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Beta ruins "initial cherry popping" of videogames says Bleszinski

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Asked why there was no Gears of War 2 beta, Epic's Bleszinski has compared the process to getting laid with some chick and then moving on.

He argued that beta testers are susceptible to not feeling "motivated" enough to grab the final product as you've already gotten your taste. GOW2 a "pretty great game", by the way.
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strategyinformer.com
Alternative Sources:
CliffyB Dismisses Betas and... - xbox360.gamespy.com | By: Nineball2112
Cliffy B’s beta sex analogy - gameplayer.com.au | By: Nineball2112
JamieSI - administrator
Published: 418 days 2 hours ago | News | Xbox 360 | Industry News
 
 

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JamieSI - 418 days 2 hours ago
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1 -
Nicely said, although I'm sure many would disagree, because we all like playing beta's.
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GrieverSoul - 418 days 2 hours ago
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1.1 -
I disagree (but will not give U any DISAGREEs votes), playing demos and betas helps U make your decision. I rarely pick a launch day title unless they provide a demo earlier than its release.
Unfornatly, reviews are more and more biased and are no longer a trusty source so we have to rely on our hands-on with the game. Either by means of a demo or by means of a trial run in a friend´s house or local game shop promotion boots.
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Fishy Fingers - 418 days 2 hours ago
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1.2 -
Well betas can and should benefit the overall package so in that respect I believe they deserve their place. But perhaps they need to go back "underground", only allowing access to those who are there to take it seriously, to give feedback and opinions. Lately they seem more like demos under the guise of betas. Used for nothing more than to generate hype, not feedback.

Not everything requires a beta, if it doesn't they shouldn't release one, Gears 2 for example, 5 Vs 5 is very easy to test in house or with partners, there's no need to give potential customers a taste early because like Cliffy suggests they might actually lose more than they gain from it.

~off topic~ Jamie, you can approve your own posts? Sneaky ;)
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-Angel- - 418 days 1 hour ago
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1.3 -
It all depends on the game itself, if it has a huge fanbase, and is enjoyable, gamers will get the beta and the game once it is released to get the full experience.
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Tarasque - 418 days 1 hour ago
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1.4 -
Well i agree and disagree with cliff, be nice just to have a small little demo like a week before release. So it is enough to water your mouth with but not enough to ruin the wow factor. But anymore Sony turned betas and demos into the same thing.
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Delive - 418 days ago
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1.5 - I would disagree because
The only time this happens is if your beta/demo sucks.
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FantasyStar - 417 days 22 hours ago
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1.6 - What's funny beyond everyone is that people are starting to get beta/demo mixed up as a "demo"
Beta = External phase for testing stability, and functionality.
Demo = A demonstration of how the final product will be like to persuade gamers to buy their products.

This is just sad. We practically pay for betas(pre-orders) and rarely get demos before their release dates. Isn't the point of a beta suppose to help test for bugs? Then why is it that a beta can be "marketed", might as well call it a demo; but wait! A demo isn't a broken mess! We're practically paying money out of our own pockets to help fix their game, then we get to pay more money for the final product.

Betas and demos should be free.
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OOG - 417 days 21 hours ago
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1.7 -
I agree with FIshy Fingers....that maybe beta should be kept back to the professionals.....because there is nothing like a huge game being released say when halo 2 was or Rainbow or any online game actually....and basically everyone is experiencing the online together for the first time........its one of those few times in video games where its almost magical.....kinda like a christmas with everyone is excited.
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2 dro | 418 days 2 hours ago - deleted by mod -
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dale1 - 418 days 1 hour ago
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3 -
there will be loads of bugs and glitches thats for sure
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crinale - 418 days 1 hour ago
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4 -
Just remember what kind of effect Too Human demo had...
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DARK WITNESS - 418 days 1 hour ago
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the problem now is that betas are not really betas anymore. they run betas when the game is like a week from going gold then take the info to put into some patch.

