Howard
Nov 2, 2007, 04:35 PM
Why do we provide demos?
http://www.astraware.com/images/blog/84/regscreen1.jpg
We know that many of our customers buy games from us just based on the reputation of the game, or that they've bought from us before and can trust the quality of our software! Some people do buy games before checking to see that they are compatible with their devices - and occasionally find that a particular game won't run on their device. Normally this is because a version hasn't yet been created for the screen resolution of the device (in which case, it may do its best and "scale" the graphics it has built in, but that never looks as good as a "native" version.)
I've always felt that you should know what you're getting before you buy - and so we've always made sure that people can try out our games before they commit to paying for them.
Of course it is a fine balance - we want to give customers long enough to try out the game and see if they like it, that it has the features they want, and works well on their device, but also we've got to put a limit somewhere and remind people to come back and register.
http://www.astraware.com/images/blog/84/regscreen2.jpg
Sometimes we limit how many games can be started, so you might get five "free" plays before it asks you to register, sometimes we put a limit on how many levels or modes are available, but we're always careful to make sure you can get a reasonable feel for what the whole game is like.
I've seen games on sale where all you see is screenshots on a web page, and that isn't enough to get an idea of the game - you have to try it on the device and see how well it loads, runs, animates and plays. I've even seen an action game that gave you a whole 15 seconds of play (not quite enough to reach the first enemy) before it kicked you out and told you to register - and that just felt mean! We try to be pretty generous with our demos, and give you enough time to be confident that it's a game you'll want to keep playing.
We've always tried to make it as easy as possible to get our games - and now if you have a connected device you can try out our demos directly from your device - I was able to get StarPop(R) (http://www.astraware.com/starpop) onto a Palm for a friend for his daughter directly from the Astraware website (http://www.astraware.com) when we were out, without having to go via a PC or an SD card. (Of course, it helps if you have a good data plan - if you pay by the megabyte it can cost quite a bit if you download all of our games over-the-air (http://www.astraware.mobi)!)
If you've just bought a new device - and we're coming up to the time of year when plenty of people get new devices - then its wise to check that our games are compatible before you buy them. Because we try to get games right first time (rather than a new bugfix release every other day!), it means that some of our games stay compatible with devices for several years... that is until a new manufacturer makes a device with a different screen resolution, or keyboard type... or any of the other hundred variables they can change. It takes us a while to catch up and update even the major products in our catalog, so its always worth checking. We do try to keep each page up to date with what works on new devices, but sometimes our customers are early adopters and get hold of a device before we do! If that happens - drop a note to our customer support (http://www.astraware.com/support/) if you find a problem with a device - we might ask you for a little help to make our games work for you too - quite a few of our beta testers (http://www.astraware.com/support/showQuestion.php?id=12&criteria=beta+tester) started off by getting in touch that way, and now they help to check lots of our games (getting the earliest view on what we're working on into the bargain too!)
We know that many more people try the demo versions than end up making a purchase - that's OK! We like to make sure that you're happy with the games you purchase - and if that means you try lots and only buy one or two that you really like, that's great with us! Some people might keep the demos to show to friends... and we love it when people share the demos - it means even more people get to try out our games... and maybe later look on our site for more for themselves. After all, there's no harm in looking!
http://www.astraware.com/images/blog/84/regscreen1.jpg
We know that many of our customers buy games from us just based on the reputation of the game, or that they've bought from us before and can trust the quality of our software! Some people do buy games before checking to see that they are compatible with their devices - and occasionally find that a particular game won't run on their device. Normally this is because a version hasn't yet been created for the screen resolution of the device (in which case, it may do its best and "scale" the graphics it has built in, but that never looks as good as a "native" version.)
I've always felt that you should know what you're getting before you buy - and so we've always made sure that people can try out our games before they commit to paying for them.
Of course it is a fine balance - we want to give customers long enough to try out the game and see if they like it, that it has the features they want, and works well on their device, but also we've got to put a limit somewhere and remind people to come back and register.
http://www.astraware.com/images/blog/84/regscreen2.jpg
Sometimes we limit how many games can be started, so you might get five "free" plays before it asks you to register, sometimes we put a limit on how many levels or modes are available, but we're always careful to make sure you can get a reasonable feel for what the whole game is like.
I've seen games on sale where all you see is screenshots on a web page, and that isn't enough to get an idea of the game - you have to try it on the device and see how well it loads, runs, animates and plays. I've even seen an action game that gave you a whole 15 seconds of play (not quite enough to reach the first enemy) before it kicked you out and told you to register - and that just felt mean! We try to be pretty generous with our demos, and give you enough time to be confident that it's a game you'll want to keep playing.
We've always tried to make it as easy as possible to get our games - and now if you have a connected device you can try out our demos directly from your device - I was able to get StarPop(R) (http://www.astraware.com/starpop) onto a Palm for a friend for his daughter directly from the Astraware website (http://www.astraware.com) when we were out, without having to go via a PC or an SD card. (Of course, it helps if you have a good data plan - if you pay by the megabyte it can cost quite a bit if you download all of our games over-the-air (http://www.astraware.mobi)!)
If you've just bought a new device - and we're coming up to the time of year when plenty of people get new devices - then its wise to check that our games are compatible before you buy them. Because we try to get games right first time (rather than a new bugfix release every other day!), it means that some of our games stay compatible with devices for several years... that is until a new manufacturer makes a device with a different screen resolution, or keyboard type... or any of the other hundred variables they can change. It takes us a while to catch up and update even the major products in our catalog, so its always worth checking. We do try to keep each page up to date with what works on new devices, but sometimes our customers are early adopters and get hold of a device before we do! If that happens - drop a note to our customer support (http://www.astraware.com/support/) if you find a problem with a device - we might ask you for a little help to make our games work for you too - quite a few of our beta testers (http://www.astraware.com/support/showQuestion.php?id=12&criteria=beta+tester) started off by getting in touch that way, and now they help to check lots of our games (getting the earliest view on what we're working on into the bargain too!)
We know that many more people try the demo versions than end up making a purchase - that's OK! We like to make sure that you're happy with the games you purchase - and if that means you try lots and only buy one or two that you really like, that's great with us! Some people might keep the demos to show to friends... and we love it when people share the demos - it means even more people get to try out our games... and maybe later look on our site for more for themselves. After all, there's no harm in looking!