A gaming first
-or- The power of a good demo
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
This past week I did something I have never done before. And it was something I swore I would never do.
I preordered a game.
Yep, I paid full price for a game before it was even released. I know there are a lot of gamers who do this, so for them it isn't a big deal. But for someone who has never, ever pruchased a game on release, while still at full price, preordering a game is monumental. And it was only a month or so ago I had sworn up and down that I never would buy a game at full price, right at release (budget titles released at around $20 would be exceptions to this rule).
But Epic won me over with their feature rich, fantastically fun, fast paced, and rock solid demo for UT2004. It was that good. And the fact that they are releasing a special edition of the game with serious extra stuff for the same price (at least now) seemed like a good reason. There is so much content in this game that it is going to be released on about 6 CDs, or on a DVD ROM. And the Special Edition, the one on the DVD, includes a bonus DVD with hours of how to use UnrealEd to make your own maps and mods. So, they are basically selling you and amazing game AND teaching you how to use their amazing tools to extend the life of the game indefinitely. Thanks to the power of UnrealEd and the modability of the original UT there are still tons of great, FREE, content out there that can turn it into a whole new game. And Epic is giving away the secrets.
Sounds like a good reason to spend my $40. I can hardly wait to frag any JoeUser users.
I preordered a game.
Yep, I paid full price for a game before it was even released. I know there are a lot of gamers who do this, so for them it isn't a big deal. But for someone who has never, ever pruchased a game on release, while still at full price, preordering a game is monumental. And it was only a month or so ago I had sworn up and down that I never would buy a game at full price, right at release (budget titles released at around $20 would be exceptions to this rule).
But Epic won me over with their feature rich, fantastically fun, fast paced, and rock solid demo for UT2004. It was that good. And the fact that they are releasing a special edition of the game with serious extra stuff for the same price (at least now) seemed like a good reason. There is so much content in this game that it is going to be released on about 6 CDs, or on a DVD ROM. And the Special Edition, the one on the DVD, includes a bonus DVD with hours of how to use UnrealEd to make your own maps and mods. So, they are basically selling you and amazing game AND teaching you how to use their amazing tools to extend the life of the game indefinitely. Thanks to the power of UnrealEd and the modability of the original UT there are still tons of great, FREE, content out there that can turn it into a whole new game. And Epic is giving away the secrets.
Sounds like a good reason to spend my $40. I can hardly wait to frag any JoeUser users.