having said that, i can understand why. some fans are so thick in the head they will judge a game based on the beta. now if they ran the beta early in the games production cycle.. can you imagine all the fans complaining about the graphics and this is buggie etc...then saying how the game is going to be crap.

so i guess its a tuff choice and you have to time it right. but it should make a difference to the end product and feedback from your customers is always a good thing i think.
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Ngai - 418 days 1 hour ago
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6 -
I've played both LBP and KZ2 beta's and i can say i'm deffinetly going to get those..(actually just bought LBP today) so its not really true. But what is true is the 'hype factor' dies down. Because you've got your taste. But if the game is good, you'll buy it anyway. It depends if you really want it or not in the first place...
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gnothe1 - 418 days 1 hour ago
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7 -
i can see his point. (example) I reordered resistance 2 an got into the beta, I wanst a big fan of resistance 1 but because of all the supposedly improvements for part 2 I was gonna buy it first day. but after playing the beta it has dropped from a day 1 buy to a few weeks later buy or maybe even a bargain bin buy. i wanna play gears an there's no demo, so the cash I was gonna spend on resistance is now gonna get spent on gears!!

i was gonna buy too human because i believed in that game,i played the demo an its not even a bargain bin buy now, i didn't like that game at all!!

but... there also have been a ton of games that I wouldn't have bought if i hadnt played a demo, so I guess demos can help an hurt games.
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ReBurn - 418 days 1 hour ago
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8 -
I'd rather have betas to work out issues than not have betas and end up with day 1 problems like server crashes.
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Martini - 418 days ago
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8.1 -
What about Socom ??
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divideby0 - 418 days ago
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9 -
did this wannabe actually say that about a girl.
if so he is a complete moron and only can aspire to be like Ted Price if this idiot ever grows up, which I doubt

only real reason for not having a public beta is the cost to do it and maybe scared that gamers wont buy the game

I hope this dude was misquoted, if not, he sure holds up his rep as being an idiot
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thewhoopimen - 417 days 22 hours ago
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9.1 - @9
Completely agree. What a moronic statement and completely immature. I Can see where Wired was coming from with the gameplay of geow2 really a reflection of its maker with this quote. Cherry popping? Seriously, CliffyB you don't deserve to be called by your full name yet.
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Cusco - 418 days ago
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10 -
Cliff is the reason i'm not buying Gears 2.

kidding, but he does have a point. I think the less people get exposed to a game, the more "mysterious" it is, and so it has greater success. Good example is GTA4.
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Truplaya - 418 days ago
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11 -
it works both ways.

The Crackdown demo made me buy that, and the Dead Rising demo.

But then demos of Too Human and Turok completely turned me off those games and made me realise how bad they were going to be.

BETAS are a little different. The COD4 one was a huge success and got loads of people wanting more. Maybe the same could be said for the Halo3 one but i got bored with that quickly.

The BETA that ruined a game for me was the End War one. I had high hopes for that but the beta was soo bad i never want to hear from that game again.
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Sarcasm - 418 days ago
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12 -
Why would they need to beta since they've already had Gears 1 up and running for two years now. Instead of 4vs4 it's now 5vs5, whooptie doo. It doesn't take any black magic on their part to get that up and running.
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Tarasque - 417 days 20 hours ago
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12.1 -
Well obviously your fanboy glasses are steamed up. Little bit harder to 4 player co-op in single player campaign cause you base your whole single player campign around that so you have to keep that in mind. It is not that big of a deal to do 8 player co-op with just spawning enemies, when it basically 8 player team deathmatch against bot's.
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whatis - 418 days ago
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13 -
Ridiculous statement. If your game is any good then showing it off and letting people play it can only convince more people to buy it.

Without betas/demos then all people have to go on are reviews and the opinions of the gaming media. And we all know how well that works out. GTA4 anyone?

