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[The Pleasure]

I remember Shareware back in the mid 90s when I got my first pc. Got Shareware discs for Doom, Blood, Quake, Rise of the Triad, Wolfenstein 3d, Diablo, Warcraft, Apogee games and so much other stuff. Those discs were about ten dollars each at my local walmart and I got many of them. They gave a good taste of what the game was oftentimes giving about 20-25% of the total game for only ten bucks. I'm surprised they haven't tried to do that with modern games where you got a good taste of the game for 10 bucks for a portion of the game. A demo is too short to know if you like something, but a shareware slice is just enough to know if you'll want to buy something or if you don't want it. It also helps companies too as they get some income from selling a slice of their game and to gauge interest.

Most of my friends didn't even know that Doom had more than one episode.

 

[Eimran]

For 10-15 bucks you can get a monthly subscription now which lets you try hundreds of games without limitation. So it's basically that.

 

[od-chan]

Wait, you PAID for Shareware? I didn't even know there were places that sold shareware. I thought the whole point was that it was basically a demo with an integrated purchase option.

Nobody in their right mind today would pay for a demo.

 

[Durin]

Yeah, I'm surprised as an extra incentive towards digital you can't just pay a lighter fee up front for a game to try for a few hours, and then pay the rest to just have the game entirely.

At least for games that have been out for a while, it would help yield more sales for people still on the fence with casual interest. Also would maybe work more for devs that don't want to support game pass.

Newer AAA games I could see not liking it, in case it's buggy or unfinished like enough are at launch.

 

[IAmRei]

i never got shareware, in my place there are only two option, buy original or buy pirate back then (that's about 10$ as well) the gaming landscape is not good for industry here, locally.
most people here pirating PC games at the time. because there is almost nobody sell original back then.

 

[Crayon]

The disks were sometimes available retail but the idea of shareware was that the shareware portion of the game was okay to copy and distribute. Part of it was actually a solution to distribution and advertising barriers. Now you can just release a demo online. Now, is there a place today for longer demos? Yeah. I think if you've got a really long game that is a slow burn, designing the opening act that is somewhat self-contained and playable for free might work.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Wait, you PAID for Shareware? I didn't even know there were places that sold shareware. I thought the whole point was that it was basically a demo with an integrated purchase option.

Nobody in their right mind today would pay for a demo.

Most people think of shareware as discs passed around friend to friend, or getting a 3.5 floppy or CD disc in a gaming mag with demos. But I'm positive Kmart had racks of bargain stuff for dirt cheap, including shareware versions of games for like $5.

 

[The Pleasure]

Wait, you PAID for Shareware? I didn't even know there were places that sold shareware. I thought the whole point was that it was basically a demo with an integrated purchase option.

Nobody in their right mind today would pay for a demo.

Ever try downloading a 50mb demo on a 28.8kbps modem? Or a 200mb demo? Getright and those download continuers weren't a thing for a while. Plus biting the bullet and getting a disc for a shareware game and sharing it with friends to multiplay was pretty nice.

 

[The Pleasure]

Most people think of shareware as discs passed around friend to friend, or getting a 3.5 floppy or CD disc in a gaming mag with demos. But I'm positive Kmart had racks of bargain stuff for dirt cheap, including shareware versions of games for like $5.

I got shareware from Kmart, Walmart, Target, Dollar Stores, Babbages, Software ETC, and basically any computer store at that time. Ever get a 1000 shareware games on one or two discs package? That was gamepass back in 1996.

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

But I'm positive Kmart had racks of bargain stuff for dirt cheap, including shareware versions of games for like $5.

Yup stocked those bluelight special bins myself!

I got shareware from Kmart, Walmart, Target, Dollar Stores, Babbages, Software ETC, and basically any computer store at that time. Ever get a 1000 shareware games on one or two discs package? That was gamepass back in 1996.

I remember waaaay back in the day when the Quake 1 shareware disc was at 7-11 we (babbages) were super pissed since we didn't carry it at the time and it would have been an easy UPT bump. Those were the days...

 

[od-chan]

Ever try downloading a 50mb demo on a 28.8kbps modem? Or a 200mb demo?

As StreetsofBeige pointed out, lots of them came with magazines or stuff on floppies or CDs.

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

Wait, you PAID for Shareware? I didn't even know there were places that sold shareware. I thought the whole point was that it was basically a demo with an integrated purchase option.

Nobody in their right mind today would pay for a demo.

"If ya think THATS BAD" try unpacking -r -s over *45* 3.5 floppies trying to get Duke 3d install files in once place so you can share it over a token ring network...the kids these day's don't know how good they have it.

 

[Ev1L AuRoN]

Back in the 90s, I used to buy magazines that came with CDs full of demos, freeware, and shareware. The internet wasn't common in Brazil yet.

 

[Johnny Concrete]

Ever try downloading a 50mb demo on a 28.8kbps modem? Or a 200mb demo? Getright and those download continuers weren't a thing for a while. Plus biting the bullet and getting a disc for a shareware game and sharing it with friends to multiplay was pretty nice.

When 28.8 modems were a thing the demos were at most 5 mb.
Quake was 15 or so I recall, but that was HUGE at the time.

Also I knew someone that played Quake online with a 28 modem and he played with over a second delay. Only way to get some kills was to camp a teleporter with a rocket launcher and spam .

 

[StreetsofBeige]

This thread brings back memories! Back then I was mostly a console gamer but played my share of pc stuff on my bros pc as he was the guy buying Pc mags with demo and shareware discs.

Back then good pc gaming in Canada was pretty much computer stores or specialty gaming stores but none were like the giant stores we’d see in gaming mags. We didn’t even get Walmart till I think 1994, Kmart was a dump where Walmart took over their spots, and no target (which came and went 10 years ago as a fuck up). I think electronic boutique didn’t come till 1995-ish. I’m pretty sure we never had babbages or funcoland. I think my bro bought most of his games from a rip off store called compucentre.

I do remember those Kmart racks as some games we’d all play were those hoyles casino and card games and there was ultra random game for $5 called riverboat poker. Bought it and was the biggest cheating program ever. Lol

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I got shareware from Kmart, Walmart, Target, Dollar Stores, Babbages, Software ETC, and basically any computer store at that time. Ever get a 1000 shareware games on one or two discs package? That was gamepass back in 1996.

Nope. I don’t remember my bro (who’d buy the Pc game mags while I bought console mags) ever get 1000 demo samplers!

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

I am looking for my Quake 1 shareware disc I think it still has a signature on it . Had a great conversation about it with Romero (bitter) and Hollenshead at a bar what feels like many lifetimes ago at this point.

 

[StereoVsn]

Man, this brings nostalgia. And yeah, used to get shareware from gaming or PC magazines all the time and sometimes bought those compilations for shits and giggles, lol.

To be fair, I was pretty poor in those early to mid 90s so I mostly flew .

 

[Blank Space Invader]

Um, companies don't have your best interest and value in mind. Why charge you $10 for a slice when they can charge you $70 and then enact strict and extremely limited refund policies? Do you even corpo, bros?

 

[The Pleasure]

Also I knew someone that played Quake online with a 28 modem and he played with over a second delay. Only way to get some kills was to camp a teleporter with a rocket launcher and spam .

MOM! Johnny Concrete IS CHEATING!

 

[Windle Poons]

Most games released aren’t finished and you have to buy extra levels so… maybe shareware never went away?