EA Looking To Charge For "Very Long Game Demos"

Right now, Activision is in many a gamer's doghouse, but if EA pursues this idea, they may not be viewed in a very favorable light, either. But you might like it.

Not surprisingly, EA - like many other major publishers - has already dumped a lot of cash on the growing digital distribution boom and they clearly wish to continue. The huge amount of downloadable content the company has offered already is fairly massive and according to GameSpot, EA plans to push forward with "PDLC" or "Premium" content. Not only will it continue to apply to post-release add-ons but now, they might want it to apply to pre-release content, too. Like demos. In an investor's note, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter spoke about a recent event in Redwood City, California, where group general manager Nick Earl explained EA's "pre-release PDLC initiative." Essentially, they're talking about "very long demos" of certain games, to be placed on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live services for $10 to $15. And when they say "long," they refer to Battlefield 1943, which of course is a full game by itself. Said Pachter:

"A full-blown packaged game would follow shortly after the release of the PDLC, bearing a full retail price. Mr. Earl believes that the release of the PDLC first limits the risk of completing and marketing the full packaged version, and serves as a low-cost marketing tool."

Battlefield 1943 was a huge success for EA and as of November of last year, they said DICE's solid online multiplayer game had sold around 1.2 million units on both the PS3 and 360. Furthermore, Pachter said that EA CEO John Riccitiello has acknowledged that his company hasn't performed so well during the first years of his tenure, and that a turnaround "was taking longer than he originally expected." Right now, though, he says they're about 2/3 of the way there and 1/3 of the way "towards reaching its goal of transformation into a business that distributes games through 'multiple channels.'" So the question is, would you pay for "really long demos?" Maybe for big games?

3/23/2010 10:55:34 AM Ben Dutka

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Comments (79 posts)

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Scarecrow
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 11:15:43 AM
Reply

The old EA is back, YREEEEEEEEEEEEEAH!!!

Ok EA, let's see how much you will actually make off of that :)

PS: Though, I miss the old $4.99 demo CDs for ps1. Those had 10 or so game demos in it though. So it was worth it.

16 up, 0 down

LimitedVertigo
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 11:29:03 AM

I miss them too, the greatest demo EVER for the PS1 was Intelligent Cube. I spent hours on that demo and bought the full game as soon as it came out. Back then though I subscribed to multiple gaming magazines and the demo disks were included.

9 up, 1 down

556pineapple
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 11:36:28 AM

I used to buy issues of the Official U.S. Playstation Magazine (now defunct) just so I could play the demo discs. Though I did enjoy the articles and reviews also, and it was the magazine that exposed me to Penny Arcade. I recently found some old issues of that buried in my closet and saw previews for GTAIII and MGS2! I wonder how time flies so quickly...

Enough of my rambling, the point I'm trying to make is I liked demo discs too.

9 up, 0 down

LimitedVertigo
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 11:40:45 AM

I kept all my old magazines, ALL of them. I have well over 2k magazines back in my closet at my parent's house. As time goes on it's pretty neat to skim through them. My favorite is the EGM issue previewing Resident Evil2 before they chose to scrap the game entirely and rebuild it from scratch.

5 up, 1 down

vicious54
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 11:41:29 AM

I miss the Playstation Underground demo disks, those had demos and trailers.

8 up, 0 down

Jawknee
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 11:59:54 AM

I still have some of my PS1 demo discs from Square that came packages with Brave Fencer Musashi and others like it.

5 up, 1 down

FlyingKickPunch
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 4:26:06 PM

game players was the greastest gaming magazine in the history of man.

0 up, 1 down

phade2blaq
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 6:57:01 PM

I miss those old PS1 demo discs as well ! I also miss the old underground demo discs too !

The old days when gaming was simple yet fun and addictive !

0 up, 0 down

hellish_devil
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 8:39:11 PM

I have the FFVII demo disc =) It pretty scratched tough

0 up, 0 down

spiderboi
Wednesday, March 24, 2010 @ 7:36:27 AM

Same here on the magazines. I used to buy Gamepro when they had some better judgement back then. and PSM. Then I discovered PSXExtreme :)

But why'd i wanna buy a demo? It's just a demo. I'd rather watch someone playing the paid demo on youtube then buy it if i decide its worth my money.

