Quoting: CatKiller"While I came across opinions that demos hurt game sales, in my experience they help - and help a lot."

I am really surprised that people would think that.[…]
If you've made a good game that people will want to play, though, then demos seem to me like a great way to get exposure and get fence-sitters hooked on your gameplay loop or intrigued by your story.

I believe the point is that fence-sitters can go both ways. I download a demo because I'm not sure that the fun I'll get out of a game is subjectively worth its asking price to me. There are games I've bought because I played the demo and enjoyed it, and there are also games I ultimately did not buy after playing the demo; not—and I stress this—because the game was at all bad, but simply because it turned out it just didn't fit my interests.

I think it's essentially two ways of looking at exactly the same thing, almost like a glass-half empty/glass half-full deal: some people will see all the people who bought a game after playing the demo and conclude, "Demos are great for sales!" Others will see all the people who ended up not buying after playing the demo, and conclude, "Demos hurt sales!" Perhaps if you could compare the two numbers you could get an idea of which is more prevalent (though it's complicated by the people who played the demo, enjoyed it, but haven't bought the game yet, perhaps waiting for a sale or for some other reason; they might get lumped in with the people who don't buy at all, inflating that number).

Do note that I am, personally, very much in favor of demos, as I think it's very courteous to let someone try out your game for free if they're not sure they're going to like it rather than making them buy it only to discover that fact later.

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I might actually be interested in this, depending on how it comes out (assuming it does, of course). I never had any sort of console growing up so I became a de facto PC gamer, and I've generally been fine with that…but then my buddy talks about how he's going to go play Pokemon on his Switch in bed, and I've been thinking recently that something like that but for my Steam library might be nice. Obviously I wouldn't be playing Age of Empires II or Paradox games on it or anything, but some of the more casual small games in my library might work: FTL, Into the Breach, that sort of thing. (And due to my tastes a pretty good portion of my library is these kinds of smaller, less-demanding games that might work well on a portable device.) I'm never going to give up on my desktop, but having a portable way to play (some) games, say, in bed, or on the train or when visiting family on vacation or something might be nice. Of course it'll depend very much on specifics, but I find myself surprisingly open to the possibility (as an otherwise "hardcore" PC gamer).

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Oh my word, that waste of vertical space! Unless these shots are from a 480p screen or something. I just fired up Steam to check and I can see (on my 1080p monitor) 6 games at once, twice as many as both of those screenshots show. (Though, strangely, going to that link I see 4 games entirely on screen for me, unlike the 3.1 for Liam. Very strange how it's different for different people. Maybe they're testing different versions based on account number or something?). Granted, I don't spend much time on the Downloads page in general, but the new version is no less annoying to click each update button individually, so I echo the call for an "Update everything" button.

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Looks like we're gonna have to find a new meme, "Vicky 3 confirmed" is dead. :cry: Maybe some other third entry in a beloved video game series…

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Portal 2 is what inspired me to get a Steam account*, and Portal is the first game I played on it since it came as a pre-order bonus. :smile: Back when the in-game level editor came out I made two levels and put them on the workshop, I've been tempted recently to go back and play them a decade on now that I no longer remember how they go and see how good of a puzzle designer I was back then.

*A year after moving away to college and getting Internet faster than dial-up, so that it was actually feasible for the first time.

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It's funny, I came down to the comments expecting to be one of the sole defenders of the numberpad, and instead it seems to be vital for nearly everyone. Maybe we need a new question on the monthly survey… :tongue:

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It certainly looks cool, but I really need a full layout with number pad and the arrow keys/insert-home-delete-end/etc. block. Of course, my Corsair mechanical keyboard from 2014 is still going strong and showing no signs of stopping, so I can't really justify getting a new one anyway. :smile: Still, hopefully this is just the first iteration of a new development for System76.

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Quoting: NanobangCan we eat other homeless folks?

No, but you can become a millionaire by repeatedly beating up another homeless guy for his money every 12 hours. [External Link]

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I was just thinking recently of going back and trying this again; I didn't enjoy it enough to finish it when it released, but maybe now that I'm older and (hopefully) wiser I'll see it differently. Could be interesting to try it with Vulkan, too.

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Nice art style. Incidentally, this:

Flight: Like the physics of real flight, as long as Gable is moving forward, she can gain lift.

Suddenly made me want a game about a hummingbird: hover in place, fly sideways, backwards, even upside down! :grin:
I guess it'd be kinda like a 6DOF game in a way.

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