Dead Space demo arriving Nov. 25

by Justin McElroy { Nov 24th 2008 at 3:20PM }

Perhaps responding to October's slightly disappointing (for us fans, at least) sales of Dead Space, EA will be releasing a demo for the game to Xbox Live tomorrow. The release says that the PSN version will arrive on the same day, but a non-Thursday demo release seems a little off to us, ~~so who knows~~? [Update: Thanksgiving!]

Though we usually strive for impartiality, we'd encourage you to play the Dead Space demo, then go buy it, along with Mirror's Edge, as part of a "Give EA An Excuse To Make Sequels" two-pack. Please. We need this.

Tags: dead-space, ea

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

gwangi @ Nov 24th 2008 3:27PM

I remember seeing somewhere else that other items are being releases on the PSN this Tuesday. My guess would be because Thursday (their normal day) is Thanksgiving.

Joeshie @ Nov 24th 2008 3:27PM

What? Last time I checked, Dead Space sold well over 470,000 copies in it's first week.

That's hardly bad.

Daniel @ Nov 24th 2008 3:41PM

C'mon, don't you know on Joystiq, anything that doesn't do GoW2 numbers is automatically a failure?

Who cares if it's GREAT numbers for a brand new IP (lookin' at you LBP) they still act like it's an abyssmal bomb because first week wasn't 3mil.

SpydaKat 17 @ Nov 24th 2008 6:32PM

That's over NINE THOUSAND!!!!

BananaBoat @ Nov 25th 2008 3:56AM

You have to understand that LBP was a triple A title from a first party studio. To sell 200k copies on launch day makes it an abysmal failure compared to how many it ought to have sold, being a AAA title.

Dead space is a different beast I think. I doubt anyone (other than the game reviewers that hyped it to no end) expected the game to sell many more than 200k on it's first day. If it did sell 400k in the first week, then you are absolutely right in saying that it is a success.

JoeTheBlow @ Nov 25th 2008 4:33AM

Actually LBP is a platformer from a tiny brit studio, hardly MGS4 level.
Funny how the people who assume it should have sold a bajillion in its first week are all people who didn't want it to.

BananaBoat @ Nov 25th 2008 5:06AM

A tiny brit studio that Sony pumped millions of dollars into for development, and millions more for advertising. Yeah, it's almost an indie title, I know.

I bought a copy, and I would have loved if it could have been a blockbuster hit. It's always nice when something original actually does well.

Like it or not, the launch was flat, and no amount of calling other people fanboys or haters is going to fix it.

(certainly another 800k people buying the game this month could make us all forget about the terrible day one sales though. We'll see in a few weeks)

Arnon @ Nov 24th 2008 3:27PM

LOL.. that pic is awesome.

nonpareil @ Nov 24th 2008 3:27PM

If you like sci-fi and video games, there is no reason for you not to have this game.

Lord Negatron @ Nov 24th 2008 3:51PM

It was/ is just too darn scary for me. Yep im a wuss.
I'll watch someone play it, but im not gonna be in my room @ 12midnight, lights out, playing this. No siree bobbarino!

At least in the ever so short L4D, i can have friends help out.

Blank-Mage @ Nov 24th 2008 4:35PM

Hmm, it's about as scary as Resident Evil 4. Which is to say, not really, but I like them both anyway. (I think the only place that scared me in RE4 was the penitentiary. What the hell was up with that writhing burlap sack/meat thing?) If you really want to be scared, get Silent Hill.

Azerael @ Nov 24th 2008 5:53PM

I can think of a few reasons;

Fallout 3

Gears 2

And with those I don't have to give those SecuROM loving pricks at EA my money.

Levi @ Nov 24th 2008 8:54PM

PC version of Fallout 3 installs SecuRom, does it not? For a disc check, I believe.

copa @ Nov 24th 2008 3:28PM

Dead Space: $30 at Target on Black Friday. Sounds like a deal.

bill51 @ Nov 24th 2008 3:52PM

I was going to mention this too. I plan on picking it up. Scary space goodness for 30 bucks; I'm there!

Chris Are @ Nov 24th 2008 4:45PM

Only one problem w/ that plan: you have to go out on Black Friday. Don't get me wrong, Dead Space is a fantastic game (I'm only on Ch. 7 because I have to pace myself- I'm freaked out for days after I play it because I'm always on edge) but fighting to find a parking space, being in a gigantic crowd, waiting forever in the check out lanes. Ugh.

tmontana213 @ Nov 24th 2008 5:04PM

Yeah it's a hell of a deal! I personally am going to buy it along with Burnout.

hookurs @ Nov 24th 2008 3:28PM

Where can one find exact Dead Space, Mirrors Edge.. sales stats?

primetime4 @ Nov 24th 2008 3:33PM

Just make them up like everyone else here.

Titanium_Orchid @ Nov 24th 2008 3:33PM

I too, would like to see some sales figures

Hyams @ Nov 24th 2008 3:51PM

There's no such thing as exact figures. Even official tracking companies like NPD aren't exact, they just estimate based off of reports from a selection of retailers.

VgChartz is probably your best bet, really. They're far from perfect, but not as bad as most people here make out, and their figures usually line up well with the official ones.

Titanium_Orchid @ Nov 24th 2008 3:59PM

according to VG Chartz, Dead Space sold approximately 800,000 over the PS360. A much higher number than I had assumed in an earlier post.

