The Ultimate PS3 Demo Collection

DEMO HEAVEN…

An era has passed, and the PS3 had a rocky start that many believed would end poorly for both gamers and Sony. However, thanks to effective promotional strategies and a steady rise in quality titles, it eventually outsold most other formats.

The PS3 faced several marketing challenges, particularly during its launch and the following three years. Many in the public, who weren’t up-to-date, didn’t realize the PS3’s potential, including its online shop and marketplace offering games and demos. Sony also struggled with poor marketing strategies that failed to inform and engage potential customers. Additionally, high fees for network traffic and demo updates deterred publishers from releasing demos unless they were confident in covering the costs.

The Blu-ray drive complicated the inclusion of “CD demos” with magazines, but that wasn’t the only issue. The high licensing costs for printing discs and the fees publishers had to pay to release demos also contributed to the scarcity of playable demos in magazines.

HDD FULL?…

Over time, people became more aware of Blu-ray and the availability of demos. However, another issue emerged—an old problem that both Sony and OPSM magazine hoped users would figure out: the “hard drive full” problem. Demos on Blu-ray required installation on the hard drive, quickly filling the 20, 40, 60, and 80GB HDDs. While avid gamers knew how to manage this, casual users often sent their consoles to repair shops.

Firmware issues also plagued Blu-ray demos, as many required later firmware versions not included on the disc. This forced users to install updates from other discs or wait until they could connect their console online.

There were also numerous broken demos, with at least ten having issues like “if no disc is in the drive, the game locks up on the main menu” or “Controller ID 1 doesn’t work, and you have to use Controller ID 2.”

THE END…

These repeated problems likely contributed to the discontinuation of demo discs, with OPSM scrapping the concept a few months back. I have a complete set of every demo disc released, and I believe this collection could be valuable someday. PS2 and PS1 demo discs are already becoming rare and increasing in value. While these PS3 discs might never be worth a fortune, I’m not taking any chances—especially considering how much the FFVII demo disc is worth now.

I’ve updated my lists on the collection site (PS3 games, PSN, and demos are now on the same tab), with more updates coming soon. It’s a big job, so bear with me.