Betas and demos potentially ruin gamers' incentive to buy the final game, says Epic's Cliff Bleszinski, explaining why there was never a demo for Gears of War 2.
"A beta is like hooking up with a girl just to say, 'yeah, I f***ed her'," he said. I know that sounds crude, but it's the honest-to-God truth."
Not sure what he means? Allow him to explain. "Once you play a beta, you can check it off your list -- you can say, 'yeah, I played it'. Then you might not feel motivated to get that initial cherry popping from the proper, final game."
Ah, we get it now. Funny way to put it though.
That wasn't the only reason there was no demo, though. "Honestly, we could make a demo, but Gears of War 2 wouldn't be out until February of 2009 [if we did]. That stuff takes times to put together," Bleszinski told GamePro.
It's out tomorrow, so you should read our gushing review, get excited, then get your rear to the shops to grab one, or check out CVG tomorrow to enter a huge competition to win copies of the game and an awesome Gears 2-themed 360.
Not only is that a strange comment to make - doesn't really work as an analogy - it is also f**king disgraceful. I know he trying to talk to young people, but come on have a bit more respect for women.
Stupid poxy moronic laddish mysoginist culture. Lets all grow up please.
This guy seriously comes out with some retarded statements sometimes. Betas do not ruin someones beliefs about a game. The CoD:WaW beta made me want to buy it more.
Not only is that a strange comment to make - doesn't really work as an analogy - it is also f**king disgraceful. I know he trying to talk to young people, but come on have a bit more respect for women.
Stupid poxy moronic laddish mysoginist culture. Lets all grow up please.
Kind of hard to grow up, when your games are GEARED (intended) towards young teenagers.
Wish you could have demos with women....would have saved me a fortune over the years.
'Ok level ones looking good...yep graphics are great, AI not too special but can live with it, yep house and kids add on looks ok aaaaaaaghhhhhh is not compatible with M.A.T.Es, and gets RROD once a month..nah think i'll give it a miss'
He is one of those people that if you leave a tape recorder in front of him, he spouts out crap!
Demos can be funny though - I played Ninja Gaiden 2 demo and bashed through it, and thought it was OK. Then when I saw it cheap and bought it and played it properly, I really loved it.
It's the same with copied games (although I haven't played a copied game since the Amiga), if you haven't paid for it you don't always take your time to get your money's worth out of it.
Wish you could have demos with women....would have saved me a fortune over the years.
'Ok level ones looking good...yep graphics are great, AI not too special but can live with it, yep house and kids add on looks ok aaaaaaaghhhhhh is not compatible with M.A.T.Es, and gets RROD once a month..nah think i'll give it a miss'
LOL!
Feel sorry for Suiv....he has to go on metacritic every time he fancies a girl just to see how she marks up!
Not only is that a strange comment to make - doesn't really work as an analogy - it is also f**king disgraceful. I know he trying to talk to young people, but come on have a bit more respect for women.
Stupid poxy moronic laddish mysoginist culture. Lets all grow up please.
Were you one of the people who complained about Russel Brand, Jonathan Ross and Jeremy Clarkson?
Oh my God what a stupid thing to say and what an amazinly stupid way to put it. Theres very few games I buy without playing first, hence I INSIST on demos. Oh and not like the new bond demo that gives you 3 minutes of gameplay, utterly utterly pointless. New tomb raider demo was good and im looking forward to it.
Side note, every, EVERY PC game should have a demo so people know how well it runs on their PC
"Betas and demos potentially ruin gamers' incentive to buy the final game"
Isn't that the f**king POINT?! On the converse, it can give gamers the incentive to buy the final game. Put simplistically... if the game is s**t less people will buy, if it's good more people will buy.
Give it a rest with your flawed analogies and think before you open your trap.
Seriously, does anyone check these press releases he does? They should keep him locked up in the office. On another note, I wish there had been a demo for Kane and Lynch, I caught a nasty rash from that game . . . . .
He has a point, though not because people will say "I've played it so I don't need to buy it" but because they will say "I've played it and it's s**t so I won't buy it". Silly fool
And yes I know there are those that will disagree with me but Gears 2 is awesome; got it this morning (managed to play it for a couple of hours before 'work').
