Disagree On Demos For Downloadable Games

Over the last few weeks I’ve been asking top people at Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony about game demos for the downloadable games offered via Xbox Live Arcade, WiiWare and PlayStation Network.

I can’t get the same answer twice.

Microsoft – yes, demos are a must
Nintendo — no, demos are not required
Sony – sometimes demos are good, sometimes bad.

Keep reading to find out why they feel differently.

From my interview with him about Xbox Live Arcade:

“[Trial demos for XBLA games] came from the casual games industry. The thing is that Arcade has an identity. It is about pick-up-and-play games. The trial experience helps drive that pick-up-and-play nature. You have to think about how to get consumers to taste it. And the other thing is that it provides a great marketing tool. We’ve talked to consumers, and trial is one of the big drivers of purchase intent. So it gets smaller-budget games that doesn’t have a big marketing campaign– this is their marketing. We’re going to do a great job of getting the trial into people’s hands, and then the game can help sell itself.”

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