When I was a kid, playing the demos contained on magazine discs, or in other games themselves was a thrill I had to have. There was nothing like buying a brand new copy of Playstation Magazine and feasting on the one playable level goodies inside. Hours were spent playing one level of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 with friends, boasting about how we’d accomplished tricks reaching 10,000 points. I remember playing the shareware version of Quake in awe, scared of the scene on the spiral bridge where the lights turn off, but you can still hear the grunts of your concealed enemies. I remember the glee I had when it turned out there was a full demo of Spyro The Dragon 2 concealed on my copy of Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, and played it almost as much as the actual game the disc was marketed as.
I treated demos not only like the trailer for the game it was intended, but as actual games. They provided variety when one couldn’t afford to buy lots of games, and when they weren’t readily available at our fingertips. Over time demo discs have stood the test of time, but I have to admit, lack the appeal that they used to. Nowadays they’re packed with full freeware games, mods for games you may already have, reviews, videos, and even more. Despite this, I’m finding I’ve grown less and less interested. I attribute this partly to the cheapness and availability of games online nowadays (I picked up Left 4 Dead on special for $7.50, and I gifted someone the original Aliens Vs Predators for $5), which means it’s not such a hassle if I buy a game and don’t like it. Demos were meant like movie trailers, in that they are meant to give us a taste of the game, to entice us to buy it by seeing how good it is. With prices being so low when purchased through Steam and the like, I’ve stopped looking at them.
This isn’t to say they don’t have a place in today’s world though. I did buy a copy of one of the many Xbox 360 magazines around, and it came with a demo for Ghostbusters, and Splosion Man. The single level of Ghostbusters was quite stunning, and if it weren’t for the fact that the game is a little expensive, I’d probably own it (the fact it’s single player is a bit of a downer too). Splosion Man looks like an addictive side scroller too, and the only thing stopping me getting that is an Xbox Live account.
What’s your standing in the world of demos? Do you play them still? Do you buy magazines with them still? I’m curious.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I know what you’re saying. I remember back when the PS1 came out, I spent hours playing with a demo disk that wasn’t even a game, but more like a graphics boaster…it was the T-Rex thing on one of the demos (they also had a mantra ray as well) and I would zoom around him, in and out, make him run/walk and roar. It was awesome.
I think it may be the fact that times and technology have changed significantly really. Now we have more access to the internet and stuff. I remember if I wanted a walk-through, bloody hell, I’d have to wait til a magazine came out with it!!! Once, my brother was allowed to photocopy the whole poke-dex from a magazine (he knew the store owners, mind you) for me. I kept that for years.
I think demo disks now-a-days are a bit different; A while ago at a friends place they had the demo for GT5 and were loving it, but I think that may have been a downloaded one to the PS3…which brings me back to my main point about technologies changing and more access to other things as you also mentioned. We have more ways to get information these days so Gaming mags and those demo disks seem to be a bit obsolete now, compared to back when we didn’t really have access to all the information we have now.
nowadays i just buy what my friends are playing, or watch youtube for video reviews.
and if were to play a demo id download it but some are as big as the games themselves :S played quite a few demos on xbox360 arcade tho! but where only small casual games.