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

[Paakaa10]

With the beginning of E3 just days away and just over a month to go until the release of NCAA Football 12, we can expect to hear news of when the NCAA Football 12 demo will be released and what will be featured in it before too long. And at some point before the August 30th release of Madden NFL 12, we will learn of a demo for that game as well.

In the interest of starting a conversation on this topic, I'm curious what all of you think is most important to have or show in a football video game demo.

Some things you might consider are:

• How many teams do you want a demo to have available to play as?
• 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?
• How much play time do you expect a demo to provide you?
• 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?
• 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?
• Should a demo allow you to play tutorials of new features advertised for the full game? If not, how come?
• 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?
• Should teams be selected to provide more variety in play styles or more popular teams regardless of whether play styles overlap?
• Should featured teams in the demo be focused on "rematches" of championship games from the previous season?
• 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?
• Should football game demos offer any sort of online play component?

Feel free to go "free form" and generally share your thoughts of how football video game demos should be set up as well, for sure.

[illwill10]

i would like to see 4 Quarters with at least 2 mins, It would show presentation throughout the game.

[Paakaa10]

My Answers
• How many teams do you want a demo to have available to play as?
With eight teams playable in the NCAA Football 11 demo, it would be hard to go back to the "old days" of only having one match-up between two teams; even though, I'm aware, the Madden NFL 11 demo only featured the Colts versus Jets. Going forward, it would be great to have four teams available to play as--two "locked in" as home teams to keep the demo's file size down so that there are only two stadiums included instead of four--to provide a certain amount of variety to the demo to keep the demo interesting from its release all the way to retail release.

• 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?
I'm lukewarm on community voting; mainly because I thought that the Madden NFL 11 demo should've been a "rematch" of the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints with the chance to show off the NFL's new overtime rules instead of the Colts-Jets match-up that ended up being featured. I've already written a long article on this here if anyone is interested. Occasionally having a vote wouldn't be terrible, but having a vote every year--I feel--would result in a lot of repeats for teams that have big (or rowdy) fanbases.

• How much play time do you expect a demo to provide you?
I'm a firm believer that the demo should provide a "default" full game; four quarters of 5 minutes each in length. It's the best way to provide your fans with a representation of the "default" game experience before they get their hands on the retail disc. The Madden NFL 11 demo got four quarters of 5 minutes each, and hopefully that continues this year.

• 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?
Again, I'm in favor of four quarters; as long as they are "full" 5 minute quarters. Some have suggested having a "SuperSim" similar to the EA SPORTS NHL demos--and then letting the user play a longer 4th Quarter or something like that--and I can appreciate that point of view as well.

• 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 don't mind having the demo unlock or carry things over to the retail game, so long as they work as advertised; I know some people had trouble unlocking the Pro Combat Uniforms in NCAA Football 11 with the demo for one reason or another. Unlocking uniforms is a pretty inoffensive connection between the demo and the final game.

• Should a demo allow you to play tutorials of new features advertised for the full game? If not, how come?
Absolutely; the demo is--for most people--their first experience with the game in a given year. It only makes sense to have the big new features available to mess around with in the demo. Even though people weren't really happy about GameFlow and GamePlanning in Madden NFL 11, I was glad that you could "test-drive" them in the demo--and even unlock an Achievement/Trophy for doing so--so that you had some exposure to that before getting the disc.

[Paakaa10]

i would like to see 4 Quarters with at least 2 mins, It would show presentation throughout the game.

The part I bolded in your post brings up another good point that I didn't think of when I posted initially; 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?

I personally would rather have the final presentation elements of a game present in the demo.

[illwill10]

I think there should be at least 2 matchups from now on and each team has different playstyles so you could try out each playstyle. I think the 4 matchups last year was to try out each playstyle.

[illwill10]

The part I bolded in your post brings up another good point that I didn't think of when I posted initially; 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?

I personally would rather have the final presentation elements of a game present in the demo.

Me too. I think they should leave finalized presentation for the release. I think the should leave Gametrack info for the finalized game.
I doubt the Demo build is different from May community day build.

[jaymo76]

Honestly, I love how last year Madden gave us FIVE MINUTE Quarters. Being able to play the game and get a real feel for the changes is important.

[Paakaa10]

I doubt the Demo build is different from May community day build.

It'll be really interesting for those of us who went to Community Events to finally see the demo. We never got a chance to look at the demo code and we didn't get "let in on" what the demo is going to feature aside from what everyone knows from the UStream interview: two match-ups and it will allow users to unlock five 2010 Nike Pro-Combat uniforms (Miami, West Virginia, Florida, Oregon State, Alabama) for use in the retail version of the game.

I've seen at least three separate builds of the game; some of the guys have seen five or more different builds from going to the studio this year. It'll be amazing if any of us can figure out which build from the Community Events is closest to what we end up playing in the demo.

[Pig Bomb]

i'm just looking to check out the game play, how everything feels, camera[s], etc

I want to make sure they haven't jacked up the basic feel of the game and also evaluate any "improvements"

not really interested in presentation and fluff in a demo

[Solidice]

Me too. I think they should leave finalized presentation for the release. I think the should leave Gametrack info for the finalized game.
I doubt the Demo build is different from May community day build.

I think in the past, the demo builds were based on a build from April. although some of the changes from April to May could have also been made to the demo build.

[Paakaa10]

I think the 4 matchups last year was to try out each playstyle.

The interesting thing about this thought is that--when you look at the offensive playstyle of each team in the NCAA Football 11 demo--only three styles were truly represented: Multiple, Spread, and Pro.

