Topic: No demo on PC...trend?

[idolminds]

Linky

Thats not what the article is about. The new Lord of The Rings game won't have a demo on PC, even though the PS3 and 360 got one. They also note that Dead Space and Mirrors Edge also had console demos with no PC demo. Is it me, or does this not make much sense? Especially considering PC gamers would be the ones most likely to benefit from a demo (not just gameplay, but to check out performance).

So...console ports, delayed releases behind console, and no demo. They wonder why they get low sales on PC for these games?

[MysterD]

And if they did put out a PC, if the game ran poorly, would you buy it? Probably not.

See what happened to Deus Ex: IW for putting a PC port demo out -- it destroyed the game's chance of PC sales upon its release. People expected the game to turn out that bad technically on the PC, given how the demo turned out.

If ports aren't ported that well to the PC, we probably shouldn't expect a demo for it.

[scottws]

What?  There are demos for every game.  Some people call them "pirated games."  I'm not sure why.

Seriously though.  I can't remember the last time I installed and played a demo of a game on the PC.  Sure, I downloaded or otherwise acquired tons of demos back in the Duke Nukem 3D and Quake days.  I loved getting magazines with demo disks in them back them.  But the only times since then that I can think of playing demos on the PC have been the DX:IW demo and some single-word RTS game by some Russian company.  It began with a "D" or a "P", I think.  Oh well, that's irrelevant.

Regarding the demo for DX:IW.  I found it to be quite representative of the game: a complete and utter steaming pile of shit in every way imaginable.  Actually the demo was better because you weren't subject to the torture of the rest of the game.

[Ghandi]

I love demos because I'm a cheap bastard. But some (at least for me) are counter-productive in terms of sales, because I play the game for a bit and realize that I've about had enough after an hour or so.

[gpw11]

I stopped downloading demos when they all started breaking the 1 GB mark.

[PyroMenace]

So...console ports, delayed releases behind console, and no demo. They wonder why they get low sales on PC for these games?

I dont think all that is just due to poor PC sales, not the other way around. But like gpw I honestly cant even remember that last time I checked out a demo.

Edit - My first sentence was confusing and I couldnt understand it myself.

[Pugnate]

What the hell is a demo?