Nvidia and AMD have released tech demos for years, showcasing their latest graphics cards
and what they can achieve.
They aren't ranked in terms of how good they look, since obviously the newer ones would
have a massive advantage, but rather how interesting they are for me.
I have no doubt that this video will become a massive fanboy-fest and I am also aware
that AMD takes up more of this chart than Nvidia does, which probably won't help matters.
However, I hope you still find this video interesting.
In at number 10 is AMD's Ping Pong demo, released in 2007.
This is a good example of what makes an interesting tech demo.
It displays some new features, is interactive and to a certain extent is a game within itself.
You control a guy equipped with hair-driers who must blow thousands of balls about a room,
trying to get them into a hole.
Awesome, right?
I love well-lit balls and these beautifully polished, rounded entities still look good
by today's standards.
Who doesn't love messing around with mass-physics based simulations?
Someday I'll get all those balls in the hole.
I wonder where it leads...
Number 9 is Radeon's Ark, which probably got onto this list because it was made for the
first graphics card I ever owned- the ATI Radeon.
Yup, no other numbers.
It had 64 MB of RAM, was vastly superior to the All in Wonder variant and could run Unreal
Tournament with antialiasing in 32 bit colour!
Bear in mind that this was made in the year 2000.
Games out at that time included the Sims and Deus Ex.
Meanwhile, this graphics card supported bump-mapping, detail textures and nice looking water- features
that were well ahead of their time.
At number 8 are Nvidia's tech demos... in general, between 2003 and 2006.
These include Dusk, Dawn, Last Chance Gas, Ogre, Vulcan, Nalu and Luna.
Don't get me wrong, I loved them at the time since they always seemed a step ahead of games,
but like movies based on CGI, they get dated quickly.
Well done to Nvidia for bothering to make decent tech demos for each generation of graphics
cards and for coming up with unique looking characters.
I would love to rank them higher up this list, but sadly there are more interactive, more
unique and more timeless classics that deserve the honour instead.
Number 7 is AMD's March of the Froblins, released in 2008.
Once again it's the scale of the visuals that impress.
It has that cartoonish, clay-like look to it and visually is impeccable.
The demo is very interactive and you're free to pan around and to zoom in wherever you
like, watching hundreds of froblins swarm about based on what you place and where you
do it.
What's even more interesting is to look behind the scenes at the various options which allow
you to see how it's achieved.
I guess it's unfair not to mention Nvidia's Endless City, which shows the same sort of
thing only 2 years later and without as much style in my opinion.
Still, try them both and see for yourself.
Number 6 is the Human Head demo from Nvidia, released in 2007.
Unlike previous attempts that looked odd or cartoony, this one nailed it.
The advanced lighting features breathe life into the character.
I almost expect him to move and to scare the hell out of me at some point.
There's something timeless and quite fascinating about zooming in to this guy's face, exploring
his spots, hairs and blemishes as you would with mountains in Google Earth.
The new head demo is also brilliantly thought out, building on the detail, adding eyes,
teeth and animations.
Comparing the two is so interesting that I made a video of my own about it, detailing
what advances a console generation has brought about.
Imagine if everybody could have their face scanned in with this much detail, like a timeless
relic for future generations to marvel at.
In at number 5 is Ruby, a recurring character in the AMD demos.
She was plastered on everything AMD-based for ages.
I guess these videos are comparable to the Nvidia demos mentioned earlier, but I don't
know- there's something MORE to these.
You can watch them with various features enabled, but I think it's the storylines and the action
that set these apart.
You feel like you're watching a CGI version of James Bond with these short action sequences.
They're so professionally designed that even today they stand the test of time- to me they
look as good as some Pixar movies.
What a great publicity stunt it would be if they were to make a movie that could be run
in real-time.
For number 4 I chose the Nvidia 8000 series demos, released in late 2006.
As well as the human head demo you were also given a high-detail pond with a frog that
you could poke at.
