Football Game Demos: What is most important for them to have/show?

[Rudy]

Things I want:

1) 4 quarters at 3 minutes per quarter. I can live with two minutes but those quarters fly by. I thought it was ridiculous when Madden only had 1 minute quarters. OR one half with 4-5 minute quarters.
2) Difficulty levels. Many demos are released on an easy difficulty level that end up boring to play. The Show offers all sliders to tweak so I'd obviously love to see that if possible.
3) Two teams is fine. More is fun but I'd sacrifice teams for longer gameplay any day. Preferably two great teams with different styles.
4) Only other thing is the demo should be a fairly close representation of final game. Too many bugs or issues would be bad.

[iBrandon]

Things I want:

1) 4 quarters at 3 minutes per quarter. I can live with two minutes but those quarters fly by. I thought it was ridiculous when Madden only had 1 minute quarters. OR one half with 4-5 minute quarters.
2) Difficulty levels. Many demos are released on an easy difficulty level that end up boring to play. The Show offers all sliders to tweak so I'd obviously love to see that if possible.
3) Two teams is fine. More is fun but I'd sacrifice teams for longer gameplay any day. Preferably two great teams with different styles.
4) Only other thing is the demo should be a fairly close representation of final game. Too many bugs or issues would be bad.

Rudy pretty much nailed it for me. I would like 5 minute quarters and a full 4 quarters. I agree about the difficulty levels and sliders, more options are better. If the demo included at least 5 minute quarters and we could play 4 quarters online, that would be amazing. I don't expect to see it, but that would be great. I think with longer times and online play, the community could give great feedback.

[psusnoop]

I doubt it,i'm sure theyll be available in another free form..besides EA said so anyway...no, even playing a demo online wouldnt make it more interesting for me..the online culture can have too many trivial time killing persuits, a demo isnt crucial or necessary and people freak out when something sucks on the demo thinking it will suck in the game.. the fact is, all demos are half ass, sucking experiences, 90% of the people who buy the game never see the demo anyway

Ram I gotta disagree slightly here, I think the Demo is a good thing as far as getting used to the controls. It also allows the user to get used to the flow of the game. Every year there is a different "feel" to the game and for someone like myself I like to get used to that as quickly as possible.

Sure people freak out, but heck I expect that to happen these days. People flip out over everything these days, not only in video games but in everyday life.

[CoreySA]

How many teams do you want a demo to have available to play as?

To be honest this really doesn't matter to me. 2 or 4 is good. I'm more interested in how the game will play rather then trying different teams.

Should aspects of the demo--like the teams available--be open to voting in the community as was done for the Madden NFL 11 demo? Why or why not?

It is nice to be able to have a say when it comes to what teams will be available, however I don't find it necessary. It does get people involved and talking about the game in advance so that's a good thing.

How much play time do you expect a demo to provide you?

This is a big one for me. I find 2-3 min. quarters just don't give you a very good feel of the game at all. I would much rather have the 5 min. quarters that Madden provided us with last year. It gives you a chance to get into the flow of the game and allows a better interpretation of what to expect in the retail copy.

Should a demo allow you to play through four quarters? Should only a small portion of a game be playable, as in recent EA SPORTS NHL demos?

I'm going to say 4 quarters is a must. I know the reasoning behind the developers not wanting it available, but again, getting into the flow of the game allows people to really get a feel of the product. For instance, playing the Madden demo last year I remember a really close game I had going back and forth and it came down to a last minute comeback. It really got me into it and I left the demo thinking 'wow, I can't wait for this game'...

Do you expect a demo to unlock or carry certain things over to the final retail game? If so, what do you want to unlock/carry over? If not, why not?

I like the idea of the uniforms.

Should a demo allow you to play tutorials of new features advertised for the full game? If not, how come?

I love how NHL runs you through the tutorials in their demos, but for long time fans, having to go through it EVERY time you boot up the demo can get agitating to say the least.

How much of the game's presentation should be in the demo? Should it be the same degree of presentation as in the final game, or should certain things be "saved" for people to say for the first time when they get the disc?

Well for NCAA I think including the pre-game stuff should be a must. Since it is a big part of this year's game, I think including it would be the right thing to do. I for one, am completely ok with no commentary though. I don't think its needed for a demo.

Should teams be selected to provide more variety in play styles or more popular teams regardless of whether play styles overlap?

Different play styles.

Should featured teams in the demo be focused on "rematches" of championship games from the previous season?

Either that or in a voting fashion as stated above.

Should venues in the demo be the home stadiums of one (or two) of the teams involved to show off their personal home field or should "special" venues like Bowl Games (NCAA) or the Super Bowl (Madden NFL) be featured?

The home team's stadiums should be included to get a proper feel of the authenticity and atmosphere of each team.

Should football game demos offer any sort of online play component?

It is an idea for the future, but when it comes to demos I think it is all about getting a good feel for how the game will PLAY. Not necessarily features or online components.