I jumped the gun and accidentally posted this in the wrong forum, so I though I'd give it a shot here and see what everybody thinks. You won't hurt my feelings ;)


Xbox Live Marketplace needs some graphical/audio powerhouse tech demos available for download.

Wouldn't it be great to just load up a fun little demo like the PS3 "rubber ducks" or that one with the millions of leaves? Or just a super-detailed house to walk through and thousand of little objects to interact with?

Ooh! Or an ultra-realistic human head model that you can animate yourself. Set up a string of mouth animations and then record your own voice with the headset to sync up with the talking head? Oh yeah!

Or just some freaking beautiful village to just walk around and throw rocks into the lake.


I guess my point is, I'm kinda tired of having to "do stuff" all the time. I just want to appreciate the technology at marvel at the graphics at my own pace. With much less "action" going on, I'm sure the graphics could be stellar. I enjoy messing with the replays in sports games, making it move in super-slo-mo to watch the jerseys ripple. You know, just some beautiful settings to mess around with virtual physics.

Or am I the only stoner-nerd around here? :cool:

Okay, since you asked for it. ;-)

Tech demos are placebos.
Or pacifiers to keep the kid happy between feedings.
They are placeholders for a product you can't deliver.

I know the history of Tech demos goes back at least to the Amiga bouncing ball but historically, systems that need Tech Demos to show what they can do are the ones that don't have production software they can hold up as an example. Its a sign of weakness, not strength.

For 360 all the tech demo you need is Gears of War. ;-)
Or any of the other playable demos out there.
Those are fair and accurate demonstrations of stuff you can buy on the 360 *today*.

Tomorrow?
Tomorrow, 360's tech demo will be either Mass Effect or Halo 3.
Next year?
Alan wake or something else.

It takes time and money to cook up tech demos; I'd rather see finished product.
The 360 is not about selling future promises but about delivering gaming fun today.
After all, you're spending today's money, no?

$0.02

I jumped the gun and accidentally posted this in the wrong forum, so I though I'd give it a shot here and see what everybody thinks. You won't hurt my feelings ;)


Xbox Live Marketplace needs some graphical/audio powerhouse tech demos available for download.

Wouldn't it be great to just load up a fun little demo like the PS3 "rubber ducks" or that one with the millions of leaves? Or just a super-detailed house to walk through and thousand of little objects to interact with?

Ooh! Or an ultra-realistic human head model that you can animate yourself. Set up a string of mouth animations and then record your own voice with the headset to sync up with the talking head? Oh yeah!

Or just some freaking beautiful village to just walk around and throw rocks into the lake.


I guess my point is, I'm kinda tired of having to "do stuff" all the time. I just want to appreciate the technology at marvel at the graphics at my own pace. With much less "action" going on, I'm sure the graphics could be stellar. I enjoy messing with the replays in sports games, making it move in super-slo-mo to watch the jerseys ripple. You know, just some beautiful settings to mess around with virtual physics.

Or am I the only stoner-nerd around here? :cool:


Your Idea rocks ... :)

Okay, since you asked for it. ;-)

Tech demos are placebos.
Or pacifiers to keep the kid happy between feedings.
They are placeholders for a product you can't deliver.

I know the history of Tech demos goes back at least to the Amiga bouncing ball but historically, systems that need Tech Demos to show what they can do are the ones that don't have production software they can hold up as an example. Its a sign of weakness, not strength.

For 360 all the tech demo you need is Gears of War. ;-)
Or any of the other playable demos out there.
Those are fair and accurate demonstrations of stuff you can buy on the 360 *today*.

Tomorrow?
Tomorrow, 360's tech demo will be either Mass Effect or Halo 3.
Next year?
Alan wake or something else.

It takes time and money to cook up tech demos; I'd rather see finished product.
The 360 is not about selling future promises but about delivering gaming fun today.
After all, you're spending today's money, no?

$0.02

Great post. I think it may be feasible to have one tech demo, but on a time limit (ala Test Drive) so as to not confuse it with a real game.

Okay, since you asked for it. ;-)

Tech demos are placebos.
Or pacifiers to keep the kid happy between feedings.
They are placeholders for a product you can't deliver.

I know the history of Tech demos goes back at least to the Amiga bouncing ball but historically, systems that need Tech Demos to show what they can do are the ones that don't have production software they can hold up as an example. Its a sign of weakness, not strength.

For 360 all the tech demo you need is Gears of War. ;-)
Or any of the other playable demos out there.
Those are fair and accurate demonstrations of stuff you can buy on the 360 *today*.

Tomorrow?
Tomorrow, 360's tech demo will be either Mass Effect or Halo 3.
Next year?
Alan wake or something else.

It takes time and money to cook up tech demos; I'd rather see finished product.
The 360 is not about selling future promises but about delivering gaming fun today.
After all, you're spending today's money, no?

$0.02

OK, let me rephrase without using the words "tech demo". I want beautiful physics-driven "game" where I don't HAVE to do anything. More like a screw-around-with-3D-models game.

Every single piece of software available for any console has an objective and frantic means of achieving the objective. Sure you can just stand there and do nothing but look around, but you would end up seeing 5% of the content.

Or how about an original movie rendered in full-3D by the 360 hardware? You could pause at any time, zoom in on things, slo-mo, walk around, move things around, change characters/settings, etc.

I want a big budget, graphical powerhouse, non-game.
More like a piece of software to give the hardware a workout, not a game.