we would know in a few weeks if Infamous 2 gets some good numbers above whats expected beause of the free give away of infamous 2. I wouldn't be suprized if little big planet 2 sales increase in 1 months time. 

While this is Sony's "welcome back" its clear that these games were choosen for an reason, to sell more of there sequels. Nothing more evident for this to occur for is Infamous 2. If sales are to be higher then expected should this type of free give away of previous installments be an good sales tactic to sell more of the sequel?

In most cases the previous installment usally gets an boost when the sequel is heading towards release but since that game has been heavily marked down anyways so publishers might as well just freely give it away on the many Digital platforms that make it possible for no price at all with DD holders will differently accept free content to attach new possible customers to there store. 

An example of an publisher should release for free there previous installment to hype up and most likely increase sales is Edios with Deus Ex. The game is old and is an classic title that was released way ahead of its time, containing gameplay that is absent from the current FPS genre this generation. if they are to release that game for free up until Deus Ex human revloution release then not only would it get new people to the franchise an go at its roots it would draw in alot from the FPS crowd looking for that unique expereince like no other. But then that could sure back fire if Human revolution is to fail like invisible war in living up to the gem in the series. 

One more title that could greatly improve sales is BF2, that would get everyone playing BF2 again right up to BF3 who would buy on mass. But then that would undermine the reason to play BF4F. 

anyways discuss. 

Yes.

Give me more free games in hopes that I will buy the sequel.

I am all for this plan.

That's probably the idea, but I dunno how well it will work.

I guess the best way to figure this out is to determine if the money generated by the increase in the sales of the sequel outweigh the increased sales of the previous title/titles. Then again, it would be a great way to build a fan base for that series...Perhaps there is no correct answer?

More like the other way around.Why is it that the two major games released for free, have sequels either out, or coming within a week or two? Do you think this is merely coincidence?

Improve...? Yes.

Greatly improve? Probably not.

Should they do this more often? Yeah.

Everyone who wants Infamous enough to buy it likely already has.

So getting it for free should produce sales.

The likely very few $10 or $15 sales you would of made, or even more likely used game sales, would be outweighed by a 30-60 purchases of the new versions.

It's a measured effect that's been shown with studies on piracy. Hence why piracy studies rarely are able to find any damage and sometimes even show positive benefit.

See Valve when they released Portal 1 for free.

Well, it worked on me at least. I liked the few hours I've played of Infamous so far, so I'm pretty sure I'll buy the sequel once I finish it.

Splash Damage got me like that as well. They released Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory for free (though as I understand it it was only released for free because the single-player portion was canceled and Activision didn't think they could sell a multi-player only expansion), and that got me to buy their next games (ETQW and Brink).

Hypothetically speaking, yes as people will get part 1 and want part 2.