A Question

So, I was perusing the stock of the Xbox Live Marketplace today and happened upon the demo for Dead Space 2 (haven't played it yet, but looking forward to it) and a question came to mind. How relevant are game demos anymore? I for one used to look forward to the demo discs that came with my various magazine subscriptions. I would pour over every game on the disc and decide whether any of them were worth my time. I discovered a lot of good games this way that I don't think I would have played without the ability to try them out first. Sly Cooper and Freedom Fighters are the two that spring to mind at the moment, the latter being one of my favorite games of the last generation.

But, my subscriptions have since expired and the days of DLC and instant gratification and the internet have arrived, and with its advent physical media is dying a slow painful death. But that is a topic for another rant.

I use demos to (obviously) try new games before they come out. And i will more often than not base a purchase on my reception of the demo. Case in point, Mafia 2. I was super stoked for that one. Had been following it's development for years in fact. And then the demo came out. I was ecstatic at the thought of getting to play a game I have anticipated for so long. And then I played it. And i decided it would be more financially prudent for me to just play GTA 4 some more and not waste my money on a game that I had pretty much already played.

Anyways, I started to wonder how many of you out there still check out game demos. Most of the time it seems like you can tell what you are getting into with games, with the majority of them seeming to be rehashes of last years edition. So, I ask you faithful readers, do you still play game demos? Or do you blindly buy MADDENMADDENMADDENMADDENMADDEN the same game every time? Or somewhere in between? Probably somewhere in between. Let me know in the comments, or don't because you are too lazy to type something.

Peas