Oh and "initial cherry popping"? Get some class, guy.
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vlazed - 417 days 22 hours ago
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13.1 - Agreed
Exactly. I couldn't have said it better. Eloquence FTW. Is it me, or do all his comments make him seem like he is overcompensating or hiding something?
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Tarasque - 417 days 20 hours ago
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13.2 -
I disagree when you have a triple a title, you don't need demo or beta's. And i was in the Resistance beta and once i got my copy i was not near as wowed as when i first played the beta, cause i knew exactly what to expect. Of course we know gears will be good and we are pretty sure how it will play for the most part, no reason to screw the excitement for a demo or beta. But you are right i played the COD5 beta and after playing it i will not be buying that game.
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baraka007 - 418 days ago
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14 -
dividedby0 I wouldn't say he's an idiot it's just he's very immature and he sees the world like a 14 year old. He does have a point though I think betas do ruin it a little bit but in some cases they're needed like with MMOS that need to have a massive amount of people playing to see if things are working right. Games like gears that are around 6-10 hours long though don't really need betas the teams making them should be able to find most of the bugs themselves. Of coarse you could say screenshots and gameplay movies ruin it too but that wont stop me from checking them out :)
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Martini - 418 days ago
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14.1 -
Betas have nothing to do with singleplayer part of the game.
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divideby0 - 417 days 23 hours ago
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14.2 -
yea..I was harsh calling him an idiot....I just dislike this wannabie so much...this entire personna is just as you said an immature kid...the sad thing is he is in a position to influence many young kidz who are gammers and that should be a taken as a responsibility, which he is totally clueless about...
Once again, look at Ted Price, that is someone young kidz can aspire to be like. I just dont like Epic allowing cliffy to be the way he is in public representing the company
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Chuck Norris - 417 days 23 hours ago
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15 -
"Bleszinski has compared the process to getting laid with some chick and then moving on."

Based on whose experience? We all know Dude Huge is still a virgin.
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Zancruz - 417 days 23 hours ago
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16 - Whatever Cliffy!
There's STILL f-ing lag! It's bullsh*t, a game with only a few players per room has lag in it.........

A friend already has the game, he says it good, but there's still online lag.... I can give a damn about glitches, AS long as i can kill them while they are cheating! But lag gets me killed in Gears more than any glitch I've ever seen!

(I can trust my friend's word, But I'm really hoping it's his Internet connection that's causing his lag problems)
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REPLOID24 - 417 days 23 hours ago
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17 - cliffy looks like a guy
that never got the girl and got crapped on as a kid. I hate his face but admit he has a good thing with Gears. I wish I had a 360 to play GeoW 2, that is the only game that draws me in.
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idontcare - 417 days 23 hours ago
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i totally agree with Cliff
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gololo - 417 days 23 hours ago
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19 -
i think beta/demos should be mandatory...games are expensive enough so people should be able to try them out (believe me, I saved myself money by trying out Haze and Too Human demos...the games were not for me)
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monkey602 - 417 days 21 hours ago
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20 -
The Resistance beta persuaded me to buy it. The COD5 beta proved I dont want it, wouldn't have bought it either way. So beta dont ruin a game on me. I still bought warhawk after playing the beta and I still want LBP.

"getting laid with some chick and then moving on." Anyone I know (including myself) always go back for more. Although we wouldnt be "players" either.

Cliffy B is not as cool as he pretends to be.
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Tarasque - 417 days 20 hours ago
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21 -
Usually when people make fun of someone it is cause they are jealous.
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mariusmal - 417 days 17 hours ago
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22 -
when i was on the cod4 beta i got so addicted that i count the days until launch. the beach can break the cherry popping factor but it generates more hype when the game is good.
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Nemphtis - 417 days 12 hours ago
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23 - True, but not the greatest choice of words.
Cliff is correct in my opinion, but his choice of words to express himself weren't the greatest. Not long left for Gears of War 2 now, so getting answers to questions like this is a little too late I think.
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