I remember that AWESOME Marathon box, and you're picturing the Mac one anyway (only the second game came out on PC). Fun article, nice and nostalgic.

I welcome digital distribution after this article.

Absurd? The Marathon boxes are classic successes. Of course, it helped that the game was absolutely stellar as well.

Nothing absurd at all about the Marathon box. I actually remember, as an impressionable undergrad, thinking about dropping composition and getting into package design as a result of that box! But...I didn't.

I have to admit that I'm still a sucker for packaging, and games that come with maps and manuals and other fun bonus material and special edition collector's cases and...yeah.

The nostalgia is a bit heavy handed in that article... I remember receiving several of those games as a kid and just going straight through the extra stuff and installing the game itself almost immediately.

It feels really solid until the end when it starts to break out the QQ 'we miss old packaging' and Steam kow-towing.

Interesting article.

I realized much I missed of PC gaming. I'm only 17, and have only had access to my own computer for about two years.

I've been trying to grab copies of old games, but I'm also trying to avoid stealing them, which is, erm, difficult. The bigger problem is that some of the older games have trouble emulating on my computer. I found System Shock 2 on the internet, and it runs. Sort of. I end up having to disable the games access to one of my processors, use several programs to get it to run, and I still can't get it to show the movies at the proper times.

On a side note:
Thank you for avoiding GTAIV.

I don't have it yet, and even though I'm not worried about spoilers, I still am sick of reading about it. It's everywhere I go. Everywhere.

Oh my god...GTAIV is stalking me.
...don't tell Jack Thompson.

I miss my full size map for Star Control 2. It gave the game a real life extension you don't feel these days with the in game maps.

I also miss my full packaging for Alpha Centauri. The tech tree sheet and all. I hear it makes a nice bit of money on Ebay these days....

I miss the old days. Games still cost a lot when you get them digitally, and you don't get all the cool stuff.

Used to be you got the strategy guide equivalent packed right in with the game, plus all the background lore and art. Now that's separate, so you get to pay tons extra if it's available at all.

"Yay capitalism", indeed.

After reading all that... I think digital distribution is the way to go. How wasteful is all that paper??

Wasteful paper?

I'm all for going green, but after several hours of alt-tabbing between Europa Universalis II and its pdf manual trying to get into the game and learn specific aspects of it, I finally decided to just shop around on eBay for an older box that comes with the actual printed manual.

For the more shallow genres (e.g. FPSs) where the manual is nothing but a few paragraphs of backstory and weapon descriptions, yes, the printed manual can be done away with, but for any decent CRPG or strategy game,a nice thick spiral bound manual should be mandatory. I couldn't imagine playing a game like Dominions 3 without the manual and a manual like The Vault Dweller's Survival Guide is an entertaining and informative read on its own.

And yeah. A sad LOL at the state of things that a tech tree and hotkey card are now considered being a collector's edition incentive instead of a regular addition.

@art_zombie: I agree, I think the whole article is stupid.

Games don't have 20 pounds manuals anymore because they have better in-game tutorials and are more intuitive to play.

Games don't have code wheels are other ridiculous copy protection measures because players shouldn't need a stack of manuals and other miscellany available to play a game. How can anyone prefer the antiquated method to invisible means? Look, I know everyone doesn't like SecuRom/whatever on principle, but how many people does it actually cause a problem for - I certainly never had any problems with it.

And the totchkies? Please, grow up. I'm as big a nerd as anyone and even I'd feel self-conscious about having a home full of stupid game figurines, maps, etc.

In the end, it's about the games, and packaging doesn't makes games better

@Absent Blue:
No. They both came out for PC. PC stands for Personal Computer. Computers running Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Unix, BSD, whatever... Are all PCs. Commodore 64 and old Ataris? Yep, them too.

Idjits have taken over the term 'PC' to mean a computer running Windows.

Nice article...
While I do love the new digital distribution scheme, I'll also miss some stuff from the past.

