We figured that with the demise of the U.S. Official PlayStation Magazine came the end of the demo disk, right? Wrong. The demo disk is alive and well, folks. Future Publishing announced today that starting this June, the UK Official PlayStation Magazine will feature a Blu-Ray PS3 demo disc with every magazine. The demo discs will be compiled by Sony Computer Entertainment of Europe, and will also feature high-def game and movie trailers, in addition to other unspecified game content.
Our guess is that these demo discs will likely feature a particular month's PlayStation Network content all jammed onto one disc. Still, we're curious to see if SCEE will offer exclusive demos and content on the disc, as opposed to the PSN – but knowing how much interest Sony has put into creating a proper online network, we wouldn't bet on it. Again, these demo discs will likely cater to those who don't have broadband connections to download all of PSN's offerings.
"We are very excited to partner with Future to offer a playable Blu-ray disc to UK PlayStation 3 owners," said Ray Maguire, Managing Director of Sony Computer Entertainment UK. "The high capacity of Blu-ray media is the perfect method to distribute large volumes of unique existing, and user-generated content in HD, showcasing PS3's multimedia capabilities to the full. Combined with the PlayStation Network Store, we're offering a content distribution channel unmatched anywhere else in the industry. Furthermore, it also marks another key development in the pioneering relationship between SCEE and Future, which began in 1995."
"We are delighted that Official PlayStation Magazine will deliver to its readers a monthly playable disc, and the world's first covermounted Blu-ray disc," said Matt Pierce, publisher of OPM-UK. "Future has worked closely with Sony since 1995 to offer playable demo discs for PlayStation, PlayStation®2 (PS2) and PlayStation Portable (PSPT), and we will be working hard to ensure gamers get the very best content for their PS3 as well"
Look for the Blu-Ray issue of OPM to hit stores on June 1st.