Topic: Using games to advertise other games

This is something that I'm surprised isn't done more. Especially after stuff like how Dragon Quest 8 was successful in America partially for having an FF12 demo, why don't companies use popular games to sell less popular games? I mean, I'm sure there's some examples but how much better would Sin and Punishment 2 have done if it had came with a demo for...I dunno, Other M or something (you can make your own joke about this backfiring if you wish). Put a preview for the next Mario game in Pikmin 3...any idea would help.

Unfortunately, I think the line between using a bonus for a different game to help out the sales of another title can too often seem like an annoying advertising tactic, especially in iOS-type games where deceptive cashgrab tactics like these are employed all the time, that it could actually backfire on the company, especially if the consumer feels that they were led to buy a subpar product just for the bonus. It can be a successful way for publishers to build interest in new or underappreciated IPs, but its implementation often feels less than ethical.

I liked how the Lego games advertised other Lego games, but too much of that can make a person feel smothered.

Well, it has been done before with great success — Crackdown on 360 sold exceedingly well because of the attached Halo 3 beta.
Certainly a smart business idea that should be used more often.

Yeah, I love the idea. Too bad it doesn't happen more often.

My guess is that it doesn't happen for space reasons (why include a demo for x game, when we can add an image gallery, new game+, etc for the game our consumer is actually playing).

Also, now that demos can be downloaded (and the majority of systems are connected to the internet), the idea sounds a little obsolete (why should I have to buy a Mario game to play a Metroid demo, when other companies give me demos for free).

It would've helped Fortune Street or Metroid Other M.

I love the idea honestly. The megaman X8 demo in Command Mission was a wonderful bonus, especially since at the time I wasn't into RPG's as much. I guess nowadays wih demos being stand alone downloads it would seem as a cheap move to gather sales from a consumer standpoint. I wouldn't mind though. I'd definitely buy Pikmin 3, which I'm in the fence about, if it came with a demo for say, Wind Waker HD or something.

I like the idea as well, to give a more fleshed out and hands-on demo to players who would buy similar games. I know from experience that demos take a while to download and can eat up a lot of bandwidth. Maybe it's not the best idea to release a flimsy game just as a vehicle for the demo, but attaching a demo to an existing game by the same company/of the same genre or to a limited re-release would be a great idea!

In a sense, Nintendo has actually done this (well, in a different way, of course). For example, they picked Fire Emblem: the Sacred Stones as a 3DS ambassador title. I speculate that this was a strategic move on Nintendo's part - they knew that Awakening was going to be released for 3DS and wanted to expose more of the West to Fire Emblem in the form of a free GBA game in order to gain fans that would likely buy Awakening. It certainly worked for me! I never played a Fire Emblem game in my life before Sacred Stones. I had seen Marth, Roy, and Ike in Smash Bros., yes, but I never had a chance to play the actual series. Since becoming engrossed in Sacred Stones, I've purchased both Shadow Dragon and Awakening, and I'm sure many others have done the same. It's a genius strategy if it is what Nintendo was going for.

I actually liked the old PSX demo discs they used to have at Babbages/EB/GameStop... i remember that's how i fell in love with Threads of Fate, they gave me a demo disc when i purchased a different game. I wouldn't mind seeing that sort of thing again, even the demo discs popping up automatically in the same box as other games, the only thing is it seems like it'd be a waste of money/resources when they can just put any available demos on the eShop instead. it also seems a bit counter-intuitive when they've spent so much time hyping the eShops and trying to get people to use them to play those same demos (and of course do other things, like buy games lol)

Lol that reminds me of the old Official Playstation Magazine or OPM back in the PSone era. They would come with a demo disc all the time.

i remember getting demo discs in gaming mags and at EB; my kids and i would play the hell out of them. and yep: they often led to purchases. getting demos was much rarer back in the day. it probably wouldn't pay to do that nowdays, but it was fun.

I think it's pretty neat, in atv wild ride for the 3ds, on the courses you will find advertisement boards for bomb monkey/mutant muds which is made by the same developer and in crazy construction for the 3ds in shows moke moke and a few other games on advertisement boards which is made by it's developer.

The only game I remember that I bought because of playing it on the demo disc back than was a game on the PSone called Blasto which Phil Hartman did the voice of.

Oh man, I loved those things! They were called Jampack I think.

My cousin used to have a bunch of the things for PS1 (have no idea why people call it PSX, BTW). I fondly remember playing the Klonoa demo over & over again, lol.

I also got a few for the PS2, & I used to buy OXM for their 360 discs every month (which I may start doing again).

@RR529: It got the PSX name when the slim PS came out. The slim model was official called PSone so unofficial the first model Playstation was given the name PSX to tell the two apart when people talked about them.

Yeah, this is my main guess for the reason why. I dunno, they could be amusing and just have a "demo" in a game that just leads to the eShop where you can download the demo, and tell no one about it until the game comes out.

Ah, thanks for clearing that up! That's always confused me, lol.

They actually still do this from time to time. Especially Konami and Capcom.

this is the primary method of advertisement in the social game avenues, especially for free to plays. Be careful what you wish for....