What is a demo?
A demo is a minimal version of a video game, which is provided to potential buyers who want to test the game before purchasing it. The demo usually only contains a short portion of the game, and is in most cases several megabytes in size. A demo is often a trial version of a video game. On XBox 360, it is also called a "demo disc".
Background
Demos are offered as a convenience to video game fans. They are used by developers to test game releases before they are released for sale. The goal of a demo is to entice the consumer to buy the full version. The demo, with its reduced size, is distributed on a CD, DVD, or other storage media, or to be downloaded on a computer. Demos are usually made available in retail stores for the consoles, and digitally for the PC. For the game to be released, it is given the official "full release" title. A demo can be either a standalone product or part of a full version, often the first part of a game; a demo with an official title is the most common case. In addition to being a useful means of testing the game's playability and graphics quality, demos are sometimes used as a marketing tool. For example, if the demo is well received, it may encourage consumers to pre-order the full game. Because demos are often made available for free, they also encourage consumers to check out the game if they are intrigued by it, which may lead to purchase of the full version.
For the purpose of game distribution, a demo is identical in format and content to a full game, and is usually priced at about the same as the full game. This is especially true of PC games, which are usually sold as a full version and include a demo that works identically. However, in some cases, a demo may be substantially different from the full version. For example, the trial version of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, released in 1998, was called a demo because it was similar to the full version, but was missing a few dungeons, the Master Quest, and the ability to control Link's sword with the D-pad. In the same way, the demo of Super Mario RPG was a straight port of the original Super Mario RPG game, while the full version was a different game.
Consoles
The term demo was used for the first time in the context of home video game consoles in 1983. be359ba680
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