So I've been thinking, the thing that got me hooked on Abe's oddysee was it's original demo on the ps.

What if a demo could be released for Pc, Mac and Linux on the day of release of the console versions. That way the full game won't be pirate able and it'll build up hype / bring in the pre order crowd a bit.

That way everyone gets a slice of some odd pie in some respect upon release.

Yay or nay?

It'll still probably be pirated, there's no doubt about that, but a demo beforehand sounds pretty awesome to me.
And why not put one together before it comes out?
I think it would be amazing if they gave us just the tip a few weeks or a month before it releases.. ;)

No such thing as demos anymore these days. If you want a demo of a game you can obtain the game illegally and see if you like it, then buy it if you do. Of course, at that point why bother buying it if you already have it?

At some point the game industry thought this was a good idea and pretty much forced anyone's hand who wanted to demo a game before buying it. Not our fault.

That said, a demo would do very little for the hardcore Oddworld fans. We already know we want to get the game no matter what. Would probably generate quite a bit of sales from newcomers to the franchise though.

Still, screwing over a portion of your customer base is not the way to combat piracy. If anything you're causing more people to pirate because they don't like your business anymore. Someone who would gladly buy the game on a regular release day might decide to pirate it instead if the developer decides to screw them over like this *cough*. Just saying.

The demo would be free** correcting my previous post **

But we do have to take into account that JAW and OI are not the richest company out there right now and maximizing profits to kick start a franchise is needed. Regardless of piracy or not, they are minimizing risks by releasing the game a month later.

If an extra month is all it takes to bring a good game series and good hearted independent company some extra money, then I have no problem with it. I'd do the same if I was making a fresh product and wanted to minimize risks.

We are still getting the game. And they are the ones who took out a big deposit just to bring some life back into the oddworld universe. An extra month is not that long and saying I want it now daddy is just silly.


Overall I'd want the game to release on everything at the same time, but at that same time you gotta respect their decisions. I mean, from what we've seen it looks amazing.

Steam still does Demos pretty well. Maybe PC users can get one?

No. That is out of question.

I wouldn't be surprised if there was a demo that allowed for gameplay up to the end of the cutscene between rupture farms and the stockyards.

Steam still does demos pretty well... in theory. Hardly any games seem to have them these days.

I've not seen a demo for a game in quite a while. Or played one for that matter.

Just like the original PS1 demo..? :goof:

A demo sounds like a good idea. The idea would not be too far fetched, especially seeing as JAW just released a demo for SW a couple of weeks ago. This means they were at least talking about the concept not too long ago.

An additional month wait......

It's been years, you little Nancys. Dry your eyes, and wait a few extra weeks.

Don't make me post the Guinness ad again.

I think Gilray is a little paranoid, although his concerns are also understandable - He'll probably lose more sales from piracy than he would by delaying the PC version of the game for a month behind the console versions. PC only people (like me) will either wait or not buy the game at all, so whatever.

The only thing I don't like about it is that you guys who've got it on console will be discussing N'n'T here on OWF before me and other PC only people can experience it for ourselves. I can bugger off for a month then catch up on the fan hype/nitpicking and arguments here later if I want, but it may be a problem for those who contribute here more than me who don't want the new features of N'n'T "spoiled" for them.

Anyway, Steam even list their demos... Some of them are surprisingly generous. Still wish more games would have them.

Abe shuts down rapture farms in a HD experience.

Sorry, man, had to spoil it.


But seriously, I won't be "that guy" when posting. Better yet, we'll just title threads with spoilers and put a big avoid sticker on it.

This would be one of my major disappointments as well. Here we are, hardcore fans of a franchise we've stayed with and supported for over 10 years after the last game and then an extra month is added because I happen to like it on PC.

Sure, I could get it on PS3. I have one handy right here. But that would mean getting it twice and basically paying for the privilege of playing it 'early'. I could actually see myself doing this, though, because I couldn't sit here and endure a month of spoilers and discussion on the release anyway. If it is going to be priced remotely reasonably then I would probably get it twice. I wouldn't be happy about it and JAW certainly won't score points but hey... it's Oddworld.

Having said that, what ever happened with that nifty Steam <> Playstation Network connection thing? You'd assume in this day and age that you could very easily facilitate cross platform purchases. Especially since Steam and PSN are already integrated. Will we be able to buy it on the Playstation and then get it added to Steam once it's released on PC?

You mean the Steam <> Playstation Network connection thing that only exists for Valve games?

I believe the current framework could support any game that's designed to use it. Portal 2 just happens to be the only one using it ATM.

According to Steam's website the link allows (DLC) content to be redeemed on either system once you bought it (if I'm reading it correctly).

Aside from talks with Valve and Sony it probably shouldn't be too hard to implement either.

1. Install Steam on PS3/4.
2. Buy game
3. Steam checks if you own the game
4. Game gets added on Steam if verified that you have a paid copy on your PSN account.

