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Sony patenting demos that 'erode'

PlayStation 3 maker files patent application for game demos that lose functionality as time goes on--and prompt players to buy the full version.

Game demos have become de rigueur for publishers. To help entice gamers to plunk down their hard-earned $50 or $60, companies will often put a sample level from their games on their Web sites, Xbox Live, or the PlayStation Network. Until now, those demos have remained static, meaning publishers effectively give away a chunk of their games in the hopes that it will lead to consumers scooping up the whole thing.

Apparently Sony wants to change the demo paradigm. In a US Patent and Trademark Office filing uncovered by Siliconera, the company has applied to patent technology to make demos that lose functionality over time. (GameSpot originally reported the patent had already been granted and regrets the error.) The more a player plays the demo, the more features of the demo will cease working--and the more it will ask the player to buy the full version.

The filing reads, "While a user may initially experience most or all of the full version of the game in a demonstration mode, the mode implements trigger metrics to erode game play characteristics, such as character, object, event and/or environmental features, during video game play in the demonstration mode." (Emphasis added)

"A demonstration video game permits garners a more complete game experience while promoting a desire to acquire permission to continue playing. In some embodiments, a video game is implemented with trigger metrics. Thus, fewer play characteristics may be available as play continues in this mode. Multiple trigger metrics may gradually and successively limit play characteristics as play with the game continues." (Emphasis added)

"As the gamer loses functionality, the user may be prompted with the trigger metrics to purchase permission to continue the game in a non-demonstration mode that disables the trigger metrics and returns the game to the more complete version." (Emphasis added)

Figures accompanying the demo show a character in the game with a large sword that grows smaller as playtime goes on. A second image shows a racing game that initially comes with four tracks but after seven races has only one available.

605 Comments

  • DamageIncM

    Posted Apr 11, 2010 5:01 am GMT

    If this is implemented in Demos, it's just ridiculous.
    You basically alter the gameplay, which might be confused with how the game really is.
    So it's even bad advertisement for the full game.

    I have a 100% rather that they put a limit on the Demo.
    Such as how they removed support for the 'Left 4 Dead 2'-Demo completely.
    However, the Demo didn't allow all modes, which was fine, it was still a thorough Demonstration.
    Or, what they did with the 'Just Cause 2'-Demo, have almost unlimited gameplay but within a limited amount of time (a half hour), which was still enough for a Demonstration.
    They even let you win some Demo-time which you could achieve by playing well, which would take a lot of playing and you only got dozens of seconds.
    Still, it's a nice gesture.

    Having the game "erode" would just make for a terrible experience and it could give a wrong impression of the game.
    I do not like it, I just want proper free Demonstrations before I'm buying anything so I pretty much KNOW what I'm buying.
    Besides, if you don't let people play the game well enough, they might just forget about it anyway.
    That's what I have anyway, I've played plenty of Demos that were just short, and I never got them.
    Some, however, I keep playing if I like them and think really hard if it's worth getting the full game.
    But, I do have to make myself play the same short Demo over and over again.
    And I don't think people like to do that.

    So, even ruining Demos as we know them, BAD IDEA FOR BOTH SIDES.

  • burizadokyanon

    Posted Mar 14, 2010 1:44 pm GMT

    @NearlyPrescient While you do bring up a good point, you fail to realize that a demo is just that - a demo. It is not the complete game, and in many cases, it's merely a fraction of what you will actually experience when playing the full game. I understand that developers will want a return on their investment, however, I feel that that decision should be made freely by the consumer, and not because the developer places silly restrictions on the demo in order to coerce money from the end user. (30 min demo ... WTF is that?)

  • Wiseone86

    Posted Mar 10, 2010 9:07 pm GMT

    @ parrot_of_adun

    The way it is worded leaves it open for interpretation in multiple ways. Perhaps you should have considered that before launching into a holier-than-thou tirade? Was it really necessary to do that?

  • Raziel_125

    Posted Mar 10, 2010 9:40 am GMT

    "game with a large sword that grows smaller as playtime goes on"
    let's try to imagine this on f FFVII demo

  • Vodoo

    Posted Mar 9, 2010 4:23 pm GMT

    It's basically the same thing as a "timed" demo. The Only difference is that Sony is making it more complicated. Why not just say... you can play the demo 5 times and then it locks itself out. Why make features "erode?" That's such a waste of time and energy.