1 up, 0 down

kraygen
Wednesday, March 24, 2010 @ 1:16:28 PM

Yeah, those demo discs were great, but back then we couldn't download demo's and they had to pay to manufacture all those discs. They came with a magazine, so the 4.99 was not only worth it, but a good deal.

0 up, 0 down

Highlander
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 11:22:56 AM
Reply

This reminds me of the days of shareware where you could try the first 10-15% of a game before you purchased the full game.

As an example, let's say that ND had put up the first three levels of Uncharted 2 as a $5 demo (call it a preview, not a demo please). That might have sold a lot of people on the game.

Now, for games that don't have the mass appeal of an Uncharted game, this could be the best thing since sliced bread.

1 up, 0 down

LimitedVertigo
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 11:27:14 AM

I wonder though if I choose to purchase the full game is the $5 I've already thrown down included so I'd only be owing $55?

14 up, 1 down

photo K
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 12:21:34 PM

LV - that'd be a good concept. Paid $10 for a demo? you get $10 credit if you buy the game.

13 up, 0 down

daus26
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 4:04:51 PM

Right. It almost makes no sense. You'd be paying for something you've already paid for playing. The least they can do is credit the demo purchase towards the retail price of the full game.

I know I would wouldn't pay $5-$15 for the first 15 or so minutes of the demo, and then having to pay full retail price for the full game to be playing the same 15 or so minutes from the demo.

-_-

4 up, 0 down

Nynja
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 6:02:45 PM

In my opinion, that's what Blockbuster and Gamefly is for. Rent it before you buy it.

Even Gamestop offers a 7 day return policy on used game purchases. If you don't like it, bring it back within 7 days and get store credit for the full amount.

As Ben said in a later post, it would have to be months in advance before release.

Last edited by Nynja on 3/23/2010 6:06:14 PM

0 up, 0 down

fluffer nutter
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 11:26:00 AM
Reply

I wouldn't mind paying for an extended demo if it allowed for two things. First, you could use that money spent towards the purchase of the full version of the game and second, you could retain your progress and transition to the full game seamlessly. I think a lot of gamers would find that hard to argue against.

9 up, 0 down

coverton341
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 11:45:21 AM

That would be great to say the least but how are you going to be able to prove to Amazon, Gamestop, Best Buy, or wherever you buy your games that you spent that money towards the preview?

Don't get me wrong I would love to see that happen I just don't see them utilising it that way. More over I see them just using it as a money grab unfortunately.

I know that most of the time I stand up for pay for DLC and the like but I don't condone the practice of making people pay for a demo then pay full price for the game. If the initial investment into the preview goes to the end price I am for it, but if it is just an extra 10 to 15 bucks you have to shell out then screw that.

7 up, 0 down

rogers71
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 11:47:17 AM

This will not happen. The whole point is for the game companies to make more money. I will not support this venture.

The word GREED comes to the forefront of this conversation. Companies will not let you use the money spent on a 'long demo' towards the purchase of the full game. It defeats their purpose entirely.

There will be some that jump right into this when it happens but I truly hope that enough people stay away from this so that companies realize we do have some sense. This will be the first step to full Digital Downloads. Watch and see.

13 up, 0 down

fluffer nutter
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 12:08:23 PM

I didn't say that it will happen but that I would like it to happen. The proper way to get the amount applied to the future purchase would probably be a unique code sent for a discount. The said code would be given to the retailer, much like a manufacturer's coupon, and so the retailer would get reimbursed for every coupon code that they submit. Wouldn't it be nice?

2 up, 0 down

mbg77
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 12:18:38 PM

I think they could quite easily do the paid demo counting towards a full game price for the PC games that you buy from Steam and also for PSN games.
But truth be told I don't see them doing it even there.

Take care.

0 up, 0 down

Raz
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 9:28:05 PM

THAT would be the greatest thing ever.

