The F.E.A.R. SP Demo was released a month ago, and F.E.A.R. comes out on 10/18.
I predict within this week.
Edit:
My reasoning is this -- F.E.A.R. is another high-end, high-profile PC game that is slated for release within a week of Age of Empires III. Those two will logically be the best-selling PC games within that release bracket. F.E.A.R. has gotten more exposure than Age III. Since their demo is already out, I would see MS releasing the Age demo now to at least gain some more exposure.
People right now (not hard-core Agers) could be going, "Man, I've played the F.E.A.R. demo. I want that!" and someone like us goes, "What about Age 3?" And they'd say,
"Well I haven't tried that yet."
Edit-edit:
Online demo equals more preorders. The longer it's out, the longer people are downloading it and telling their friends how great it is, preordering on a whim. Then their friends tell their friends. Take a lesson from the fact that every hands-on preview has been glistening with praise. People love this game when they play it. MS has everything to lose by keeping the demo under wraps too long.
Get your buyer's remorse early [This message has been edited by BoloBouncer (edited 09-06-2005 @ 05:16 PM).]