Article written by Peter Chapman.
Published on 05/10/2011 at 10:17 AM.
I find downloadable demos that expire a little bit weird. Probably because I grew up with demos coming on a floppy disc – or a cassette tape – which was sellotaped to the cover of a magazine. Those never expired but were frequently stolen from the newsagent.
Remember the Sonic Generations one that only worked for a couple of weeks? Well, EA are doing that with Need for Speed: The Run.
The game’s demo will go live on the Live Marketplace on the 18th of October and on PSN one day later, on the 19th. It will feature a couple of races in two different locations so that players can get a feel for the game’s variation and mechanics.
Those that download the demo will get the opportunity to access two super cars in the full game. You get one, a Lamborghini Gallardo, just for playing the demo. If you refer a friend and they download and play the demo then you’ll qualify for another – a Porsche 911 Carrera S.
Incentivised demos are an interesting idea and it’s sure to get more people to try it. EA must have confidence in the demo’s ability to turn the mildly curious into paying customers, too. That’s a good sign.
Source: CVG
“Crash”, now there’s a magazine to get nostalgic about. Demo tapes on the front cover and a couple of pages towards the back with ‘pokes’ which could be typed in to gain extra lives.
I was more of a Your Sinclair kid, myself. ‘Natch.
Amstrad Action. The content on those cassettes was astonishing. From was once a publication bursting with stuff, I think the final magazine had 8 pages. Sad times.
Tell me about it. I remember YS’s last issue didn’t even have a cover tape. Sad times indeed.
My mum decided that we were going to use our Spectrum 48k+ for educational purposes and brought us every copy of “input”. Don’t think we ever got 1 programme to load correctly, either due to typos in the magazine, or our clumsy typing :(
My career in programming stalled at:
10: PRINT:”Steve is GAY”
20: GOTO 10
Ah, good times.
i like to Peek as well as Poke ;)
Seems ok, but what with refering people, pre-order bonuses, web-based mini-games, stupid facebook – can’t we all just have all the bloody in game content for the 40 quid we pay? Is that not enough?
Interested to see what The Run is like though, there seems to be a shortage of PS3 demos.
According to a bus stop near me, HMV are doing The Runs with 2 cinema tickets. Thats gotta be at least 18 quids worth of cinema ticket! I’m sorely tempted seein as me and the better half will be off to see Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy in a couple of weeks.
“doing The Runs” – there’s a poo joke in there somewhere.
That is a good deal, especially with cinema prices being ridiculous, and for people who would buy the game anyway!
@mugsybalone There is, but it’s a bit shit.
lol, brilliant :D
I’ll check it out.
Limited time demo? :( that sucks, I hate it when demos stop or get removed, like mirrors edge, I want to try the demo, but it’s so old they took it down.. I know they have to pay for space, but it’s a shame.