Are EA Brilliant or Just Plain Greedy?
25 Mar, 2010, 11:56 am IST | by Avinash Bali
Is EA charging for a glorified game demo justified?
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The day before yesterday word got around the internet that EA was planning on charging for game demos. This naturally sent gamers all over into a tizzy because a demo is essentially a slice of the game that’ll help you – the consumer – make up your mind if you actually want to shell out your hard earned dough on the full version. Obviously paying for something like that sounds stupid beyond reason but that isn’t what EA is planning apparently. According to Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter EA will charge anything between $10 -15 on pre-DLC or "Premium Downloadable Content" that can best be compared to the XBLA and PSN exclusive title Battlefield 1943 (which by the way has yet to come to PC). He further states that if EA would actually collect feedback and criticism levied at that product to tweak the final product, it could prove to be beneficial to gamers in the long run. Before you condemn EA to the gallows you should know that this isn’t a new concept. Sony and Polyphonic gave this business model a shot with Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and it worked out really well for them. The same goes for Lucas Arts and their Sam and Max series. I think EA’s reputation of being greedy goblins has clouded people’s judgment and more importantly they’ve been ticked off by the words “premium demo” since no one in their right minds wants to pay for a demo. I can’t make up my mind if this is actually a good or a bad thing because there are so many unanswered questions out there. How would this work with single player games? Let’s say I shell out 600 (rough conversion) bucks on the first few levels of the upcoming Medal of Honor game and I decide to go in for the full version as well would I be able to transfer my save games to the final version and more importantly would I still be required to pay full price? If that’s the case I’m paying more for the game than someone who just picked up the final product. Secondly am I getting any incentives over here? Will I get access to exclusive content? Until I get clear cut answers to some of these questions I remain skeptical about the whole issue. So what do you think? Is this a feasible proposition? Would you pay for “premium demos”? Shower us with some of your knowledge in the comments section below. |
Tags: Electronic Arts , Premium Downloadable Content , Battlefield 1943 , Gran Turismo 5 Prologue
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