[12/12] You want the FFXV demo? You'll have to buy Type-0 HD ASAP

[Linnaete]

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Do you want the Final Fantasy XV: Episode Duscae demo along with your order of Final Fantasy Type-0 HD? You're going to have to hurry. As explained by producer Hajime Tabata, fans who want to dig into a 4-hour sample of the elusive next mainline installment will have to pick up their copies of Final Fantasy Type-0 with some haste. If you decide to pick up a later copy of the game, expect to be denied access to the demo completely.

According to a post on the Square-Enix blog, the demo will never be released as a downloadable standalone. The demo is supposed to be a "special gift" for early purchasers. Emphasis should be on the word "early", because only the first shipments of Type-0 HD will contain the demo. Hats off to Square-Enix for coldly coming out with the most effective and lucrative method to maximise pre-order numbers!

First, as Tabata-san said in a recent episode of Square Enix Presents, this demo is exclusive to Final Fantasy Type-0 HD. We’re never going to release it as a stand-alone piece down the line. Secondly, it’s intended to be a special gift for those of you who purchase early — the demo will be limited to the “Day One” edition of the game, meaning that only the first shipment is going to have the demo in it. So if the demo is something you think you might like, we highly encourage you to pre-order or to be quick about getting to the store on launch day, March 17th, 2015.

Oh, but don't worry. If you want to guarantee a spot on the elite list and have unconditional access to the demo, you can always pre-order the spanky collectors' edition:

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Yours, for only $99.99.

EU equivalent is in white and as far as I know of, has a £79.99 price tag. Price in Euros will probably be similar to the US price tag.

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Kotaku, NeoGAF

 

[greenyxi]

When I first read that ours would be in white, I thought: "Once again, we get the plain boring artwork". After seeing that pic though it looks quite nice. I think I'd still rather it in black though.

I'll be getting Type 0 on release, but won't be playing the demo. I don't want FF15 spoilt in any way, shape or form.

Anyways, I think this is a good way to encourage sales. Both Square and the customers get something out of it. Win-win.

 

[Big Casino]

Spend all that money then realise the games no better than FF13.

Gutted.

 

[Linnaete]

Nope, not biting. Type-0 HD is not worth the full asking price in my opinion, and I'm not THAT desperate to play a demo of unknown quality.

Anyways, I think this is a good way to encourage sales. Both Square and the customers get something out of it. Win-win.

Except for the customers who have a reason be it financially or whatever not to pick this up as soon as possible at full price.

Except for the customers who are mainly interested in the FFXV demo and feel annoyed that it has to come bolted with an early print of a game they may not care about anywhere near as much...for full price.

Good business decision on their part, but still pernicious for some folks.

 

[greenyxi]

Nope, not biting. Type-0 HD is not worth the full asking price in my opinion, and I'm not THAT desperate to play a demo of unknown quality.



Except for the customers who have a reason be it financially or whatever not to pick this up as soon as possible at full price.

Except for the customers who are mainly interested in the FFXV demo and feel annoyed that it has to come bolted with an early print of a game they may not care about anywhere near as much...for full price.

Good business decision on their part, but still pernicious for some folks.

I think we have to remember that people can watch a demo online without paying a single penny. Or they could watch it being shared on the PS4 share thing. Or they could just play it over a mate's.

You don't have to buy a full price game to experience the demo .

 

[Ed Elric]

Well the pricing isn't all​ that bad for the content that you are getting within the bundle... considering just the game alone would be $60.00

As for the demo, it's very a very slick move by SE to try and get the pre-order sales up.

I'm not THAT desperate to play a demo of unknown quality.

I don't particularly agree with SE though and i'm going to have to agree with Liv here. Why would customers have to pre-order a game if they're mainly interested in the demo? It seems just a tad bit unfair to those people that they're basically forced to wait, or buy Type 0. These people don't know how well they'll enjoy the demo, why chance that?

I think we have to remember that people can watch a demo online without paying a single penny. Or they could watch it being shared on the PS4 share thing. Or they could just play it over a mate's.

That is true but why watch it when you could play it yourself? Sure if you're lucky enough your mate bought it that'd be great!

 

[greenyxi]

That is true but why watch it when you could play it yourself?

If someone is that desperate to play a demo then they're getting the game regardless of how it technically is. In that sense, they don't even need the demo . Also, it's a square demo. Most of it is bound to be cinematics...probably. The gameplay will either be similar stuff to other games (wandering around a world map) or having a battle which we know about mostly by this point.

It's no real loss if you don't play want to buy Type-0. FF fans will buy FF15 anyway, I'm sure.

 

[Linnaete]

There's one more thing I neglected to mention.

There is no word from Square-Enix on when exactly the demo will be available to download.

The demo is currently still in the TBA stage, given Square's reticence regarding the question of demo release date. So to anyone just pre-ordering Type-0 HD now, you are basically paying the full price or more for a PSP game with fancier lighting and zero guarantee of when the demo will be available to download. It could be anytime from late March to summer. You would be buying Type-0 HD with hopes of a demo later arriving, providing no further hiccups push the demo back even further. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if by the time the demo code-less copies of Type-0 HD replace the earlier copies on the shelves that do have a demo code, it still wouldn't be available to download.

