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Need confirmation: PS3 game demos to cost $1?!
- Thread starter antoniogaud
- Start date
kinoki
Illness is the doctor to whom we pay most heed; to kindness, to knowledge, we make promise only; pain we obey.
I think people here analyse things a bit too much.
"Small or time-limited demos" doesn't mean that they'll be 8 megs or will not work after one week it means "one room" (like Heavenly Sword) or one track (like Gran Turismo) or "one hour" (like 360's Dead Rising).
And by the way: SO WHAT if the demos cost a buck a piece? That's like a coke or something. If that one dollar saves you the 69 you otherwise should have paid for shit then perhaps it is worth it, no doubt?
"Small or time-limited demos" doesn't mean that they'll be 8 megs or will not work after one week it means "one room" (like Heavenly Sword) or one track (like Gran Turismo) or "one hour" (like 360's Dead Rising).
And by the way: SO WHAT if the demos cost a buck a piece? That's like a coke or something. If that one dollar saves you the 69 you otherwise should have paid for shit then perhaps it is worth it, no doubt?
ElectricBlue187
Member
kinoki said:
It's not the price, it's the principle.
Beer Monkey
Member
kinoki said:
Um, isn't that the very definition of every f*cking game demo in history? Why even qualify the statement with 'time limited'.
It was a blurb made by Kutaragi about the possibility charging 100yen (86 cents) for demos. However, its hard to imagine the larger third-parties like EA, Capcom, etc charging for demos. In fact, I'm sure a company like EA would demand to distribute the demos for free so that they have a better chance of selling the retail game.
Probably best to take a wait and see approach until something more concrete surfaces.
Probably best to take a wait and see approach until something more concrete surfaces.
Cold-Steel
Member
In my opinion, I think this is a brilliant business move.
$1 in the mind of many consumers seems like absolutely nothing. You get a GT: HD demo - the $1 fee covers the costs of server maintenance and possibly publisher & developer costs. People who don't own GT: HD download the game, let's say an average of 100,000 people (realistic). 100,000 people later - you have $100,000 in your pocket.
Microtransactions are going to be HUGE for revenue.
$1 in the mind of many consumers seems like absolutely nothing. You get a GT: HD demo - the $1 fee covers the costs of server maintenance and possibly publisher & developer costs. People who don't own GT: HD download the game, let's say an average of 100,000 people (realistic). 100,000 people later - you have $100,000 in your pocket.
Microtransactions are going to be HUGE for revenue.
ElectricBlue187
Member
Doctor_No said:
I agree it's likely a 3rd party publishing for all three formats would rather have their demo on XBL marketplace because more people will download it there than on Sony's Rapestation 3 if they're going to be charged.
antoniogaud said:
Paid by the potentially increased sales of those games? Demo is a marketing tool, since when has marketing been free? And if they want us to buy their games, they better let us try it for free. So what's next then, they expect us to pay for their TV ads and prints ads too?
Barry Lightning
Banned
*COUGH*BULLSHIT*COUGH*
antoniogaud
Member
Has anyone legitimized this thread yet or what? Luke, Shane?! HELLO!!! Feel free to speak for I am the head of the...
gutter_trash
Banned
lol, $1 is nothing man, imagine it like going to the arcades. Arcades games exceed $1 today.
2nd, you are not forced to pay $8 for an entrie magazine just to get the demo.
3rd, stop going to the vending machine so often and you will afford your $1 demo.
2nd, you are not forced to pay $8 for an entrie magazine just to get the demo.
3rd, stop going to the vending machine so often and you will afford your $1 demo.
This reasoning can be dangerous, and can apply to everything.gutter_trash said:
It's called the slippery slope, and it can turn into a freefall in a matter of a few years.
You said, its like going to the arcade, but if the game cost's 1$ to play, can I put in 25cents to play just the first level? For 2minutes?
If people accept this, the next thing will be demo's cost 1$, more rich and grand demos will be 2$, or just for games everyone is foaming at the mouth for.
In any biusness, you have to spend money to make money. What I fear as a consumer, is a biusness trying to push the simple cost of doing biusness down to me. Exposure for any product is ness. if you want people to buy it. Charging someone to test thier product is outragoues. Can you imagine going to a car dealer to test drive a car, and they charge you 10$ to do so?
It's not the cost. It's never the cost. It's the principle. Just like the purchase price of the 360/PS3. If those consoles sell well enough, the price will increase again next generation. Right now, its "100$ more for a console isnt that big of a deal becuase of the tech inside, and what you get" "You get a next generation movie player" What if they hit 600-900$? Same reaction?
If people allow one thing to slide by, these companies will just NOT stop, untill they bleed either you, or the industry to death. Money is a powerfull force. The micro-transaction thing scares me to death.