It's sad systems like these aren't actually utilized by major AAA titles. Of course the reasons for which are obvious. Money makes the world go round after all. Still I do hope that cross platform purchases will become a thing at some point.

It wouldn't be difficult to implement technologically. But it would probably require all sorts of negotiation and contracts with Sony and Valve that just aren't worth it for any small developer.

Well, there goes the first OWF community event in years.

I was expecting us all to be bouncing on our chairs in our pyjamas, waiting for the Steam clock to tick into launch. Then all post frantically to confirm that yes, the puffy bladder thing is beautiful in HD.

Can you imagine how much money JAW (or any other indie company) would lose?

I personally don't mind the idea of buying a game twice. Especially if it's by a developer or game franchise which I love. I do understand that people can't afford buying it twice, but surely then you'll just buy it on the platform you want it on.

If you have to wait a month or longer. So be it.

Aside from that fact I'm buying a PS4 just for Oddworld. We can still do all that. Just a month later :)

Cool. Buy me one!

It isn't worth it for anyone, given that they would be putting effort in to effectively setting themselves up to lose money.

If it's your birthday or it's Christmas, then sure.

But I meant I don't mind buying the same game twice for myself on different platforms. In the case of NnT, I want to play and buy as many copies as possible to support JAW and the fact i'm genuinely interested to see the difference.

Jokes aside, I think that's totally okay to support companies that way, though I rarely got enough money to buy multiple copies. Also, it might not be that easy to implement cross-platform multiplayer of any sort for a game that wasn't initially intended to have one. Also, I don't think Unity supports that either so It'd have to be done from scratch, and require a few programists knowing stuff like how networks work etc. and I don't remember JAW doing any multiplayer stuff. I may be wrong, I don't pay much attention

This may be irrelevant but does Steam allow you to download things at exactly midnight?

My experience with demos on the Xbox 360 is that they never come out at midnight, they are realised sometime around midday, the exact same thing happened with GTA 5 when the update came out to let you play multiplayer.

For myself, I will just buy one copy, firstly because if I wanted to see the difference between platforms I'll check youtube, and secondly, the only system I have to play the game on is a PS4.

Steam has a countdown timer for games that are pre-purchaseable.

I'd disagree with 'anyone'; a big dev like Valve might see the goodwill arising from the gesture as worth more than the lost sales. But you're right in 99% of cases.

What about the cases like:
"
-Hey, I got Portal 2 on PC. Wanna buy it so we can play it together?
-It's no point for me buying it. I have only PS3. :(
-But it features cross-platform multiplayer!
- D: Okay, I'll buy it, then
"

We're not talking about cross-platform multiplayer. We're talking about cross-platform purchases, ie buy it PC and be able to download it to your PS3/4 whatever.

Boy, do I look silly right now

Like I said, money makes the world go round and I understand why things are done the way they are done. But from a customer standpoint it makes no sense that you can buy a digital copy that only works on a particular platform. It's like buying a DVD and only being able to play it on a particular brand DVD player. If you want to watch it on your PC you'd have to buy another version.

Customers wouldn't accept that kind of stuff with DVD's so why is it accepted with video games? Though I'm sure that if the movie industry could get away with the above scenario they'd jump on it in a heartbeat.

In case of indie developers like JAW I also have no major problem buying the game twice, and I probably will. As long as it's reasonably priced. I just hope that, in the future, this sort of thing is slowly going to go away.

Yeah, but it won't be the initial launch. The communty's been split.

Not quite, because your point is still slightly valid. Portal two had crossplatform buying, if you bought the PS3 version, you got a free steam copy too.

That's a false analogy. It's more like if you bought a bluray disk and got pissed off that it wasn't playing on your DVD player.

The analogy I was making was referring to digital copies of games, not physical discs. You'd expect a digital piece of software to be independent of platform, just like a DVD. Especially if the game is designed for multiple platform to begin with.

The digital bit and bytes of the PS3 version are different to those of the PC. It's an entirely different format, so to speak.

Not to mention the fact that porting to the various formats cost JAW extra money.

Since NNT has been pressed to be on the PS4, maybe they're trying to get "funds" so they can launch more stably on PC, you know. If something wrong happens, they already have money backed.

I wonder if anyone has ever thought of a donation option for PSN.. for example you have the default price e.g. £20. There could be a drop down list for prices such as £25, £35 etc. That way its optional and supporters who are willing to give more actually can.

Well there are "pay what you want" humble bundles, but honestly I can't see an extra donation option having a lot of success.

Personally I'd rather have overpriced special editions. :D

I think he was drawing a comparison to music sights like Bandcamp that allow pay-what-you-like with a set minimum fee. I don't see it being all that successful in the games industry. People don't generally feel the same emotional connection to devs (even indie ones) that they do towards singer-songwriters.