Topic: WiiWare Contest Gives Hint for Demo Longevity on the Shop Channel

[NWR_Karlie]

WiiWare developers launch a contest to keep their demos on the Wii Shop Channel longer.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/24523

Broken Rules and Gaijin Games have announced a contest to win free copies of their WiiWare titles, And Yet It Moves and Bit.Trip Fate. The reason for this contest is to keep the demo versions of these titles on the Wii Shop Channel for a longer period of time.

Game demos on the recently reinstated Wii Shop Channel demo service are time limited. The demos have been available since November 22, but will be removed by the end of the month unless the full versions of the games have enough user ratings in the Nintendo Channel to qualify for Bronze status. If they do qualify, this will extend the demo availability for 11 weeks. 

Broken Rules will choose contest entrants who rate And Yet It Moves to win copies of Bit.Trip Fate, and Gaijin Games will choose from entrants who rate Bit.Trip Fate to win And Yet It Moves. Full details of the contests are on the developer websites.

[Jonnyboy117]

That's really strange. How many people bother with the ratings on Nintendo Channel?

[Ian Sane]

I downloaded a couple of demos but have not gotten around to playing them yet.  I better get on it if I want to play them at all.  Have I mentioned recently that this demo setup is stupid?  If I was a developer and had to resort to a contest to keep my demo up I would probably just tell Nintendo to go **** themselves and release my game on the other systems instead.

[NWR_pap64]

I agree, this is pretty stupid. The demos are not that big, and it feels as if they are pressuring developers to get as much money as possible out of these demos, otherwise they should go away. What kind of developer support is that?

[LittleIrves]

I wasn't sure how long these demos were up...   but I assumed it was longer than through the end of the year.  Too bad.  Pretty ridiculous to base it on a rating system that is so underused.
Let's hope with the 3DS/Wii2 there's an easier way to rate games, similar to iTunes perhaps, to give the kind of immediate feedback that might help with decisions like this.

[Ian Sane]

This seems almost like a poison pill.  Nintendo doesn't want to do demos but has been pressured to do so.  So they are TECHNICALLY going to do demos but they have made them a limited time and have made the requirements for keeping a demo online longer to be for all intents and purposes unobtainable.  It's a rigged game.  No one meets the requirement, demos are taken off and next time anyone bugs them about demos Nintendo can claim to have "tried" out demos before and it didn't work out so they don't have to do it.  They were "right" because the demos didn't even improve the game's rating to bronze.

It isn't ridculous or stupid, it's intentionally manipulative.  Nintendo does not want to do demos.

[Kytim89]

I support the demo system because when I worked for Krogers in the deli we would encourage the customers to sample each lunch meat before proceeding to give it to them so that their selection would be better accomodated. Nnitendo should adopt a demo system of their own for the simple fact that it helps in the customer's choice as to whether buy their game or not. The only reason Nintendo and third parties ahould be worried about their titles not being purchased is if their games are actually crappy. If they are not crappy, then they should not feel so insecure about demos.

[NWR_insanolord]

This seems almost like a poison pill.  Nintendo doesn't want to do demos but has been pressured to do so.  So they are TECHNICALLY going to do demos but they have made them a limited time and have made the requirements for keeping a demo online longer to be for all intents and purposes unobtainable.  It's a rigged game.  No one meets the requirement, demos are taken off and next time anyone bugs them about demos Nintendo can claim to have "tried" out demos before and it didn't work out so they don't have to do it.  They were "right" because the demos didn't even improve the game's rating to bronze.

It isn't ridculous or stupid, it's intentionally manipulative.  Nintendo does not want to do demos.

I'm not sure you understand this. Nintendo's not going to stop doing demos; they're just removing demos for individual games after 11 weeks unless they're rated highly. They'll continue putting out demos for new games. It seems like a stupid and pointless system, but it's not because they're trying to sabotage the demos. If that were the case, they wouldn't have started doing demos again.

[tommyfusco]

how can i delete these demos off the wii?
or, if i am connected to wiiconect24 will ithey vanish when the demos are pulled?