Ok everyone put your hands up who played the Halo 3 Beta or the Little Big Planet Beta and thought "Well that was fun, but I think that was enough for me - I dont think I'll buy that"
No one? Oh well....looks like Cliff is talking out of his bottom again
I've got to say, I love Epic's games but Cliff, my friend, you are bang out of order with that comment. Asides being offensive, it's downright wrong too.
I've played numerous demos over the years and some have led me to buy games I'd have otherwise just plain ignored. Dropship on the PS2 for example. Excellent Flight sim, wouldn't have picked it up had I not played the OPS2 Mag demo.
Battlefield 2, played the Gulf of Oman demo over and over and over and couldn't wait for that game to come out.
Of course the flip side of that coin is some demos have actually put me off games I had intended to buy. Race Driver GRID for example, The Getaway for another.
Together with this comment and yesterday's about gunplay in Mirror's Edge, Cliff has proven himself to be well out of touch with the gaming public.
He does have a point. Yea sure I'd prefer to try a game out before I lay down the readies, but it certainly does (at least for me) slightly ruin the "first experience" of seeing a new game in action. Its like sneaking a peak of the Christmas presents before you actually get 'em. Or something like that.
If I had more self control, I wouldn't play a demo of a big game I'm looking forward to tbh.
Not only is that a strange comment to make - doesn't really work as an analogy - it is also f**king disgraceful. I know he trying to talk to young people, but come on have a bit more respect for women.
Stupid poxy moronic laddish mysoginist culture. Lets all grow up please.
Were you one of the people who complained about Russel Brand, Jonathan Ross and Jeremy Clarkson?
Actually its pretty hard to defend Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross, however I do think the hypocrisy from the reaction was startling. Especially from politicians who will complain about the offense caused to 78 year old man, but don't have problem about bombing the s**t our of 'little brown' people around the world.
When alternative comedy started, it was a reaction against traditional racism in comedy on the one hand and the Oxbrige/Footlights led comedy on the other. It was radical and cutting edge (at least for Britain) and was arguably the equivalent of Punk in comedy. Some it was s**t, but the ride was worth while. The ironic thing is that it has completely lost its way since the 1990s and became about being very laddish in style and key to this about abuse (therefore closer to old style racist). However, having said that they have been huge talents such as Bill Hicks, which continued the shock and cutting edge of the original and took it a lot further.
The problem is most comics do no have the talent of Bill Hicks and have just attempted to regurgitate the shock level. Therefore it has become rather passe, with the holy grail being to get a laugh out of toboo subject. The problem is there is no taboo anymore, so it becomes very boring and is just about insulting (normally women) for a cheap laugh. I regularly go to Edinburgh Festival and 90 percent of the comedy is brain dead - I f**ked a women up the... level.
Although I don't necessarily think Russel Brand is on this level, as I saw his live show (before his more flamboyant style) and he was actually pretty good and thoughtful.
What a moron. Seriously, this guy is starting to take over the mantle left behind by Dave Perry with these stupid comments.
Here's the reverse Cliffy: I would never have bought Burnout Paradise, FIFA 09, PES2009, Bioshock this year if it weren't for the demos. I've thought all previous Burnout were massively overrated, FIFA's well... FIFA, PES last year was awful and I didn't enjoy Bioshock all that much on PC. That was the reason I had no intention of getting them this time around - the demos changed my opinion on all four.
That's just demos. For Betas - Resistance 2 I'm getting after playing the beta because it's a vast improvement over the average first title. I've bought Little Big Planet after playing the beta after thinking it was all pie in the sky for months.
So that's about 250 quids worth of games I've bought. Hmm, betas and demos really spoil it don't they Cliffy you tw@t.
What a moron. Seriously, this guy is starting to take over the mantle left behind by Dave Perry with these stupid comments.
Here's the reverse Cliffy: I would never have bought Burnout Paradise, FIFA 09, PES2009, Bioshock this year if it weren't for the demos. I've thought all previous Burnout were massively overrated, FIFA's well... FIFA, PES last year was awful and I didn't enjoy Bioshock all that much on PC. That was the reason I had no intention of getting them this time around - the demos changed my opinion on all four.
That's just demos. For Betas - Resistance 2 I'm getting after playing the beta because it's a vast improvement over the average first title. I've bought Little Big Planet after playing the beta after thinking it was all pie in the sky for months.
So that's about 250 quids worth of games I've bought. Hmm, betas and demos really spoil it don't they Cliffy you tw@t.
