An opinion piece that discusses recent demos such as Reckoning and Mass Effect 3, as well as past betas such as Gears of War 3 and Dota 2, and puts forward the proposition that demos should be replaced by betas for better tinkering prior to a game's full release.
A new Skyrim Switch 2 update delivers major visual upgrades, surpassing some console settings, but locks the game to 30fps and introduces noticeable input lag.
That's ridiculous, lol. I'm waiting for the guy that says its too cpu-intensive for the Switch 2. This game is old af and has been released like 17 times.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim lead designer Bruce Nesmith explains that the game's bucket stealth was an unintended feature of the game.
A total of 21 categories have been named, with the ceremony set to take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, on November 19th, 2025.
betas have a need but so do demos.
demos have been failing in the last few years. years ago you buy a new game you get a demo for a few others. well that's gone and because of it many miss out on some games and get stuck on one or two. org xbox gave you demos for games but xbox 360 did not.
In a way they have but not for the right reasons. More and more betas are coming out instead of demos but are used for the same purpose. The amount of "betas" that come a month before the game's release. With no improvement from beta to release. The term beta is now just being used as a marketing tool to make it seem we are helpin when in fact nothing changes. There are few examples of betas being used properly
id be inclined to agree but imo it need to go like this....
every single game gets a beta. im talking a legit beta too not a demo. give the beta to every user who joins your community and let them test it for you for a few weeks so you can spot/fix many more bugs than your in house testers could possibly find. also release the beta months before release so you actually have time to fix it. i say release it to community members only becuase releasing an incomplete build of a game to the masses would prob result in lost sales. however most people who are members of your community are core gamers and know the difference between a beta and a demo.
after the beta of course, if you feel inclined to then release a demo to the masses. but if you have to release one or the other, make it a beta becuase that will result in a better final product. games are too complicated these days for anything but a full blown beta being tested by thousands of people.
Not every game needs a beta. Sometimes a nice demo, especially from a good developer is all you really need.
Multiplayer, that's the exception really.
What actually the point of having a beta for a game that is 3-4 weeks away? Beta need to be done months before the actual game is release before the issues are address. You can't have a beta a month before a game is release and hope to have the issues irony out before the game is release.
Demos can be used 3-4 weeks before a game is release to stress test the online network. Hell, demos aren't even the current build of a game.