I miss game Demos.

[Angst]

With PlayStation Network and Xbox Live bigger than ever we have never had a better system in place to do try before you buy.

Why don't we get more demos? I feel like they were more common when you had to hunt down actual demo disks.

Edit : crazy amount of typo fixes

 

[JeffGubb]

I feel like they are making a come back. Lots of demos on Switch and Steam, recently.

 

[Saikyo]

There are a lot of demos on switch lol

 

[QuiteSomething]

On steam everything is a demo with the 2h refund system
You can download demo versions on psn and switch too

 

[Deleted member 35071]

that Daemon x Machina demon on the switch sold me on the game. I put like 6 hours into it.

 

[Kismet]

I loved the demos during the Ps1 era. There was this demo disc with Tomb Raider and Crash Bandicoot. I played them very often.

 

[Ehoavash]

Play the 10 hour demo of dragon quest 11 S on switch OP

 

[NoKisum]

I often read that they take development time away from making the actual game, and demos are more likely to steer people away from the final product than to buy them blindly.

 

[FlintSpace]

If people stop blindly pre ordering stuff there might be an effort from publishers/developers to put demoes out there.

 

[Platy]

The Contra demo is switch exclusive?

 

[Agni Kai]

My PS1 came with a Demo Disc which featured plenty of games I remember. I think it came with playable levels for a Barbie game, Atlantis, Sheep Raider and some others.

I ended up buying Sheep Raider because I loved the demo a lot.

 

[Xavi]

Lots of demos on Switch. Now, if you are specifically talking about XBOX and PS4 then yeah, I agree.

 

[Deleted member 59929]

Switch is definitely filthy with demos. I can barely even play all the demos I want, let alone games I'm interested in.

Some of them are pretty meaty as well, like the DQ XI S demo.

 

[Joltik]

A Plague's Tale just got a trial demo today.

 

[BRSxIgnition]

Sorry I'm not sure what you mean.

Between Daemon x Machina, Code Vein, Dragon Quest 11, etc, I have more than enough demos to play until the games I'm excited about come out.

 

[Jaded Alyx]

Here I was thinking that demos were coming back in a big way.

 

[AntiMacro]

They usually call them 'trials' now, and one just came out for one of the best games of the year...

 

[c0Zm1c]

It feels like betas and free weekends have taken the place of demos.

 

[Komo]

I remember when demos actually helped sell a game.



Supraland did it right and even lets you keep the progress.

 

[ChemicalWorld]

Dragon Quest XI S demo made me go from - I haven't cared for JRPGs in a long time to - PRE-ORDERED

Demos make all the difference, we need more of em

 

[Hint]

As everyone has said here, the Switch seems to have fully embraced demos. Nintendo was been doing an especially good job with their published games giving you a chance to provide feedback to the developers. I currently have three demos sitting on my Switch that I haven't even had a chance to try yet: DQXI, 2nd DxM Demo, and Oninaki.

 

[salromano]

Demos come out all the time though.

Demos released on PS4 in the past month:

A Plague Tale: Innocence
Contra: Rogue Corps
Mistover
FIFA 20
Trials Rising
Code Vein
Utawarerumono ZAN
NBA 2K20
Battle Chef Brigade

Demos released on Switch:

Contra: Rogue Corps
Mistover
Daemon X Machina
Dragon Quest XI
Trials Rising
NBA 2K20
Cadence of Hyrule
Battle Chef Brigade
etc. etc.

 

[sensui-tomo]

Last demo i played on the playstation was for a game called New Gundam Breaker (not counting alpha/beta tests) and boy did i dodge a bullet of a shit game.

 

[c0Zm1c]

I remember when demos actually helped sell a game.



Supraland did it right and even lets you keep the progress.

Click to shrink...

Yeah that game has a great demo.

 

[rezn0r]

I feel like they are making a come back. Lots of demos on Switch and Steam, recently.

Click to shrink...