So yea... not I don't feel bad about not playing the game

Titanium_Orchid @ Nov 24th 2008 4:00PM

800K as of Oct. 9th

Terry Newhook @ Nov 24th 2008 4:04PM

i love joystiq, thanks boys

Blank-Mage @ Nov 24th 2008 4:42PM

Sales for L4D are in the $18 hojillion area, rivaling The Orange Boxs' $24 hojillion. Meanwhile, Sony has lost half of last years' financial quarter net synergy by %41. Thousand. (In the UK.)

Duke @ Nov 24th 2008 4:43PM

Got the numbers here fresh off the presses:

Dead Space sold a few.
Mirrors Edge sold some.

Just to aid in using this system, Halo 3 and Super Mario sold a bunch.

Titanium_Orchid @ Nov 24th 2008 6:04PM

sooo..... Wii sports sold an ass-ton then?

Blank-Mage @ Nov 24th 2008 7:14PM

I believe the term is "10 Shitloads."

Marty @ Nov 24th 2008 3:29PM

Looking forward to trying this game out - I just assumed it was going to suck until the reviews came out.

Mrblonde @ Nov 24th 2008 3:51PM

Assuming makes an ass out of you and me.

Blank-Mage @ Nov 24th 2008 4:44PM

No, to assume is to make an ass of you and me. Assuming makes an ass out of Ming (the Merciless.) Go ahead, ask him. If you dare.

Ming @ Nov 25th 2008 8:29AM

I'm Listening...

Wiinterfang @ Nov 24th 2008 3:30PM

This is gamers fault anyway, EA gives you the same crappy sequels all year and all you do is complain about the lack of originality from them, then they give you 2 great new IPs and nobody buys then.

Vcize @ Nov 24th 2008 4:32PM

That's because the 2000 people on Joystiq are not representitive of the 50 million person population that buys videogames and follows them substantially less closely.

Duke @ Nov 24th 2008 4:44PM

Curious if you bought them...

Wiinterfang @ Nov 24th 2008 4:49PM

When I say nobody buys them I'm included. ( but I only have a DS)

Haggard @ Nov 24th 2008 6:03PM

I'll be buying the PC versions of both - Mirror's Edge when it actually comes out for PC in 2009, and Dead Space when I have some money

Levi @ Nov 24th 2008 9:02PM

I bought them both, because they are both kickass games, and I support originality.

And I heart my PS3, and my PC has an AGP card in it >.

acefondu @ Nov 24th 2008 3:30PM

I bought Mirror's and am waiting for black friday to get Dead Space at Target for $30. Hoo Ha!

Shagittarius @ Nov 24th 2008 3:32PM

Yeah, this game is great, I've recommended it to my friends.

offday @ Nov 24th 2008 3:38PM

I rented it. I have it right now, but I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's pretty freaky, but this whole time I was expecting it to be first person. I'm not sure how I feel about it being third person. Then again, I love Gears, so I don't know why I can't get into Dead Space.

gameplayFanBoy @ Nov 24th 2008 4:04PM

You were expecting a survival horror game to be 1st person? Have you ever played a survival horror game?

offday @ Nov 24th 2008 4:28PM

What do you call BioShock, Condemned 1 and 2, and Doom?

Hyams @ Nov 24th 2008 4:31PM

Well, I wouldn't exactly call Bioshock a survivial horror, and I *definately* wouldn't call Doom one.

Vcize @ Nov 24th 2008 4:34PM

I'm not usually one to go off on people spelling things incorrectly, but if you're going to put extra emphasis on a word and make it all "hey look at me and read this word really loudly", then that's one you should probably get right.

Hint: There's no "a" in definite ;)

Hyams @ Nov 24th 2008 4:39PM

I should probably have known that, given that I'm studying English at University...

(I blame MS Word; it always auto-corrects it for me.)

offday @ Nov 24th 2008 4:39PM

Well they all have things trying to kill you, you trying to survive, and freaky things all around you.

What exactly is considered a survival horror game then?

Blank-Mage @ Nov 24th 2008 4:52PM

Well, Doom doesn't count as a survival horror because you're a testosterone laden kill marine in space sporting no less than 10 guns. Just because the enemies are legions of the damned as opposed to terrorists doesn't change the shoot 'em up genre.

Levi @ Nov 24th 2008 9:10PM

This is a tricky subject. You could look up the dictionary definition, but often times gamers will disagree. I had a similar heated argument with a friend about what constitutes a puzzle game. He called Myst a puzzle game, because you can't die. I called it an adventure game with an emphasis on puzzle solving.

Doom is an FPS, Condemned is not. It's not the perspective that counts, it's the emphasis on scaring the player that mostly makes up a survival horror in my opinion. Secondly, though, I would say that survival horror games should give you a lack of ammo and tight spaces, making the player really having to think about whether or not they want to use the ammo or run.

I personally think Resident Evil stopped being survival horror at #4... It is an action game in my opinion. I would classify Dead Space, having played through it, an action game that relies on scares to set the mood of the game. I know it can be argued, but the game focuses on combat, which is why I think this way. If the ammo was much more scarce, and the enemies were fewer and more powerful, well... maybe then it could be a survival horror.

I think I'll get a 50/50 agreement on this one. I could either be spot-on, or I'll just get people responding by saying "you have to survive enemies, and it's totally horror!!!..." but in that case, Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, House of the Dead, etc., are survival horrors.

Thoughts?

Gehodra @ Nov 24th 2008 9:45PM

I'm with you Levi. You might have wanted to mention the difference between startle and scare as well.

REmake was Survival Horror. I was scared just opening doors to places I had never been before.

RE4 was 3rd person shooter. It's survival horror content was approximately 0. Only the ignorant people still call it survival horror.

Doom 3 was... I don't even know. Without the duct tape mod, it was scary stupid?

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