Especially if you were a young adolescent in the late 90's-early 2000's, you had no income, and therefore little likelihood of any new games, Demo Discs were a treasure trove of possibility and gameplay. And we've lost something, I think, now that these samplers are an artifact of gaming's past. We play our games differently, both what we play and how, and I wonder if we've made it harder for smaller studios to get their games noticed when in this last generation of consoles, even my collection, is marked by a dearth of 2nd and 3rd party developers and case after case is marked by the title of some mega-conglomerate's flagship series. Have we really lost that much?
Or is gaming just fine without them? Surely there are experiences I've had with previous consoles that just don't happen--or maybe they don't happen as easily anymore.
In light of this I want to take a few moments to look back at some of the (my) best and most fun experiences with demo samplers, not so much a top hits list, but merely some of my former-favorite-video-game-title-test-discs. Here are the ones I gladly played and replayed, the new genres and games they introduced me to, and the full games I sought out because of them:
The Bests of the Tests:
Sega Saturn Bootleg Sampler
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| Wow, those graphics are so...so, ok. |
Most Played Demos
- Bug!
- Clockwork Knight II
- Sega Rally Championship
Full Games Bought:
I was never really able to get Bug! like I wanted, but somehow Sega Rally made its way into my collection of Saturn Games
Bug! sampler
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| “Full games! HA! You could never afford it kid. Play me instead.” |
Playstation Underground Jampack '98
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| “I will get you addicted to golf games. Trust me” |
I don't know the exact time of year this disc was released, but this was a gem. Nearly every single demo on it was awesome, and warranted many, many replays, and up until Sony made Tomba! (what's with games and exclamation points back then?) available on the PSN, aside from forking out ridiculous wads of cash, this was one of the only ways for a young fella or lady to play the addicting little adventure game.
My most surprising little pleasure? Why Hot Shots Golf of course! Who would have thought that? Probably played that demo more than I played the actual game...
Most Played Demos
- Hot Shots Golf
- Tomba!
- Gran Turismo
- Tekken 3
- Test Drive 5
- Tail Concerto (An untranslated, Japanese version)
- Hot Shots Golf
- Tekken 3
- Gran Turismo
Playstation Underground Jampack Winter '99
Another good Playstation sampler. What we have here was a taunting little taster for a greedy lil' high school freshman. This disc packed a plethora of titles I wanted, including another iteration, though not as good, of Tomba!. The developer video of Jet Moto 3 was also another tasty tidbit I was sure to add to my PSone library.
Most Played Demos
- Sled Storm
- Gran Turismo 2
- Thrasher Skate and Destroy
- Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return
- Toy Story 2
- Cool Boarders 4
- Spyro 2
Games Purchased
- Cool Boarders 4
- Jet Moto 3
- Spyro 2
- Gran Turismo 2
- Thrasher Skate and Destroy
Playstation Magazine issue 55
The transition to the PS2 was no less exciting as far as sampler discs go. What we had here was one of the first tastes of what the PS2 had to offer. Exciting. Nothing groundbreaking or truly exciting, but it's inclusion on this list is because the first foray into a system is usually memorable, and the PS2, I think is safe to say, is just that.
Although, the “open-worldness” of Drakan, being able to fly freely about on the back of a dragon, was something that I don't think would have been quite so charming on the PSone.
Although, the “open-worldness” of Drakan, being able to fly freely about on the back of a dragon, was something that I don't think would have been quite so charming on the PSone.
Most Played Demos
- Drakan: The Ancients' Gates
- Airblade
- Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarder
- Maximo
What I Purchased
- Drakan
- Airblade
(Maximo...still need to get that one.)
PS Underground Jampack: Summer 2001
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| Yeah, you know I want only one thing from you... |
Another disc of launch/early PS2 titles. This disc was sought out for pretty much one thing: Final Fantasy X. And let's say the next-gen FF was every bit as tantalizing as I'd hoped it would be, with crisper graphics, a dynamic battle system, voiced characters, and epic, higher frame-rate cut scenes. Yes, I would have to say that then, this disc was well worth that $7.99 price tag til you could save up the $50 or so for the full game.
