The game demos we remember most fondly of all

Games don't really do demos in the way they used to, do they? I wonder if early access has something to do with it - I suppose it must do. But whatever it is, we miss them, and the barrage of demos released for Steam Next Fest has made us feel all nostalgic for them. Wasn't it funny how for some games, a demo was all you ever needed? Over and over you'd play it, never really wanting anything more.

Which are the demos you remember, though? And which are the memories that come bubbling up when you remember them? Let's take a collective trip down memory lane.

I've only just learned the backstory behind Q3Test. Apparently the internal hardware vendor (IHV) copy of the game leaked in the lead-up to the game's 1999 launch, so id Software decided to make the best of it and release a three-map Q3Test beta for everyone to play a few months before the full game came out. I didn't know that.

Read more