Dead Rising 2 prequel ‘Dead Rising: Case 0’ could have gone horribly wrong for Capcom. Whilst most reviews for the Xbox 360 exclusive have been positive, the majority seem to comment on the feeling that it is essentially straddling the line between a game and a paid demo. It seems that the quality of the title, and some canny pricing from Capcom has worked wonders though as the game has sold over 300,000 digital copies in a week (based on GamerBytes sales analysis).
Not only that, but it looks to have stirred up far more interest in Dead Rising 2 than a PR event/advert could have managed.
Judging by this success it’s easy to see other developers seizing the opportunity and introducing this tactic rather than a traditional demo – but if the price is low, and the content is good then is it something we should embrace?
Source: Capcom
X_Yoshy_X
yes but only if the price is low low low like 99p – £1.99
Charmed_Fanatic
yes! too high and your being ripped off!
X_Yoshy_X
How do i get this game is it on the store or only out 4 PC?
Dan Lee
I think its a 360 exclusive costing 400 microsoft points.
MrTwP
Oh, I would have bought this if it was for playstation or on steam, I’ve never played dead rising and I’m kinda wanting to play dead rising 2 xD
Kevling
300,000 360 sales “stirring interest”, how much more buzz would a free demo have created? Or a multiplatform version?
hobgoblin
Any idea if there’s going to be a demo for DR2 for the PS3?
DrNate86
I think it was a great idea, as you are paying for new content, it is no different than buying dlc. Most people would have known what they were getting into though I imagine, as Dead Rising was a popular game. I don’t know of it would work on an unheard of game as well. It was a bit silly making it so integral to the plot though, as PS3 users are missing out quite a bit.
FluBBa
Played it at a friends house because I don’t have enough room for a 360. Easily worth the admission, got at least 5 hours of zombie mayhem from it and still haven’t seen everything in the game.
If you buy the full game you get to keep your level and combo cards found in Case:0.
BlackWidowShirt
I thought I heard this would be coming out on disc, but without the need for DR2 like the GTA episodes? I hope so coz i’m getting DR2 for PS3, but I have an xbox aswell, but I don’t have LIVE.
BlackWidowShirt
And I wish games companies would stop farting around with exclusive stuff for 1 console, it’s a major pain in the arse if the other console is your main/preferred one or you don’t have online or don’t have the other console. >:(
Apnomis
I personally like the idea of digital Prologues and Epilogues to disc based single player campaigns. Things like Minerva’s Den for Bioshock 2 is a great reason to dust of the game and get some more hours out of it as well as expanding the backstory of the Bioshock Universe. I’ve not finished it yet but already I’m finding it well worth the £6.29, it’s not just a cheap addon room they’ve gone to a lot of effort creating a new story to playthrough with new characters and features. I’d much rather pay for that than a couple of multiplayer maps and some multiplayer skins…
Likewise Prologues for franchises will help (hopefully) promote more creativity in new IP’s and promote awareness of the brand whilst limiting the financial risk involved – if the digital game flops you scrap development of the main game. The Mirror’s Edge concept for example could have easily started out live as a PSN game using the time-trial elements, then they could have expanded the story of the character in the disc game if feedback was positive.
Obviously the content would have to be unique, we don’t want paid demos. But look it another way – if Case Zero was post-release prequel DLC at twice the twice would anyone have batted an eyelid?
Apnomis
Actually thinking about it you could say that Portal used this prologue game model – only it was a mini-game tagged onto another game rather than a digital release. It proved hugely popular so is getting a sequel as a full retail release with an almost guaranteed ROI. I can definitely see this happening more and more in the future…
Owendarko
It’s alright..i haven’t had alot of time to get into Case 0 and i’m always a bit confused when starting ‘Dead Rising’ games..lol..no idea why…I’ll get into it tomorrow me thinks.