Hmm. Only giving the demo to people who already bought your game is not a good sign. Afraid people might not buy it if they play it first?

That's taking it too far... if it was a beta, then ok I can see that, but a demo?  I'm sure a lot of people will have preordered it anyway, but for those unsure about the game, well then what is the freaking point of a demo?

it's understnadable why they would do it but if it were for everyone sales could be better.
what i dont understand is why this is only in america and in europe its a normal demo like any other i guess sony supposses that americans will buy it just because of pretty graphics

"Hmm. Only giving the demo to people who already bought your game is not a good sign. Afraid people might not buy it if they play it first?"

Moon is levio. Because they are both retarded.

OMG! Sony being arrogant. Shocker!

Jeff's right, this demo needs to get in as many hands as possible as quickly as possible.

"Moon is levio. Because they are both retarded."

How much money did GameStop pay for this privilege? I mean seriously, there is no way that they get all these "unique" pre-order bonuses without paying off publishers or devs.

I'm in Canada.
I don't buy from Gamestop (EBGames).
I rarely pre-order.
I couldn't be more out of the demo group.

What a bunch of idiots... I'm not buying this without a demo anyways.

Non-free demo = non-buy.  This isn't the first time somebody tried to pull this crap but you would think Sony would know better.  Guess not.

I'm not a 100% sure but, my manager at Gamestop just told me that some stores have them now, but they're only codes you can't even redeem until 2/02. Please don't support this damn company, I only work there for the benefits (borrowing games, and discounts) I also try my best to make my store not a horrible place that rapes the industry for what its worth.

I'm sorry but I have to post this here:



I'm out.

I fucking hate how Gamestop is hogging every early demo, ala L4D. I can start to understand why Americans hate Gamestop now, and here's a suggestion. DON'T BUY FROM THERE. They will go out of business due to the credit crunch, and everyone is happy.

I fucking hate how Gamestop is hogging every early demo, ala L4D. I can start to understand why Americans hate Gamestop now, and here's a suggestion. DON'T BUY FROM THERE. They will go out of business due to the credit crunch, and everyone is happy.

"I'm sorry but I have to post this here:



I'm out."

eh whatever dude, we're buying the fucking game. games like MGS4 and GTA4 didn't need a demo at all. 

"Wow, an explosion. Meh
Doesn't change the fact that this is a completely boneheaded move by Sony. Why are they torpedoing their own product!?"

Well, this is typical Gamestop crap, though I really hope this game is good, so I might preorder it anyway. Wait, I am part of the problem aren't I? Dammit, maybe I will get it at Best Buy or the barely existent Circuit City.

"get2sammyb said:

"I'm sorry but I have to post this here:



I'm out."

Wow, an explosion. Meh
Doesn't change the fact that this is a completely boneheaded move by Sony. Why are they torpedoing their own product!?"

Of course we'll buy it. But we're the retards who already own a PS3 and have been assaulted by KZ2 shit the last month.
All this hype/buzz machine you and GetSammy have been wet over the last couple of months was that this was gonna be a system seller and will steer the PS3 a little back from it's downward spiral.

I don't want it to fail, but Sony needs to be called on bullshit decisions like this and not coddled by the SDF. It just seems really short sighted.
Can you honestly sit there and say that this is smart move? Besides, pre-ordering is the fucking bane of us game shoppers, fuck that shit.

And why the fuck else did he post it if not to not-so subliminally say "BUT IT WILL LOOK LIKE THIS YOU GUYS! LOOK!"

"get2sammyb said:

"I'm sorry but I have to post this here:

I'm out."

Wow, an explosion. Meh
Doesn't change the fact that this is a completely boneheaded move by Sony. Why are they torpedoing their own product!?"

"Hmm. Only giving the demo to people who already bought your game is not a good sign. Afraid people might not buy it if they play it first?"

I have an amazing idea. Wait until the game comes out, play the demo for a day or two, THEN decide whether to buy the game or not. I agree with Jeff that it's stupid what Sony is doing, but if people really let this upset them past the principle of the matter, then I think they have other issues to work out. Wait two days past the release date of a game to decide whether or not to purchase, what a crazy idea.

"Of course we'll buy it. But we're the retards who already own a PS3 and have been assaulted by KZ2 shit the last month.
All this hype/buzz machine you and GetSammy have been wet over the last couple of months was that this was gonna be a system seller and will steer the PS3 a little back from it's downward spiral.

I don't want it to fail, but Sony needs to be called on bullshit decisions like this and not coddled by the SDF. It just seems really short sighted.
Can you honestly sit there and say that this is smart move? Besides, pre-ordering is the fucking bane of us game shoppers, fuck that shit.

