The shareware experiment during the 90s - what happened to it?

[VirtualLarry]

Just wondering, it seemed like shareware was a big thing, back in the days of BBSs, but when CD-ROM distributors bundled hundreds of games on one disc, no-one bothered to pay more money for the full versions.

Are today's "demos" like the shareware of old, or not? Discuss.

 

[chorb]

seems like today's demo's are much greater in size, and could only fit a few per DVD. Also, broadband internet became mainstream and demos became a click away.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

The quality of games in general went down so releasing games piecemeal generally became a lot less appealing to do. You want people to plop down the full 50-60 for your PoS. Also, games became shorter meaning splitting it up into satisfying sections became harder as well.

 

[digitaldurandal]

The quality of games in general went down so releasing games piecemeal generally became a lot less appealing to do. You want people to plop down the full 50-60 for your PoS. Also, games became shorter meaning splitting it up into satisfying sections became harder as well.

I disagree.

Simply because the market has grown to include some games that are not AAA does not necessarily mean that the quality of games has gone down.

Dragon Age, Mafia II, Batman AA, COD4, Oblivion, Dirt 2, BFBC2, Borderlands, Crysis, DOW2, COH, SC2, TF2, Fahrenheit etc

These are just very high quality games I have played the last 11 years off the top of my head. I am sure there are many more.

Is there crap? Yes there is.

Was there crap before? Definitely.

The key difference may be that now the market has grown compounded by the fact that less than AAA games are more accessible due to the online marketplace growing so much.

However due to the number of indie games that have served me well at a very low price in the last 11 years I do not see this as an absolute downside either.

 

[biostud]

steam sales

 

[mindcycle]

Making a shareware version is like making a demo, and demo's are pretty hard to come by anymore. It seems like nowadays a large number of developers are releasing games into the market that are 95% finished, to meet publisher's set release dates, and then patching them after the fact to actually finish the game. When you're taking that approach, developing a demo version (or shareware product) is going to be second priority, thus it likely never gets made.

I think this release mentality has likely greatly contributed to the demise of shareware, however, i'm sure there are plenty of other factors as well.

 

[exar333]

Just wondering, it seemed like shareware was a big thing, back in the days of BBSs, but when CD-ROM distributors bundled hundreds of games on one disc, no-one bothered to pay more money for the full versions.

Are today's "demos" like the shareware of old, or not? Discuss.

This is exactly the business model that is currently being used in the 'app' stores. Offer a free version (limited functionality) for a game or application and then offer a 'full' version for a paid amount. It appears to be working well for a lot of developers.

I think it makes sense more for older games and smaller applications rather than huge, expansive games that we generally play now.

 

[AstroManLuca]

This is exactly the business model that is currently being used in the 'app' stores. Offer a free version (limited functionality) for a game or application and then offer a 'full' version for a paid amount. It appears to be working well for a lot of developers.

I think it makes sense more for older games and smaller applications rather than huge, expansive games that we generally play now.

And if you look at the Apple app store vs. Android market, you'll see why shareware pretty much died out. There just isn't enough money in it. Most people are happy to play with the free version until it stops working and then put it down in favor of something else.

There's a lot more money in the Apple app store because demos and free ad-supported games haven't become the norm like they have for Android. Out of all the games on my Android phone, nearly all of them are free. And out of those, most of them are full versions too. It's nice being able to get a bunch of games without having to pay but it makes it hard for developers. Seems like a lot of Android developers get by on ad revenue, but shareware games relied exclusively on purchases.

 

[sandorski]

I wonder how well Shareware worked as a Market? I think most people used some Shareware, just don't know of anyone actually Paying for it.

 

[Ross Ridge]

Shareware was used by small developers to market their games cheaply back in the days before Internet access was common. Most of those shareware games only took two or three months to make, so their budgets were very small to begin with. They couldn't afford print ads in gaming magazines, or what it would take to get their game in boxes and in retail stores. Nowadays the few games that can be made that cheaply can be cheaply and effectively marketed through the Internet and sold on services like Steam and Apple's App Store.

 

[Markbnj]

I wonder how well Shareware worked as a Market? I think most people used some Shareware, just don't know of anyone actually Paying for it.

There were people who made a good buck off shareware, and even a few who got rich and managed to get real companies off the ground. Let's not forget that Wolfenstein was released as shareware. I did a game in 1991 that was released by a small shareware publisher and got decent checks every month for almost ten years.

But shareware was all about the cottage industry of software dev. Everything from printer utilities to terminal programs. That market has evaporated, and the other mainstay, games, are now massive productions requiring huge budgets to pull off. If there is a modern analog to the shareware industry today it is definitely in apps for devices.

 

[Maximilian]

Also i think some people just sat with the shareware version and never bought the full game. Theres a website dedicated to a small amount of people who still play starcraft shareware... I cant remember the URL but it exists.

In saying that starcrafts shareware included a campaign not available in the original game and was pretty good, although its not lets hold on to it for 13 years and never buy the full game good.


EDIT: Found it

http://sware.weebly.com/

Dosent look active anymore but the tourny sign says 2009.

 

[mizzou]

mass beta testing is a pretty good lure for people now.

Ultima Online was the first to get people to pay for it on a massively organized scale that I can remember

Most recent would be Minecraft?

 

[Spoooon]

Me and my friends never bought Rise of the Triad, or Doom, or Hexen. We just played the networked multiplayer over and over again.