0 up, 0 down

jaybiv
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 11:09:29 PM

You are on point Rogers. What EA is proposing is more than a demo. They just want to get some extra scratch. I thought the purpose of the demo was to give the consumer a taste of the full product. The process has been working good so far. I hope for EA's sake that they still intend to provide free demos too.

0 up, 0 down

556pineapple
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 11:31:42 AM
Reply

I understand where they are coming from, but I was under the impression that people download demos to try out the games, and making someone buy a demo, albeit a "long" one, it just seems they're going to scare away customers. I suppose if you wanted to play more, but didn't want to buy the full thing it would make sense, but you could rent the game long enough to beat it for less than $10 anyway so it still doesn't make too much sense. This just seems like a bad idea all around to me.

11 up, 0 down

photo K
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 12:19:02 PM

its a ridiculous idea to consumers. I feel like I was just slapped across the face.. or mugged thru the internet..

Obviously they can see how many people download demos, quite a lot. And EA knows that some of their games don't sell well, so if people arent going to buy their games, maybe they can make some of their money by charging for demos.

6 up, 0 down

TheRaPtuRe
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 11:34:10 AM
Reply

not gunna work, why the hell would anyone pay for an extended demo? its bollocks

10 up, 0 down

Hezzron
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 11:34:40 AM
Reply

So "try before you buy" is gonna turn into "buy before you buy"?......and I was having a hard time being inspired to play them when they were free.

It's like being charged for watching a TV commercial.

Someones gonna get fired at Activision for not thinking of this first.

Last edited by Hezzron on 3/23/2010 11:36:24 AM

20 up, 1 down

Darwin1967
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 11:40:04 AM
Reply

When I first read the header...I though, meh...2-5.oo for an extended demo wouldn't be bad, but my jaw hit the floor at 10-15.00. Are they nuts?!?! Unless they add your expenditure to the sale of the game, well...let's just say game prices are skyrocketing...much like hidden bank costs, we're getting taken to the cleaners.
10-15.00 - Premium Demo
60.00 - Game Price
5.99 - DLC #1
5.99 - DLC #2
Total: 82-87.00

Becuase it's getting so incredibly expensive to invest in a game, I've really cut back on the number of games I'm willing to buy, mostly sticking to the AAA games and almost entirely get all my games from Gamefly (where I can truly test it, before I buy it).

9 up, 0 down

FullmetalX10
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 11:43:23 AM
Reply

I will not pay for a long demo, just because it's long, I would not pay for any demo anyway.
Just keep the demo short and free, it's only for the feel and the looks of the game.

13 up, 0 down

Jawknee
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 11:58:59 AM
Reply

Jawknee not willing to pay for demos, especially ones from EA.

$15 for a demo, then $60 for the game, then DLC. Good luck with that EA.

Last edited by Jawknee on 3/23/2010 12:00:45 PM

15 up, 1 down

photo K
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 12:14:52 PM
Reply

booooo!

they better have a free shorter demo, cuz I am not paying no $10-15 for a freaking demo.

9 up, 0 down

nogoat23
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 12:16:06 PM
Reply

Yeah, no thanks on the paid demos. If I'm going to spend $10-$15 on something, I'll just get one of the great PSN games that I haven't gotten around to playing yet.

6 up, 0 down

mbg77
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 12:23:31 PM
Reply

The most annoying thing about hearing this sort of ideas is that we don't even get a "short" demos for every game and yet the EA people now want to charge us for so called "long demo".

Take care.

5 up, 0 down

Jawknee
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 12:27:09 PM

I know "Take Care" is at the bottom of all your comments, but its most fitting with this one. ha!

EA:"hey wanna pay for our demos?!"

Everyone else: " Take Care".

Ha!

Last edited by Jawknee on 3/23/2010 12:27:39 PM

9 up, 1 down

mbg77
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 12:44:45 PM

That's a good one Jawknee. Thumbs up.

2 up, 0 down

gumbi
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 12:40:53 PM
Reply

Fat chance EA. Unless you plan to provide me with a voucher I can use to knock that $10 - $15 off the purchase price when I buy the game, I would NEVER do this... stupid.