And why the fuck else did he post it if not to not-so subliminally say "BUT IT WILL LOOK LIKE THIS YOU GUYS! LOOK!""

screw pre-ordering, the only game i pre-ordered was GTA4. Im gonna wait it out and see what the results are for KZ2 before i buy it, but so far, the game looks sweet.

"I do agree with the sentiments yourself and Jeff are giving but this demo is for the "definitely-buying" brigade. It's not meant to convince fence sitters. Should they put the demo on PSN before release? Probably but then, how many games do that?

The fact is Sony have confirmed it will come to the PSN and I'd assume they'd get it there the week after launch."

"get2sammyb said:

"I do agree with the sentiments yourself and Jeff are giving but this demo is for the "definitely-buying" brigade. It's not meant to convince fence sitters. Should they put the demo on PSN before release? Probably but then, how many games do that?

The fact is Sony have confirmed it will come to the PSN and I'd assume they'd get it there the week after launch."

It's technically already on PSN since that's where you redeem your code. They'll probably make it public eventually, but I guess they couldn't pass up the deal GameStop made them."

I thought the whole idea of a demo was "try-before-you-buy" not "try-after-buying." Then again, didn't a bunch of other games do this last year? There were a bunch of multiplatform games that only released a demo on one platform as well. I don't think we should blame the entire Sony, it seems all those calls are up to SCEA. Yeah, I said it, some Americans get paid to do jobs that they don't even do.

All I'll say is that I wish I had a PS3

"All I'll say is that I wish I had a PS3"

This is why Microsoft is beating Sony lol...they don't pull this Bull Shit about having to pre order the game to get the demo. Sony's retarded...

Can't you just make an European Account and download it there?

@

Or maybe they think KZ2's success ISN'T predetermined and they believe they can cut some of the losses from people being turned off by the demo by making GameStop pay them to distribute it to people who are already going to buy the game anyway ::tinfoilhat::

I will go as far as to say that the only way I will get Killzone 2 is if I can play before I buy.  So...Sony loses on this one.  Not a smart move.  Maybe a game like Halo 3, Gears 2, or MGS4 would be a good idea to force people to pre-order to play a bit early.  Killzone doesn't have the greatest track record, lets be honest.  I think the game looks great, but thats not gonna make me shell out 60 for it.  Gotta play it, be a smart consumer.  I tend to think that we should punish companies that assume hype will sell the game and not release a demo.

Wow it is so hard to create European PSN account and get demo, man it takes you so much time, some 5 or so minutes, dude that is so hard, let me bitch instead how i hate Sony and hope it fails.

European PSN account HOOOOOOOO!

Meh, I'm not interested in it anyway.

Sony continues to prove their stupidity.

If you aren't sure you want the game but want to play the demo early, just pre-order it. If you don't like what you've played of the demo, just cancel your pre-order and get your money back. If you do like what you've played, cancel your pre-order anyway, and buy the game somewhere else, since Gamestop is a terrible corporation.

I think MadExponent has it right, GTA4, MGS4, etc didn't need demos, as they were sequels to proven and successful franchise with huge fanbases, but Killzone if anything was a disappointing and a critically average game.  Saying this is the next Killzone game is probably digging it a bit of a hole from the start. 

This is an extremely dumb move from a strictly business perspective by Sony.  Demos for good games, sell copies of that game.

Facepalm much?

I very much doubt SCEA offered an exclusive pre-release demo to GameStop for free. Despite how stupid this type of tactic actually is, this definitely wouldn't be the first time it has been used. Most recently GameStop had an early demo deal with Valve/EA for Left for Dead prior to its release. Even then the general public demo was live for only about a week, promptly removed at 12am on November 18, never to be seen again. Those who want the game will likely buy it, demo or not. Those that need convincing will eventually have a chance to check it out when the free demo hits PSN. However, what Sony should have done is put up a single player demo on PSN, for free, and offered a multi-player demo through GameStop. Then again both LittleBigPlanet and Resistance 2 were not given any public demos (both relied on closed "betas") and the one issued for Motorstorm was taken from a build old enough to inaccurately represent the retail product. Fail on all three. Besides, why give out a demo when people will pay for it?

This all connects to a larger issue though, which has been terrible marketing for the PS3. It seems that mentality of brand loyalty will sell the platform and its games is still lingering. Which is unfortunate for Sony and people who play video games in general. Not offering up a demo is one thing, offering a demo if you preorder a game is another. As Jeff wrote in the article to which I'm commenting, demos are "little interactive ads for upcoming products." The point of a demo is to demonstrate what you'll potentially be purchasing, not a means to gain early access for people lacking patience. Though quite honestly I think we are all fairly fortunate in this day and age, even if publishers want us to pay for a demonstration. Ten years ago it was a lot more difficult to avoid getting burned by the purchasing of crappy product. Then again, ten years ago there were more products that didn't break 2 months after their purchase, so maybe my point is moot.