You know whatthe very first thing that popped inot my mind when I first heard about this trend? Not "Cool, new things later on down the road for a small fee!" It was;
"What are they not including into the game when it ships, so they can charge me later for something that would have been included for the best possible product just last generation?"
gutter_trash
Banned
i don't have a 360 so I'm ignorent about the pros and cons of downloadable demos
2nd, without online, the only way to get demos is by buying whole magazines or anoying store clerks
so if u really want to try a demo, $1 is the price of a sitting in a new arcade game that will last under 3 minutes
2nd, without online, the only way to get demos is by buying whole magazines or anoying store clerks
so if u really want to try a demo, $1 is the price of a sitting in a new arcade game that will last under 3 minutes
adamsappel
Member
The Table Tennis demo was time-limited when you downloaded it. I wondered if the demo on the OXM #62 disk was also. Table Tennis doesn't show up in the list of playable demos! I thought it might be using the date from the 360 to block it, but I didn't feel like resetting the clock.K_S said:
I wouldn't pay for a demo unless it included a full level from the game or was multiplayer.
Cold-Steel said:
The wrong way of looking at it. Going on your 100,000 download numbers, you would get several times that if it was a free download. And you may get an additional 100,000 people to actually buy the game, who wouldn't have otherwise, if everyone can try it for free. That is 5 million dollars. It is a horrible model to charge for demos. A demo actually costs money to make, it isn't like they just type in a couple extra lines of code, delete the rest of the game, and it is ready to go. It is a marketing expenditure.
Demos are made as a promotional tool to sell games not to make a profit on their own. When Sony or Microsoft charges 8 bucks for some retail demo disc, what they are doing is charging for the production, packaging, and shipping of a disk in hopes that you will buy one of the games on there. After the retailer takes a cut, I doubt there is much left over. And if you look at the internet, and demos throughout history that did not include a package, this is ridiculous. That being said I do not think Sony is dumb enough to actually do this.
goldenpp72
Member
The thing about this is a demo is a promotional tool, consumers should not be paying for ads. Say saints row gets 500k downloads on the marketplace, in the grand scheme it probably would not cost THQ a lot to pay that fee for ADVERTISEMENT.
So..
So..
Agent X
Member
K_S said:
It should be up to the publisher to decide if they want to distribute demos for free or for a fee. As a consumer, I'd much prefer free.
I have a feeling that as long as the demos continue to be free on X-Box 360, then they'll probably be free on PlayStation 3, also. For multiplatform games, I expect that they would either be free on both systems, or have matching fees on both systems.
I'd like to see some demos released on video game consoles where you could play the first level or two, and could save your progress and resume where you left off if you decide to play the full retail game later. I believe this has been done in the past on rare occasions, but I haven't personally experienced it myself.
EscapePlan
Banned
i'm guessing if sony is going to charge for demos, they'll charge for the more popular content. it's obvious that whether or not a demo gets released for DMC4, millions will still buy it, so why not charge for the demo if it won't really affect sales? on the other hand, sony will probably allow free downloads for lesser known titles to boost their awareness.
i dunno either way i personally feel that charging for demos is really really greedy
i dunno either way i personally feel that charging for demos is really really greedy
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
So did everybody miss this post from Eurogamer?
CrapSandwich
former Navy SEAL
I have a difficult time believing that any publisher would want to charge for demos. While it would defer some or all of the distribution costs, it would reduce the total number of people trying the demo, hence leading to fewer sales and ultimately a higher cost for producing the demo in the first place. Logic not compute. I'll be very surprised if this happens.
iapetus said:To be honest I've been waiting for this to happen on X360 as well. Eventually we'll see companies sure enough of their games that they'll want actual money (or Marketplace points) for their demos. I expected EA to be the first, though.
keep waiting it's not going to happen,I paid $36.00 for my year of live gold and I've already dl over a 100 demos and videos. I would prefer if Sony would follow this model for users like me with broadband, otherwise we are going to get nickle and dimed to death and pay more than the cost of live gold annually.
Stinkles said:
$35.00 if you shop around
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000B9RI00/ref=dp_olp_2/002-3580503-8908826?ie=UTF8kinoki
Illness is the doctor to whom we pay most heed; to kindness, to knowledge, we make promise only; pain we obey.
ElectricBlue187 said:
Yes, because gamers have such high standards. We'll whore our sorry asses for just about anything. MS says $69 and we fall back, Sony says $699 and we fall back, I say let's draw a line in the sand and say NO to Sony's $1.
Willy Wanka
my god this avatar owns
I doubt it's true but even still I can't believe people are defending the idea of paying for demos :lol Ridiculous!
Bartman3010
Banned
To be fair, people pay for demo discs that you'd find at the store. Playstation Jampack Demo Discs have been around and go for $5 in store and give you several demos, and from what I remember even some bonus content.
However, $1 per demo ONLINE is just ridiculous. Paying a dollar for a game, think of getting 10 demos, thats $10 away from what could have gone toward a full priced game, you cant return it so you wont be getting that money back.
If this is how the industry is going to survive, there'll be a rude awakening at the end of the tunnel...
However, $1 per demo ONLINE is just ridiculous. Paying a dollar for a game, think of getting 10 demos, thats $10 away from what could have gone toward a full priced game, you cant return it so you wont be getting that money back.
If this is how the industry is going to survive, there'll be a rude awakening at the end of the tunnel...