As a promotional tool, are demos a smart investment for highly anticipated titles?

The internet was all a flurry this weekend over the release of the Bioshock demo on the PlayStation Network. However, rather than all the fuss being over how excited PS3 owners are about the full title’s impending release later this month, 2K found itself forced to publicly defend its port of the title and reassure consumers of its quality.

The controversy stemmed from a screenshot of the PlayStation 3 demo which, when compared to the Xbox 360 version, was of a noticeably poorer quality. This lead to a flood of activity as bloggers and forum-goers eager to revive the console war covered the observation. As coverage of these “shocking” screenshots expanded rumours surfaced of gamers cancelling pre-orders of the game based on this and the wider downward spiral surrounding the demo.

2K has since released a statement putting this discrepancy over graphical quality into context, claiming its inclusion in the demo to be a genuine oversight and not representative of the overall experience.

It’s no secret that the flow of information through the internet via social bookmarking, blogs and discussion forums can allow small insights or observations to spread and reach wider audiences without the intervention or aid of the mainstream press. It no longer takes the likes of Gamespot or IGN to observe “We don’t like the Bioshock PS3 demo,” in order for such a notion to gain popularity.

Comparing screenshots is a waste of time, however the pursuit still manages to grab headlines and fills a hole for those pedants who value the rivalry between consoles. It may pain developers to see the sum total of their work reduced to the comparison of two carefully and deliberately picked snapshots, however if such observations can get wound into a wider PR storm and move consumers to go so far as to cancel pre-orders then evidently they are insights worth taking note of.

What this ordeal ultimately illustrates is the inherent risk in publishing demos. The more a game is anticipated and more potentially controversial it is (after all, Bioshock was originally a 360 exclusive) the more those following its progress will make of the smallest details to come out in the build up to its release.

Considering just how easily the smallest observation can blow up into a front-page news story proves that every aspect of the product's promotional campaign needs to be spotless if it is to fly. It is too much to count on the ignorance or good-will of consumers. Which is perhaps the single greatest argument against producing a pre-release demo for AAA titles.