News flash EA, game demo's are advertising. A tool you use to encourage consumers to buy your product. It's borderline unethical to charge people to view your advertising. But I guess, if people are dumb enough to pay for it, EA might as well cash in on it. What is the world coming to?

11 up, 0 down

mbg77
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 12:49:56 PM

To answer your question gumbi, even though it was rhetorical, I would say a mixture between "Idiocracy" and "Gamer".

IN THE END THERE WILL ONLY BE CHAOS.

Take care.

3 up, 0 down

RadioHeader
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 1:22:43 PM

gumbi

...But surely you'd pay to watch an advertisement if it was longer than average?

LOL Good luck, EA!

6 up, 0 down

Jawknee
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 2:08:54 PM

No alarms and no surprises please. Silent.

2 up, 1 down

RadioHeader
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 2:30:47 PM

I'm alarmed at the prospect of paying for advertisements, but not surprised it's EA's idea... can't think of one for silence :)

btw, I swear this dude cannot take a bad photograph O.o

0 up, 0 down

Jawknee
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 2:47:41 PM

Hes the most unattractive photogenic person i know of. hes takes great pictures and rights awesome music. What more can we ask for? ha

Did you pay for In Rainbows?

0 up, 2 down

Jawknee
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 3:03:51 PM

writes awesome music. Oh i need more coffee.

0 up, 2 down

RadioHeader
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 3:36:00 PM

Not while it was a voluntary donations type deal, but I have the CD now (good album). I'd never been on the internet at that time (PS3 introduced me to the 'net) so it was a real bummer to find out that's how they were distributing it.

If they do the same again I'm not sure I'd pay for it. It's just like the download versus disc thing for games... gimme the disc! Did you pay for it?

0 up, 1 down

Jawknee
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 4:52:36 PM

Yea, I paid $5 bucks for the mp3's then picked up the Cd later on for $10 at Walmart. It was a smart on their part with all the piracy. They recorded it, allowed people to pay what they wanted for a limited time, made their money back then released it on an indy label in Cd format for even more return. I love Radiohead. I don't mind supporting them anyway I can. What would the world be like with out Radiohead? Probably not much different but still. ha.

1 up, 2 down

JcBball717
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 1:08:09 PM
Reply

wow is EA seriious? theyr staff must be full of jews

3 up, 10 down

Nynja
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 2:18:03 PM

If that were the case, they would have monopolized the gaming market by now.

Don't under estimate the power of "Jews".

8 up, 0 down

G8GTdriver
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 1:10:19 PM
Reply

IF you still have a blockbuster locally why wouldn't you just rent the whole game for cheaper?

10 up, 0 down

BikerSaint
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 1:25:41 PM
Reply

Paid demos???
No thanks, I rarely pay for DLC, so they won't be getting my dime for this Bullsh!t either.

Hell, I loved the old days when we used to get those old "PS Magazines", & I always looked forward to their free demo disc they included every month.
Matter of fact, I still have 22 of those demo discs in my PS1 collection.

And even better yet, was the old "PS Underground" demo discs sets.
They came out quarterly, as a 2-disc boxed set, complete with a booklet & they had an average of 15 game demos on both discs(I still have 4 complete seasons of them too).

FYI, In the PS Underground series disc # 3.2, it actually had exclusive coverage of 1999's "E3 In LA" on disc 1 of the 2 discs.
It also gave a great PS exclusive on "The Next Generation Of Playstation" story on their upcoming PS3 & exclusive interviews with the true Godfather of the PS3, Ken Kutaragi, along with interviews with Kaz Hirai & Phil Harrison.

Plus it also had exclusive footage of the future PS3's "Emotion" chip.
Also included, was all the behind the scenes craziness at E3, and a tour of the upcoming 1999 Tokyo Games Show.
Plus a part 4 on R&D on "Project Wormhole", a sneak peek on the uncut Um Jammer Lammy Rocumentary, the cool features of the Ocean Star RGP, & the Import game, "Tsumu. Also, hidden codes, downloads, bulletins & more.
And all that was just on the first disc alone, simply awesome stuff.

