Activision: Singularity demo is 'absolutely critical'

Well, the major problem is that typically, demos actually stifle sales, not promote. People play the demo, and either that satiates their appetite for the game, or they find a minor flaw in it and go "GAWD IF THIS IS IN THE GAME THEN I DON'T WANNA DEAL WITH IT!"

Perfect annecdotal evidence of this... I was kinda excited for the game Flock... it looked kinda fun, and interesting. But then I played the demo, and I absolutely hated how it was controlled. So, I didn't buy it. (Didn't help that the game got moderate instead of good reviews).

@hydrophobicfish

Conversely, demos have persuaded me to purchase games that, otherwise, I might not have ever considered.

From the view of the developer, putting out a demo is like putting out a whole other game; it's another project. A demo takes resources that can be used to make the final product better or push it out faster. It takes another team (devs and QA) to work on it or it's given to the team already working on the main game, giving them more work on their currently heavy load.

I was thinking that...

Didn't we boycott Activision over sueing Brutal Legend..?

Dead Rising and UFC ... suck it.

Swagman:

You make a good point, but unfortunately a developer or publisher cannot wait for many months or else time runs out and the game suffers. Consoles cycle through generations quickly, and while this generation is expected to be longer, new hardware technology will be developed that can better suit the needs of gamers and even developers, and the length may not be because the hardware can move longer, but because it takes longer to develop for such complex hardware.

When making movies, there isn't a technological barrier, especially when CGI is heavily used, like there is in game development. These people are programming very specific code that utilizes the core hardware advantages of each system in order to maximize code efficiency and increase content. Not only that, they are given a framework and interface they have to learn and abide by in development, because each system uses it's own proprietary operating system. Algorithm analysis is also a long and painful process, requiring a lot of detailed examinations of not only the code but even the hardware configuration to determine the most efficient process. While there is programming in movies, they use tools already programmed and developed to create CGI in massive render farms, such as Maya, which features it's own language implementation. Plus, these render farms don't have the technical limitations, so efficiency wouldn't be nearly as important. Also, the code can be more general, because the hardware used for 3-D design goes by industry standards, much like video game hardware for computers.

But if you take too long to develop a game, a new console may be released that overshadows the older one and if you don't move the game over, it may not be as big of a hit or have as big of an impact on the industry. You can't just move code over either; you have rework it so it not only fits into the new interface, but also uses the power of the system. Sure, you could be lazy, but the results will be sub-par as a result.

So, I wouldn't just call the publishers greedy and be done with it. The developers use up money as they keep developing a game, and they can't be given as much time because of how new hardware will be released that will overtake the old. It probably isn't greed as much as punctuality and fear of losing that timeframe when the game could be a hit.

the only reason I enjoyed FN3 was because I could just make a giant heavyweight character and press the haymaker button and I would almost always win. Now, I actually have to Lrn2play : (

There was a haymaker button in FNR3!? I could only pull them off with the total fight control, just doesn't feel accurate enough using it for jabs etc, though that could be down to me sucking at using it.

it was the right bumper on the 360. With existing boxers it was their signature move, but with create a boxers it could be customized, but i just went with left handed haymaker

Sadly I can see this happening

Whoever came up with the idea of handing out demos with pre-orders, especially exclusive demos, needs to be put out of his/her idiotic misery.

anger rising....