  • parrot_of_adun

    Posted Mar 9, 2010 3:04 pm GMT

    @richioso

    That's not simple at all, it's actually rather vague.

    Just saying "in a demonstration mode" doesn't really imply anything besides the fact that something is being demonstrated, which for all you know, could be the whole game.

    Look, I don't like this Idea, I just don't care about it. I get to test out the damn game either way, but so many here seem to think this is going to deal a massive blow to the gaming industry, which is ridiculous.

  • Sackboy_man

    Posted Mar 9, 2010 2:44 pm GMT

    Grr... What a horribe idea...

  • LindBergh2007

    Posted Mar 9, 2010 2:42 pm GMT

    I just love how GS likes to report on patents filed by Sony that are new and early in development. But continue to ignore the fact that Sega has been very busy with issuing patents for a year now.

    Why are we focusing on this? The patent just got filed, meaning its early in development that we won;t hear anything about it for a few years and it's likely that it won't even be used.

    Why don't you focus on Sega, GS? http://www.patentgenius.com/assignee/KabushikiKaishaSega.html

  • unbentonslaught

    Posted Mar 9, 2010 1:09 pm GMT

    that's kinda crappy...but it would make me want to buy the game when it started "eroding"

  • SLjimbolian

    Posted Mar 9, 2010 11:17 am GMT

    It wouldn't be a demo at all then, just a trial version.

  • OniRaitei

    Posted Mar 9, 2010 9:12 am GMT

    Since when do people even play a single demo enough that this idea would be plausible? Unless the demo starts to "erode" within the first few minutes, I promise you this idea is useless. Then if the demo does erode that quickly, people will just be annoyed and won't buy the game.

    Basically they are just filing the patent to have the patent. I doubt you will see an "eroding" demo any time soon.

  • player_leo

    Posted Mar 9, 2010 6:56 am GMT

    That's a lot of trouble taking stuff out of a demo. Why not just put a 15 minute time limit on the demo? Also, what would happen if you delete the demo and then redownload it? Would it still be limited?

  • toadman682000

    Posted Mar 9, 2010 4:29 am GMT

    k, so solution is to just not play the game?

  • Raven87

    Posted Mar 9, 2010 3:04 am GMT

    Interesting concept, especially for sandbox games or other open world thingies. But I wonder if it would lend a demo to become increasingly frustrating, and over time decrease the likelihood of a gamer paying for what would otherwise be conceived as an enjoyable game. Furthermore downloading a full game for a taste is not the most enticing prospect. Granted xbox live arcade games do it now for their trials, but the largest I've seen so far is battlefield at ~1gb. A 7gb demo of fallout is not something I personally would wait for.

  • richioso

    Posted Mar 9, 2010 3:01 am GMT

    @parrot_of_adun

    Sorry mate read again "most or all of the full version of the game in a demonstration mode"

    The operative there is demonstration mode.

    What sony are patenting is a degrading demo, simples.

  • parrot_of_adun

    Posted Mar 9, 2010 1:54 am GMT

    @Wiseone86

    NO it is NOT a standard demo! You didn't even read the ******* article.

    "While a user may initially experience most or all of the full version of the game in a demonstration mode, the mode implements trigger metrics to erode game play characteristics..."

    That means that you get ALL or at least MOST of the full game, then it starts to erode. SERIOUSLY people, don't comment on an article you didn't read, or at least don't spread misinformation when you clearly don't know what you're talking about.

  • campbell1874

    Posted Mar 9, 2010 12:54 am GMT

    So if Sony start doing this then people will just download multi-plateform game demo on the 360 and that could affect people buying choice. How annoying would it be playing a game and tracks or other things started to be blocked. If they are going to do this then just make the whole demo playable for a set number of days or weeks, like they do already with game like uncharted multiplayer.

  • myungish

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 11:26 pm GMT

    they're making mountains out of mole-hills. only supreme idiots think that they've experienced everything they could in game by a demo. sony are free to do what they want and it doesnt affect people much.

  • TTDog

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 11:22 pm GMT

    Lets be honest... Sony would charge for demos if they thought they could get away with it... like they did with GT5 Prologue.

