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First Person Shooters (Games) PC Games (Games) Entertainment Games

Game Sites Rebel Over Exclusive Demos 50

Posted by simoniker from the dissention-in-the-ranks dept.
Thanks to Shacknews for their open letter regarding Activision's Call Of Duty demo for PC, which will apparently be initially exclusive (with some file-based protection?) to GameSpy's FilePlanet subscribers. The letter announces that "...the following websites will not be carrying the Call of Duty playable demo, even after its exclusivity is over", and includes notable signatories such as Blue's News and Shacknews themselves. The appeal continues: "The above-listed websites hope to show Activision that the enthusiast industry is strongly opposed to the idea of exclusive demo releases. Feedback from our users shows that gamers hate to be forced through a single point of congestion if they want a demo right away... Deals like this hurt the industry much more than they could possibly enhance a single relationship." Update: 08/29 06:25 GMT by S : Activision have bowed to pressure, and will make the demo available everywhere, non-exclusively, from Friday night.
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Game Sites Rebel Over Exclusive Demos More

Game Sites Rebel Over Exclusive Demos

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  • well (Score:5, Insightful)

    by toddhunter ( 659837 ) on Friday August 29, 2003 @01:25AM (#6821674)
    you can't blame them too much for trying something like this. Is there any chance we will be seeing more of it? Nah I think not.
    Game developers want you to play their demos, so pulling something like this, which can only limit the number of people playing it, is sure to fail.
    It's the old rule of the internet, anything you can buy somewhere, you can get free somewhere else. It won't be long before a gaming site that apposes this stuff becomes popular and so the cycle will continue

    • Re:well (Score:4, Insightful)

      by BrookHarty ( 9119 ) on Friday August 29, 2003 @01:39AM (#6821706) Journal
      Actually, with demos reaching almost a gig on release, using fileplanet was the best method to get new files. But now with bittorrent, new releases should be easier than ever to download.

      • Re:well (Score:2, Interesting)

        by Goldberg's Pants ( 139800 )
        ANY P2P service would be good for releasing demos on. Fileplanet is a HEINOUS site. I hate having to go there for ANYTHING unless I have too.

        Releasing your demo exclusively through them is idiocy. I mean speak up if you do, but I don't know ANYONE who has anything but bad things to say about Fileplanet. (I also don't know anyone who is a member either.)

        It seems to have slackened off a bit these days, but in the past it was looking like Fileplanet were taking over EVERY download on the net. It seemed no ma

        • I mean speak up if you do, but I don't know ANYONE who has anything but bad things to say about Fileplanet. (I also don't know anyone who is a member either.)

          I was a member and I have nothing bad to say about Fileplanet. Downloads for new releases were fast and easy to get. The only reason I stopped subscribing was because I got a deal on FileShack's premium service through my DSL provider.

          As for the exclusivity? No big deal. So maybe I wait a week or two until it gets spread around or they put i

      • Re:well (Score:2, Interesting)

        by Vaevictis666 ( 680137 )
        Hahahaha... oh the joys of fileplanet. Like taking 5 tries to get a live download link in Opera... Or taking 3 tries to successfully download a (600mb) file... Only to find out that the .zip is corrupt. *grumbles under breath*

      • Re:well (Score:5, Interesting)

        by Soul-Burn666 ( 574119 ) on Friday August 29, 2003 @02:27AM (#6821846) Journal
        Fileplanet used to be a quite stable site with rather minor waits. At some time, it became very popular that the huge bandwidth they had became saturated. Downloading was very slow, people had to wait in long lines to get a mediocre service. So what did Fileplanet do? Use this slowness for their own good and started offering "premium services" in order to d/l fast. At that time, it was already very easy to find sources for many files on other, much faster sites.

        Bittorrent was written specifically for these kinds of sites. Sites with high-bandwidth, but with very large amounts of users, seeking specific, new files. If FP had used BitTorrent, they would have cut down the bandwidth needs by a huge factor. Therefore, might not even have to use these "premium" services to survive, and making downloads much faster.

        I don't remember which download site it was, but there's one site that has 2 methods of recieving a file. Direct download, or using their own P2P system. These kinds of P2P programs aren't needed anymore since BT makes life much easier.

        If all download sites would use BT for the latest, most popular, most bandwidth hogging files, everyone will be pleased. The users because they don't have to wait, and now downloading in very fast speeds. The sites because their bandwidth is offloaded to the net.

        Moreover, older files will be downloaded in traditional ways. That isn't a problem becuase they don't saturate the bandwidth too much.

        The only current problem with BT (I think) is that you can't have multiple trackers.... And a single tracker may crash because of the load.

        If it was possible to have multiple trackers, one on each d/l site, all serving the same file, then downloading these files would be much easier.

        • Re:well (Score:2, Informative)

          by wheany ( 460585 )
          If it was possible to have multiple trackers, one on each d/l site, all serving the same file, then downloading these files would be much easier.

