Anger over store charging to demo PSVR

[porina]

 

Quote

Consumers have complained about retailer Game's decision to charge for demos of Sony's new Playstation Virtual Reality headset.

The firm is charging £5 ($6) for 10 minutes or £15 for a half hour in-store trial.

Game has yet to comment officially, but its customer services department has told customers that the fee is refundable against headset orders.

Sony is conducting a UK-wide free demo tour.

It said the decision to charge was "at the discretion" of the retailer.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-37751428

 

I can see both sides on this. Charging will put off people who don't already have an interest, and it is those people that will grow VR more. On the other hand, it isn't easy for stores to demo either, needing enough room and likely a dedicated staff member to run and administer it. You need enough time to experience it without feeling rushed.

[The_Denks]

Certain Microsoft stores have HTC Vive demos.

They are free and last about 15 minutes, and have have a rotation of games they change out weekly,

You are given 3 random games, each last 5 minutes.

[Sakkura]

Game is shit and going bankrupt because it's shit, so it does shitty things like this.

[The_Denks]

Just now, Sakkura said:

Game is shit and going bankrupt because it's shit, so it does shitty things like this.

Agreed

[porina]

18 minutes ago, Sakkura said:

Game is shit and going bankrupt because it's shit, so it does shitty things like this.

I'm not familiar with how they operate outside the UK, but here they're pretty much the last physical video gaming dedicated store standing. The retail side of video gaming has been a struggle for a while and they haven't branched out to other areas to spread the load. There are other stores also selling video gaming related stuff too, but only as a part of their offering.

[sof006]

Ehh, my local game store didn't charge me? Yes actual GAME the one with the purple logo. 

[suicidalfranco]

someone as to pay for the buttwipes used to keep that filth magnet clean 

[Prysin]

17 minutes ago, sof006 said:

Ehh, my local game store didn't charge me? Yes actual GAME the one with the purple logo. 

oh, its probably only the GAME stores with "greedy green" logos that charge you

[unsubscribed]

I wouldn't mind it at all. There's not that much to do with VR full time anyway. At one point I was ready to pay €50 for an hour of Oculus Rift just to try it. I wouldn't mind paying €20 for 30min just once as long as I could try my own games on HTC Vive. Even better I would love to have a single day Vive rental to test it properly.

When I was growing up even consoles like PS1 were not affordable to most and kids were paying to play them in special cafes.

[Mr.Meerkat]

1 hour ago, porina said:

I'm not familiar with how they operate outside the UK, but here they're pretty much the last physical video gaming dedicated store standing. The retail side of video gaming has been a struggle for a while and they haven't branched out to other areas to spread the load. There are other stores also selling video gaming related stuff too, but only as a part of their offering.

If HMV was still around as a major video gaming store, I could see them having an absolute ass ton of VR shizzle demoing as the branch we had in Edinburgh, downstairs they had like 20 PS3/Xbox 360s that people could rent and play on  (and it was only like 1 quid per hour).

[0ld_Chicken]

I have no problem with this. Afaik there is nowhere to demo vr where I live and Ive been thinking about finding someone that would let me try it out for a few bucks.  Small price to pay when talking about an expensive new technology.

 

People will complain about anything these days... don't like it? You probably can't afford vr anyways

[Dabombinable]

Ok.....that's the same as charging for game demos. And the end result will be the same as well.

[Mira Yurizaki]

4 hours ago, 0ld_Chicken said:

I have no problem with this. Afaik there is nowhere to demo vr where I live and Ive been thinking about finding someone that would let me try it out for a few bucks.  Small price to pay when talking about an expensive new technology.

 

People will complain about anything these days... don't like it? You probably can't afford vr anyways

Then why bother having a game console there on display with playable demos?  Or why bother having free demos of electronics on display? Or you know, why bother even having a free demo of anything?

[SansVarnic]

I remember when VR was $20-$40 for 10 mins of use... that is cheap.

But then again it is a demo ...  

[crystal6tak]

Slightly off topic, I've always wondered why arcardes don't start stationing Vive's. Seems like the perfect place for them.

[MorganO]

7 hours ago, Mr.Meerkat said:

If HMV was still around as a major video gaming store, I could see them having an absolute ass ton of VR shizzle demoing as the branch we had in Edinburgh, downstairs they had like 20 PS3/Xbox 360s that people could rent and play on  (and it was only like 1 quid per hour).

They had one in Manchester so when I went to visit my dad we would go to the big hmv,  I remember playing forza horizon, then they had the financial troubles and they stopped doing it

[0ld_Chicken]

2 hours ago, M.Yurizaki said:

Then why bother having a game console there on display with playable demos?  Or why bother having free demos of electronics on display? Or you know, why bother even having a free demo of anything?

because nobody would ever pay to demo those and they know it.  Also they're likely staffing the vr demo which doesn't normally happen with most demos and would cost quite a bit.  

 

It also thins out the crowd a bit, without that and staff it would probably be a bigger cluster$#*@ of angry people

[Mira Yurizaki]

Just now, 0ld_Chicken said:

because nobody would ever pay to demo those and they know it.  Also they're likely staffing the vr demo which doesn't normally happen with most demos and would cost quite a bit.  

 

It also thins out the crowd a bit, without that and staff it would probably be a bigger cluster$#*@ of angry people

See this argument would've made sense rather than "lol poor people wouldn't buy it anyway"

[Misanthrope]

So a shitty store is shitty...You know what the great thing about stores are? You can literally walk the fuck out.

[0ld_Chicken]

8 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

See this argument would've made sense rather than "lol poor people wouldn't buy it anyway"

it was pretty well said in the OP so I didn't feel the need to repeat it

10 hours ago, porina said:

On the other hand, it isn't easy for stores to demo either, needing enough room and likely a dedicated staff member to run and administer it.

 

[Mira Yurizaki]

For a dedicated game store, sure. The space and staffing issue is a problem. But for something like Fry's or Best Buy? No. All of their home theater crap needs space to to demo and people to show them how it works. They can probably eat the money for another person on duty or just make someone from one of the lesser visited departments do double duty.

[SCHISCHKA]

sounds like a piss poor business decision. display your product and get sales. charge for people to see your display = move on to next store. if they have a problem of people trying, not buying, but buying from elsewhere; then they need to train their sales staff and provide some sort of incentive to buy on the spot

[Just Monika]

It's almost like they don't want people buying their products, or at the least they feel a bit overconfident or prideful in their product. Demos are meant to hook people into buying something on the spot after having their minds blown.

[TetraSky]

I can see where they are coming from with this.
The local gamestop had the PSVR demo'ed and the store was literally full of people waiting to try out the PSVR, nothing else. They weren't there to buy games or browse the store, they were there just to try the headset out, even the clerk behind the counter was just looking in their general direction, looking bored. I just went in the store to see what the crowd was about then I promptly left once I saw it was about the PSVR and because I felt like I was suffocating in there due to how many people were stuffed in there, surrounding that demo chair, right near the entrance.

Making people pay to try it, would result in a smaller crowd, especially if there's a specific amount of time given. Would be even better if you could make an appointment to try it out. Quite frankly, if I could pay to have a spot reserved for X time at Y hour, I would pay for it.

[Sakkura]

7 hours ago, TetraSky said:

 

Making people pay to try it, would result in a smaller crowd, especially if there's a specific amount of time given. Would be even better if you could make an appointment to try it out. Quite frankly, if I could pay to have a spot reserved for X time at Y hour, I would pay for it.

AFAIK most of the Oculus Rift demos are by appointment like that. Just for free.