On Game Demos
Why game demos still play an important part in an era of affordable games.
Introduction
If you grew up during the pre-Steam era, a reliable way to try out new games was the cover disc that came with your monthly gaming magazine. That single CD-ROM (later, DVD-ROMs) would contain game trailers, random applications and utilities, and of course, what mattered to any youngster, game installers.
And the games varied. Usually, there would be a demo version of the game featured on the magazine cover, and a handful of others, presumably as consolation prizes. To fill up the remaining space, they would include freeware and shareware games as well.
For any homebound individual with a computer, these installers would give you several hours of entertainment, if your computer has sufficient processing power to run them. And for the price of a magazine, you would have the games sent directly to you, cutting the effort and danger of finding games online. You didn’t run the risk of stumbling onto any dubious websites and accidentally downloading any malware-infested games. An action, which, if you did, would result in a tongue-lashing from your parents and being barred from using the computer.
The importance of demos did not hit me until recently, if not for three reasons.
Until recently, I would try out games by downloading a repacked version. Having a full game for free allowed me to determine its merits before buying the retail version. But when I upgraded to the latest version of Windows Defender politely denied my attempts to do so. While most people would ignore the message and expose their computers to malware (so they may continue in their illicit ways), I simply stopped justifying that there might be other ways to try out new games. The other was my resurgent interest in indie games, where two shooters, Zortch and ADACA, had piqued my interest. Both were throwbacks to shooters of the early millennium, updated for a modern audience. Pertinent to this topic was the fact that the developers included a demo on their Steam page for me to try out. After trying these games out and being impressed by their quality, I purchased them.
The final reason was the inverse. I was interested in World Of Horror — like anyone else — a Lovecraftian horror game with 1-bit graphics sounded like a surefire winner. But on both the Steam and itch.io pages, the demo version was missing — only the retail version was available. It was with a little searching that I was able to unearth a link from a far-flung website that hosted the demo. But after trying it out, I soon realized, to my own disappointment, that I didn’t enjoy it.
It was the last point that the realization fully hit me: When was the last time I played a demo version? Having been spoiled by discounted and repackaged games, the idea of trying out a demo seemed quaint by now. Who would want to play something that has three to five levels when you can try out the whole package before making a purchase?
The Problem With Not Having Game Demos
So, I did what was admittedly a rather random test. I decided to look for the demo versions for all three versions that made up Faith: The Unholy Trinity. For the unfamiliar, Faith is a game where you play a priest fighting a cult made to look like an 8-bit game. After watching a few gameplay videos on YouTube, I decided to try them out, only to find the demo version removed from their respective itch.io pages. I then looked for any alternative websites that might still host them. This undertaking, which yielded the first two games but not the third, took me half an hour at most.
However, I feel this is a sign of a common trend among game publishers nowadays. To save time and effort, game studios prefer to concentrate on developing the full version so that it can be shipped out in time. While larger studios can afford the time and manpower needed to develop one, they decided to forgo it out of fear that a bad demo could sour potential customers to the game. And if they keep customers’ expectations high by teasing them with gameplay footage and promises of additional goodies, customers might be enticed into pre-ordering the game before the official release, plus more after the full version comes out. Also, there are easier ways to get attention to your game. You can, for instance, get an influencer or a popular Let’s Player to make a video of themselves playing the game, get the public’s interest up, and once it is spread far and wide, you’ll have a large customer base, eager to purchase it.
Those that are a little more generous would have a demo version to be released for a limited time period. In most cases, this would be during Steam’s Next Fest in February each year. During this month, developers showcase their products, usually with a stream and a demo version of their game, in the hopes of attracting potential customers. However, once the month is over, most of these demos will be locked out, with either a request to put their products on a wishlist until their release or only the full version being made available outright.
These developments are, in my opinion, consumer-unfriendly. For most products, a customer is allowed to try out a product before making a purchase. During this period, they would see if the product is to their liking, if it matches their preferences, and even get suggestions from a sales clerk for something that might suit them better. Only once the customer determines that the product is to their liking will a transaction take place.
Even if they allow refunds for dissatisfied customers, the fact remains that a customer should be allowed to try out a product before purchasing it. While this might be doable for a game that costs less than twenty ringgit, it’s annoying for a game that costs twenty to and above, but insulting for anything that costs a hundred and more.
