The Clever Design of Arcade Demo Screens

Does watching a game play itself make you want to play? Yes. Here's a video why divined from simply watching Dig Dug play repeatedly while I wait for people to check the rules on spellcasting.
Support me on Patreon - / powerpak
Follow me on Twitter - / jackwnicholls
Chapters -
00:00 - Introduction
02:06 - Purpose 1: Teach
04:26 - Purpose 2: Learn
06:41 - Purpose 3: Taunt
10:10 - The Modern Equivalent
12:34 - FORBIDDEN
surprisingly, it is "dig dug", not "dig-dug". so is his first name dig and second dug? i've said dig dug so many times it sounds weird now...
#DigDug #RetroGaming #PowerPak

[@PowerPakGames]

Been feeling much better now. Very nearly recovered, though I think you can detect some level of rough breathlessness in my voice here. This small video is one I'd thought about doing for a while and seemed a good opportunity to get back into the swing of things. More substantial reviews to come this month, so stay tuned.

[@crumblebumps]

brother, your content is truly admirable and you are going to go far i guarantee it.

[@equidistanthoneyjoy7600]

I think a big difference between those old demos and mobile game ads comes from the game design. The games shown in the mobile ads are so stupid and braindead, that the 'mistake' is generally just someone not being able to recognise that 8 is a larger number than 5; while in the digdug demo, as well as many others, the mistakes look actually plausible. In digdug, it looks like someone was trying to play the game and made a mistake; while in the mobile ads, it looks like someone is making a mistake on purpose while trying to look like they're playing the game. And it definitely doesn't help that those mobile games don't even look fun to win at. I already learnt how to count, I don't need a mobile game to practice comparing numbers.

[@PerpetualDaydreamer]

This is something I've never consciously thought about, but...yeah, spot on. We wanted to emulate what we saw on the demo screens or outdo each other, because we became super competitive (which I'm sure the companies aimed for). Very well put. Oh, and glad to hear you're doing better!

[@artilante]

hearing dig dug's audio track brought back memories i didnt know i had... as a kid, my mum would always turn this on and play while me and my brothers had 'nap time' (aka, her chance to chill out and game)). i tried playing myself but as a small brat with a similarly sized brain, those demo strats went far beyond my ability level. but now? ohoho... im coming for those horrible fygar. good video !!

[@ZylonBane]

I just watched an entire video on arcade game attract modes without the phrase "attract mode" being uttered even once.

[@sethzard]

Someone made a really solid version of that style of game you showed at the end which is actually what the game is like. It's called Hero Rescue and its pretty fun.

[@yeshuamcfly1154]

9:13 You capture another ship in Galaga, by first sacrificing a life and having your ship abducted, then killing the abductor while he's coming after you when you respawn.

[@ncrever8006]

That legend used Owlberd in his video. Much love to you.

[@blaked7532]

Q-Bert is struggling to deal with his OCD.

[@n64ever]

Really interesting stuff. Great vid!!

[@punn-54]

Ima be honest. This is probably one of the best videos I've seen in a while, keep up the good work man!

[@QuintonCenter]

I literally got an ad for the exact mobile game you showed in the video the moment it ended. Thankfully, I remembered your advice and barely managed to stop myself before I downloaded it.

[@Witchesofbapho]

Yes

[@RudeMyDude]

I wonder how many people were.....awakened.... by the gameplay of dig dug

[@Paul-wz9so]

Little known factoid: the Five Guys founder was influenced by the Fygar character.

[@charlieminers2892]

It reminds me a lot of the 2D platformer "N" games (N being a flash game then N+ and N++ being newer standalone versions of the same concept), which used a very similar "almost-gets-there-but-not-quite" attitude for the demos that played on the menu screens of all these games. Worked pretty well for foreshadowing the difficulty of the later levels that really WERE tough, requiring dozens of attempts apiece.

[@thorn9382]

Although I was born in 2005 I have a lot of nostalgia for arcade games specifically the namco ones because my grandmother at the time had some plug n plays that me and my siblings used to play on whenever we visited over

[@BigDickDamage]

I love this channel

[@-taz-]

Gauntlet knew what it was doing. It was the most successful quarter muncher, by leaps and bounds, in its day.

[@susickanahousky4119]

awesome video, makes me wanna play some arcade games

[@Ccberry98]

This video is amazing

[@g.u.959]

I appreciate the usage of the Pictionary OST. As an owner of that cart, it is one of the absolute worst video board games I’ve ever played and I love it.

[@eskipotato]

great vid

[@SamCain31]

Quality video mate

[@rylamistrandall6517]

Just gotta wait for the algorithm to find this channel, dont forget us when you inevitably blew up~

[@BlareWolfgang]

I have been waiting for someone to bring this up from the shitty KZbin ads for quite a while now. It’s interesting to see it’s an actual phenomenon that originated with arcade games but got dumbed down for gen z KZbin lol

[@AndGoatz04]

Damn, never thought of how mobile ads use arcade tactics even to this day...

[@rocketlanterns]

There is a reason that these demo screens have always been referred to as "attract mode" in arcade games, thats entirely what they're designed to do. In the spaces I'm more familiar with (being japanese rhythm arcades,) the attract modes tend to show off popular music with easy enough gameplay to either make you think "i can do that!" or even better, have you subconsciously playing along with it.

[@finnie4394]

I always found those screens annoying as hell. Also that NO SHIT got me

[@angelg6338]

Now I know how to play Dig Dug!

[@GodOfWarConnoisseur]

Dig dug was the first souls like

[@JordanManfrey]

carnie hustle

[@GodOfWarConnoisseur]

Yeah theres a pac man machine in the living room and I always stare at the demo and see pacman die in the bottom left corner every.single.time. one day he'll figure it out

[@machina5]

Reminds me of those crappy Chinese mobile games that play terribly in ads on purpose to try and stroke your ego enough to cheese a download.

[@Tenor.B]

Amog us

[@jacobl1787]

I watched this whole video and Im only 24!

[@peepnox7747]

:)

[@TerenceTheAnnihilator]

Hello

[@cyanoix]

early gang

[@poletooke4691]

Yeah, mobile gaming never had a chance of beating pc lol

[@dontsubfortheloveofgod]

under 10k after a year? ouch man, sorry

[@23bcx]

just a note, dnd is BY FAR the WORST TTRPG. You should try out another game

[@HumbleManatee]

As someone who loves dnd, I'm curious. What would you suggest instead?

[@23bcx]

@@HumbleManatee Depends on what you are looking for. If you are looking for a d20 fantasy game (straight dnd replacement) my go to is Lamentations of the Flame Princes. Horror Call of Cthulhu, Comedy Paranoia, Weird RIFTS, scifi WEG d6. There are many more good games and I am not saying these are the best either.

[@kusovia1148]

Oh my God that mobile game I actually have a friend who downloaded it it’s not even what the advert is like and the most hilarious part is if you want a real real belly laugh go read the developer responses to reviews in the Apple App Store oh my God the developers like they’re constantly arguing with people saying no this is a good game and the adverts are accurate but the adverts are not it’s quite literally illegal it’s it’s false advertise but it’s fucking hilarious