          Just have some script redirect users to different .torrent-files, each with its own tracker.

          • Re:well (Score:5, Insightful)

            by Soul-Burn666 ( 574119 ) on Friday August 29, 2003 @06:22AM (#6822528) Journal
            The idea is they will all use the SAME network.

            Meaning, DownloadSite and OtherDownloadSite could use the same .torrent... that is what would be best for everyone. Have different trackers means smaller user base meaning less efficiency.
            • I'm pretty sure it could be possible for the two trackers to exchange data so that the networks at least overlap a bit.

              Of course I know nothing about the implementation of BitTorrent in practice, so I could be talking total out of my ass here...

            • Re:well (Score:3, Informative)

              by I(rispee_I(reme ( 310391 )
              Upcoming plans call for the Bittorrent protocol to support multiple trackers per torrent, adding further redundancy.
            • Meaning, DownloadSite and OtherDownloadSite could use the same .torrent... that is what would be best for everyone. Have different trackers means smaller user base meaning less efficiency.

              Why don't software companies just offer .torrents of their demos straight from their sites?

        • "If FP had used BitTorrent, they would have cut down the bandwidth needs by a huge factor."

          Bittorent did not exist when they introduced this service. In fact, the premium service was more a response to the increase in bandwidth fees and decrease in ad revenue as the dot crash happened in 2000-2001.

          You make a very good case for them doing it now, but the fact that the software didn't exist a few years ago seems to not be a factor in your post even though it's a very important fact.
          • Agreed. HOWEVER, by the time they created this service, that other site I talked about which had it's own P2P service was already functional. I don't know how good that service is, but it certainly was a better move than to try to squeeze more money from the common masses.

            Anyways, now it's almost obviously they will NOT change to bittorrent, since they already have profit from their current system. Changing to the new system will just make their very large network infrastructure useless, and they will lose
  • looks like everyone is happy again www.ausgamers.com [ausgamers.com] The recent reaction to the upcoming Call of Duty demo has caught us here at Activision by surprise. We're appreciative and excited about of the high level of enthusiasm the game has received throughout the gaming community. Due to the tremendous demand for the demo - we are answering the call by not only making the demo freely available to all gamers at the same time, but early - This Friday Night - just in time for the long weekend.
    • I find it interesting that Activision believed the outcry was because people wanted to play the game, not because of the precedent it sets of shutting out other sites.
  • One wonders ... how does gamespy continue to land these "exclusive" deals with these publishers?

    Crappy servers, crappy players, and even worse, the games are HARD CODED to need gamespy, like Neverwinter Nights.

    It's unfair, I couldn't boycott them if I wanted to, it seems like every PC game come with a "GAMESPY ENHANCED" sticker on it, meaning some in-game browser that doesn't work in multiplayer, and a game that won't work in single player AT ALL unless it can talk to a gamespy server. What a way to waste

    • Re:How does Gamespy live on? (Score:5, Informative)

      by Soul-Burn666 ( 574119 ) on Friday August 29, 2003 @02:34AM (#6821871) Journal
      Gamespy really is a pain in the ass.

      The best game-browser I know, by far, is The All-Seeing Eye. [udpsoft.com]

      It works fast, simple, the program doesn't lock-up when performing a search, useful filters, auto-updates.....

      And that's only in the FREE version of the program. The registered version adds some more features.

      This is one piece of software I can really say is good.
      • "Gamespy Enhanced"

        Seems like a warning label to me:)

        It's not known among my circle of friends as "Lamespy" for nothing. AWFUL service, though in the case of NWN, if you know the IP address, there IS a commandline shortcut you can feed it to bypass the lameness.
    • Well said. Gamespy has been an active force in pushing PC gaming away from grassroots, towards a centralized, top down, passive entertainment medium. To all of you enjoy gaming, seeking out alternatives to gamespy hosted sites is well worth the effort.

    • There is no exclusivity (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Consider that you're a game developer.

      Would you:

      1. Rather code for one server system, or code for multiple?

      2. Choose the more popular service, which is more likely to stay in business, even though it has bugs, or use the less popular service which could go down at any time?

      3. Rather set up your own server, which costs money, and which you have to maintain, or use a free or pay service which is maintained by someone else and always guaranteed to be available?

      Even if you can set up your own servers, you
    • How could you forget what made them big? "PlanetMoron.com, your only source for the latest developments on morons!" A whole network of corporate gaming fan sites (doesn't take a genius to figure out how absurd that is) loaded with little more than small bits and pieces of actual content, with the same layout just in different colors. With regard to any game most GSI sites are little more than replacements for the publisher's corporate web page, and instead have the news posted by some thirteen year-old ki
  • Completely forgot about this game. For sure I'll download it tomorrow. It looks great and if it's done by the same team who did MOHAA, then no doubt it'll have great gameplay. I still play Allied Assault, the stupid expansions that EA came up with don't even compare.