Was going to post exactly this, they have been making a big comeback lately

 

[Jaded Alyx]

I've played/downloaded the following new demos just recently:

Oninaki
Dragon Quest XI S
Daemon x Machina
FIFA20
eFootball PES 2020
Code Vein

 

[Deleted member 17210]

People have pointed out there are a lot of demos, and it has improved lately, but it still isn't like it once was so I get why this thread was made. It used to be pretty much a guarantee back in the demo disc days that a big budget release would have a demo around launch (unless it was on GC) but that's not the case anymore.

 

[LiK]

Nintendo is bringing them back.

 

[Xavi]

http:///FgEd.png

 

[Shudouken]

I'm always bummed out when they make exclusive demos for specific events and never release them.

 

[@TheFriendlyBro]

And I miss you.

 

[usagi704]

Demos are definitely less of a thing these days than they were early to mid last generation. I would definitely like to see them come back in larger numbers myself.

 

[Deleted member 36708]

There are very few games I buy without a demo. Especially new games. Wish devs would put out more demos.

 

[SoulBrothaNum2]

I've been praying for Nioh demo for ages. I just refuse to buy this game without getting a feel for it first. It's mindblowing that publishers don't supply demos on at least titles that are one year old. How much can it affect sales at this point?

 

[Hieroph]

We're constantly getting new demos. Personally I don't usually care about them that much unless it's an unreleased game that I'm excited about. If the game is released already then I'll rather just try the full game.

 

[gozu]

Demos for new games generally make people less likely to buy the game, not more likely. That's the reason we don't have them. They're bad for business.

Sad, I know.

 

[Razlo]

There are a lot of demos on switch lol

Click to shrink...

Came to post this

 

[Deleted member 10737]

i feel like they're back in a big way. many switch games are getting demos.

 

[Xiofire]

This is my one hope for the streaming phase we are about to enter into.

If anything, it will allow companies to offer "hour trials" of games that could be used as demos to entice you to buy the full game. Would be a great feature to have.

 

[Jump_Button]

Game Consoles should always come with one :(

 

[Eumi]

I don't feel like they're missing at all right now.

Especially when you consider how different the landscape is these days, where demos are less important than ever before, and yet they're still here.

 

[Deleted member 10737]

The Contra demo is switch exclusive?

Click to shrink...

no it's on ps4 and xbo too afaik

 

[Hucast]

I wonder why the switch is the only console that still does it. It also always makes you able to continue in the full game

 

[Deleted member 10737]

I wonder why the switch is the only console that still does it. It also always makes you able to continue in the full game

Click to shrink...

not always, but it's nice when progress carries over.

 

[HighspeedRefleX]

I'm not sure i'd want Demos for story focused SP games and we're already spoiled with trailers, gameplay. I'm open to everything else.

 

[Ash735]

I wonder why the switch is the only console that still does it. It also always makes you able to continue in the full game

Click to shrink...

A lot of games are no longer designed with cutting off small chunks and being compact, these days you'd need to download the entire game just to have access to a restricted part of it, which many won't do.

It's also why you see things like Trials used instead.

 

[WolverinesFather]

Considering I have used mostly Nintendo consoles and gamed a few times on PC, I only ever had PC demos. So if anything I feel like there are more demos now than ever before.

I really like how most now let you play the start of the game and carry progress over. I knew the DQ demo was long, but I have expected it to end about 3 times already. And I'm starting to like the game, so it worked.

 

[Themaddestgamer]

A lot of games are no longer designed with cutting off small chunks and being compact, these days you'd need to download the entire game just to have access to a restricted part of it, which many won't do.

It's also why you see things like Trials used instead.

Click to shrink...

I was going through purchases and psplus games I havent downloaded yet and seen Tomb Raider full game download.

I thought I must have purchased it during a sale and forgot, so I downloaded SOTR and it turned out to be a timed demo..

 

[justiceiro]

The only difference is that now demos are available only for a small amount of time, but they are there. Also called beta.

 

[Calverz]

I agree OP. One of the best things XBl did was force publishers to allow free trials of arcade games released on it. Then they just removed it because of pressure from publishers and indies i believe.