Crash Bandicoot and the disgrace of the Demo

You had to corrupt something so pure with your greed!

I'm probably not going to win any friends with this blog but I don't currently care because I want to talk about something which really rubbed the wrong way recently, it really ground my gears. That being some of the marketing surrounding the brand new impending Crash Bandicoot game 'It's about Time'. (Still a cute name though.) Or more specifically, I'm upset about something the team did in their attempts to 'celebrate' this title, and that's why I'm particularly aggrieved. Although it has been a good long time since the last time Crash made it to the gaming world with all new content, the developers seem eager to invoke memories of those days of yore with a similar gameplay style, themed 90's outfits for the characters, and even that most antiquated of gaming relics; A demo.

Now it has been a good decade too long since Demo's existed, so maybe a little refresher is in order for everyone. (It was definitely needed for the team behind this little idea.) The concept of a demo was first popularised through the demo-disk program that used to run when gaming magazines were still popular. Developers used to stick vertical slices of their upcoming games onto discs in order for players to get a glimpse of several titles and decide which one would be worth their time come launch day. It was actually a hugely sought after marketing tool for developers at the time for there was no real way for game marketing to reach the sorts of demographics that it does in today's day and age. This practice sort of continued into the digital age with online downloadable demos, but the practise was slowly being weeded out and now in 2020 it's a rare treat to spot a game with a demo.

The point of these demos, however, the thing which really made them so great from a consumer's perspective, is that they allowed the player to really get an idea of if they wanted to spend the money for a game beforehand. In some cases, such as for PC demos, they also allowed for folk to see if their computer would run the thing. (Although I suppose in the modern age that's something you should really know just from checking the specs list. No real excuse at this stage of tech development.) It was a tool to help cut back on buyer's remorse and build upon the hype train in the exact same breath. Many fondly recall how big game's would have their demo disks be sought after, such as for the Metal Gear Solid 2 demo which contained a portion of the tanker level. All for the low, low price of absolutely free. So with that amount of foreshadowing I bet you can guess what Activision did to sully this tradition.

'Buy into the influx of hype and excitement for Crash Bandicoot 4 and jump into the demo; only available for those that secure a digital preorder of the game' Wait, what? I think someone's missing the entire point, don't you? Firstly, preorder bonuses are not really a practice I'm the biggest fan of, with the exception of when they come with physical goodies because I still have my hemp Skyrim map on my wall as I write this. Secondly, what exactly purpose does the demo serve when it's given only to people who have already bought the game? A concept that was designed to make people want to buy the game, offered as a reward for buying the game... what sort of ass-backwards logic is that? It's as though I just sold you a car and as a bonus gave you a coupon for the exact car you just bought. Sure you could buy the car again, if you're an idiot, but more likely than not it'll just end up confusing you and getting thrown away.

See, I've been trying to figure out the big master plan behind this idea and I just can't crack it, it's like the Great Chinese firewall to me, impenetrable. (That's why they call it Ba Sing Se) Maybe, and I'm literally grasping at straws here, they intended it to be a sort of 'buddy pass' system wherein you buy the game then bring over a buddy and make them play it in order to sell the title to them, but that makes absolutely no sense as a promotional tool because, oh I don't know, maybe the global pandemic which makes it practically illegal to make social calls with friends? And even if that weren't the case this would still be a weak sauce excuse, no one plays games together in person anymore, what is this: 2005? And yeah, the dumb idea was mine, but you explain the logic behind this nonsense then! Not so easy, is it?

And yes I do know what the excuse for this is, I can see it already. "No, this isn't an actual demo of any sorts, this is really just a nostalgic gimmick to remind people of times when demos were a thing, it's cute, see!" But from where I'm sitting that just amplifies how far the practice has fallen in recent years. With the growth of marketing and advertising budgets to frankly insane degrees, AAA games have absolutely no incentive to spend development time slicing out a vertical slice of their game unless it's for some highly publicised event like E3. The return on investment just wasn't good or consistent enough for this practice to continue into the modern age and nowadays the only titles which ever dabble are indie games that do need to make their case on a game-by-game basis. But for Crash Bandicoot, this is just a whacky zany callback to yesteryear.

For that is what ultimately incenses the most about this whole affair: the way it's creators are trivialising and gimmick-ifying the demo. Because I miss demos! I miss getting to play a whole bunch of games until I found that one which really caught my attention, I miss being provided with the level of information I need to make the most informed consumer choice and I miss a time when the practice was taken seriously. And if you don't think that Demos are considered a joke in today's world, just look at the purveyors of all consumer-positive practises: CDPR. They've never even so much as considered a demo for their games and they put their toes in anything that will generate enough good press or buzz, so demos must be the absolute pits of feedback or an industry joke to not even cross their desk.

Now at the end of the day this all doesn't mean a great deal for Crash Bandicoot. This latest title wasn't founded on the strength of it's ideas but off the success of the N'sane trilogy, meaning that the producers dipped their toes in the project at a time when they absolutely knew it had an audience and would sell well, they didn't need to win anyone over with nonsense like incentives and free swings at the gameplay. I don't even think my opinion on their little marketing callback has shifted my view on the overall title, it's just left a badtaste in my mouth and made me want to go on a rant, which I did right now in this blog. Because whilst you might be shaking your head and wondering "Who cares?", I do, kinda.