Multiple
Ohio State Buckeyes
Florida State Seminoles
Oklahoma Sooners (Aggressive No-Huddle)

Spread
Florida Gators
Clemson Tigers
Texas Longhorns
Missouri Tigers (Aggressive No-Huddle)

Pro
Miami Hurricanes

Not all of the Multiple and Spread teams played the same in the demo, but this left out five of the eight offensive playstyles: Option, Pistol, Run and Shoot, Air Raid, and One Back.

Not saying it's a good thing or a bad thing, just interesting because "120 Ways to Win" was a big selling point last year and when you think back to the demo, you end up thinking that there were a lot of styles when there was some overlap in actuality. Obviously the fact that these teams had Pro Combat uniforms in the game was a big part of the decision to include them as well, it would seem.

Guess that's another thing to think about when figuring out what we think "should" be in the NCAA demos; more variety in play styles or more popular teams regardless of whether play styles overlap?

[WolverineJay]

I don't need to see any specific entrance or mascot or team in a demo. Ultimately whether I decide to purchase the new game or pass on it has way more to do with gameplay than anything else and that's where a demo should come into play. A sports game demo to me is just suppose to give you a hands on feel for the gameplay enhancements while also showing off any new graphics, sounds, or atmosphere. Things like new features can be included in a demo as well but only in the form of say a video tutorial rather than an actual hands-on demonstration.

[xMrHitStickx904]

My Answers
• How many teams do you want a demo to have available to play as?
Definitely around 4 teams, sounds about right.
• 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?
No way, we'd have Ohio State, LSU, Florida and FSU every year lol.
• How much play time do you expect a demo to provide you?
5 or 4 mins, no accel. clock, 4 quarters. the default settings.

• 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 want my full four quarters please.

• 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 don't mind having the demo unlock or carry things over to the retail game, so long as they work as advertised; I know some people had trouble unlocking the Pro Combat Uniforms in NCAA Football 11 with the demo for one reason or another. Unlocking uniforms is a pretty inoffensive connection between the demo and the final game. <------ That.

• Should a demo allow you to play tutorials of new features advertised for the full game? If not, how come?
Absolutely; the demo is--for most people--their first experience with the game in a given year. It only makes sense to have the big new features available to mess around with in the demo. Even though people weren't really happy about GameFlow and GamePlanning in Madden NFL 11, I was glad that you could "test-drive" them in the demo--and even unlock an Achievement/Trophy for doing so--so that you had some exposure to that before getting the disc. <------ that too.


Overall, the demo for me is intriguing cause it's my first experience with the game. However, my fried gets me the game a week or so after the demo drops, so it's a good hold over .

[ram29jackson]

I honestly never bother with demos, I can just wait for the actual game

[Paakaa10]

I honestly never bother with demos, I can just wait for the actual game

I admire you for this, because I always find myself anxiously awaiting demos just to get even a little taste of a game I'm excited about before it hits the stores. It's especially "bad" for me with NCAA Football, Madden NFL, and NHL; I get real serious about finding out when demos are out and what they'll have.

Is it just because you have remarkable self-control to not need to play a game before the disc is out or is it because demos don't do enough for you to make it worth the time spent downloading them? Just curious.

More Thoughts for the General Crowd

• Should featured teams in the demo be focused on "rematches" of championship games from the previous season? For NCAA Football 12 this would mean Oregon versus Auburn, and for Madden NFL 12 it would be Packers versus Steelers.
• 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?

[illwill10]

More Thoughts for the General Crowd

• Should featured teams in the demo be focused on "rematches" of championship games from the previous season? For NCAA Football 12 this would mean Oregon versus Auburn, and for Madden NFL 12 it would be Packers versus Steelers.
• 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?

I think it should not be in the National Championship. Especially if that is the only celebration. It should be popular teams. Auburn will have a young qb. I think it should be at a stadium to show off pre-game traditions.
I would like to see Oregon, Stanford, Oklahoma,Alabama

[Paakaa10]

Yet another question that I hadn't thought about until now...

Should football game demos offer any sort of online play component? Traditionally they have not, but the EA SPORTS demo for FIGHT NIGHT Champion earlier this year allowed gamers a short period of time to play the demo in head-to-head online fights against one another. As a result of this online "beta" of sorts, EA SPORTS actually released a tuner package for the demo and received valuable feedback to help tune the final game when it was released in the stores.

The biggest potential downfall to this, I suppose, would be whether or not tuning the game based on online player feedback would have an adverse affect on the offline versus-CPU experience.


EDIT: Note that the original post of this thread has now been updated to reflect new questions that have come up for consideration through this conversation.

[ram29jackson]

I admire you for this, because I always find myself anxiously awaiting demos just to get even a little taste of a game I'm excited about before it hits the stores. It's especially "bad" for me with NCAA Football, Madden NFL, and NHL; I get real serious about finding out when demos are out and what they'll have.

Is it just because you have remarkable self-control to not need to play a game before the disc is out or is it because demos don't do enough for you to make it worth the time spent downloading them? Just curious.

More Thoughts for the General Crowd

• Should featured teams in the demo be focused on "rematches" of championship games from the previous season? For NCAA Football 12 this would mean Oregon versus Auburn, and for Madden NFL 12 it would be Packers versus Steelers.
• 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?

demos are not the final product and have no real options and you cant play someone online with it, so its a waste of down load time and space..its like watching a movie trailer 30 times and saying you saw the movie..I did it last year to get uniforms but I wont waste time on it this year, I just want the dang game haha

[Paakaa10]

you cant play someone online with it

So if online play were included in a football game demo, you'd be more apt to download and participate?

I did it last year to get uniforms but I wont waste time on it this year, I just want the dang game haha

Gonna miss out on this year's Pro Combat unis! Haha.

[ram29jackson]

So if online play were included in a football game demo, you'd be more apt to download and participate?



Gonna miss out on this year's Pro Combat unis! Haha.

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