It is after all.... only a demo

Dang holy cow is this demo getting slammed.  But then again, people are more likely to voice complaints than praise about any given topic.  The people who don't like it will post about it,  the peopl who do like it will be busy playing it.  I think since there IS an open world where noone is holding your hand and telling you what to do, where to go, and what goal to accomplish most gamers are kind of dumb-founded.  What to do now?  Wheres all the high speed racing?  And since it IS only a demo,  with only one race where you're actually competing against other cars, and on top of that a whole bunch of space where there isn't alot of structure or direction, people are assuming thats what the whole game is going to be like.  Just pull up the map in the demo!  Look at the intersections, every one is marked with different colors, even I can make the leap here and assume there is going to be alot more to do than just crash through signs (which I could care less for anyways) and it will be very easy to get something going.  Since theres only one race in the demo and all that open space people are getting dis-heartened.  Compare this demo to alot of other demos, they really did give us alot more with this one.  And by the way, did the Revenge demo really honestly cook that fast?  Was it comparable to the full game Revenge Racer style?  Even though I do appeciate this demo, I think it might have been better recieved if they had offered less to do in the demo?  Does that make sense?  It might be too much of a transition?  I think with this demo they wanted to show off alot of the new stuff / gadgets / toys for the game,  we already know how to race right?  If the demo had been centered around some other aspect of the game people would be complaining about   "Wheres this open world everyones been talking about? What a bunch of crap! we want to see this freeburn with friends thing they were talking about"  No matter whats in a demo, people will complain.

And I really wish people could use their imaginations a little bit.  The 8 car race in the demo is what we'll be able to do with our friends,  and it will be fun, and much faster.  Check the stats on the car for the demo before you select it.... SPEED = 2/10,  BOOST = 1/10,  STRENGTH = 5/10.  I hope not too many people base their opinions of the handling, feel, and essence of Paradise off of just one car in the game (probably one of the slowest ones by the way).

They are really kicking the crap out of this on the xbox forums and I can understand how alot of long time fans are not jumping for joy after the demo,  nobodys handing the next race event to them.  But everyone is entitled to their own opinion and alot of people have been long time hardcore fans of the series.  This is ALOT different for a Burnout game.  I believe some haven't even tried the race and might think racing will be alot less prevalent in Paradise.  Its just a demo!  One race that you can't go at with friends like you'll be able to do in the full game.  Plus the demo shows off alot more extras that might be throwing people off.  Just cuz the Billboards are there doesn't mean anyones going to make you jump through them.  I've gotten to the point of just going into a private chat with a friend, both of us load up the demo and don't join up, then I direct them to the race and the (burning lap?).  I'll point out a few things like how the car flips the turn signals/blinkers during a race for a good turn to take,  the street signs move towards the center of the screen to show how close the next intersection is coming up,  the street signs flash with the blinkers on the car for the turns,  you have a compass that shows where the next point is.  If you go into freeburn right away most people miss that stuff and think the game is the worst setup in history.  After they've seen those and we hook up in freeburn everyone of them have liked it.  The friends of mine that jump right into online sessions don't like it cuz random people pop into the game and haven't figured out how to filter them, or they don't know what to do so they miss alot of it and wind up driving around aimlessly, doing bull fight impressions with their e-brakes.

I'm not writing any of this to upset anyone who didn't like the demo.  I can understand how people are not overly impressed with it.  I think its good for people to voice their opinions on things, if they agree with the subject or not.  And alot of the most vocal people have been long time fans of the series and have every right to voice their opinion.  I'm just trying to say to the people who are not happy about it, Its just a demo, its only a taste, there is alot more out there.  Just trying to give them a reason not to feel let down because the game isn't here yet.

On the flip side, I'm looking forward to getting on there, cracking a beer and rolling around with my friends and seeing how much trouble I can cause.