And on the flipside, I would have bought Burnout Paradise if I hadn't played the demo.
dude huge strikes again, spreading stupid comments like they're herpes...once he uses that mouth of his we're all stuck with something horrible forever(i can use crap sexual analogies too) However i don't think this is offensive to women unless you're really trying to find offense in it, for this to be offensive it would mean no women out there would consider the prospect of one night stands or that such events don't occur! He maybe a jerk but i hardly think his intent behind this comment is to belittle women(after all the roles could easily be reversed and the girl could be using the guy etc) He's just goin for the 'Sexually Frustrated Teen' Dollar/Euro/Pound, its a Huuoooge Dollar/Euro/Pound! The stupidity is what's truly offensive! What he's sayin is 'You don't want to try this before ya buy it thats just silly, buy it buy it buy it!!'
The analogy isn't exactly appropriate to the context (eg. it sounds like he wants to penetrate his games) but it isn't offensive either...
Agree with Pete anyway. Sometimes it's nice just to sit down with a brand new game rather than thinking 'oh yeah, I heard about/played through this bit'.
Although demos are handy for helping you to avoid gaming s**tstorms.
well hes managed to make the pc comunity want to kill him and boycot epic games , looks like hes working at alienating the console community next..... big headed tw@ , i hope he quits epic and makes his own studio "cliffy bs badass killer games for dudes dude" and it fails misserable so he ends up on the street destitute and having to sell his kidneys or something.
The guy does seem like a pot smoker sometimes but you can see his point... If you're handing out beta's and demo's then you take away that excitement which comes with playing a highly anticpated game for the first time. Like someone else has already stated, they can do more harm than good as it's an unfinished product and the game could just be crap fullstop.
well hes managed to make the pc comunity want to kill him and boycot epic games , looks like hes working at alienating the console community next..... big headed tw@ , i hope he quits epic and makes his own studio "cliffy bs badass killer games for dudes dude" and it fails misserable so he ends up on the street destitute and having to sell his kidneys or something.
hahahaha i did lol at this comment. i hope to god that it happens, but instead of selling his kidneys, he is forced to sell his ass to fat nerds who want to lose their virginity
Demos play an integral part in games now-a-days and since they have been so readily available on the next gen consoles my gaming experience has been greatly improved.
Before the 360 or PS3 I never bothered with demos and this ended with me spending loads of cash on games i never bothered playing past the first few levels.
Now i never buy a game without playing the demo / beta first and this includes GOW Which I will not be getting until I have played it first.
This has resulted in me only owning games i have truly enjoyed playing and played to completion.
Without demos I would never have played COD4 (as i don't really like FPS games) which may not have been a bad thing considering since I played the beta its taken over my life! (30 Days + game time and still going) Others such as Too human, and PES I would never have bothered with had I not loved the demos.
I'm sorry Cliff but not only does you blow steam out your bottom like a complete buffoon but this just proves you have no idea what REAL gamers want!
Agree with Pete anyway. Sometimes it's nice just to sit down with a brand new game rather than thinking 'oh yeah, I heard about/played through this bit'.
Although demos are handy for helping you to avoid gaming s**tstorms.
That said, It's not exclusive to games anyway. I watched Quantum of Solace the other night and because of all the ads and tv specials about it, I was watching the films and thinking "oh this is the bit he shoots the glass roof" or "This is the bit where he gets chased by Alfa Romeos".
I don't think it's possible to buy a game without first knowing something about it be it in terms of review content all the way up to a playable demo.
Personally speaking, I've tried to avoid as much coverage of Gears 2 as possible so as to not ruin the story for me. Had there been a playable demo, I'd not have played it for that reason. And therein lies my problem with Cliffy's comments. Choice. I can choose whether or not to play a demo. I can't always choose not to watch a film trailer as I don't know when they'll turn up on TV.
At the moment, it seems Cliff is shouting his mouth off to get attention to his game. If it wasn't for the hardworking people, I'd almost believe he was too lazy to make a demo, but I wouldn't believe that. Call of Duty 2 had a demo, whereas Call of Duty 4 didn't as it was popular based on word of mouth. I think the same will apply with gears of war 2.
This time I can fully agree with the haters, Cliffy you are a idiot.
I don't think demo's sully the experience at all, all they need to do is show off gameplay and game performance. The chances are that if you know that a demo has just come out, you are already pretty clued in with the gaming world and the game in question.
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(managed to play it for a couple of hours before 'work').