I remember the first PC CD-Rom game I bought (Stonekeep) came with a fantasy book (Thera's Awakening) which is one of the things that helped me learn english...

And what about NES and SNES RPGs like Zelda, Dragon Warrior and some others... filled with maps, manuals and other stuff that almost fell apart after using them too much. I still have them, duct tape all over.

But anyways, game fans won't loose nothing here. Digital distribution makes games cheaper... and the extra content, figurines, shirts and whatever, can always be sold separately, which also forces producers to make less crappy stuff too.

@Stevedroid: Actually, packaging does make games better--or was at least once a reliable indicator of their quality.

Before the net took over and enthusiast magazines became more widespread, you could pretty much tell the quality of a game by the weight of the package. For the most part, heavier packaging = better game, with few exceptions to the rule. The extra mile that a lot of companies went with packaging generally meant that they cared just as much about the game, and that it wasn't a quick one-off that played like crap.

Of course, this is just my opinion, and neither science nor a hard-and-fast rule. However, before PC game packaging became more standardized (back in around 99-00, IIRC), the best games generally have had very heavy packaging. The Ultimas, the Wing Commanders, the LucasArts adventures, etc. etc. etc.--they all had heavy packaging and great extras.

I miss the extras because they made me care about the game and its world more, even though they generally never left the box. They were tangible objects that many developers put a lot of thought into, and it made me appreciate their game all the more. It's all very reminiscent of a time when PC games were more of a hobby than an industry, and it felt much more personal.

And you shouldn't be so self-conscious. My home office is proudly filled with the affections of my geekery, the opinions of others be damned. People that can't accept the fact that there's a part of me that will never grow up aren't people that I want in my life.

@Bokusatsu_Tenshi: I'll be all for digital distribution when such games are cheaper. But until then, I'm buying all my games in brick-and-mortars (or Amazon).

I hated the code wheels for the D&D games. Those things were a major hassle. I'm very impatient with stuff like that. I'm still using them though. I just can't stop playing them.

Gimme Steam any day.

I lost my Star Control II starmap.

Want I want to know is why the box for PC games are so big compared to console game boxes. >_>

My only question is, if they're trying to cut costs in terms of packaging, why did they go to the trouble of designing a fat-pack DVD case with a really tall spindle...and then use it to hold _one_ game DVD? The LEGO Star Wars games both use that style of packaging, which allows the sole DVD to rattle around like crazy, provides enough room to accomodate both LSW:PC games along with the upcoming LIJ and LB games, and still have enough room to fit spare copies of all four. Why not just use a standard DVD case? It'd take up less room in my home, it'd use less plastic on their end, and since it's a more common case style the labor costs should even be a touch lower.

Oh man, that brings back some memories. I have two of my old games on 3 1/2" floppies (Populous and Advanced D&D Starter Kit). Both have some type of verification stuff (Populous has you match a shield and AD&D has you answer a verification question). I remember when you would get those huge-ass manuals (especially with flight sim games) and maps..My old Sim City 3000 has a spiral-bound volume to tell you what to do. Could you imagine doing that nowadays?

And some of the games for the C64 (EA was good for this, but so was Activision) would just have a fold-over holder for your floppy, maybe a small manual and that was it. Anyone remember Hacker? Or The Adventure Construction Kit?

But to be honest, of all the things I put my rose-colored glasses on for, the huge manuals are not one of them.
(Buy the game, read the manual, after a week, begin the game ^_^). I prefer the in-game tutorials (and another thing I don't miss is DOS. Configuring your autoexec.bat and config.sys files to try and get your base memory usage above, say, 604k is not my idea of good times, let me tell you ^_^).

I remember my first PC games that I played for a PC we actually owned. It was box set of some old Forgotten Realms AD&D games that contained the (original) Pool of Radiance / Curse of the Azure Bonds / Secret of the Silver Blades. This was probably like 1991/92. Eventually while playing through Curse I lost the goddamn code wheel, but when the answer is just a letter of the alphabet, eventually you'd guess right. The bitch would be when they'd stop in the middle of the game and ask you again though. Ugh. At least SotSB had the slightly-less-annoying "what is the third word on the top of page 23 of the manual" type questions.