[Mop it up]

I'm not really sure what the ratings for games have to do with whether or not the demos should stay up... Shouldn't the sales of the games be the deciding factor? Keep the demos for the higher-selling games and drop the ones that saw no boost in sales once the demo became available.

That's really strange. How many people bother with the ratings on Nintendo Channel?

I do some every now and then when I'm bored, since I check out the Nintendo Week show on occasion, but I don't make it a point to rate them.

[NWR_insanolord]

Shouldn't the sales of the games be the deciding factor? Keep the demos for the higher-selling games and drop the ones that saw no boost in sales once the demo became available.

That makes way too much sense for Nintendo to do it that way.

[xcwarrior]

I rate all my games, but don't own either of these, still need to try the demos.

[AV]

Well I participated in the contest. I typically do rate all the games I play so this isn't anything different for me. I enjoyed " And Yet it moves" and the demo to bit trip fate is ok, I would accept it for free but not spend my own money on it.

[Ian Sane]

So I got around to playing the demos I had downloaded: And Yet It Moves and Cave Story.  Cave Story is just so right up my alley.  I'll almost certainly get it at some point.  And Yet It Moves is more creative and interesting then probably ANY game Nintendo themselves has released on the Wii.  I really suck at it though so I'm not sure if I'll buy it or not.

Still, I've now given these games a try and I'm interested in both.  This would not have happened without them having demos.  I have more or less ignored WiiWare until now because if I was even remotely interested in a game the only way to see if I liked it was to take the plunge and outright buy the game.  The only WiiWare titles I had were Mega Man 9&10 and Contra Rebirth because those were proven franchises that I already knew I liked so just looking at reviews to see if it was well received was good enough.  With a new IP there is always a risk.  Even if the game gets good reviews you never know if YOU will personally like the gameplay.  So being able to rent a game or play the demo is a good way to try it out.  WiiWare games don't even have the in-store demos that Nintendo loves so much.  One way I sometimes try a game out is to buy it used at a low price and then if I like it I'll buy the sequels new at full price.  I can't do that with WiiWare either.

I have outright bought games brand new because I liked the demo.  The most recent title I bought in this way was Split/Second for the PS3.  I think Cave Story is going to be a purchase, I'll just wait until after Christmas in case I get any Wii Points as a gift.  Without the demo it wouldn't be.  Demos work and they work best when they're done in a normal way.  Nintendo has to admit that their anti-demo stance has been completely WRONG and that demos on Nintendo systems need to be common and done in the same normal way that Playstation and Xbox demos are done.

[Dan Laser]

how can i delete these demos off the wii?
or, if i am connected to wiiconect24 will ithey vanish when the demos are pulled?

You can delete them like you would any channel. Nope, they don't disappear. I still have the demos from last year cuz I am a hoarder and I've downloaded all the demos so far this year :3
 

Demos should really be a year round option. Or at least something up to the developer, if they want to make one. It definitely improves the chances of people buying the game. Just look at the App store and all the free/lite versions of games.


And Yet it Moves - very cool. Creepy ambient mood and sound. Twist the world around to allow our guy to get where he needs to go. Possible buy


Fluidity - Nice presentation and will offer puzzle fans a lot of value. I don't have the patients for these kinds of games so it wasn't really my thing. It kinda felt like i lucked my way through the first level cuz the water wasn't doing what I wanted and I lost a lot of it throughout the whole level.


Jett Rocket - I was actually impressed by this one. It's a kiddie platformer, but it seems pretty polished. Good graphics, controls, and camera. Looks like it's got the standard "Super Mario 64" set up with the home base "castle" and and ports to other areas that are accessed once you get enough points. You have a jet pack that lets you do your platforming. You probably get other upgrades and abilities. I'll pass but its worth a look.


ThruSpace - Very simple design; you move a shape through a tunnel, twisting it to fit a small hole. It's like that toddler's toy where you have to figure out which whole the square fits . Except its timed and you have to go fast to get a good score and match certain patterns to collect the most points. I could see this being pretty addictive and frustrating.