It isn`t just about casuals and non-gamers. Everyone can have a "bad" experience when trying out an incomplete demo or even just be unimpressed from it and put the game aside, mentally.

The demo might just be missing that thing that makes the game shine at that time and instead of catching the attention of 10 people, it will only get 8, for example. It`s still a loss. One that companies always try to avoid. That`s why trailers always try to show the best in the game, try to be enticing.

Imagine for a minute that the praised Aliens demo was in fact the final build. Do you think people would have praised that much?

I do understand where you're comming from, but you have to look at it from their point of view. Nintendo isn't going to make much money selling games to 2 million people. That's why they need to grow that install base asap. To do so, they're gonna have to focus more on the billions of potential buyers rather than the 2 million Wii U owners, especially when many of those 2 million are likely to buy Nintendo games anyway. I believe NSMBU has a pretty high attach rate afterall.

Sure they could do both Best Buy n eShop demos, but they already spent much time n resources on something that wont give them anything back, not immediately anyway. Plus having current Wii U owners go to the Best Buy demos with everyone else may help spread word of mouth more since they're knowledgeable about the system and can inform other people there (a stretch I know :L). And again, some of these games will have eShop demos around their release date. No need to spend time n resources making downloadable demos twice when there's better things they could be doing with em.

There's also the possibility of people getting burned out on the demos. This is where you like a demo a lot n want to get the full game, but can't since it's not out yet, so you keep playing the demo over n over until eventually you get tired of it. This is likely why downloadable demos generally release around the full game's launch, so you can pick it up if you liked it's demo. Oh, and whenever I say bet, I don't mean literally. :P

I will answer you question by asking you questions! Muhahaha!

:D

Don`t think i have ever played an earky demo or know anyone who has.
True, but in terms of a potential gamer, if the demo unimpresses right away then the damage is done. Imagine that the final game could be more impressive.
When companies put out a product they try to show the best side of it because if that doesn`t sell nothing will. But at least you tried your best.

One example comes to mind.
Remember the early demo of Wave Race 64? Look how the final game turned out: everything seemed to be and play different.
If the average gamer played it they could look at the final game and say: "oh, they this and that", yet they could end up feeling that the same experiment would still be there.

We really don't know how people will react since nothing of this scale has been done before, but I think it's safe to say the immediate feed back will be very positive. By the time the games come out, they may have forgotten all the details of the demo, only remembering that they had fun with them, so even if the final product is significantly different, as long as they have fun with it then there's nothing to complain about. Also a demo can unimpress simply because that game is not meant for that particular player. For example, they could make the absolute best racing simulator that blows every other game out of the water and revolutionizes the industry, yet I still wouldn't like it hehe. And likewise they wont throw out a demo unless it's good enough to be put out there, atleast I'd hope so.

I was only 5 years old or so during the time of N64, so never heard of anything like that. Did anyone rage over Wave Race 64?

Yes, of course. Just saying what seems reasonable to me, too.

If the genre in the demo doesn`t please people, doesn`t really matter if the demo is the best or the worst ever. It`s about the potential gamer that could be unimpressed or simply not impressed as it could have been if the demo was made of the final build.
Not everyone is going to follow online or in magazines or read reports about every game. Sometimes people just see a video, some pictures or read some comments and if that exposure doesn`t hit them, they will keep overlooking it because nothing there cought that person`s attention at that time.

That`s what i was talking about. Sony and MS might do this or not considering the state of the demos. Even if they are good enough and require little changes they might choose to add something behind them to make them more attractive, like a road show. I have played some demos in stores and playing them in private events like road shows makes all the difference.

I don`t think anyone was mad about the change - which end up being for the best, i believe.
But significant changes can occur, as you see and it`s a big risk to expose potential customers to an unfinished product.

^I would say the benefits outweigh the risk. Better to at the very least get a few additional potential buyers than none at all, especially in a Wii U situation which for all we know PS4/X1 could end up in aswell.

Nice to see all the options getting atleast a little bit of love. Figured Mario, Smash, n Kart would be the top three, though I had thought it'd be a close race between all three, not just Mario n Smash. Also, I wonder what games those who voted "other" would like to play.