Tech demo
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A Tech Demo is a computer and video game industry term referring to short applications designed to gauge interest in an upcoming product or to demonstrate hardware-specific features. Tech Demos have various levels of interactivity, ranging from real-time videos to short but fully playable demonstrations. Tech Demos are rarely intended to be turned into fully fledged commercial products, though their ideas and concepts are sometimes reused. Tech Demos are not to be confused with Vaporware, a commercial product which presumably started development but never got released.
Due to its status as Nintendo's flagship franchise, the Mario series has been the subject of or has been featured in many tech demos. Following is a list of them.
- Mario Demo, a short looping animation designed to show off the Virtual Boy's stereoscopic 3D effect. - Virtual Boy
- Luigi's Mansion, Luigi's Mansion was originally a Tech Demo but Nintendo decided to make it a game. It was also supposed to be for the N64 but was eventually canceled near the end of the system's life and later turned onto the GameCube. - Nintendo GameCube[1]
- Yoshi Demo, which was based on Yoshi’s Story, was little more than an experimental demo. Whether Nintendo had intentions of ever releasing it is unknown. - Game Boy Advance[2]
- Super Mario 128, an experiment with several gameplay concepts, of which some elements were used in Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy. More dramatically, it served as a basis for the game Pikmin. - Nintendo GameCube[3]
- Peach's Castle, a tech demo included in a revision of the GameCube SDK and sent to various developers, it showcases several effects possible on the console. - Nintendo GameCube[4]
- Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, A seven-second clip of Mario and Luigi driving karts on top of a giant GameCube, much like the Battle Mode stage in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.
- Balloon Trip, a Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island-themed minigame making use of the Nintendo DS's touchscreen and dual screen setup. It ended up forming the basis of Yoshi Touch and Go. - Nintendo DS[5]
- Mario's Face, - Nintendo DS[6]
- New Super Mario Bros. Mii, an "experience" tech demo shown at E3 2011. - Wii U
- Chase Mii, - Wii U
