A demo for brink ?

[Herandar]

Just like the stupid demo discs that official xbox magazine pack in the plastic cover just end up being drink coasters for a week before my wife throws them in the garbage.

They still make those?! Wow, I thought they had gone the way of the dodo.

[dandragon]

Those demo discs still come in magazines wow thats out dated now I thought they were gone too

[dandragon]

There’s not going to be a demo. It’s official. And we’ve got to respect splash damage as a reputable company for doing so.

PC owners have not seen much on their side.
I’ve seen alot about this and it seems to be making some people hesitant. While I can understand this I doubt that SD will make a great console version and then fudge up the pc version, considering thier roots are in pc I would say pc owners have a good chance of bieng fairly satisfied.

[Jess_Alon]

Those demo discs still come in magazines wow thats out dated now I thought they were gone too

Exactly. The demos on them are usually crap.

[BioSnark]

As avoc said, the demo (including the free weekend model for pc) doesn’t need to precede game release. Marketing wise, I’d say it might be better to upon release, to maximize game visibility, or some time after coinciding with a sale or map/content update for a visibility/hype second wind.

You can’t compare a video game to a car.

I don’t agree or disagree. It was your analogy. I was extending it.

[quote=Jess Alon;278485]To half the people crying about a demo you just heard about this company 3 months ago or a year ago tops.

snip

How about a legacy of making amazing products in the past? Do you think they are suddenly going to crap out the worst thing ever when the whole community that’s been following them is looking at them to see what happens?[/quote]
But that’s the point. Consolers, if they know of splash damage, may well associate the name with the quake wars ports. Those are not icons of platform adaptation. It’s not a great marketing strategy for sd/beth to say, “You lazy, bro. That wa’n us. Get off your ass and educate yourself.”

Brink doesn’t appear to be a game you can capture in a demo.

As I said, the persistent character development can be captured well in a free weekend via steam but that’s only on PC atm. If it’s viable on the platform, hopefully it’ll make it to PS3 with steam. It can still be captured in a standard demo (including character transfer from demo to retail) but it takes more work. Unless it’s done poorly, character development is a strong point in turning a demo player into a sale because it ties them to the game.

If there isn’t a demo, there is still the option of pirating the game to try it. However, that option only attracts people who are already fairly interested and technically proficient (more so on consoles, I believe) and may lead to a lost sale if the pirate is singleplayer focused. Not ideal, in other words.

[Nail]

I have no doubt the game will run great on PC, my doubts for Brink are that Bethesda will not allow user hosted servers or a SDK

[Jess_Alon]

[QUOTE=BioSnark;278650]As avoc said, the demo (including the free weekend model for pc) doesn’t need to precede game release. Marketing wise, I’d say it might be better to upon release, to maximize game visibility, or some time after coinciding with a sale or map/content update for a visibility/hype second wind.

I don’t agree or disagree. It was your analogy. I was extending it.

But that’s the point. Consolers, if they know of splash damage, may well associate the name with the quake wars ports. Those are not icons of platform adaptation. It’s not a great marketing strategy for sd/beth to say, “You lazy, bro. That wa’n us. Get off your ass and educate yourself.”
[/QUOTE]

You’ve got a lot of nerve.

[Seyu]

As far as I know, demos rarely provide any good marketing. It is mainly for people who aren’t going to buy the game anyway but want to see what the fuss is about.

This is worth a read: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/05/22/idle-thoughts-demos/

[Jess_Alon]

[QUOTE=Seyu;278668]As far as I know, demos rarely provide any good marketing. It is mainly for people who aren’t going to buy the game anyway but want to see what the fuss is about.

This is worth a read: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/05/22/idle-thoughts-demos/[/QUOTE]

That actually sums up how I feel. And I think demos should not be the basis of what people measure a game.

[BioSnark]

[quote=Jess Alon;278665]
You’ve got a lot of nerve. [/quote]
Don’t tell me that. I already know. Splash Damage is on the box. Afaik only console box the name’s on.

[Chris2]

I think that you’re worrying that I’m not hearing you. But I am. But the problem is that I don’t think you’re listening to me. snip

I already stated that I know that there wont be a demo I’m merely puzzled as to why there seems to be some negativity and hostility towards members who wish to see a demo as seen by the tarnishing of them all under the same brush by proclaiming them to be self entitled and lazy.

I know they’d have to make you a crappy version of that beer to take home with you that would give you no idea of what having the whole bottle would be like. It’d be kind of pointless. Just like the stupid demo discs that official xbox magazine pack in the plastic cover just end up being drink coasters for a week before my wife throws them in the garbage.

I remember the Skies of Arcadia demo disc back for the Dreamcast, this made me want to play the game so badly, sadly it was released towards the end of the consoles’ life and I couldn’t find it anywhere in the shops. Years later it was ported to the Gamecube and I snapped it up as soon as I could find it as that demo I played years before had such a positive impact, I would not have purchased this game is it weren’t for that demo. Not all demos are inherently bad or misleading representations of the full product.

Perhaps in this instance they cant make a quality demo I just don’t know and it be foolish to suggest to know the reason one way or the other so it would be very interesting to know the exact reasoning why Bethesda didn’t see it fit to produce a demo.

How about a legacy of making amazing products in the past? Do you think they are suddenly going to crap out the worst thing ever when the whole community that’s been following them is looking at them to see what happens?

No offense to Splash Damage but their past two titles were great but far from perfect and 2 games and some MP content for other people’s games can hardly be called a legacy. It’s amazing what they have achieved though, W:ET was a cracking effort for such a small studio at the time and ET:QW their first ‘true’ game was a big step up and while it didn’t quite meet up the people’s expectations it was a fairly solid game just hampered by engine woes and bad decisions (ranked servers).

I’m sure Brink will turn out fine but that’s because I’ve played their past 2 games and know they are improving as a developer and assume they have learned from their past experiences but I’m not everyone though, not many people in the outside world I know has played W:ET or ET:QW let alone know what them games are.

[tokamak]

Ranked servers were what saved ETQW from the same faith W:ET underwent.

[Herandar]

I remember the Skies of Arcadia demo disc back for the Dreamcast

Mmm. Good times, That game needs a sequel.

[TiN_TiN]

Its not SD who makes the call if there will be a demo or not. They are not the publisher. Bethesda is. Sure, they can push for it, but Bethesda has the final say in the matter, since they are the ones who are publishing and marketing the game.

Now that you mention it. When is the last time we’ve seen a major Bethesda game have a demo? The only one I can really think of is WET if you consider that one of their major games but that’s the only one I really know of that had a demo.

[tokamak]

I wouldn’t call W:ET one of Bethesda’s major games, or even one of their games, or even one that had a demo.
(yeah I know, couldn’t pass this up)

[TiN_TiN]

I see what you did there >.>

[Bullveyr]

[QUOTE=tokamak;278779]I wouldn’t call W:ET one of Bethesda’s major games, or even one of their games, or even one that had a demo.
[/QUOTE]
actually it had one

[DouglasDanger]

I would rather have SD working on the game, than building a demo.

[dandragon]

ow that you mention it. When is the last time we’ve seen a major Bethesda game have a demo?

Good point I mean look at some of their games. They have had some big hits. Makes me wonder if demons forge will have demo content.

[Jess_Alon]

I don’t really think it’s part of bethesda’s business model. Look at fallout new vegas. How would you have had a demo for that huge thing? People anticipated it and bought it.