Dics 2 had all the demos....
Final Fantasy VIII
Ehrgeiz
Um Jammer Lammy
Tony Hawk Pro Skater
Soul of the Samurai
Ape Escape
3Xtreme
MLB 2000,
and an alpha copy of Jeto Moto 3

"ALL THAT, AND FOR ONLY THE PRICE OF THE MAGAZINE TOO!!!!!

Ahhh, the good old days, shame the ways of giving 100% back to your devoted fan-base is now only a ghost of our past.

Last edited by BikerSaint on 3/23/2010 1:28:17 PM

5 up, 0 down

BikerSaint
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 3:32:55 PM

OPPS, Just noticed I made a PS console boo-boo in my earlier post....

Instead of....
<<<<It also gave a great PS exclusive on "The Next Generation Of Playstation" story on their upcoming PS3, & exclusive interviews with the true Godfather of the PS3, Ken Kutaragi, along with interviews with Kaz Hirai & Phil Harrison.>>>

I should have inserted "PS2" in there where it says "on their upcoming PS3", especially seeing how it was only 1999 back then.

Last edited by BikerSaint on 3/23/2010 3:34:37 PM

1 up, 0 down

SympoziumPawa
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 1:35:01 PM
Reply

Long time no see EA

4 up, 0 down

Nynja
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 2:16:52 PM
Reply

I don't mind free demos that provide me with just enough information about the gameplay to consider a purchase.

But... to pay for an extended length demo? Are you serious? You want me to pay you for access to a demo where progress is not recorded so that if I do decide to pay MORE money and FULL price for the full version, have to redo everything I've already done?

Kiss my @$$.

9 up, 0 down

JackC8
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 2:32:48 PM
Reply

The demo is an advertisement for the game - it's sole purpose is to get people to pay money for the full product. If they think I'm to pay for an advertisement...good grief.

6 up, 0 down

Fane1024
Wednesday, March 24, 2010 @ 10:46:07 PM

I was going to say the same thing. What's next...a charge for "long trailers"? For "large screenshots"?

Total bollocks.

Last edited by Fane1024 on 3/24/2010 10:50:35 PM

0 up, 0 down

maxpontiac
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 2:48:47 PM
Reply

I honestly hope Sony never charges for the PSN.

I can't see paying 50 bucks a year (which I do not right now) AND have to pay extra for things like that.

7 up, 0 down

JPHarvey
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 2:50:02 PM
Reply

Demos must be free. They cannot use BF1943 as an example. It is a complete game, small but well worth the 15$ cost. Demos are OK the way they are. Free.

If they charge for those, they just wont get the advertisement value that they have now.

3 up, 0 down

Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 3:37:59 PM
Reply

I'll be honest: I'm not even entirely sure what they're TALKING about.

A demo that costs $15? Entire games can be snagged on the PSN for as little as $5; if it's $15, it's a pretty sizable downloadable title. So how big can a demo be to warrant that price? And furthermore, how is this better than just renting the game? It costs a lot less and you get the entire game to try. Yeah, you have to wait for it in the mail, I guess...

Maybe it's best for huge games. I bet the Madden drones would drop ten bucks on a big demo months before this year's game arrives. And that's the other thing: it would have to be significantly before the final product's release. People aren't quite THAT impatient.

12 up, 1 down

Jawknee
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 4:54:53 PM

My old boss is a Madden Drone. Too funny.

0 up, 1 down

Nynja
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 6:03:41 PM

Couldn't have said it better myself. Thumbs up, lad.

0 up, 0 down

Darwin1967
Wednesday, March 24, 2010 @ 11:53:34 AM

My thought is that the we are talking about downloading full games. The industry has been trying to make a move toward dropping discs in favor of downloading...could it be the 10-15.00 is for the demo...after which you can pay an additional 40.00+ to unlock the full game. EA = Gamefish?

0 up, 0 down

Nynja
Wednesday, March 24, 2010 @ 3:48:39 PM

@Darwin;

Even with that policy - F. THAT.

That would be like going to a car dealership and they charge you $2,000 to test drive a car. If you like it, just dish out the remaining $16,000.

