tiagosilva29 Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 MojoKid writes:When a game developer releases a demo, it's typically intended to entice players into first trying and then purchasing the full version. This is the stuff of Game Design 101 for most of us, but a crack team of cutting-edge gaming researchers at Sony have applied for a patent based on a novel concept: game demos that become progressively less fun the more you play. Sony refers to this as 'feature erosion'. The idea behind this dubious concept is that gamers will become hooked on a game while it's still in demo, then squawk unhappily as features and abilities they've unlocked begin to disappear. In order to prevent this, the player ponies up for the full version. A demo or program that provides limited functionality or play time is one thing; a game that's purposefully designed to take your progress away, in an admitted attempt to get you to buy once you've been hooked, is something altogether different. Slashdot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_Lyons10 Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 Whoa... I find this a bit ridiculous... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Audioboxer Subscriber² Posted March 6, 2010 Subscriber² Share Posted March 6, 2010 Could be a good idea if it lets you play the full game and/or something much longer than a normal demo. Some demos nowadays are like 5 mins long.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metal_dragen Veteran Posted March 6, 2010 Veteran Share Posted March 6, 2010 Xbox Live Arcade games already do this. If you download a trial of an Arcade title and unlock an achievement, the game will tell you that you did what was required to unlock the achievement but have to purchase the full game to actually unlock it and get the gamerscore. If this ever goes to court, there's years of prior art that will shoot it all to pieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growled Member Posted March 6, 2010 Member Share Posted March 6, 2010 Why am I not surprised that this is from Sony. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_Lyons10 Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 Xbox Live Arcade games already do this. If you download a trial of an Arcade title and unlock an achievement, the game will tell you that you did what was required to unlock the achievement but have to purchase the full game to actually unlock it and get the gamerscore. If this ever goes to court, there's years of prior art that will shoot it all to pieces. Yeah, but this sounds like features slowly disapear as the demo period goes on... So it would be a bit different from what they do in XBox Live games. Personally I think what XBox Live does is perfectly fine... This is a bit much... Why am I not surprised that this is from Sony. :( Yeah, shocking, isn't it? LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sethos Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 Why am I not surprised that this is from Sony. :( Indeed :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solid Knight Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 ...? So they give you a demo then take features away from the demo so you don't get hooked on the demo? What? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_Lyons10 Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 ...? So they give you a demo then take features away from the demo so you don't get hooked on the demo? What? HAHA, it seems rather annoying... I mean can you imagine playing a demo of a race car game for example, and as you play it cars start getting taken away? Then tracks... Then modes... That would really annoy me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahhell Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 What a ****ty idea. Sony FAIL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
what Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 Could be a good idea if it lets you play the full game and/or something much longer than a normal demo. Some demos nowadays are like 5 mins long.... Can't see many developers subscribing to that tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sethos Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 Can't see many developers subscribing to that tbh. Sony will probably force it upon some of their first party developers "Listen, our handicapped intern has come up with this brainfart of an idea and we need to implement it to be taken seriously, so ..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solid Knight Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 HAHA, it seems rather annoying... I mean can you imagine playing a demo of a race car game for example, and as you play it cars start getting taken away? Then tracks... Then modes... That would really annoy me. They act like demos aren't crippled as it is. Usually you get one stage and a few of the gadgets to play with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Audioboxer Subscriber² Posted March 6, 2010 Subscriber² Share Posted March 6, 2010 They act like demos aren't crippled as it is. Usually you get one stage and a few of the gadgets to play with. Exactly some demos are a joke. If you were allowed a solid 30 mins to 1 hour of gameplay that then degraded down to say a 10 minute demo like we get nowadays over time it would be a great idea. Not that they need it to try help piracy on the system, but it could sell more games, especially for niche titles or games like Heavy Rain where it's hard to do a short demo. It would've been nice if the patent was posted above A demonstration video game permits garners [gamers, we assume] a more complete game experience while promoting a desire to acquire permission to continue playing. In some embodiments, a video game is implemented with trigger metrics. While a user may initially experience most or all of the full version of the game in a demonstration mode, the mode implements trigger metrics to erode game play characteristics, such as character, object, event and/or environmental features, during video game play in the demonstration mode. Thus, fewer play characteristics may be available as play continues in this mode. Multiple trigger metrics may gradually and successively limit play characteristics as play with the game continues. As the gamer loses functionality, the user may be prompted with the trigger metrics to purchase permission to continue the game in a non-demonstration mode that disables the trigger metrics and returns the game to the more complete version. Sounds like something that would suit PSN titles very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solid Knight Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 Given the description above; if the game was still allowed to be played to completion I foresee some interesting challenges ahead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattmatik Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 Are demos that big of a deal anyway? The only demos I try are the sports games to decide between EA or 2K. Even then, the thing is so stripped down I can't really make a good judgement call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macrosslover Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 Are demos that big of a deal anyway? The only demos I try are the sports games to decide between EA or 2K. Even then, the thing is so stripped down I can't really make a good judgement call. depends on the game itself. Game design has changed alot since demos were first popular. Games aren't simply level 1-10 with the demo being all of level 1 and therefore a good judgement of the game. They are more open and less linear so if you take a game like GTA4, you could demo it based on one mission but would that mission really give you an indication of the full game since it's soo massive. Demos are suppose to make you want to buy the game not just tease you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tablet_user Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 Exactly some demos are a joke. If you were allowed a solid 30 mins to 1 hour of gameplay that then degraded down to say a 10 minute demo like we get nowadays over time it would be a great idea. Not that they need it to try help piracy on the system, but it could sell more games, especially for niche titles or games like Heavy Rain where it's hard to do a short demo. It would've been nice if the patent was posted above Sounds like something that would suit PSN titles very well. depends on the game. 1 hr of gameplay for most games nowadays is a 3rd of the game. Look at MGS4 for example. your rewarded for beating the game in less then 3 hours so an hour demo would be huge chunk of the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solid Knight Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 depends on the game. 1 hr of gameplay for most games nowadays is a 3rd of the game. Look at MGS4 for example. your rewarded for beating the game in less then 3 hours so an hour demo would be huge chunk of the game. You can actually beat MGS4 in just over an hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metal_dragen Veteran Posted March 8, 2010 Veteran Share Posted March 8, 2010 I'd have to agree with Solid Knight. Given the full text of the patent, this seems like it could really add something to the demo experience. soLoredd - demos may not be a big deal to you, but I buy about 90% of the games I own on the strength of the demo. I don't trust most reviews for anything other than to get a general idea of whether the game is well done and general gameplay stuff. If I trusted a good review to tell me to buy a game, I'd have a ton of crap I wouldn't enjoy laying around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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