Testing a game before buying?

[Ario.exe]

Wouldn't it be a good idea to test a game before making a purchase?
Like the option to play an game for an hour or so to see if it's compatible with your pc and all?
I know some games have demo's, but the games i have in my wishlist (Such as Far Cry 3, AC Series and Skyrim) don't have a demo. Now i'm holding these games in my wishlist instead of buying them.

I really don't mind spending 50 or 60,- for a game and think Steam is a great thing but if games don't run properly i think it's money thrown away. If it runs the way you like it you can purchase it.

Yes, i use canirunit.com, if i have a recommended or optimal score i buy the game. But between minimum and recommended i'm scared it will not run smooth enough and regret my purchase.
I understand Steam can't implement such a thing as a hardware check but when in doubt this will be a great option. I'm sure i'm not the only one with this problem and really think it will boost sales.

[Lone Wolfe (Hoover1979)]

Try the Demos first (if available)

[Ario.exe]

Indeed, if available, but not all games have demos. I know this is developer decision to make a demo or not, but i guess Steam can create such a thing by letting us play for an hour or so.

[Lone Wolfe (Hoover1979)]

I agree. I have been shafted with a few games and they won't give refunds for crap that wont work! *or adequate support*

[MrSim]

I agree

[Marble]

Ario.exe eredeti hozzászólása:

Indeed, if available, but not all games have demos. I know this is developer decision to make a demo or not, but i guess Steam can create such a thing by letting us play for an hour or so.

A "trial" play time should be optional for publishers, as should the amount of time you get since some games can be beaten in under an hour and some games don't even get through the prologue after an hour.
There is also the possibility that some people would abuse it and bypass the timers.
Assuming this could be properly policed, it would be nice to have but the publishers should not be obligated to provide it.

[Ario.exe]

Maybe the option to test each game once? I'm just thinking loud because some many already agree with an option like this.

[Marble]

And the issue there is you will have some people who just keep the game running the entire time, and also people who maybe crash on the title screen or need to restart the game when they change the graphics options so they don't get to play at all.

[Ario.exe]

True, maybe forcing a quit after one hour of use is expired? I think no one takes an hour to crash to a title screen. That if the crash took place after 5 minutes you still have 55 minutes of playing.

[ItsDanik]

There are very few demos released. I'd prefer to be able to preload the entire game before release and be able to play only for a limited amount of time or a very small portion of the game until I purchase the title. Then I won't have to wait 5 hours to download these huge 20GB+ titles. Also, this is not only to see if the game is any good, but to check if the user's system meets the requirements of the game, test for hardware incompatibilities etc...

[Fox]

Ario.exe eredeti hozzászólása:

Wouldn't it be a good idea to test a game before making a purchase?
Like the option to play an game for an hour or so to see if it's compatible with your pc and all?
I know some games have demo's, but the games i have in my wishlist (Such as Far Cry 3, AC Series and Skyrim) don't have a demo. Now i'm holding these games in my wishlist instead of buying them.

I really don't mind spending 50 or 60,- for a game and think Steam is a great thing but if games don't run properly i think it's money thrown away. If it runs the way you like it you can purchase it.

Yes, i use canirunit.com, if i have a recommended or optimal score i buy the game. But between minimum and recommended i'm scared it will not run smooth enough and regret my purchase.
I understand Steam can't implement such a thing as a hardware check but when in doubt this will be a great option. I'm sure i'm not the only one with this problem and really think it will boost sales.

I'll add my view on Canti's thought :

Canti eredeti hozzászólása:

A "trial" play time should be optional for publishers[...]

I've already said recently that publishers are reluctant[www.gamespot.com] to release a demo. And a "free trial", for me, is still a demo.
I'd think that too many publishers would decide to opt out of this feature, rendering it not worthy of maintaining, but that's only my opinion.

[nogah]

That is an amazing idea but it would be pretty hard to make it reality. Try to watch Youtube videos and google if your graphics card can handle the game. Demos just dont work for some games :(

[76561198077421294]

I agree with this,it would reduce bad purchases and every game should have it.

[Ario.exe]

A demo for console videogames isn't necessary because the game will run smoothly. A pc gamer has to deal with hardware and software that may or may not be compatible for those games. I really believe a pc demo can boost sales.

[Falro the Great]

What would really be nice, is if games had a "benchmark" verison, so it's not an actual game, but it simulates it and therefore can give you a pretty good idea of how it will run. However, it is still up the the developers to implement this, and it would cost money with unknown output.

[Fralbjabar]

I think a better idea than a benchmark version would be for a "performance index" number. Steam already gathers a bunch of hardware info so it'd be possible to extrapolate that to a performance number that can be compared against a baseline for given games. Easier for the average user than reading a minimum specs list and shouldn't require extra effort from game devs.