The Lost Value of Demos

Last night after a few glasses of whiskey and some political discussion, my friend Dan watched me play through a few demos of Xbox Live indie games. While we sat playing such great games like "KGB The Agent," we began discussing the value of demos. Back in the day (and I mean like 6 years ago), a demo disk was a great item to obtain. While generally the games weren't great or satisfying in their short form, free games were free games and something about that was welcomed with open arms. However, that feeling has slowly faded. Not just for my friends (I download demos on their consoles whenever I get a chance, even if they don't want them), but also for myself. My experience with game demos is a bit unique. When I was a lowly middle-schooler, I bought a Sega Dreamcast and had no money to buy a game following the purchase of the console. So for a few months, all I had was my free demo disk that came with the machine (included games: Sonic Adventure, Powerstone, Ready to Rumble, some racing game, House of the Dead 2, and Sega Bass Fishing). To say the least, it sucked to only have five or so games... but I appreciated it. Today is different. With the internet, gamers have unfettered access to hundreds of demos. We take for granted the fact that a new gaming experience and new content is just a minute away for no cost. When I was 13, I would have loved that... especially in the absence of the ability to purchase a real game. So why don't we really care about demos anymore? Maybe the games we own are just that much better. Maybe we're different in that as adults, we can buy games we want to play rather than wait for Christmas or a birthday. Either way, I feel as if demos are on the way out.