Peter Molyneux: "I hate demos."

Posted Sep 30th 2009 1:00PM by John Callaham
Filed under: Downloads, Demos, RPG

Our audience loves demos for games. They get excited when they learn that a demo of their upcoming favorite game is going to be released and are disappointed and even angry when it's announced a demo for an upcoming title won't be released.

But don't tell that to Lionhead Studios founder and game design legend Peter Molyneux. In a new interview with Edge, he states, "Now, I hate demos. I think demos are the death knell of experiences." He feels that previous demos for his own games "completely ruined the game, given too much to the player, or they've confused people." His preferred method is to "give away the very first 45 minutes of the game, completely free."

And in fact that is exactly what he is doing on the Xbox 360 console as their most recently game, the RPG Fable II, is being re-released as a series of downloadable episodes with the first one being released this week for free. Certainly other PC games have offered gamers to play the first few levels for free but should that be the only method for giving a taste of the final version?

Tags: fable-2, lionhead-studios, peter-molyneux

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

So... what's the difference between the first 45 minutes of a game, and a game demo that just so happens to be the first 45(ish) minutes of a game, like most of the demos I've played recently?Posted at 1:18PM on Sep 30th 2009 by FYIan

That is probably the right way to do it. You get to experience the whole game as it is meant to be played without any gameplay restrictions, some demos just ruin the fun.Posted at 1:19PM on Sep 30th 2009 by blkrb0t

Untill Peter Molyneux and Lionhead Studios releases Fable 2 for the PC , they are unworthy of any news/coverage from Big Download.

Let the Xbox fanboys cover this.Posted at 1:45PM on Sep 30th 2009 by Therax

Well, here's the difference me-thinks.
Demo: A chosen spot of gameplay (usually beginning) that can highlight a game's strong points, or just hype it up.

His 45mins would just introduce the game. Not a big difference, but honestly, the first 45mins of Fable 2 is boring, as is the 45 mins after, and the next, and after all that, still boring.

So in his case, there isn't a difference. But for other games, honestly I'd rather be given the first 45mins of a game, no uber-hyped-and-powered demo, as long as I can experience most major aspects of gameplay in it.Posted at 2:01PM on Oct 10th 2009 by devilsei

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