I've only conjecture to run on here, but if I were to bet any money, I'd bet on the team having some current problems with putting the demo together into anything playable and as how they envisioned it. If they pull it off and without a massive gap between it and Type-0's release, yes, this is a big lucrative opportunity and a chance to maximise pre-order and first day sales to perfection. But if it remains problematic, it will not reflect well on your upcoming game. They'll have likely rushed themselves into hastily putting a demo together instead of waiting for the right time to do what everyone else normally does, i.e. make it widely available at their own pace.

 

[AuronX]

Price is worth it to me. Anyone who doesn't think so probably hasn't played the PSP game. It's good. Really good. Don't think that just because the game originated on PSP it's a second-rate title. I've already preordered it and I look forward to it. So I'm not just getting it for the FFXV demo--that would be kind of stupid. FFXV will come out as a full game eventually and Hajime Tabata has been pretty clear about the Episode Duscae demo not being a 1:1 cut of the final game. That being said, I do feel it adds value to Type-0 as a package. It makes me happier with my preorder, but I would get Type-0 with or without the demo. So it's icing on the cake to me.

Also, over the last couple of years I've come to realize that there's just no comparison between watching a game be played and playing it yourself. Watching it may give you an idea of what's there to be played, but it cannot give you an impression of what it is like to play. That connection you get from 'becoming' a character in the game world just can't be replaced in a walkthrough.

 

[Linnaete]

Price is worth it to me. Anyone who doesn't think so probably hasn't played the PSP game. It's good. Really good. Don't think that just because the game originated on PSP it's a second-rate title

True, I haven't played Type-0 on PSP, so I can't lay claim to how its quality should translate into a price point when it comes to an upgraded version (though surely the technical limitations of the PSP would certainly have had a fundamental effect on the very game design that one would not expect for a PS4/Xbox One game, no?). However, UK prices tend to be as follows for full priced games.

In stores and on Amazon: £45. In US dollar terms, that's $70, already ten more than the full price RRP in the States.

On the PSN store, it will almost certainly be £50. So almost $80.

When you look at our prices? Nope. Not worth it, frankly.

 

[Cardinal Copia]

When exactly CAN you preorder this? I tried damn near all day last night and it never worked. When I saw this on Twitter I about shit at how sexy the collectors edition looks.
And I've never played it either. So I figured this would be a great way to be introduced to the game

False alarm. They wouldnt accept our 1st card we kept using lmfao. I had to use another card

 

[greenyxi]

Game is saying £80 for the collector's edition. While this price sounds about right for the amount of content and how much that will inflate if you wanted to sell it on later, I can never bring myself to part with that much money for one game.

 

[AuronX]

In stores and on Amazon: £45. In US dollar terms, that's $70, already ten more than the full price RRP in the States.

On the PSN store, it will almost certainly be £50. So almost $80.

When you look at our prices? Nope. Not worth it, frankly.

That's perfectly fair and I can understand that. Personally I only very rarely pay full price for games, so when something like this comes around that I'm really excited about I'm willing to make an exception. But yeah it is a big chunk of cash to drop on just one title. I was just defending to the point of the game being considered second-rate for originating on the PSP, since that's how a lot of people are looking at it. Not that I blame them, but it is a false impression. Sure, the level designs will seem simplistic and the graphics will be a mixed bag, but I don't think that will make it feel like any less of an enjoyable game on consoles. Type-0 is very strategic. Before you get to the third-person missions you see in all the trailers, you have to manage an army in an overworld map sort of like how the board game Risk works. Once you've conquered an area, then you can invade the city. But inside the city you still have the strategy element in your characters. Each one plays very differently, and many of them will die in any given mission. You have to think of your party more like army reserves. It can be a pretty tough and intense game at times. That's where Type-0 gets its kicks, so I don't think the level of next-gen-ness will matter much at all in terms of enjoyment.

 

[Vivi-Gamer]

Apparently if you order from the S-E site you get a slip case on the outer box...


I dont care for that so I pre-ordered it from GAME. I would have preferred a slipcase for the steel book like with the Lightning Returns Steelbook.

As for the special edition, I think it comes with good content, I mainly got it for the artbook, which I adore and it doesn't look like one of them tiny rubbish ones either like what we got with FFX/X-2. So I am all for this.

 

[greenyxi]

You've all made me hyped enough to grab the CE. Thanks a lot .

Seriously though, it is worth the money with all that content.

 

[AuronX]

^ Have to agree there. Normally I don't give collector's editions a second thought but this one is actually pretty tempting. Art book, manga, soundtrack...all very great pieces.

 

[Bambi]

just pre-ordered the collectors edition. get the feeling i am already 80 quid lighter as im sure its taken money off me now rather than waiting til march...oh well. At least I wont be skint come march lol

Better be worth it /grumble

 

[Rey]

I have to admit that I am very excited to see such a nice collector's edition. I already have it ordered and everything. I am probably going to change my mind about the Xbox 1 version though. I realize that Playstation 4 is the true place to be from the very beginning. I am probably going to pick one up for Christmas.

I will be honest but since I never played Type-0, and have been keeping myself spoiler free all these years, I am extremely excited to play it in HD on a current gen console.

I must secure my FFXV demo copy as well. Only God knows when that game will be out.

 

[Galadín]

Normally I don't get the chance to buy the Collector's Edition for games (only exception to date being Dissidia 012) but this is definitely one I'm saving up for. I cannot wait .