I'd much rather rent the game. If we hit a day and age (which unfortunately looks inevitable) where all games are DL only, I may just start reading in my spare time. Hopefully books will be in 3D by then.

0 up, 0 down

TEG3SH
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 3:40:03 PM
Reply

EA CAN SUCK MY "Very Long Game Demos"

3 up, 2 down

Lemon_Saint
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 3:41:12 PM
Reply

I played the hell out of the two minute run for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, (with the snippet of Jerry was a Racecar Driver looping in the background). Really, my friends and I played that for months before actually purchasing the game, (we would try to outdo each other's scores ... when's the last time THAT happened)? The demo came with an issue of the Official U.S. Playstation Magazine, (so it cost money to receive it), but, the re-playability came from the game being fresh and fun. Which leads me to my point: How many times have you played through a demo lately, and, more importantly, does the conceived value of a demo, (replayability), come from actually purchasing it or from content? Personally, most demos I play through once and then delete from my hard drive. On a few occasions I have kept a demo and played it over and over, (Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds to name one), but I wonder if I would keep playing them over and over had I actually laid a few buck down for them.

Unfortunately, if charging for demos becomes a common practice, I know I'll pass on, (or overlook), a few games that I might have otherwise bought had there been a free demo. The interest garnered and advertising from demos showcase smaller titles to an increasingly fickle gaming populace. Take that away, and the gaming community gains an unwarranted thorn in its side.

4 up, 0 down

Alienange
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 4:22:07 PM
Reply

He's obviously not talking about demos. Who the hell would pay for a demo? No, he's talking about smaller games like Battlefield 1943 that is not as big as a retail game but that would still sell through the roof.

I'm thinking they're going to release smaller games and add on to them with dlc as they go. The "full retail version" will simply be the game with all dlc included.

4 up, 0 down

Nynja
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 11:55:11 PM

Ahh. Very well done.

I think you nailed it.

0 up, 0 down

NoMoreWar
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 4:24:52 PM
Reply

sounds like EA forgot what a DEMO was. hmmm.... $15 to try to decide if i want to buy a $60 game?

no thanks, i'll keep my $75 ;)

it really sounds like it has to be something besides demos

Last edited by NoMoreWar on 3/23/2010 4:27:01 PM

1 up, 0 down

sha4dowknight05
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 4:26:38 PM
Reply

EA always going further than other game developers! :)

Though I can see where they are getting at, it still isn't fair to charge for a single demo. It's like playing $8 for a long-ass demo for what reason. Exclusitivity of demos should be for qore users you know get them a little earlier. Then again it makes no sense on charging for a demo when they are going to make money when the full game releases anyways.

0 up, 0 down

Monkeysnarf
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 4:56:25 PM
Reply

They already charge $60 for "very" long demos. Most games are now only 6 - 10 hours.

10 up, 1 down

Alienange
Wednesday, March 24, 2010 @ 1:50:38 PM

LOL

0 up, 0 down

DeathOfChaos
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 6:10:31 PM
Reply

So let me get this strait...EA is going to charge people for something that is free as of now...now how smart is that? Making people pay for something they have been able to get for free since the PS3 first came out. Hope they fail at that.

Last edited by DeathOfChaos on 3/23/2010 6:10:45 PM

4 up, 0 down

tes37
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 7:15:04 PM
Reply

I don't like this idea. I'm all for giving them a demo of my money for a full game though. Sorry, just trying to think like them.

2 up, 0 down

SmokeyPSD
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 7:17:43 PM
Reply

reminds me of the old shareware days i guess. Still not going to pay a cent ea

1 up, 0 down

djbool
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 7:50:55 PM
Reply

This is totally BS. I hate digital distribution for reason just like this. Everyone should boycott simple add-ons like EA does with Madden games now so these companies realize people shouldn't have to pay for extras on top of the 60 bucks already dropped

1 up, 0 down

NonProphet
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 8:09:06 PM
Reply

I wouldn't pay for a demo but I did buy Battlefield: 1943 and definitely got my $15 worth. It was more than a demo but with only 3 maps and 3 weapons, certainly not a full game. So maybe the definition what of demo is needs to change, maybe there will be a new category that describes something which is more than demo but less than a full/retail price game.

