Whatever happened to shareware games?

[Imaginer]

I remember games like Commander Keen where the first episode is shareware, free to distribute to friends and people, and free to play which provided incentive to buy the other two episodes. Doom was also shareware as well.

But those days are gone. Why is that? Higher costs at producing these shareware? Time costs? I think shareware brings back a part of marketing out the game to potential buyers.

I think it would also deter some piracy as well since some pirate for the try before buying mentality.

What does everyone else think?

 

[Rifter]

I think the last time i saw a shareware game it was on a 3.5" floppy and now you cant even buy a 3.5" floppy drive. Too late for a comeback IMO.

Edit: i dont think it would effect piracy.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

1: The first episode would be the entire game for modern games 2: When you shovel out crap as fast as possible you need people to heavily invest at the start since they won't put more money into it. If they're not droping 50-60$ to see if that 9 rating you paid some website to give your game is legit, you're doing it wrong.

 

[mmntech]

Shareware's prime was before the rise of the internet. Indie developers had to rely on word of mouth. People would literally share the disks. Now they can slap it up on Steam for the world to see and charge full price, so there's no need for it.

 

[tk149]

Demos? I haven't really downloaded any PC demos lately, but I download PS3 and iTouch demos all the time. Now that you mention it, I haven't seen any PC demos in awhile.

 

[smackababy]

Demos? I haven't really downloaded any PC demos lately, but I download PS3 and iTouch demos all the time. Now that you mention it, I haven't seen any PC demos in awhile.

If you get a chance to preview the game, you'll know it is bad before you buy it with no chance to resell / return. That is why PC demos are no longer available.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Free and open source games do exist, you know. Here are some examples:

FreeCiv (a Civilization type game)
TripleA (an Axis and Allies type game)
Savage2 (a first rate, free to play online multiplayer melee style FPS)
Mechwarror 4: Mercenaries (this was just made available as a free release)

 

[PhatoseAlpha]

You know, there are plenty of demos out there. Not every game has a demo, sure - but do you guys even look over the demo section of steam? There are plenty there.

 

[coloumb]

"Shareware" still exists - it's now called "trialware" - free trial for a certain amount of time, then pay if you want to keep using it. However, this type of trialware usually applies to application programs.

I guess you could call Sam and Max series Shareware - $8.95 per episode. If you like one of their episodes, then you can buy the rest of the season [4 or 5 episodes depending upon which season] for $21.00.

 

[paperfist]

download.com has loads of free games.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

I think shareware has transformed into bit torrent.

 

[ibex333]

I think shareware has transformed into bit torrent.

Aye, it puts the word "share" in shareware. ; )

 

[Martimus]

Impulse has a shareware game up, although I don't remember what it is called. Many demos are essentially shareware, with the first level or two of the game free, and you have the ability to continue from there on the full game (Maybe many isn't proper, but I know that this was the case in a couple demos I played recently.)

 

[digitaldurandal]

Free and open source games do exist, you know. Here are some examples:

FreeCiv (a Civilization type game)
TripleA (an Axis and Allies type game)
Savage2 (a first rate, free to play online multiplayer melee style FPS)
Mechwarror 4: Mercenaries (this was just made available as a free release)

LoL.

Im not laughing, I mean League of Legends. Dota clone that is completely free.

There are more and more microtransaction games out there that can be played completely for free.

battle of the immortals is another, but I have not played it.

 

[lothar]

What's the difference between "shareware" and a "demo"? Aren't they the same thing?

...or are they different on technicality such as "one includes actual levels in the real game" and "the other includes madeup levels not present in the real game itself"?

 

[smackababy]

What's the difference between "shareware" and a "demo"? Aren't they the same thing?

...or are they different on technicality such as "one includes actual levels in the real game" and "the other includes madeup levels not present in the real game itself"?

Shareware was generally free of charge and was, for the most part, fully functional software. It might not contain all the bells and whistles of the full version but still performed the basic functionality of the software. I believe AVG is considered shareware. Games used to be like this as well, but that has been lost because PC gaming is dying so badly, profits have expanded and caused everyone to become greedy.