  • IIRC: UT & 3DFX (Score:3, Interesting)

    by neglige ( 641101 ) on Friday August 29, 2003 @03:01AM (#6821955)
    IIRC, the first Unreal Tournament demo was released exclusively for 3DFX. At least there were several server where you could download the file, and it was possible to run it in software rendering mode, so you could play it without a Voodoo card.

    Of course it made sense, since it was released for debugging purposes: narrowing down the hardware makes it much easier. I think Q3 had a similar pre-demo-debugging release.

    Creating such a restriction for marketing purposes is not smart, IMHO. After all, you want to spread the demo. Everyone should play it. And everyone should like it (and buy the full game). A gamer that doesn't have the demo - because FilePlanet screws up or he doesn't like it or he doesn't want to wait - is one less potential buyer of the final product...
    • >> Of course it made sense, since it was released for debugging purposes: narrowing down the hardware makes it much easier. I think Q3 had a similar pre-demo-debugging release.

      While that is true, They released the Glide version of the demo first because
      A) They cut an exclusive deal with 3dfx.
      B) They developed the game on PII-400s with VoodooIIs & obviously used Glide.
      C) I also believe it was so that they could finish the Direct3D modular portion of the UT engine.

      IMHO, while an exclusive demo li

  • Not A Bad Idea (Score:4, Insightful)

    by rmohr02 ( 208447 ) <mohr@42.osu@edu> on Friday August 29, 2003 @05:51AM (#6822428)
    1) Activision refuses to let anyone but FilePlanet host the demo.
    2) People outcry publicly.
    3) Stories about the problem cover the web--free publicity.
    4) Activision relents, making themselves look good.
    5) Profit!!!

    (I know I missed the "???" step--I'm sorry.)

  • Hrm... Something's wrong here... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Guppy06 ( 410832 ) on Friday August 29, 2003 @06:22AM (#6822524)
    Stupid marketing trick, pissing off the world in general with it... Are you sure you don't mean Acclaim instead of Activision?
  • If they want to keep their demo exclusive to a site, more power to them; they'll need it. As long as it's not one of the sites I download my demos from, I'll ignore their demo, and won't get the chance to try the game. Without trying it, I won't buy it. If everybody did the same, companies like Activision would pay sites to host their demos.
  • Why aren't these people using BitTorrent to distribute their demos?
  • Filename: wittycomment.txt

    /----
    |High-Speed Servers for FilePlanet Subscribers
    |----
    |Service: United Kingdom
    |Wait Time: NONE!
    \----

    /----
    |Free Public Servers
    |----
    |Service: United Kingdom
    |Wait Time: Just before 2hr dialup disconnection
    \----

  • I don't think anyone really has a problem with exclusive downloads if said downloads were available, speedy, and registration free. Fileplanet is currently none of these.

    *shrug* the Lionheart Demo was an "exclusive" download, and was free to download on other sites within a few hours of release. I don't imagine any other demo won't follow the same pattern.
  • These developers release demos so that people can play them. This obviously means they think that the demo will encourage many people to buy the game. Therefore, the more people they get downloading demos, the more people they will have buying their game.

    Which leaves me wondering why this demo was exclusive in the first place...but nvm.

    Oh, and on the subject of GameSpy, stop using it! The sooner they go bankrupt, the sooner I will be able to download a free demo without paying for it.
  • Thanks to Shacknews for their open letter regarding Activision's Call Of Duty demo for PC

    But it's not, is it. It's not for the 'PC' platform, it's for Microsoft Windows (I assume, I haven't RTFA, because this is a general bitch, rather than directed at this comment).

    People continually see the 'PC' as the platform, you see it on all the boxes, 'PC-CDROM' etc. Yes, it's a PC-CDROM, but the damn thing (most probably) only works on Windows, so why market it as a game avaiable for the 'PC' platform - whic
  • As much as I respect corporations doing this for more money, in the long run it defeats the purpose of a demo and hurts consumer loyality, as many people already pointed out. But another problem is partially the consumer's fault. A lot of people whine and bitch about Fileplanet's slow speeds but none of them care to note the fact that its one of the most used file sharing sites that has remained fully professional and not "outsourced" itself with mirror sites that isn't under their control. A LOT of "free"
  • Here [3dgamers.com]is a 3dgamers.com bittorrent link for the demo.
  • "Deals like this hurt the industry much more than they could possibly enhance a single relationship"

    Wah fucking wah. When will these people get over themselves!? Not that this has been the bedrock of economics for centuries all across the world. Deals and special relationships???? Who would thunk it!?!?! The world has yet to crumble under these same practices, so I think the gaming industry is pretty safe.

    Another "Welcome to Captialism! Where ya been?!" moment brought to you by Slashdot-- News for Nerds,
  • As the subject says... inquiring minds want to know.

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