0 up, 0 down

OtisFeelgood
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 8:58:54 PM
Reply

"...EA CEO John Riccitiello has acknowledged that his company hasn't performed so well during the first years of his tenure, and that a turnaround "was taking longer than he originally expected.""

That turnaround is going to take even longer now. EA should be paying me to play their mediocre games.

1 up, 0 down

___________
Wednesday, March 24, 2010 @ 4:18:29 AM
Reply

well depends on their definition of very long demo, and how much it will be.
like the demo for darksiders that lasted for over a hour, id me more than happy to put 10 bucks down for something like that.

but they have to be very careful with it because most people use demos as a judgment on if they should buy the retail release or not.
if they have to pay for the demo, to make that decision well i cant see anyone doing that.

pay to get the demo earlier, or pay for a longer version ok that could work depending on both price, length and what game it is.
but they have to keep the original version, the free version that way if people dont want to pay for the "extended" version they can go for the free one.

could work well for them, but there skating on thin ice above sharks with freaking laser beams on top of their freaking heads!

0 up, 0 down

Richy
Wednesday, March 24, 2010 @ 4:56:40 AM
Reply

hello...

a demo is a demo & cannot be charged for! now if they speak about pre-view or cut-down 'prologues' i'm OK with it, but must be worth it.

a playable demo that doesn't have same content than final release, just a showcase of what it will be & a little out of the big context story would be acceptable.

else like most said, i pay let say 5 - 15$ for the demo that will be deducted if i buy the full version or that will allow me some exclusive bonuses if i buy full.

but for marketing sake i would say NO to this, i download all demos i can (except for a few sport games) & i buy those magazines with demo discs for both PS3 & PC. I bought a lot of games after playing the demos (inFamous, Dante's Inferno, a lot of PSN titles, etc...) & may buy a few others (like MGS4), now if i need to pay for the demos, i'll be selective as with games & may miss a few.

Not all games were a must buy for me with or without a demo, so i think EA should at least have a simple 'normal' demo for free & a 'payable cut-down version with other side-story' of a game that must be released way before the release of the final game.

cheers!

2 up, 0 down

Milonakis
Wednesday, March 24, 2010 @ 10:38:39 AM
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How is this different than things like Ratchet and clank Quest for booty. Realisticly it's just EA trying to seem like they have original ideas.

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kraygen
Wednesday, March 24, 2010 @ 1:40:59 PM
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Several problems with this idea, however I can still see it happening.

I highly doubt that the demo purchase price of $10-$15 could be applied to the retail version of the game because they would have to convince, Gamestop, Best Buy, Target, Walmart, Hastings, Toysrus, new egg, amazon, list goes on, every place that sells video games to honor the demo purchase. Good luck getting all of those places to agree to that.

Those places have to purchase their copies from the developer. How could they determine how much to pay if some copies had to be sold at full price and others at the reduced demo price? Retailers have to pay so much for their copies and it would just be too complicated to work out with every retailer.

Another reason I don't see the demo cost going towards the retail price is because the entire reason EA is doing this is to make more money, there would be no benefit to them to give a discount on the retail version because you purchased some dlc.

The saddest part of all this is that there are people who have plenty of money who will pay for this sort of thing. I know several people who, if they are interested in a game, they will purchase pre-orders, ridiculous amounts of dlc, basically purchase everything available for it, even before they know whether they like it or not.

Due to the fact that people will pay for it, EA will do it and others will follow suit. Sadly in the future this will be a terrible fact and we will see less and less free demo's as companies stop making them available in order to try and get us to pay for them.

In the end companies will do what they can to get every penny out of us they can. Call it evil, greedy, whatever, they are in business to make money and thus they will make it however they can.

For those of us who refuse to pay for demo's, we'll just have to eventually start renting every game we're interested in.

And the local video store is revived.

1 up, 0 down

nogoat23
Wednesday, March 24, 2010 @ 3:53:59 PM
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Is this strategy similar to what they did with Gran Turismo 5 Prologue?

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EA Looking To Charge For "Very Long Game Demos"

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