Charging for Demos?

I just thought this was pretty ridiculous. It would’ve made a lot more sense if this story came out on April 1st:

Crytek co-founder Cevat Yerli tells Develop that you might be paying money just for the privilege of trying Crysis 2 before it comes out. Yerli calls free game demos an antiquated “luxury” that have become “prohibitively expensive” to produce. The result: many studios will either stop releasing them or try to charge for an early test of the game. EA has already brought this idea up as “pre-launch DLC,”

Yerli says his company hasn’t yet decided whether there will be a demo for Crysis 2 or not, though he thankfully admits that a paid demo should be “something more than a small demo released for free.” Takeaway is the same, regardless: because of the development cost of building a giveaway level or two before launch, Yerli says the days of free demos are numbered. (Source: Joystiq)

Braid


I downloaded the Braid demo the other day. I have to admit, despite all of the buzz I’ve heard, I’m not really that impressed. I have to give him points for some interesting game dynamics. The artwork and the audio was interesting and unique, but I didn’t really feel compelled to keep playing it. It just didn’t grab me. You can grab a copy for yourself here. Maybe you’ll feel differently.