I always felt it was half-finished.
The stretching had so much potential!
There was also a Direct-X 10 Cascades demo with a beautiful procedurally generated tower
that had water pouring over it.
The best ones, in my opinion, were the water and fog effect demos.
For once, the tech demos were displaying a technology that would add something NEW to
games, rather than simply building on what was there.
Imagine buildings being flooded, picking up everything in its way.
Or smoke in Counter Strike that would waft through the corridors.
How about a fart simulator, where you have to try and keep it a secret in a public place
by utilising fans, windows and cupboards?
The possibilities are endless.
Number 3 is AMD's Toy Shop, released in 2005.
This one isn't interactive, nor is it particularly imaginative.
But it's beautiful and timeless and feels more like a real place or potential game level
than any of the other tech demos have managed.
It shows a toy shop on a rainy night.
Rain splatters against every surface and the textures themselves have more detail than
any others I have ever encountered.
The music is memorable, the sound effects perfect and the setting sublime.
It makes the best use of the graphics card that has been powering the Xbox360 and Playstation
3 for all of these years.
Yup, this demo would be possible on them.
Since this one I don't believe that any have captured the same level of graphical grace.
It's almost as though they've deliberately gone cartoony or into other areas to avoid
directly comparing themselves to this masterpiece.
Seriously, why would anything need to look prettier than this?
And this was 2 years before Crysis came out!
You remember those balls from earlier?
This is where they end up.
Welcome to Pipe Dream, for the good old ATI Radeon 9700 back in 2003.
Despite its age, there's not a jagged edge in sight and there are beautiful shadows on
everything.
Balls come shooting out of holes everywhere, hitting musical instruments with perfect timing
and generating a unique song in the process.
Waitasec... are those balls SPRITES?!
Ah whatever.
Now, this demo was based on a REAL CONSTRUCTION and was formerly shown pre-rendered, so this
demo can't take all of the credit for coming up with the idea.
I still consider it to be unique and memorable and was very excited to see it in an ACCOUNTING
lecture a couple of years ago.
I don't think anybody else understood.
Number 1 is Nvidia's Supersonic Sled, released in 2010.
As far as tech demos go, this is as on-rails as you can get.
Literally.
But it's the most fun interactive demo that I've ever encountered.
It's a game in its own right, as you have to time the boosts and brakes to get the speed
record, yet still stop short of the track's end... or not.
Everything has real-time physics on it and it's a delight to watch the buildings and
bridges collapse as you speed past them.
Even the machine you control ends up falling apart in a spectacular fashion.
It's a beautiful and imaginative demo that showcases exactly what it needs to be, and
is fun to boot.
This entry was previously further down my list, but once I had booted it up to get some
footage, I got addicted and spent far too long smashing things up.
It's fun AND beautiful!
Nvidia, make more things like this!
AMD too, for that matter.
Now we've seen the best, why not the worst?
I know I've favoured AMD in this list so far, so this should hopefully even it out a bit.
Welcome to HK2207.
Immediately you'll notice the water is from 3D Mark 2001.
Next, you'll see that it's all blocky and garishly coloured.
Next it will remind you of those rubbishy futuristic games from 2003 with shoddy lighting
and poor animations.
Guess when it was made?
2010.
That's right- it's the most modern tech demo that I've shown in this video, apart from
the animated human head one.
When I first saw this video I spat out my cornflakes and wondered what the hell they
were playing at.
Who knows.
It's one of the big mysteries on the internet, perhaps they hoped nobody would see it.
Since then they've released Leo, which is a vast improvement, though I can't think of
anything worse to showcase graphics than deliberately amateurish-looking cartoony props.
Whatever next, a video of somebody playing on a computer game?
Thank you for watching this video.
I am sorry if I have missed out your favourites, but I hope it's still been interesting and
somewhat entertaining.
These demos are available for download from Nvidia's and AMD's sites, but most are available
to watch on youtube, which may be easier to access.