  • bm1212

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 11:12 pm GMT

    Why did they have to do this. Its not like people dont buy games after playing demos. Cummon! They are just demos! Just leave them like they are and let us keep playing them!

  • WolfGrey

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 6:53 pm GMT

    @SnakeEyesX80

    Actually thats fairly close to correct, ironically.Home is free but it has also become partly a poison too.Many ps3 owners rather stay on Home than play ps3 games.Socializing all the time.While that is great many will not purchase a single game but just play demos when they need a break.So the numbers lost is actually pretty big.

    Sorry guys for insulting so many people.But so many deserved it for not paying any attention to the real effect of this plan by Sony.Nor what its true intentions were.Dont mod me next time but i just couldnt stand seeing so many comments with no basis on anything.

  • tbs76

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 5:57 pm GMT

    This has to be one the dumbest ideas ever. I like playing demos and I think they are essential to the industry. For every demo that may persuade a person away from buying the full game, there are demos that help sell games that otherwise wouldn't have gotten gamers attention. I download demos and very rarely play them more than twice, unless its a mp demo or beta test. Again, the logic in this idea is rather silly.

  • chriscox121

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 5:57 pm GMT

    So you download the full demo that takes quite a while. and you cant continue using all the features that you spent bandwith and time downloading.

  • Wiseone86

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 5:34 pm GMT

    @dmonee
    It's not the full game upon initial download, it's still the demo.

  • dmonee

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 4:04 pm GMT

    I get it...I think? So what i'm reading here states that, I will Download the FULL version of the game, and after a little bit of time, the game will deteriorate into nothingness. Unless I purchase it. I like the sound of that.

  • lock445

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 3:03 pm GMT

    What an odd decision... people only use demos to see if they like the game enough to buy it anyways... I don't think anybody plays it continually, and even so, why would this help Sony or the game developers in any way positive?

  • Grim_Reaper007

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 2:20 pm GMT

    @TheTHCGamer
    well yeah, there was only 2 characters in the demo, i was obviously just poking fun at the idea using an example of a demo i put lots of time into, im not saying this is a bad idea. I agree that it could be neat to be offered a lot more content at the beginning to play around with and have it diminish slowly to to the point where its at the same basic level most demos are at.

  • jroriginal

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 2:17 pm GMT

    No way! This is awful! Demos are limited anyway. Why make them even more limited by destroying them while you play. Demos have hardly any replay value at all anyway. I have an Xbox 360 and I really hope they don't do the same. Or something similar on the PC!

  • Bortson

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 2:12 pm GMT

    This doesnt sound like anything you can patent and sorta misses the mark of the purpose of demos.

    For me they are a way for a game I dont know anything about or am unsure about it to try before I buy. If it kicks ass then Ill buy it based on gameplay ect.

    I understand how Sony wants to encourage more sales, but having a good demo that has enough of the game to get users hooked is the way to go, not giving them a gimped version that constantly reminds you to register.

  • FreshTillDeath

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 1:49 pm GMT

    How pointless.

  • oneligas

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 1:47 pm GMT

    Some games are not worth paying for and a demo is the best way to try a bad game and not get stuck playing 60 american dollars on a turd game, and if a game is that bad it will be resold at a gamestop so how is Sony going to get that money now?

  • krytorii

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 1:33 pm GMT

    TBH the only times I reli replay demos is if a friend comes round and we play it together...

    Gotta remember that they are only doing this as a safeguard. Loads of companies file patents for things they never actually do, just to make sure that if another company finds a way to make it profitable sony can get royalty/license fees off it. It also means that microsoft wont be able to do this without sony's permission.

    All of those whining about a waste of funds, the money put into this is probably a very small percentage and one of several ideas sony has come up with. Its probably to encourage devs to make more demos.

    Think about regional locking, I read somewhere that ps3 has capability for regional locking, but apparantly its not used.

  • Avenger1324

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 1:29 pm GMT

    a strange decision. A demo is there to show off the best a game has to offer to try and entice/convince people to buy the full version. Start degrading the demo making it worse would surely put people off the game.

    While I download plenty of demos I can't think of many I have played for more than a few hours before making a decision on whether to buy the game or not. Very few demos have any lasting appeal.

