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Demos are great. They let you have your own personal preview of a game and in theory, saves you a hell of a lot of money. They let you experience, test and make your mind up about a game way before it’s been released. This way, you don’t have to rely on reviews from people you’ve never met before and who probably don’t share the same tastes as you do.
The can also be used by the publishers/developers of a game to generate a hell of a lot of hype. Metal Gear Solid 2 is a prime example. The only way to get your hands on it was to buy a copy of Zone Of the Enders. There were no other places to play probably the most eagerly awaited game of all time. It was so eagerly awaited that most people were prepared to shell out 30 odd quid on ZOE simply to play MGS2.
Be honest here, are there actually any people here who bought ZOE for ZOE itself, or was it just for MGS2. Was it MGS2 that was the main attraction to you? And ZOE was a little bonus extra? I think it’s very probable that most people who bought ZOE bought it for MGS2 and not for ZOE. Very VERY clever marketing by Sony there. I have to give them that.
Now, I have to wonder. Would the N64 have been more successful if demos had been available for that? Obviously it would have helped if carts weren’t so expensive to produce, but disregarding the cost, would more people of bough an N64 id demos were obtainable? Yes, I think they probably would.
Demos, I think, are one of the reasons why certain PlayStation and PC magazines sold/sell so well. All they’ve got to do is stick a CD that costs 5p to produce with some basic code of a/some hotly anticipated game/games on the front and, bingo, you’ve got a great seller on your hands.
Now that we know that the GameCube will be using CDs/DVDs/Whatever the hell those cool little discs are, demos are almost certainly going to start appearing on the front of ‘Cube magazines too. And that is nothing but good news! ‘Cube users will get to preview their own games and make decisions on what to buy and what not to buy.
Will this affect GameCube sales? Well, we’ll have to wait and see. But I’m going to make a rash and/or stupid prediction. I’m gonna say that the GC WILL sell more because of the availability of demo discs. As soon as demos start appearing I’ll take the sales figures of the GC and compare them to the sales figures of the N64 after the same period of time.
Of course, all this is assuming that Nintendo WILL start producing demo discs. I hope to God that they do though, because it would be a fantastic boost for the GameCube, and it may even persuade a few X-Jocks to join the ranks of the Ninty’s. With all things taken in to account, no one loses in the demo situation. Gamers get a preview of games to whet their appetite (good for us) ----> So more games are sold (good for developers/publishers) ----> and it’s possible that Nintendo will then shift more units (good for Nintendo!)
In all honesty, it would be extremely daft of Nintendo NOT too capitalise on this opportunity. However, I doubt Nintendo would so uncharacteristically stupid as to not take advantage of the fact that, at last, they are using discs.
Rock on demos!
RBS
P.S. I apologise for the needless abundance of forward slashes, I got a bit carried away :-D
The can also be used by the publishers/developers of a game to generate a hell of a lot of hype. Metal Gear Solid 2 is a prime example. The only way to get your hands on it was to buy a copy of Zone Of the Enders. There were no other places to play probably the most eagerly awaited game of all time. It was so eagerly awaited that most people were prepared to shell out 30 odd quid on ZOE simply to play MGS2.
Be honest here, are there actually any people here who bought ZOE for ZOE itself, or was it just for MGS2. Was it MGS2 that was the main attraction to you? And ZOE was a little bonus extra? I think it’s very probable that most people who bought ZOE bought it for MGS2 and not for ZOE. Very VERY clever marketing by Sony there. I have to give them that.
Now, I have to wonder. Would the N64 have been more successful if demos had been available for that? Obviously it would have helped if carts weren’t so expensive to produce, but disregarding the cost, would more people of bough an N64 id demos were obtainable? Yes, I think they probably would.
Demos, I think, are one of the reasons why certain PlayStation and PC magazines sold/sell so well. All they’ve got to do is stick a CD that costs 5p to produce with some basic code of a/some hotly anticipated game/games on the front and, bingo, you’ve got a great seller on your hands.
Now that we know that the GameCube will be using CDs/DVDs/Whatever the hell those cool little discs are, demos are almost certainly going to start appearing on the front of ‘Cube magazines too. And that is nothing but good news! ‘Cube users will get to preview their own games and make decisions on what to buy and what not to buy.
Will this affect GameCube sales? Well, we’ll have to wait and see. But I’m going to make a rash and/or stupid prediction. I’m gonna say that the GC WILL sell more because of the availability of demo discs. As soon as demos start appearing I’ll take the sales figures of the GC and compare them to the sales figures of the N64 after the same period of time.
Of course, all this is assuming that Nintendo WILL start producing demo discs. I hope to God that they do though, because it would be a fantastic boost for the GameCube, and it may even persuade a few X-Jocks to join the ranks of the Ninty’s. With all things taken in to account, no one loses in the demo situation. Gamers get a preview of games to whet their appetite (good for us) ----> So more games are sold (good for developers/publishers) ----> and it’s possible that Nintendo will then shift more units (good for Nintendo!)
In all honesty, it would be extremely daft of Nintendo NOT too capitalise on this opportunity. However, I doubt Nintendo would so uncharacteristically stupid as to not take advantage of the fact that, at last, they are using discs.
Rock on demos!
RBS
P.S. I apologise for the needless abundance of forward slashes, I got a bit carried away :-D
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Probably, but they'll restrict it to a single magazine if it does happen to avoid a frenzy of repeat demos. Not unlike the Official PS2 Mag, then.
Your Honour wrote:
Oh yes. Very much.
Indeed so.
Oh you cruel bustard! :-D
Oh yes. Very much.
Indeed so.
Oh you cruel bustard! :-D
If Nintendo DON'T do demo's then I will be giving them a good booting. Demo's rule.
"You happy now?"
Oh yes. Very much.
Indeed so.
:-D
Oh yes. Very much.
Indeed so.
:-D
Your Honour wrote:
> " Very VERY clever marketing by Sony there"
Er, I thought MGS2 and
> ZOE were developed and published by Konami?
Shut it :-D
Very VERY clever marketing by Konami there.
You happy now?
> " Very VERY clever marketing by Sony there"
Er, I thought MGS2 and
> ZOE were developed and published by Konami?
Shut it :-D
Very VERY clever marketing by Konami there.
You happy now?
Good post but I think you missed a little part about the future of demos. I think we could be seeing downloadable demos when consoles go on-line and have suitable hard disks. I'm sure we will have to pay for such a service but could be possible for illegal downlaod sites and servers to be set up to allow free demos.
I'm not a great fan of demo disks with magazines as the demos are short and the disk is filled with crap games. Downloading demos is the way I see things going, for PC games and for console games.
I'm not a great fan of demo disks with magazines as the demos are short and the disk is filled with crap games. Downloading demos is the way I see things going, for PC games and for console games.
I always check to see if a game I want has a demo release so I can check out the game before I part cash for it.
I like demo's along as they don't give toooo much away...
Your Honour wrote:
> " Very VERY clever marketing by Sony there"
Er, I thought MGS2 and
> ZOE were developed and published by Konami?
---
They are.
> " Very VERY clever marketing by Sony there"
Er, I thought MGS2 and
> ZOE were developed and published by Konami?
---
They are.
" Very VERY clever marketing by Sony there"
Er, I thought MGS2 and ZOE were developed and published by Konami?
Er, I thought MGS2 and ZOE were developed and published by Konami?
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