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[Evil Calvin]

There were demo discs bundles with various magazines (Official Dreamcast Magazine, Official Playstation Magazine, Official Xbox Magazine....among others).

Were there any game demos on these which ended up never released? Could be the only place a particular game could be seen or played?

I remember a demo (might be gameplay footage) on an Xbox demo disc, of Malice voiced by Gwen Stefani and had No Doubt music. It was delayed and later came out in 2004 without her voice or the music. Likely because the music was from their Return of Saturn album from 2000 and that was when Malice was announced.

Any other gameplay demos or movies of games on demo discs which never came out, or was drastically changed? Or just anything really crazy or strange on them?

 

[RagnarokIV]

The World Is Not Enough on PS2

Early Soul Reaver

 

[SkylineRKR]

Soul Reaver was an entirely different beast when I played the full version.

Another is NBA Elite 11. This one was infamous. EA tried to go for a fresh start, and adapted stick movements for basic gameplay features. The game was hammered because of some stupid bugs, Jesus Bynum became a meme and EA actually cancelled the game. Live pretty much never recovered from this, they came back but were ignored.

 

[wvnative]

Don't play with the memory card inserted...

 

[Hollowpoint5557]

Game Rant did an article on this including a few examples.

7 Canceled Games With Playable Demos

It's never nice to see a game get canned, particularly when it's almost finished. These games all had playable demos before they were canceled.

gamerant.com

 

[kevboard]

anyone remember the Xbox demo for Star Wars Battlefront that was a bonus feature in the Trilogy DVD Boxset back in 2004?

I think I still have that DVD somewhere

 

[Karuyag]

I remember there was a demo disc with Viewtiful Joe that erased your memory card.

 

[N0S]

Soul Reaver was an entirely different beast when I played the full version.

Another is NBA Elite 11. This one was infamous. EA tried to go for a fresh start, and adapted stick movements for basic gameplay features. The game was hammered because of some stupid bugs, Jesus Bynum became a meme and EA actually cancelled the game. Live pretty much never recovered from this, they came back but were ignored.

 

[NT80]

Starcraft Ghost. Gameplay movie on demo disc which looked good at the time. After many delays it got cancelled.

 

[wvnative]

The World Is Not Enough on PS2

Early Soul Reaver

What demo disc for the world is not enough? Can't find anything on google about a public demo.

 

[FrankWza]

OPM had SOCOM maps on a disc that you had to install on the PS2 HDD. It was a big deal for consoles at the time.

 

[consoul]

Dengeki PlayStation D43 has a playable demo of 'Emblem Saga', a game Shouzou Kaga made after leaving Intelligent Systems.

It is so obviously Fire Emblem.
How Kaga thought he could get away this I will never know. The full game was released as Tear Ring Saga in 2001 with some changes to distance it a bit further from FE, but Nintendo still sued and publisher Enterbrain were found guilty and fined.

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

Thrill Kill is the only one I can think of but I’m sure there are plenty of others. I don’t think there was ever a Propeller Arena demo but I could be wrong.

 

[plip.plop]

Thrill Kill is the only one I can think of but I’m sure there are plenty of others. I don’t think there was ever a Propeller Arena demo but I could be wrong.

I actually had the full game when I lived in Korea. The only thing it doesn't have is an ending for the characters after you beat the final boss.

 

[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

OPM would have demos for a few games that were Japan only, like Space Fisherman.

 

[Aesius]

The RE2 demo that came with RE: Director's Cut was really different from the retail release. And you could hack it with a GameShark Pro to access a bunch of additional areas of the RPD that were also VASTLY different from the retail version.

 

[nkarafo]

There was a demo video of Metroid Prime in a magazine back in the day, before the game was released. And it was a Gamecube disc.

It was like a longplay video, straight gameplay without cuts and without a voice over. It was also pretty good quality on that old CRT.

So i did this prank on my friend (who was waiting for the game to be released), said to him i have a surprise, hooked up my Gamecube with this disc and pretended to play with my gamepad.

He was so mind blown and excited, i felt bad for him after i gave him the gamepad.

 

[Mattyp]

I have nearly every Official PlayStation magazine demo disc and the magazines still actually from when PSX launched and it was mainly how you got to play games before a modchip.

It was really cool when we got the homebrew on either the demo discs or the offical discs they mailed to you after you bought a console, but all those titles never got released and I remember playing one to death but not the name of it will have to dig it out.

 

[consoul]

It was really cool when we got the homebrew on either the demo discs or the offical discs they mailed to you after you bought a console, but all those titles never got released and I remember playing one to death but not the name of it will have to dig it out.

Terra Incognita?

Thrill Kill is the only one I can think of

Thrill Kill never had an official demo did it? The prototypes got leaked and pirated, but I don't remember it ever appearing on a demo disc.

 

[kevboard]

an interesting case was Timeshift, not a console demo, but the first demo that was released in 2005 was extremely different from the final game, and still had the old publisher Atari in the intro.

the game was eventually published in late 2007 by Activision.

the demo had many differences in core gameplay, level design and even story.
even the art style was pretty different, with a more Deus Ex like scifi look, while the final game looked more grounded.

you can still download the original so called "beta demo" or "atari demo" on some sites.
but in essence, this game never released. they almost remade the entire game between the release of the atari demo in 2005, and the game launch in late 2007.
the game was originally supposed to launch only a few months after the atari demo.

 

[Papa_Wisdom]

I have the full sets of demo cds that came with both the official sega Saturn and Dreamcast magazines in the U.K..

Getting a magazine and a demo every month (sporadically for Saturn) was the highlight of the month for me.

I remember spending so much time playing the virtual on demo until I managed to get the actual game.

Good times