Limited edition .... demos?

A new and somewhat bizarre trend is evolving.

For some time now game demos on the XBox Live marketplace have been available only to Gold subscribers for the first week, before finally becoming available to all. This is not really nice, but it is completely understandable why Microsoft would do it. After all, the XBox business model is based on getting as many subscribers as possible.

But, there is a new twist. When the Mirrors Edge demo went up last week it turned out that the 'Race' section of the demo requires a pre-order code to play it. Basically, half of the demo is closed to anybody who downloaded the demo in order to try it.

Left 4 Dead has a demo released today. Well, for some people. It is currently limited to people who have pre-ordered it. The rest of us have to wait a week to see the demo.

Am I alone in missing the point of this?

The way I see it is that demos have always been a tool for a potential customer to decide wether they wish to buy the game or not. A convincer, if you will. I didn't need a demo for Mario Galaxy because I already knew just how good it was going to be. I did need a demo for Crackdown, though, and I am so glad that one existed because I may have missed out on a truly awesome game otherwise.

But now, it seems that demos are a reward for people who already want the game. I mean, how exactly is locking half the demo away going to sway me to pre-order if I haven't already done so?

Left 4 Dead is slightly more understandable, but even more annoying. Knowing that the thing is out there, and that I just can't play it yet .... it sucks.

The thing is, it's a risky strategy. What if Left 4 Dead isn't as good as expected? Too Human had a demo that completely put me off the game, it is not stretching belief too far to sgguest that the same thing could happen again. Suddenly, hundreds of pre-orders cancel and demand refunds. (Not that I expect Valve to let us down, but it could happen.)

The solution is obviously just to pre-order. But, there is no way on this or any other Earth that I am ever going to do that. What possible reason can I have to give my money to someone several weeks in advance of receiving my product? Especially since even a paid pre-order does not guarantee getting the game. I have a friend who paid for her launch day DS in advance only for Gamestation to sell it to someone else, and so she had to wait to get hold of it.

Pre-ordering is a system that milks us gamers for all we are worth. It does nothing for us as consumers at all.

They sell you on the idea that this game will be in short supply, that you might not be able to get hold of it otherwise. Well, in answer to that, I shall just ask you when is the last time you saw that happen? (Wii Fit, actually, but that is the ONLY one for the last .... who knows how many years.) I guarantee for anybody who didn't pre-order Gears of War 2 that you will be able to walk into any shop and buy it tomorrow.

By handing over your cash before the game is released, you are effectively locking yourself into a cycle. Once they have you, they try to shift you onto the next release. 'A fool and his money are soon parted.'

You should not be falling for it. You should not be such a slavering follower of consumerism. You should instead answer all the requests to pre-order with "I don't pre-order. I generally buy it wherever I can find it cheapest." Last week saw the release of Fallout 3. The week before it was Fable 2. Both of these games are £39.99 in both GAME and Gamestation. Whereas, in Sainsbury's, they are £29 and £29.97 respectively.

If I had pre-ordered both games I would be £21.01 down today. And there are countless times when I have found games for cheaper than the big 2 offer. Anyone who pre-orders every big release is basically giving £5-10 away every single time. That's potentially £50 this month alone! What kind of insanity is that?

The ONLY time I bothered to pre-order was for GTA IV, and that was because they didn't ask for money up-front. It was just to make sure they got enough copies in. I went to the midnight opening, but unfortunately forgot my phone with the text message on it that was apparently needed before they would let me in the store.

"Can you not just use my GAME card to determine who I am?" was my obvious question, to which they responded with
"We don't have the facility to do that. You can call our customer service department in the morning."
I was aghast.
"It is midnight. Do you honestly think I would be here now if it was possible for me to be here in the morning?"
"I'm sorry, but .."
"It's 2008. This is quite ridiculous."

I walked off, and went to Tesco instead. Got it for about 50p cheaper, and no queue. Wish I had been there at midnight instead.

Sure, it was my own fault for forgetting my phone. But suppose the text message didn't arrive? What then? Or, maybe my phone got stolen? Or I dropped it somewhere? Or, I forwarded the text message on to a friend who didn't pre-order? What STUPID system is it that relies on a text message as confirmation?

So, I think it behooves us all as gamers to let go of this idea. We already overpay, as witnessed by the way they throw so many '2 for £30' offers at us with games that don't sell millions right away. If Sainsbury's and ASDA can offer games cheaper than dedicated game retailers, what exactly does that tell us? I seriously doubt that any supermarket gets more copies than the specialists do.

If anybody in the world has read this, and decided not to pre-order ever again, then please make sure to tell other people you know to stop it, too. We gamers should all be in this together, and should co-op against the bosses who are working as hard as possible to empty our pockets.