Shenmue 3 demo

[Hazuki00]

I'm intended to play Shenmue 3 on PC so the demo could be a good way to know if I must upgrade my PC as it's a bit old.

If Suzuki put the demo as a reward it's because he must have spent "some time" thinking if it's possible to make a demo with the budget he was going to gather and without delaying the game.

Maybe at first the demo was intended to do some feedback about the gameplay and so but I don't see it viable anymore. The demo should have been launched with a much more wide range of time in order to try it and tell Suzuki about it, but this can't be possible anymore having in mind they have to release the game in december.

We don't really know for sure if Suzuki will make it on time to December but he and Cedric have stated several times that's the release date. We don't know the actual progress but they seem to be very ahead of what we think so no news don't mean nothing.

By the way, although the release date is december, they have many things to do as the production of the Blue ray with the game, transport to the retailer and those thing I have no idea of...When do all of this start? They MUST have the game ready at least one or two months before all of this, right?

[Let's Get Sweaty]

Hey guys, I just had a thought. Does anyone think the game might be delayed? It would be neat to have some discussion on this rarely broached topic.

[ChiefNeo]

Put me on the camp of people that do not want a demo.

It's a stupid waste of resources and time that should never have been promised to begin with.

Making a demo is not as simple as "cut and paste a section we've finished"

Watch these youtube videos (this one and its subsequent parts) to get an idea of how much work goes into getting a demo ready for e3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7ov19OVeSU

[James Brown]

I'm not really interested in a demo either, I can understand it's something to look forward to to get a taste, but like Peter I want to be blown away by the real game, and not lose that feeling to a demo where the real game won't have as much of an impact as i'll have this impaired judgement because I knew what I was expecting.

The other problem is, it's not just going to be hard to stop yourself from playing the demo, it's going to be even harder to not see peoples opinions on the demo, which kind of spoils that initial impact of the real game aswell.

I dunno it's a tough thing to decide on.

[Spaghetti]

I'm not sure the God of War video is hugely applicable in this instance.

One key factor is that YSnet haven't committed to a time-frame, whereas the GoW team were working towards an E3 demo for the press (and maybe the public, I forget which year E3 became press-only). Yu's only real elaboration (that I could find) on when the trial version may come is:

"The Trial version will require many of the basic systems to be functional first, so it will be released in the latter half of the development process. I would most likely be looking sometime after we get into 2017."

I know there were mutterings on Q1 this year, but I had trouble sourcing that claim. The way Yu has put it in the above quote is that it seems the demo will come later rather than sooner, at least.

UE4 makes it easy to get something out the door (there are countless "functional", if spartan in terms of features and structure, demos made by amateurs out there), and Agile should in theory also make it easier to get towards a release candidate earlier. It may not be the drain on resources that the GoW II E3 demo was 10+ years ago.

We'll see how things play out.

[delvec19]

Wouldn't a demo increase sales?

[Spaghetti]

Wouldn't a demo increase sales?

Depends. It should drum up interest at least.

The demo definitely needs to be a "best foot forward" to get people genuinely excited.

[drunkensailor]

Wouldn't a demo increase sales?

no since it will only be available to people who backed a serious amount of money

[Spaghetti]

no since it will only be available to people who backed a serious amount of money

Even if the demo isn't cracked and distributed, there will still be video out there. People may like what they see and order the game on the back of demo footage.

[John Doom]

Wouldn't a demo increase sales?

no since it will only be available to people who backed a serious amount of money

Still youtubers would preview the demo for the others, so everyone will be able to see >what's shenmue 3<

[Ceej]

Wouldn't a demo increase sales?

Actually...http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/122056-Game-Dev-Claims-Demos-Hurt-Game-Sales

...but you don't hear much about shareware or game demos anymore, despite their near-ubiquity back in the day.

Jesse Schell, the author of The Art of Game Design and CEO of "crowd-designed" game company Puzzle Clubhouse, may have some insight into why. Speaking at DICE 2013, Schell claimed that releasing a demo actually has a very powerful negative impact on a game's sales because they provide gamers with an avenue to sate their curiosity without having to actually spend any money.

Citing EEDAR data on cumulative Xbox 360 unit sales over a six-month period, Schell demonstrated that games with a demo and a trailer sold roughly half as many copies as those with a trailer but no demo. "You mean we spent all this money making a demo and getting it out there, and it cut our sales in half?" he asked during his presentation. (The relevant bit starts at the 10:00 mark.)

"Yes, that's exactly what happened to you," he continued, answering his own rhetorical question. "Because when you put the demo out, people have seen the trailer and they're like, 'That's cool... I gotta try that game.' And then when they've played the demo [they think], 'Alright, I've tried that game, that was okay, alright, I'm done.' But the things with no demo, you've gotta buy it if you want to try it."

Old article but the info is interesting.

[Sappharad]

Wouldn't a demo increase sales?

Actually...http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/122056-Game-Dev-Claims-Demos-Hurt-Game-Sales

...Schell demonstrated that games with a demo and a trailer sold roughly half as many copies as those with a trailer but no demo.

Old article but the info is interesting.

They're basing their findings on a limited set of data. The majority of 360 arcade games were indies with demos that people weren't going to buy anyway.

I bought Jet Set Radio on Dreamcast way back then specifically because I loved the demo that came on the ODCM disc. Similarly, I bought Resident Evil 7 last week because I loved the demo and it felt like a good reason to use my PSVR besides for Rez. I'm not a fan of the series (I played a few hours of 4) but the demo sold me on buying the full game, especially with the great reviews it has been getting.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the backer demo. Don't care what they give us, although I suspect it's going to be a portion of the Bailu village area of the game.

[Hazuki00]

In my opinion, they should choose carefully what include in the demo, they should include a bit of everything, battles, qtes, exploration...so that people don't think it's a "boring game of explorations and chatting". Another issue could be how polished the demo is, I hope they don't rate the game because of the demo.

In general, the demo could do just as good as bad to the game.

[John Doom]

In my opinion, they should choose carefully what include in the demo, they should include a bit of everything, battles, qtes, exploration...so that people don't think it's a "boring game of explorations and chatting".

I agree, it needs a good variety so the player can understand what's Shenmue about. I suppose they won't have time to make specific content for the demo, so if making the player play a specific small part of the game doesn't give enough variety, maybe they could cut the demo into a few streamlined (even unrelated) events, each showing a specific game mechanic.

[...] Another issue could be how polished the demo is, I hope they don't rate the game because of the demo.

This shouldn't be an issue, knowing Suzuki's works: he'd rather delay the demo than release something he deems unpolished.

[Spaghetti]

I don't have any worries about polish for the demo either.

Seeing how cagey YSnet have been even about releasing early game footage so far, it would be a seriously out of character move to release a rushed, rough demo.