Topic: Electronic Arts to start charging "$10-15" for "Premium Demos"

[broodwars]

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/107/1079019p1.html
 
Man, I wish I were making this up, and there are enough sources confirming this now that we know that Pacter isn't making this up either.  Words just can't describe the sheer amount of FAIL in this move by EA.  Even if they were going to allow players to take what they spent on these "Premium Demos" (read: glorified public Betas) and apply it towards the full game (how they would actually do this, I do not know), who would actually do that unless they already knew exactly what they were getting?

[BlackNMild2k1]

I remember a survey about that a while back.

"Would you pay to play an early Beta?"

never thought they would actually do it.

[ShyGuy]

Hahahahahaha Please put $5 down on your Monster Hunter Tri pre-order to qualify to receive the demo disk sounds pretty good now.

[Ian Sane]

$10-15 can get you a full GAME, either as a used title, discounted title or a download.  For a demo?  **** that!  If you were to charge for "premium demos" I would be thinking like one or two bucks at the most.

[broodwars]

To make matters worse, there are details emerging that EA has definitively ruled out the posibility of taking the cost of the Premium Demos and taking them out of the price of the full game.  You would essentially have to pay for the game twice.  Unbelievable and nonsensical.  It almost sounds like they're trying to use the general public as a replacement for actually training and paying testers (...........) to do the job right, which will never work and will only make the games worse.

[GearBoxClock]

Wow.

What sickens me is that THEY WILL MAKE MONEY OFF THIS.

Any big title? The TRUEHARDCOREZGAMERZ will pay for the beta.

Good god, how much bullshit will gamers have to swallow before the gag reflex kicks in?

[TJ Spyke]

$10-15 can get you a full GAME, either as a used title, discounted title or a download.  For a demo?  **** that!  If you were to charge for "premium demos" I would be thinking like one or two bucks at the most.

Millions of people paid $30 for Gran Turismo 5: Prologue, and that is nothing more than a glorified demo. This is moronic, but EA would not be the first company to do this.

Also, remember the Nintendo GameCube Preview Disc? That was $10, and you got demos of 5 GameCube games (along with a bunch of game videos, and a downloadable GBA demo of Dr. Mario).

However, this story should be taken with a grain of salt because it's from Michael Pachter (who does not have a good track record of being right with his predictions). Even if his prediction is right, he is saying that the premium demos would basically be like Battlefield 1943 (which got great reviews) and be worth it.

[broodwars]

However, this story should be taken with a grain of salt because it's from Michael Pachter (who does not have a good track record of being right with his predictions). Even if his prediction is right, he is saying that the premium demos would basically be like Battlefield 1943 (which got great reviews) and be worth it.

This isn't one of his predictions.  EA announced this at an Investor's meeting today.

[NWR_insanolord]

I think it depends on the content of the demos. If they remained functional forever and served as a limited, but otherwise fully functional, slice of the game, I could see it working. Like, say, a $10 Madden that lets you play a full game, but doesn't include Franchise mode or Superstar mode, and maybe doesn't include online play. That would be a nice alternative to the full game for someone who only wants that small part of it. It really depends on how they implement this.

[Stogi]

Holy **** that's awesome!

I would buy a Fifa 11 demo if I could play and customize a full game and pick any team I wanted. It would basically save me some money because I rarely dive into manager or pro modes. Plus, I usually only play it with friends.

That's a pretty good idea. I hope that's what they mean.

[Ian Sane]

Also, remember the Nintendo GameCube Preview Disc? That was $10, and you got demos of 5 GameCube games

Yes, I remember.  I paid for that though I grumbled about it at the time.  I doubt I would have paid for that now.  My fandom is no longer strong enough.
 
But one thing to note.  Nintendo's demo cost money because Nintendo were being dumb shits.  To get the demo disc you had to either buy a new console or buy the disc IF you could find it being sold somewhere.  It was entirely because Nintendo didn't know what they were doing regarding demos (wait, why am I using the past tense there?)
 
But EA is doing this intentionally to make money.  That is more offensive.

[Urkel]

lol Game Industry
 
I fully support any decision the Industry makes to hasten its downfall.

[TJ Spyke]

It was entirely because Nintendo didn't know what they were doing regarding demos (wait, why am I using the past tense there?)

Nintendo knows what they are doing, I think they have even said that they don't like doing demos.

As for making money, it's pretty clear that this will not just be like demos you download on Xbox Live or PlayStation Network, these will be more like full games. Besides, they are not the first publisher to do this.

[ThePerm]

Sega and Sony used to be pretty good about demos, Sega was awesome because Sega made arcade style games anyways.

The thing that sold me on metal gear solid was its demo, the first hour or so was playable.

[D_Average]

Wow. $15 to play part of the game or pay $8 at Blockbuster to try the entire game. Hmmm

[Peachylala]

The thing that sold me on metal gear solid was its demo, the first hour or so was playable.

Fun Fact: Hideo trolled his fanbase with the MGS2 demo by not hinting at Raiden AT ALL in the game.
 
Another fun fact, it was the only reason Zone Of The Enders 1 sold well. =(