  • nubowner

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 1:28 pm GMT

    It is a DEMO for christ's sake, it is already limited. If Sony is uncomfortable with how much gameplay is available on the demo, then there are 2 options. Limit the demo more than it already is before it is released or DON'T release a demo at all! DO NOT do stupid crap like this that causes everyone to be angry at the people who made the game. AND they'd have the nerve to CHARGE you MONEY to keep gameplay options available in the demo. I'm sorry I'm no fanboy, because so many games that Sony releases are fantastic, but jeez these guys are idiots when it comes to marketing.

  • jango195

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 1:27 pm GMT

    It is indeed a strange decision, one which will most likely have little/no impact on gamers. Unless they're going to be really stringent with this, most gamers will have finished the demo and decided whether the games worth getting before it starts 'eroding'.

  • mooooo99

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 1:24 pm GMT

    i rarely play demos, and if i do its normally only once.. i cant imagine people enjoying the same part of a level over and over. seems kind of a strange idea.

  • DAMSOG

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 1:02 pm GMT

    What a strange move by Sony, demo's are there to highlight a game to potential customers not provide a free gaming experience for the short of arms, deep of pockets. Honestly how many gamers out there play the same demo over and over?

  • Zackarias-313

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 12:53 pm GMT

    That pretty gay Seriously, it's a petty act and waste of resources. Too bad for Sony game demos don't have the same effect as crack lol PS3 still kicks ass, though!

  • NND1

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 12:46 pm GMT

    Another Dumb move by Sony.. and yes I own a ps3..

  • YOURPARENTS

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 12:22 pm GMT

    when will it take affect?

  • delcidanddarth

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 12:22 pm GMT

    I don't see how this is different from anything else that we get free samples of. I can't go to a fast food place that offers free samples and just fill up on that. It's the usual salesman trick... the first one is free, the second one will cost you. This also works with drugs, btw. It works very well with any substance that is addictive.

  • king_olly

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 12:21 pm GMT

    This seems kinda dumb... Why dont we stick with the 30minutes free play scenario or just make sure developers are careful how much they release in the demo?!?

  • Blue-N-Yellow

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 12:12 pm GMT

    Demos are a marketing tool that are essentially free samples; however, the minute you start making these free samples less consumer-friendly, then you are sort of shooting yourself in the foot. It's not so much that you are upsetting the person who wants to play the demo continuously rather than buy the full game (minority of consumers), but rather it's sort of a greedy move that won't sit well with the average player (majority).

    I just got my Monster Hunter Tri Demo in Gamestop the other day. If Sony had their way, the disc would self-destruct after so many hours of gameplay.

  • otanikun

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 12:01 pm GMT

    That's pretty friggin lame, if it's a demo then allow me to play it as much as I want, depending on the length of time these demo's "erode" as it were, then I probably won't care.

    But still that's a pretty lame ass idea.

  • MightyQDawg

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 11:42 am GMT

    This is a fine idea right up to the point where they decide not to limit it to just demos. And they will decide that.

  • mistablair

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 11:10 am GMT

    Demos are a free way for players to try out games. We should be thankful for even having demos. Now they are going to make them more fleshed out in exchange for me not getting to play it over and over? That's fine with me. I play demos to try out games, not to play over and over again to avoid purchasing the games.

    Many complained earlier that you don't want to spend $60 buying a game and you would rather play the demo and it's rude for them to make it worse for you. All I have to say to that is 'too bad.' Life isn't free.

  • Autolycus

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 11:06 am GMT

    yeah that'll make me want to buy the game...

  • scatterbrain007 posted Mar 8, 2010 10:45 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    scatterbrain007

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 10:45 am GMT (hide)

    This actually sounds like a good idea. Think about it, you can potentially get the entire game and try it out with all the features that come with it. I'd try that.

  • CaptainHerlock posted Mar 8, 2010 10:25 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    CaptainHerlock

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 10:25 am GMT (hide)

    If this were Microsoft how many of you would be saying "Oh, well that's probably a good idea"?

  • angelGP32

    Posted Mar 8, 2010 10:17 am GMT

    i wonder how much money they'd lose to the 97% of gamers that don't read news stories like this, and don't know their demos are going to erode UNLESS the demo makes it VERY clear up front. Because I can probably guess that if the demo is not clear up front, many many people are going to wonder why the demo ended so crappily and not buy the game.

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