MindCandy Volume 1: PC Demos

Rating:
Summary: Exactly what it should be.
Review: I picked up this DVD from the creators, and I couldn't be happier with it.

If you're a fan of the demo scene, then you need this disc - unless you want to keep a bunch of 286, 386, and 486 machines around and running, this is your best bet for seeing oldschool demos from now on, since they often won't work with modern hardware. If you're not familiar with demos, well, they're basically a demonstration of (visual and audio) things you never knew your computer could do. If you're a fan of computer graphics, "The Mind's Eye" videos, electronic music, neat screensavers, or music videos, you'll probably dig this.

The disc is double-sided, with side one being "transcendental vistas", containing 22 demos from 1999-2001. Very advanced visuals here. The second disc is "kickin' it oldschool", which has 20 demos dating from 1990-1998. Here you can see the evolution of the art form from the beginning (on the PC, at least).

Side One contains: Wonder, 604, Kosmiset Avaruus Sienet, Further, Chrome, Volatile, Tesla, Broadband, Mikrostrange, Moral Hard Candy, TE-2RB, Le Petit Prince, Engergia, Gerbera, Lapsus, Enlight the Surreal, Experimental, Live Evil, The Nonstop Ibiza Experience, Codename Chinadoll, Art, and Kasparov.

Side Two contains: Second Reality, Megademo, Cronologia, Unreal, Amnesia, Panic, Crystal Dream 2, Show, Verses, Dope, X14, Stars: Wonders of the World, Reve, Paimen, Inside, Megablast, 303, Saint, Square, and Riprap.

I was a bit concerned about how well the visuals would be preserved, since moving the old-school DOS-based graphics to DVD is harder than you might expect. Once I got the disc, I was pleasantly surprised and impressed. The audio and visual fidelity is stunning. This was clearly a labor of love by very talented people who care about the art form. Now I just have to wait for them to make the next volume...

Rating:
Summary: A historical archive
Review: Once, computers did not play MP3, did not play movies and internet was a word that required explaination. The world gazed at movies like Jurrassic Park and knew it would take a long time before such digital amazement would be produced by computers in people's homes. A small community thought otherwise...

They were driven and self-taught. They had unprecedented knowledge of computer technology and they created computer art on equipment which was not supposed to meet the requirements. Spread across the world in relatively small numbers they met each other at computer clubs, exchanged their demonstrations of art through sending floppies by regular mail and they called themselves 'the demo scene'.

This DVD is a historical archive of the development of computer art in the 1990s. Produced by the very same people that were part of that development it features ultra-high quality of original productions from the era and a 20 minute documentary on the scene.

This is a MUST HAVE for each and everyone that was part of the scene and a recommendation to everyone interested to know how computer multimedia all began.

Rating:
Summary: Introduction to the PC demoscene
Review: This is _the_ product for anyone who wants to get know more about the PC demoscene and realtime computer at. Many many hours went into the production of this on, without the aim of getting rich, but rather to promote the demoscene. GREAT!

Rating:
Summary: Breaking the Limits
Review: Yes, yes, yes. Again some underground scener has done very well. Mindcandy is for DVD what Demos are for PC. Grab your copy now. Those guys from America captured 42 demos, mostly from PAL-using european computers. Then they made the deal to produce an NTSC-coded DVD. If you are interested in remembering some of the fancy demonstrations from the early 90s till today, rocking your PC, you should order this nice DVD. If you aren't familiar with demos, you should take a look. If you are familiar, you have to take a look.

Why not 5 stars? Because selection of demos is a matter of taste. And we all know, that taste is different in different countries. I am looking forward to see Vol.2 !!!