Importance Of Game Demos
There are several reasons why game demos should not only be readily available but also widely distributed and archived. The first reason, as repeated multiple times throughout this essay, was to allow customers to try it out before purchasing. Games are — even if you try to twist how it is the most important form of creative expression — still entertainment products. Like what our parents had said before, we can live without them. Sure, you might miss out on the fun of discovering the worlds created by From Software, but if they expect us to pay two hundred ringgit for a game that I may not like, I’d rather keep my money.
Of course, some argue that’s why we have reviewers. People who play these games and highlight the game’s strengths and weaknesses before giving their final verdict. In most cases, if they say a game is good, it usually is. However, we tend to overlook that they have preferences and skills that are different from ours. A reviewer with an interest in RPGs would probably be familiar with the genre’s mechanics and can breeze through it. What if you, a player up until recently who had been playing nothing but shooters, are interested in branching out into a game in an unfamiliar genre hyped by a reviewer?
What would be the more appealing option — bumbling around in the free version and deciding it’s not your scene, or paying full price, stumbling all over the game world before realizing that you didn’t like it?
Another reason, one that gets overlooked, is for archival purposes. Of course, in this case, most people would prefer the whole product as they would be able to open it up, disassemble it to understand how it works, and, from there, figure out a solution to ensure that it would be supported for future systems.
But what if the full version couldn’t be archived? Games have been lost to time, either through copyright issues, intellectual property limbo and disks failing over time. Or more commonly nowadays, being pulled off from a service after support ended. In that case, a demo version, even if just a consolation prize, would help. Instead of only having screenshots and footage of what remains of the game, the demo version does serve as proof that an executable game does exist in some form.
Even if the full version is available, archiving the demo version has its benefits. Like if it offered an experience different from the base game, like what Half-Life:Uplink or Half-Life 2: Lost Coast did, keeping the demo versions around allows future players to experience it for themselves, and see what the fuss was all about.
Plus, they also act as a time capsule on how software was developed over time. One can see how, back in the early 90s, after the trial version was over, there would be a full screen enticing players on the fun they would have with the full version, with further information on how to order, usually by mail order or phone. Games from the late 90s to the early 2000’s would direct you to their website instead, showing the technological progress and how commerce could change within a short period of time.
And only if the demo version of a game survives, it can still inspire other games. Take the much-loved PT demo, for example. A long-awaited follow up to the Silent Hill franchise, its unique design, where you have to explore a looping hallway and try to escape, along with an emphasis on environmental storytelling, made it a classic, before it was pulled out from the storefront due to a disagreement. Despite its short existence, the unique gameplay experience helped inspire a slew of new independent horror games. Even when most of them were derivative, games like Madison and Visage that took their inspiration properly and managed to insert their own elements into it; even if it was identifiable as a PT clone, they were able to stand up on their own merits. (Ironically, these games don’t have a demo version.)
Conclusion
I’d argue, then, that in our current age of a near-endless stream of affordable, and even free, games, the game demo still plays an important part. It lets potential customers see if a much-hyped triple AAA game or a one-man indie game is worth purchasing and try out new genres and experiences for free.
Before trying out a new game, see if they have a demo version before buying it. If there isn’t, try asking the developer if they have a demo version of their game ready. If you can obtain one, make copies of it and share it around, maybe to friends, file-sharing services and websites to keep game demos alive, not just for us, but for future generations as well.
This article was brought to you by suburbanerrorist of Sundry Scribes, a Malaysian writing collective. Interested? Our Discord is open to writers and readers alike.
Sources
What happened to the video game demo? (entertainment.ie)
Spec Ops: The Line permanently removed from Steam and other digital stores — The Verge
PSA: Yes, Your DS And 3DS Cartridges Will Eventually Deteriorate, But Don’t Panic | Nintendo Life
Konami pulls P.T. from PlayStation Store, no longer available for re-download (update) — Polygon
Horror Game MADiSON Has Serious PT, Silent Hill Vibes (gamerant.com)
Visage Devs Speak About P.T. Influence, Game Length, and More (ign.com)
