this post was submitted on 18 Feb 2024
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Gaming

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[–] [email protected] 198 points 9 months ago (19 children)

I’m more let down that such a small thing is packaged in a big case. Made of plastic no less.

[–] [email protected] 74 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Yeah, I find it particularly weird, because Nintendo already had smaller boxes with the Nintendo DS. Did they decide that the Switch was a big boy console, so it needed to have comically large boxes?

[–] [email protected] 36 points 9 months ago (5 children)

so it needed to have comically large boxes?

Man you would have had a field day with PC gaming in the 90's!

In fairness though, even though some did skimp out and just launch a CD in, most had a manual and something of lore interest or a physical anti-piracy thing, and a fair few were stuffed full of trinkets or other world building material... just because.

Even my Atari ST edition of Zak McKracken had the floppy, manual, passport anti-piracy card, and a faux-magazine which was both hilarious and acted as a hint book too.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago (5 children)

PC games in he 90s were like cereal boxes filled with a few CDs and a the barest of a manual. In the 80s it was the same except it was floppy disks and the manual was needed to get through the copy protection. Sometimes you’d even get a decoder ring of some sorts to decode something for the copy protection.

Good times.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

PC game cases from 90s were amazing. I wish console games would do something cool like that. They were made of cardboard, typically had boxart with a bunch of high quality engraving, had manuals inside. They felt like collectibles and you didn’t have to pay extra for any of it. It was just part of the base game price.

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[–] [email protected] 43 points 9 months ago (1 children)

They need something that both looks good on a shelf and is harder to just slip into a pocket.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 9 months ago (1 children)

They could make it out of cardboard at the very least.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I was never a fan of the GBA cases, so yeah I'm pretty glad they didn't go this way.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Same, I don't get people who throw their plastic game cases away

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Well, aren't these supposed to be collected? They are there to help your sort through your phisical games

[–] [email protected] 18 points 9 months ago

And my collection would do well with more GameBoy-size cases

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

I'd rather use a case with something to hold all my carts in personally for sorting. Better if it's small and easily portable.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago

But without those big-ass cases, there wouldn't be a market for these.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago

I miss cardboard game boxes

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[–] [email protected] 119 points 9 months ago (5 children)

My wife got me a copy of Mass effect Andromeda as a gift once. She bought the physical copy (or so she thought) since that makes a better gift. When I opened the case, there was literally nothing in there but a code for EA Origin on a sticker.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 9 months ago

Ea games are awful for this. I bought sims 4 when it first came out and had the same issue. It's so cool that I can't own games even if I try to buy the physical copy. I'm just glad that other companies haven't been doing digital only hard copies.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 9 months ago

They literally sold you plastic trash that could have been a man email 🤦‍♂️

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[–] [email protected] 48 points 9 months ago (5 children)

The height of new game glory for me were the old school huge boxes PC games came in. It wasn't uncommon to get a thick manual with wonderful art, sometimes spiral bound, maps, other neat add-ins. Even console games had nice manuals with useful information you may not otherwise know. I miss that stuff.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago

I wrote a similar reply to a higher comment without seeing yours, and I completely agree - I miss it.

I was a bit younger in the 90s and half the magic of the ride home was reading the manual so you could hit the ground running when you installed it/put the cartridge in/loaded the tape.

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[–] [email protected] 34 points 9 months ago (2 children)

If anyone is old enough to remember Infocom games, they came with "feelies," just random fun stuff related to the game they decided to include. It occasionally was needed to solve a game puzzle, but usually not.

I can still smell that box. They had a certain smell back then.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 9 months ago (1 children)

When people talk about games having heart, this is it. Little unnecessary goodies just because you're excited that people are buying your game and you want them to be into it.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Getting a new game and having books and stickers to mess with on the ride home until you can play the game.

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[–] [email protected] 31 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Why are there clips for a manual yet never a manual or even an info card? Seems like this started in the PS3/360/Wii generation.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Some games come with an insert or a manual, but it's rare.

And it's cheaper to have only one case design rather than two

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 9 months ago

.. and cloth maps. And developer notes. And figurines. And trinkets from the lore. And the game costing under $20. And...

[–] [email protected] 20 points 9 months ago (9 children)

Still better than just a code 😅

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Those booklets were more joy to little me on the car ride home than the game itself many a time.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 9 months ago

At least it has something in it, not just a piece of paper with an online download code...

[–] [email protected] 16 points 9 months ago (1 children)

They want you to feel that way, say "what's the point" and buy digital...

[–] [email protected] 12 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Physical I can sell again! Big advantage right there.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 9 months ago

They don't like that part lol

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

Now you're on Nintendos list.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 9 months ago

Be thankful there is still a case to open and a cartridge inside, for now at least.

Still sad to see, there’s no feeling like the anticipation that builds from reading a game manual on the car or bus ride home.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 9 months ago (2 children)

is this real? no way right?

[–] [email protected] 42 points 9 months ago

For like a decade yes

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago

Sadly, yes. Got a switch for Xmas this year. Went and bought a mario game, and was completely taken aback when the inside of the case looked just like this. I sat there totally feeling this exact post.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Or a piece of cardboard with a code inside.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 9 months ago

Untitled goose game was surprisingly the last game I bought that had a case full of swag.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 9 months ago (1 children)

It's why I stopped buying physical games, I'll just pirate everything if they take away my digital library.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 9 months ago (4 children)

Best in box surprise you ever received? Anyone?

For me it was the cloth map and manual that came with Ultima 4 or something.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago

At least sometimes they double-side print the cover, this is just lazy.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago

I'm estatic! Look a physical copy!

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago

Me too, all of these automatics and the paddle shifters... It's not the same.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (3 children)

The lack of game manuals in game cases still makes me sad.

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