new PC games packaging

[rockerrb]

http://www.comcast.net/games/invasion/index.jsp?fn=/2006/05/19/709462.html&cvqh=gamesextreme_pcpackage

apparently this article came from IGN and was republished on comcast.net.

I think this could b a good thing, except it doesn't leave as much printing space on the outside (no more foldouts) & PC games generally have multiple discs and thick manuals.

This could work if the the boxes were at least 2-3x thicker than standard DVD, PS2, & Xbox, etc. cases.

 

[chuckshissle]

Cool, we don't have to carry them big boxes around Best Buy.

 

[dvdpiddy]

Cool, we don't have to carry them big boxes around Best Buy.

Yeah i hate those big boxes they take up space and are mostly for show.

 

[Flakes]

erm, when was the last time you bought a game in a box? my last game that came in a cardboard box was worms2, everything else is in either cd or dvd boxes.

 

[nottheking]

Personally, seeing that it looks like ordinary DVD/console game packaging, I'm a bit apprehensive. The last game I purchased with Oblivion. It came in one of those afforementioned "mini boxes."

The contents would most certainly have NOT fit into a typical DVD case well. People who buy detailed games get what they expect; there's not just a game disc in there, (which, BTW, people WILL expect to wait while it installs) but a full, thick paper manual (not just a few flimsy pages) and in the case of that game, a fold-out map as well. Then, of course, where the numerous advertisements and registration cards...

Personally, I think this might signal a bad direction for PC games. It's as if they're being reduced in status, to little more than a cheap DVD movie. Perhaps it may be that the majority of gamers are, for lack of a better (and less insulting) word, "simple" to that they prefer their games that way, but it's clear that there are millions that aren't, as illustrated by all those that go to painstaking lengths to assemble a "monster rig" to play their games, rather than buying a quickie pre-built from Alienware. Games are something to take seriously, I think.

 

[llama_man]

Here, here.

Most games have, for a while now, been released in those DVD-boxes. Whilst they stack nicely on your shelf, there's no room for a proper manual. I used to like a manual. It told you useful stuff like how the game worked.

Some of my favourite games - Civ II, Caesar III, MOO2 - all came with big manuals. Hell, even the AoE2 manual wouldn't fit in a DVD case.

The last game I bought that came in a box was Civ III - again, it has a whopping great manual.

The move to smaller packaging appears to serve 2 purposes:
1. Reduce product size to leave more room on shop shelves
2. Provide an excuse for only supplying the manual as PDF (if at all)

So I mourn the death of the big box!

Although... hats off for GTA:SA for managing to put a hard-back book in the package, and yet still have it only be slightly larger than a DVD case.

 

[nottheking]

Here, here.

Most games have, for a while now, been released in those DVD-boxes. Whilst they stack nicely on your shelf, there's no room for a proper manual. I used to like a manual. It told you useful stuff like how the game worked.

Some of my favourite games - Civ II, Caesar III, MOO2 - all came with big manuals. Hell, even the AoE2 manual wouldn't fit in a DVD case.

The last game I bought that came in a box was Civ III - again, it has a whopping great manual.

The move to smaller packaging appears to serve 2 purposes:
1. Reduce product size to leave more room on shop shelves
2. Provide an excuse for only supplying the manual as PDF (if at all)

So I mourn the death of the big box!

Although... hats off for GTA:SA for managing to put a hard-back book in the package, and yet still have it only be slightly larger than a DVD case.

Yes, you are correct on the terms of why they're making boxes smaller and smaller.

However, I realize that I forgot to point out that I am aware that in Europe, the DVD-case idea has already seriously taken root; I know many people who actually buy them from there because they're cheaper, (how this works is beyond by reckoning) and they've all come in DVD cases.

Meanwhile, all of the boxes for games I've seen in the United States (well, in the Midwest) have been the small, cardboard boxes that actually have room for a proper jewel case, (or even one of those fancy double-sized cases) along with a thick manual.

 

[llama_man]

Yes, you are correct on the terms of why they're making boxes smaller and smaller.

However, I realize that I forgot to point out that I am aware that in Europe, the DVD-case idea has already seriously taken root; I know many people who actually buy them from there because they're cheaper, (how this works is beyond by reckoning) and they've all come in DVD cases.

Meanwhile, all of the boxes for games I've seen in the United States (well, in the Midwest) have been the small, cardboard boxes that actually have room for a proper jewel case, (or even one of those fancy double-sized cases) along with a thick manual.

I'm amazed - I'd always assumed that the packaging would be the same.

Yes, here in Europe, a lot of games have been released in DVD-style games for years now. I think the first one I bought was Black&White (the first one, not the sequel!), which shows how long they've been around. Now they're pretty much the norm - it's quite rare for a game to be released (in the UK at least) in anything else.

I think the small carboard boxes are a good compromise between size and function. I still think there's a lot to be said for a good manual (sometimes I want to be able to check the manual whilst playing the game, and alt-tab doesn't always work).

 

[nottheking]

I'm amazed - I'd always assumed that the packaging would be the same.

Yes, here in Europe, a lot of games have been released in DVD-style games for years now. I think the first one I bought was Black&White (the first one, not the sequel!), which shows how long they've been around. Now they're pretty much the norm - it's quite rare for a game to be released (in the UK at least) in anything else.

I think the small carboard boxes are a good compromise between size and function. I still think there's a lot to be said for a good manual (sometimes I want to be able to check the manual whilst playing the game, and alt-tab doesn't always work).

Ah, as I remember, even those cardboard "mini-boxes" (which in reality, were about the same width/height as a DVD case, just about an inch/2.5cm thick) were not quite as adopted as fast; I remember when Black & White and Diablo II first shipped, they sported these "interrim" boxes, that were still much smaller than those of the older days, but perhaps the area of two DVD cases. This was particularly useful for Diablo II, which came in a double-width jewel case, (for its 4 CDs) and had a HUGE manual.

And yeah, alt-tab doesn't work so well. Especially for Oblivion, which almost always crashes if you do that.

 

[andronin]

Here in South Africa we have been getting the DVD boxes for ages, last game I got in a box was Operation Flashpoint or was it NeverWinter Nights... hmmm

The only time we see "boxes" now is with limited editions of game like the Age of Empires one (at 4 x the price)