I appreciate that you guys thought highly enough of my comment to completely disregard the OP, but let's get a little serious. Is cheap game prices an exxcuse or lack of demos? No. Are demos an excuse for high game prices? No. they are both equally horrible arguements. Demos available is great for gathering feedback to improve a game. Basically it amounts to free beta-testing (which in fact is usually either free or a sunk cost and is irrelevent). It also causes people to create preconcieved notions of a game that in many cases is not completely finished. This is bad for developers because a big flaw in a demo will hurt overall sales.
Not having demos is a pain to consumers because they really really want to try out a game, but can't. They also want to know that they'll like a game before they buy it, and playing a demo at least gives a bit of an idea of what to expect. This is great for consumers. When this isn't available a consumer is a little more cautious when making a purchase. To counteract this, lower the price (since you haven't spent the money on distributing a demo) and make it less of a leap of faith for consumers.
In the case of SMG it makes little to no sense to release a demo. Without a demo it's going to ake hotcakes jealous. I've seen a post of one guy who wanted help deciding if he should trade in his PS3 or his 360 in order to have money to purchase a Wii for this game. This is beyond a System Seller! This is a System Seller Seller!! A demo would have little to no effect on the overall sales since everyone and their dog are waiting axiously for the release.
The relevancy of demos is a different topic. The way the systems handle demos is an issue because it relates back to the system. Demos (I think) are icing on the cake. Icing that I have gotten along fine without for the past 10 years. I don't miss something I never had. I'd gladly trade demos for 1/6th (at least) off of the full game. It's apples and oranges, but Demos leave me frustrated that I get into a game that I won't be able to finish.
P.S. I know that demos drawing you in is a great marketing tool, but it has caused me to either avoid the demo or only play the demo and never get the real game. Consumers react differently.
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