But, what this disc really had in store for me was a little gem called Ico, ever heard of it? The title kind of flew in under the radar for me, but once I did give it a go...I loved it. The minimalist approach seemed so intriguing (especially compared to a FF), yet it seemed to lose none of potency of a game or a narrative. If only I knew then what else Team Ico would do to me...
Most Played Demos
- Final Fantasy X
- Ico
- Cool Boarders 2001
What I Purchased
- Final Fantasy X
- Ico
Playstation Magazine issue 97
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| Be moved, be very moved. |
Although it was released on a slew of demo discs, the Shadow of the Colossus demo hit me like the heavy fist of....a colossus. That first trek across the Forbidden Land into the first colossus's lair, the surprise, and near shock, of seeing its gigantic hoof first stride across your (entire) screen; game experiences like this don't come around that often. I remember putting the controller in other people's hands and booting the demo up for them. "Here try this game out." What is it? "Just try it, it's cool." It was all just a chance to see the look on their face as the first colossus showed up. Holy crap, I'm supposed to fight that? They would say incredulously. So good.
The Last Guardian, I'm still waiting for you, but I'm sure I'd play your demo just as many times as I played SotC's.
Most Played Demo and Game Purchased
- Shadow of the Colossus (that's it)
Playstation Magazine issue 91
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| Something's crouching in here, and will strike at you unawares. |
One of the last hurrahs I've had with a demo disc, and that's been about ten years now. Like the SotC demo, this sampler accompanied with issue 91 of PSM had only one game that caught my fancy. And it was a game I would not have likely tried out it if it weren't for playing the sampler version: Tenchu: Fatal Shadows.
The stealth-action gameplay was one that I found surprisingly addicting and found myself playing and replaying the demo many times just trying to master those stealth kills. I had the level down to a science, and was able to breeze through it once I played it in the full game.
Most Played Demo and Game Purchased
- Tenchu: Fatal Shadows
Most wanted:
Playstation Magazine issue 75
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| The Missing Link? Or just an obscure bit of FF paraphernalia? |
Never obtained, but always wanted, I sought this disc because of its inclusion of the interlogue between FFX and FFX-2: Eternal Calm, you know, something every die-hard FF fan would think he needs. I don't know what other samples the disc has to offer, but my interest in the disc waned after playing, and being somewhat disappointed by X-2. Now with prolific uploads to Youtube the need for the disc is moot, as well as its inclusion with the HD re-releases coming up. Still, that Amano artwork on the disc might make it worth owning alone.
Evil Demo Disc of Doom:
PS2 Holiday 2004
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| Don't play this Demo Disc, just don't...in fact snap it in two and throw it away. |
Easily the worst experience I've had with a demo disc, this little imp contains a major glitch that will piss you off Christmas-Vacation-style before leaving you whimpering like a little baby panda. A little casual stroll through all of the disc's selections (particularly the Viewtiful Joe 2 demo) will initiate oh, you know, just a quick little format of your entire memory card. WTF!
Yes, it happened to me, and while I promptly emailed Sony a very angry letter, the month-or-so-later response I received was not followed up as I had already regained most of my game saves, and my impetus to pursue the subject had all but gone. However, my memory card still bears the scars of that incident. I never went back and re-beat FFX, and my enthusiasm to finish X-2 was zapped away, as I had been halfway through the game, and I felt I had better games to spend my time on rather than replaying the massage mini-game.
So, demo discs are gone now. No more. Unneeded. True, in a medium so inherently marked by the change of technology, gaming must adapt or die; the internet was the next step of attaining our four button media, giving us near unlimited choice as to what games we might fancy to download and of course sample. But what have you sampled lately? What demo's have you downloaded and truly surprised yourself at enjoying? Or have you played like me? In your growing adulthood, finding less time for games, narrowing your selections to the genres that truly capture your imagination, waiting for just those “Top Hits”, and eschewing the rest? For myself, I haven't rightly purchased a game that has been outside the Action-adventure/RPG genre in years. Maybe I'll go carouse the Xbox Marketplace right now, go see what other kinds of demos are out there, widen my selection. It's as if the waiter no longer brings you a plate of appetizers to your video game plate unasked, but, if you do ask, you'll get a big bowl of tortilla chips and salsa, all you can eat. You just have to ask.
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