Oh, and despite being annoying I'd still take that shit over bullshit like Steam any day. If I buy a game, I want to OWN it. Not "rent it" or "have a license to play it."

I still use my Max Payne mouse pad.

Ahh the good ole days when the packaging for the game was 4 times the size of the actual box.

Ahh old cardboard packaging - back when the unnecessary cardboard inserts were so sharp, anything and usually *everything* in the box could slice open you fingers at any given moment..

The article was a good read, thanks for that! :)

@Dauragon C. Mikado: I still use that Max Payne mouse pad too :D Getting a little worn after years of use, but still in good condition.

Also got suckered into buying Ultima IX Ascension. The game was a buggy mess, but loved the extras that came with it. Miss the cloth maps, thought they were the coolest extras :)

Wish I'd never thrown out my old PC game boxes. These new miniature ones are very, very meh. Yes, I know it's nostalgia for the time period, not the boxes themselves, but let a man reminisce. :P

My first C64 games that I had as a kid were packaged in big vinyl cases with little compartments inside. Sort of like the old Disney VHS tape cases, but bigger. I remember that one actually held 3 carts easily.

As for the boxes filled with completely ridiculous amounts of goodness, I remember my uncle's copy of Trinity for the Apple II had all kinds of crazy stuff in it. It had a comic book, directions on how to fold origami swans, a pop-out cardboard gnomon, and a couple of other things too I think. I loved that game but he never had a floppy around for me to save, so when I played, I had to start from the beginning and make an all-day task of it.

The old packaging looks nice, but I do prefer the smaller form factor of the new packaging. I have a bookshelf full of PC game boxes and that makes the difference very apparent.

The article mentions Marathon, but the few oddballs I have are Gabriel Knight, Thief, and Thief II. Later editions of the GK1 box were normal rectangles, but the early ones like I have were an oddly shaped, two-piece thing. It's not an easy thing to come by nowadays if you're a collector looking for it.

But I'm glad I have all of my PC game packaging anyway. Back when I had a NES, the boxes always got thrown out immediately. At least I still have my original Legend of Zelda manual and fold-out map.

digital distribution ftw.
now we can buy the games that are fun and the extras that are cool.
everyone wins.

I don't mind Digital Distribution, but personally, I'm always gonna buy the game boxes, as long as possible.

It's nice to have a hard copy of a game. Something I can display on my shelf and whatnot.

And, the more stuff packed in the box and the more elaborate the box is, the happier I am when I buy it.

If I open a game, and find it littered with manuals and maps and goodies, I get a giddy inside. I can't really explain it, it's like I've hit a jackpot, and now I have all this extra info about the game.

I know I'm not alone is this.

Hard Copies 'til the end!

The Monkey Island 1 code wheel with the mix & match pirate faces is my favorite.

I was just talking with someone today about the epidemic of Eidos Trapezoid Boxes in the late 90s.

Anyways, digital distribution is retarded and a lot of you will regret it when Steam no longer exists and you lose all the games you "own" (because you don't actually own them, you see).

@Coquiton: I agree. Hard copies are good because they are tangible. However, digital distribution is the #1 way to combat piracy...

About the only real evolution in computer game packaging that I can recall is the jump from really big boxes to not-so-big boxes. The not-so-big boxes are far more convenient to store!

Marathon box was definitely a TWO thumbs up! I remember it so clearly

@relic1980: Oooh, Hacker. I loved Hacker.

Naysayers of Steam: I am going to guess that Valve is going to outlive my desire to play any game that I buy this year. And even if it didn't, what makes you think they won't release something over Steam to remove the anti-piracy checks before closing their doors?

