Ah...well...sorry folks. It'll be up today though. I'll update the thread when it's live I guess.

Why would Valve cut the demo for a game they're trying to market?

Maybe there is a more than a hint of truth about demos stealing sales. Or maybe they'll just leave the single player mode open to showcase the title without giving away the real substance of the game, which is the multi-player team mode. Although they're still giving that away with Zombie Panic!, just without the plot and characters.

Not sure I agree with that entirely since I pre-ordered the game through Steam after playing it, even though the demo didn't exactly scream "best FPS of the 2008 holiday season." Just very solid technically, and very fun to play, which is really all that a game needs to hit the mark.

Either way, the demo's been working since the 6th. The only demo I can't get to play on Steam is Tomb Raider Underworld for some reason.

@greenmedic - Pre-orderers got the demo early. All us bums have to wait 'till today.

Ah. See, I don't fully agree with that policy either (the "exclusive demo" for buying before trying). Sort of putting the cart before the horse.

Are you sure? I could have sworn I downloaded the demo first and then paid for the game.

Either way, I'm still pretty much of the belief that demos are straight marketing material; I don't see the point in the "sneak preview" approach unless Valve is really dedicated to rewarding their supporters who buy their stuff without even trying it first.

Wait so the public demo is today? What was the one that came out last week (that I looked for on the 360 market place and wasn't available)? Was that a top secret demo or what?

Apparently yes; it was some sort of super-duper double secret probation demo only visible/available to select users.

I thought it was an open demo. And on XBL, open to "gold members" last week.

Steam's price for this game is so much more than Amazon.co.uk's...

£33.86 from Steam

£19.99 from Amazon...

The demo doesn't install for me either, just refreshes the page.

just tried, doesn't work

Fixed!

And yeah, amazing game.  I have been staying away from the demo just because I don't want to risk it getting old but damn the game is so amazing.  I can't wait until the 18th.

That's the one bad thing about Steam; they rarely offer anything better than MSRP on new games. That's probably what keeps them so profitable in addition to eliminating traditional distro channels as a distributor of games.

Even Orange Box, a year old title, is typically available for less through retail than it is through Steam, which is funny in a non-humor kind of way.

In the US, Amazon is only offering the same 10% discount at $45.