Sam is Nice ^.^

Whenever you release a demo of a new game, the goal of releasing a demo is to:

A. Sway consumers who are on the fence about the game.

B. Instill interest into consumers who have not heard of the title before.

To be honest I’ve only downloaded demos for Fighting Games and for RPGs..
In RPGs, a demo usually involves giving you the first 20-60 minutes of game play, depending on how long the actual game is.

This gives you enough time to be introduced to the premise of the story, take a look at the user Interface and get a short but enticing taste of the combat mechanics.
As mentioned above, this is usually enough for me to decide whether I should buy a game which I am on the fence about, or inspire me to at least google the title of the game and look for more opinions/previews/media of the actual product.

Fighting Games Demos however, usually give you a very limited way of trying the game. Like limiting the roster to 2 -6 characters and limiting the player to using one or two modes. (Usually Versus.)

What does this accomplish?

What do fighting game fans, or veterans of a particular franchise look for?

Balance?
Character Choice?
Game fluidity?
Low learning Curve?
Competitive Scene?

Because if it were me, I’d answer yes to all of the above.. However when I download a demo of a new fighting game.. I really don’t see how I can gauge if I’m going to get any of these 5 things.
Simply due to the idea of limiting a player to a set number of characters, there is no possibility of me knowing if there is a character I like and enjoy playing.
I may get a sense of the game’s mechanics, but if the character I like is NOT in the demo, I will not get a feel of that character, this applies to both gameplay and learning curve.
Likewise with balance, there’s no way to determine if the game’s balance (which pretty much determines it’s replayability and longevity) when all you have is 5-10% of the cast to work with.

So is there anyway a developer can release a demo that will attract the FIGHTING GAME player? I hardly think so.

So why even bother trying? Why think out of the box and market the game to a different audience? The one that sees the game at the shop, thinks it looks cool (or has Ezio in it) and picks it up just to play that one character?
In the case of SC5, there seems to be a fair amount of single player content on the title that is sure to attract players who have absolutely zero interest in playing against another opponent.

Why not tack on a sampling of Creation Mode on top of the usual “Versus with 4 Characters”?
There is so much depth in the new Creation Mode, that even with half of it’s options removed I’m sure people can spend hours on the demo trying to create as many characters as they possibly can.
All the “locked” options will be revealed, just not selectable. Options that are actually unlockable in the game can be revealed along with the requirement to unlock them, so players playing the demo will not only know of their existence, but also how easy or difficult it may be for them to acquire.

Another thing that bugs me is how Ezio is being used to market the crowd to Assassin’s Creeds fans.. But the demo will most likely not have Ezio in it.
What is the point of marketing your game with a particular angle, when the hands on preview that you give to your potential consumer contains little to no hint of it whatsoever?!?!?

With all that ranted out and said, this is how I envision the ideal “Demo” that will really play to the strengths of the title and the type of crowd it should really be trying to attract.

“Soul Calibur V Demo”
3 modes available: Versus, Creation, Quick Match.

Versus Mode

Limited to 4 Characters. 1 New, 1 Returning, 1 Replacement and Character Creation Slot. Must NOT include Ezio (That would defeat the purpose of the license).
Stages limited to 3-4. Including Ezio’s along with Theme Song.

Creation Mode

Limited options.
Eg. Half the number of hats/hairstyles/armor/pants/shoes etc.etc. available.
No color selection allowed.
1 out of 4 Accessory slots allowed.
1 or 2 sample patterns allowed.
Only the 3 available souls from Versus mode.

Quick Match Mode.
Players are allowed to use the 3 characters from Versus Mode and their own from Creation Mode.
Opponent choices are reduces to reflect the limited number of characters in the demo. (So the 3 base characters + “custom” characters using those 3 souls)
However, to entice potential buyers. EZIO is included amongst the opponents. So you can never touch Ezio in the Demo, but he will be there, constantly reminding you that you should really buy the game to try him out.

And if the developers say that putting Ezio in the demo as a AI opponent would defeat the purpose of getting people to buy the game to see the character in action, then I would advice the developer to remove the arrow called “Youtube” that they’ve so gracefully stabbed into their left knee caps.

On top of that, the sheer amount of content you would have released as a DEMO would easily make your title the topic of the week on many gaming related sites and forums.
And being the hot topic of the week surely can’t hurt when your game releases the next.