On recent packaging, I got to give love to the World in Conflict CE I just got. It comes in a sweet box, which I find hard to describe (one half of it is in Russian with a hammer and sickle, the other half in English with stars and stripes) and it came with a 10 day trial for a friend, a History Channel DVD, a "behind the scenes" DVD, and coolest of all, a piece of the Berlin Wall.

@Doomstink:
1) Steam is raking in the cash, and is unlikely to close down any time soon.

2) I very, very rarely replay a game more than once or twice. I've thrown out whole stacks of old PC games that I know I'll never play when doing spring cleaning or moving. On top of that, PC games are usually rendered all but useless in a couple years due to new OSes and new hardware that are incompatible with old software. So if in X years Steam does close up shop and I lose the games, I wouldn't really care.

3) While you might argue that Steam may not last forever, you can't argue that digital distribution isn't here to stay. In the unlikely event that Steam goes out of business, they'd probably make some deal to transfer their games to some other service. E.g. just like people who got Prey through Triton could activate it on Steam after Triton went out of business.

@JustThisGuy:

I have been following Kotaku for 2 years. You made me find a login to nominate you for comment of the week.

Those copy protection wheels were such a pain. I preferred when they did something unique. My favorite copy protection was on "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" for the Amiga. The game would ask you questions about items in the Gag Factory (basically like Acme in the Warner Bros cartoons) catalog, so you would look up the item in the catalog and input the answer. The catalog was like a part of the game, with all of the crazy items for sale like portable holes, plutonium pogo sticks, box-a-matic mallets, and exploding cigars.

@Doomstink: Doom and Gloom, for collectors maybe Steam and digital distribution suck, but for the average joe it's here to stay. It's the price the industry is making us pay for copying all those 5 1/4 inch floppys back in the 80's.

Back on topic, PC is still about the only arena you have a chance at getting some cool and fun game packaging. Although, I did enjoy the full size map for GTAIV. I've been marking down on the map any jumps I've seen on casual drives. Geekfest.

Wait minute.. do you guys get those big "double-dvd"-sized game boxes? Here in Europe, all games come in standard, DVD jewel-cases, about half the size of those "new ones" in that article..

The Marathon box felt like unearthing some alien relic. For a mac game, it was pretty damn unbelievably awesome to see, though it was almost impossible to take good care of.

Damn Marathon. I still remember the serial by heart for all the times i had to reinstall the thing at uni after admins deleted it from the powerpc workstations.

I have to admit, every time i see some fancy boxing my heart skips. It's part of the artform for me still. My favorite moment as a games consumer was spending my own saved up allowance on Monkey Island. That box art was so gorgeous i wanted to put it up on my wall.

The state of the art was so rotten for the XBOX, with those ugly ass green/black dvd cases, i would immediatly discard the cases and use a cd folder instead.

I actually miss the old days of copy protection. The Lucasarts style code wheels were awesome; the Sierra manual table lookups not so much. It became another gauge of quality; wether you can tie the packaging and physical content into the game experience without being overly intrusive.

In recent times there hasnt been a single piece of packaging i wanted to keep or display. At this point i welcome digital distribution.

Speaking of digital distribution, if i find out who decided XBLA games would just randomly "time out" and require periodic connections to Live to stay purchased i'll finally find good cause for my voodoo doll experiment. Thanks MS, for further punishing me for being temporarily offline.

I use to keep all the boxes for my PC games. I still have some of them, mainly Doom, Duke Nukem, all the Command & Conquer boxes, and a few more here and there...

The writer talks about being an uber-geek for having figurines and spell-replica manuals and then at the end of the article talks about how he misses all that stuff?

WTF?

I have a large box front of the awesome though ignored game Evolva in an 8x10 frame and it looks great. It's a version that had a lenticular covering and the 2 characters animate slightly as you walk by..

here is the exact image

[www.mobygames.com]

try getting an extra like that thru the intertubes...

we are unfortunately going backwards with copy protection giving manufacturers more freedom as the consumer gets less. reducing box waste is good but reducing user options stinks..