Playable demos have been a much-loved part of gaming. Back in the day we all had to wait to get our grubs on a glossy new mag, in order to experience future gaming delights, but now all one needs is to simply sign-in to LIVE or PSN.
We love the introduction of free downloadable demos (unlike many unofficial and official gaming magazines), but we can’t help but wonder if recently released DLC (Downloadable Content) will force publishers to take advantage of us gamers. The huge success of Dead Rising 2 : Case Zero, lead to over 500,000 downloads, each giving up 400 MS Points. Now this may not seem bad (and it isn’t, we really enjoyed the episode), but we can’t help but think that other publishers will start to charge for simple demos.
Dead Rising 2: Case Zero - Unique content letting us experience how Chuck and his daughter survived, just before the events of Dead Rising 2
Dead Rising 2: Case Zero was a blast to play. It enabled all of us to be hands-on with the game mechanics, gave us a preview of the engine Blue Castle had created, but more importantly…let us experience the awesome combo-weapon system (we stuck with our trusty bat n’ nail creation). While this DLC was short (narrowly overtaking a demo’s length) it offered a unique plot and introduced new characters for the player. This made it passable and enjoyable as a great DLC addition.
The thought of 500,000 downloads just may be too tempting for some developers. While unique DLC is always welcome (Dead Rising 2: Case Zero) lets hope no publisher asks for MS points for full game demonstrations…or an early alpha-turned-playable-demo.
Fingers crossed…and let the unique DLC times, roll
Would’ve liked to have no time-limited missions in Dead Rising 2: Zero :o(