Game demos (video blog!)

Great vlog and props to JonnyAvocado, need to check out the other.
 
I'm an older gamer as well. I've bought many magazines just to play demos in the past. Actually, you could say I'm a demo whore. I agree with your assessment that they can be hit and miss. I did not buy Resident Evil 5 because of the demo, but there again I loved the Wii rendition of RE4 and the dual analog controls turned me off.
 
I have a rule of thumb with demos. If I play them more than three times through without getting bored, it becomes a must buy and find a way to buy. The more demos the better, but I understand why some developers don't have a demo.
 
The best demos I've ever played have been on the PC and they are all RTS games or close to it.

I've found that demos can sometimes be a bit weird for me.  If it includes all the features, I don't feel like I need to have the full game.  If it doesn't include enough features, I feel like I don't know what the full game experience would be like.  It's still leagues better to play an inadequate demo than to try to guess how a game plays by reading someone else's impressions.  
 
I played the Psychonauts demo recently, which hit a nice sweet spot.  It let you know about all the play modes, or most of them at least, but the CONSEQUENCES of success in those modes was outside the scope of the demo.  You could explore, find secrets, perfect your score in certain areas, but it never quite showed you the new powers you'd get if you'd gotten a little bit farther.  
 
A long time ago I remember being captivated by the demo for Ascendancy.  When I got the full game, I was a bit disappointed because the demos limitations actually made for a more enjoyable game.  You only had so many days before the thing would expire, so you rushed to try to do as much as you could.  Without that limitation, the endgame stretched out quite a bit.  That wasn't the only thing wrong with that game, though I still love it.  
 
X-Com, on the other hand, had a great demo that was filled with stuff that wouldn't necessarily be part of the regular game experience (weird combinations of weapons and armor that would probably have been duplicated for everyone in a real game).  You had one scenario, the tough Terror mission, to play, but you got free reign within that scenario to do what you want.  I made the purchase directly as the result of that demo, and was satisfied by the scope of the missions and the meta game. 
 
Aquaria was like that too, with a tantalizing but complete preamble to the full gameplay. 
 
Sometimes demos, especially for the PC, are good to have just to see if the thing works on your system.  I've had a few close calls, being interested in a game only to find out I lacked some component on this old, steam-driven monstrosity that made the game unplayable.  That certainly cost the game makers a sale, but I don't think it would have been so great if I'd never gotten the game to work :)
 
I'd ask you some quesitons: What parts should be cut out of a demo to make it a successful advertisement for a game?  What parts should they leave in?  What parts should they hint at?  What parts should they not tell about at all?

Maybe I asked too many questions at once, but thanks for your video reply!  Very cool!  I think that's the first time my callsign has ever been spoken aloud in the decade or so since I came up with it! :)
 
That's the thing with games, their mechanics and their control.  The best story in the world won't work if the control is bad.  But then again, if a game comes out with a demo that shows how poor control is, it's not a good advertisement.  I'm not sure what I think of the XBox policy of having game demos for DEVELOPERS, because it puts pressure on them to make the demo good.  For consumers, though, it's awesome.

Great video blog!!  Thanks very much for the shout out!  Great to see people doing first time Vlogs!  
 
I hear you on the demos.  RE5 demo had me completely sold but that's solely because I am a huge RE fan, especially RE4.  When I found that it played almost identical to RE4, I was all in!
 
Take care man, definitely subscribed!  Keep em coming!

I agree with what was said, but though not realeasing a demo can increase sales, does it also at the cost of the consumer unawareness.  
 
And demos, like everything else, gives place to a subjective experience. There are people that are going to love it, others hate it. And though the current demos can be improved, i think that they are on the right direction.  
 
Nice videoblog! 
 
Cheers

Thanks to everyone for the kindness and encouragement. This has been a successful endeavor, and I look forward to doing more of them!