Arguably the best way for a potential game customer to know if they want to spend their money on a game is to play a “demo”. the game companies know this, and frequently release demos (either before or after release) of their titles.
Demos are my number one way of deciding if I want a game. They’re the reason that I got “DarkStar One”, and will be getting “Dark Messiah of Might & Magic” - as well as the reason that I will not be picking up “Bad Day L.A.” I don’t believe that I am alone in using demos extensively as a determining factor as to where I will spend my hard earned fifty bucks.
The problem is - Game developers need to understand this. As a gamer (your customer), I have two very simple bits of advice:
1. Make the demo a viable sample of the actual gameplay.
It’s become all too common for me to read in a forum, “Forget the demo - it was horrible. The actual game is great.” No. no, no, no. Am I really supposed to plonk down fifty bucks based on this? My experience with the game - through the demo - is that it’s sloppy, buggy and boring… but the full game is “great”? Doesn’t make much sense to me. How can there be such a discrepancy when the demo is supposed to specifically be an example of the game?
2. For god’s sake, include a Tutorial.
Developers - You know that no one reads the damned manual, unless it’s an extraordinarily complex game. And you know that demos don’t come with manuals. I want to actually be able to figure out how to play the game with the demo so that I can jump right in when I purchase the full game. Hell, I just want to be able to play the demo -period-. Games aren’t like Pac-Man or Galaga anymore; they’re complex enough to require a little training. I think I really want Caesar IV and Flight Simulator X… but the demo for the former has no tutorial, so I can’t really figure out what to do (even being a veteran of the previous version) and the latter has video tutorials that are as informative as someone saying “this game lets you fly! OMG!”
Please. No more unplayable demos. Thanks!
Your pal, Mark.
