For many of us, demos are an important part of the consumer process, allowing us to try a videogame out and see if it sucks before we buy it. Sometimes they’re misleading and sometimes — such as in the case of Turning Point: Fall of Liberty — they are crucial lifesavers. Regardless of their merits, however, Microsoft Game Studios honcho and talkative designer Peter Molyneux hates their stinking guts.
“I hate demos. I think demos are the death knell of experiences,” raged the Fable creator, possibly after throwing a brandy glass into a fire. “Over the years I’ve done demos and they’ve either completely ruined the game, given too much to the player, or they’ve confused people, so I said that we should give away the very first 45 minutes of the game, completely free.”
Let it not be said that Mr. Molyneux isn’t a man with solutions, but what do you think of his idea? Is a ten minute demo enough to judge a game, or should we indeed get a significant amount of time with the full game, free of charge? It’s definitely worth considering, although I doubt publishers would want to give that much gameplay away for nothing.
