC version being a port pretty much directly from the console. They probably didn't just didn't bother.

 

[TBR]

*spit take*

So you can't seriously enjoy a hobby if you don't enjoy it in exactly the right way?

Well you aren't a serious gamer unless you're in the top ten on at least two games. Does that make sense? No, it doesn't.

Someone with one game on a Playstation one can be much, much more "hardcore" than you if their dedicated enough to that game.

*shakes head*

Anyway, with the three games you mentioned, the emphasis was placed on the console version, with the PC version being a port pretty much directly from the console. They probably didn't just didn't bother.

Ignoring Steam and calling yourself a serious gamer is like saying you're a sports car enthusiast and you drive a Toyota Camry automatic, with no intention of driving anything else, ever. Fact. You're denying yourself so much; there's a massive amount of content and tons of features, all for FREE, and you're just locking yourself out of it for no good reason. If you want to enjoy games as much as you can, you wouldn't do that.

Being in the top 10 (or near the top in any leader board) is irrelevant; because then you're numerically limiting the number of people who could then be considered 'gamers'.

No, someone on a Playstation with one game cannot be more hardcore then even (for example) your mother playing Plants v zombies, peggle, and bejeweled, because your mother then isn't locked into just one game by choice. I don't give a toss if you're really good and dedicated to ONE game; nobody does. Because you're choosing to avoid the millions of other games and features, you're inferior. And pretty dumb, if you ask me.

Any enthusiast, in any field, would look for and embrace cool, interesting, useful, brilliant things in their field. Ergo anyone who does not, is not an enthusiast (gamer).

 

[Ironic Pirate]

*spit take*

So you can't seriously enjoy a hobby if you don't enjoy it in exactly the right way?

Well you aren't a serious gamer unless you're in the top ten on at least two games. Does that make sense? No, it doesn't.

Someone with one game on a Playstation one can be much, much more "hardcore" than you if their dedicated enough to that game.

*shakes head*

Anyway, with the three games you mentioned, the emphasis was placed on the console version, with the PC version being a port pretty much directly from the console. They probably didn't just didn't bother.

Ignoring Steam and calling yourself a serious gamer is like saying you're a sports car enthusiast and you drive a Toyota Camry automatic, with no intention of driving anything else, ever. Fact. You're denying yourself so much; there's a massive amount of content and tons of features, all for FREE, and you're just locking yourself out of it for no good reason. If you want to enjoy games as much as you can, you wouldn't do that.

Being in the top 10 (or near the top in any leader board) is irrelevant; because then you're numerically limiting the number of people who could then be considered 'gamers'.

No, someone on a Playstation with one game cannot be more hardcore then even (for example) your mother playing Plants v zombies, peggle, and bejeweled, because your mother then isn't locked into just one game by choice. I don't give a toss if you're really good and dedicated to ONE game; nobody does. Because you're choosing to avoid the millions of other games and features, you're inferior. And pretty dumb, if you ask me.

Any enthusiast, in any field, would look for and embrace cool, interesting, useful, brilliant things in their field. Ergo anyone who does not, is not an enthusiast (gamer).

Your car enthusiast example is flawed, because (according to you) someone who buys dozens of car magazines, fixes all his friends cars, attends car shows all the time, isn't a car enthusiast if he has a Camry. That's silly, because he clearly shows a lot of interest, and dedication in cars. An enthusiast.

Having steam doesn't make you a serious gamer, and not having it doesn't mean you aren't. Buying gaming mags, reading gaming news, and playing fucking games makes you a gaming enthusiast, not what service you use.

 

[TBR]

Your car enthusiast example is flawed, because (according to you) someone who buys dozens of car magazines, fixes all his friends cars, attends car shows all the time, isn't a car enthusiast if he has a Camry. That's silly, because he clearly shows a lot of interest, and dedication in cars. An enthusiast.

Having steam doesn't make you a serious gamer, and not having it doesn't mean you aren't. Buying gaming mags, reading gaming news, and playing fucking games makes you a gaming enthusiast, not what service you use.

nope

Playing PC games on your PC, but not having Steam installed does indicate you ARE doing it wrong if you consider yourself a serious gamer. It has the demos that OP was looking for and other features for FREE. It's like being given free test drives at the Ferrari dealership for life, then a 80% discount on cars for ever, free car club membership, a slave/mechanic, and free insurance.

No enthusiast would deny themselves something that's both awesome and free, and that can significantly expand their horizons. Besides, no car enthusiast will ever willingly and by choice buy a camry auto.

 

[Ironic Pirate]

Your car enthusiast example is flawed, because (according to you) someone who buys dozens of car magazines, fixes all his friends cars, attends car shows all the time, isn't a car enthusiast if he has a Camry. That's silly, because he clearly shows a lot of interest, and dedication in cars. An enthusiast.

Having steam doesn't make you a serious gamer, and not having it doesn't mean you aren't. Buying gaming mags, reading gaming news, and playing fucking games makes you a gaming enthusiast, not what service you use.

nope

Playing PC games on your PC, but not having Steam installed does indicate you ARE doing it wrong if you consider yourself a serious gamer. It has the demos that OP was looking for and other features for FREE. It's like being given free test drives at the Ferrari dealership for life, then a 80% discount on cars for ever, free car club membership, a slave/mechanic, and free insurance.

No enthusiast would deny themselves something that's both awesome and free, and that can significantly expand their horizons. Besides, no car enthusiast will ever willingly and by choice buy a camry auto.

Okay, I'll concede that if you play on a PC, and have a decent internet connection, then it's generally wise to sign up for it.

But PC gaming isn't the only kind, and my internet routinely cuts out for a few minutes every hours, which would fuck with playing Steam games.

Also, what if this theoretical person (let's call him Zach) has practical needs for a Toyota Camry? There are numerous circumstances that would make it infinitely more practical for him to get a Camry then, I don't know, a Ferrari. Price, function, etc.

 

[Serving UpSmiles]

i played some stuff on steam, always something went wrong, You dont have enough ram! you need to update your drivers! your graphics card! blah blah blah, then i went to my xbox and i was a happy boy.

 

[Jasper Jeffs]

If there's not a demo, just download the game and see if you like it, and then buy it if you do. I generally don't trust games without demos, it feels like they're hiding something, so the aforementioned piece of advice has saved me a lot of money.