Japanese fighting games typically rely on location-testing for player feedback. In Japan, where arcades still enjoy a certain amount of popularity, location-tests are crucial to fighters, and everything from Street Fighter IV to Persona 4: Arena undergoes them in order for the developers to be able to make the necessary balance changes and tweaks before release.
The downside to this is that location-test feedback can sometimes be limited to Japanese players or to an extremely enthusiast audience at other special events, maybe leaving more casual fans out in the cold. That’s why, it’s interesting to see Team Ninja using a worldwide demo for Dead or Alive 5 that you can play at your own leisure as a means to gather feedback from players.
Depending on which version of Ninja Gaiden 3 you buy—Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3—you can access one of two Dead or Alive 5 demos, with two playable characters. If you happened to buy the collectors edition of Ninja Gaiden 3 for either platform, you’ll get access to a premium demo with four characters playable. Once you’ve sunk your teeth into the demo, you can send Team Ninja feedback, if you’re so inclined.
This is being done via a survey page that they’ve set up on Dead or Alive 5’s official website. The survey asks a few basic questions like which version of the demo you played, whether you have past experience with Dead or Alive or not, how you would rate the demo’s character design, stage design, music and controls, and then gives you a text box to fill up with any other thoughts you may have.
The survey page will remain open until April 30th, giving players that care over a month to get acquainted with the demo and then send in their thoughts. Even taking into account the Ninja Gaiden 3-exclusivity, this is a nice move that you don’t see with a lot of other high-profile fighting games. Normally, they either don’t have demos in the first place, or, as in the case of Dead or Alive 4, a demo is only made available months after the release of the full product.
