PC Game Boxes go Console Style

[bapenguin]

1UP (http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3150938) is reporting that PC Game boxes now have standard to follow, and that standard looks pretty much like the current console implementation of game boxes.

The IEMA, Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association, released today a new standard icon and box in hopes of formalizing the appearance of PC videogame packaging.

This updated, standardized look will make its first appearance on Madden '07, in hopes that such a high-profile title will cause other companies to quickly fall in line.
I still remember the change from the big boxes to the smaller boxes. Of course when that happened the manuals slowly began to stop too.

[Hizawky]

Unless it was a Blizzard Manual, or a Janes Flight Sim Manual, we did not miss much.

[KamaItachi]

I remember the old boxes. Huge big jobbies they were, used to house a single 3.5 floppy.

[bean19]

I hope PC game-makers will actually use this. It would be nice if the small shelves that retailers give to PC software could hold more titles.

[Sl1pstream]

Gaming Steve had an interview about this on his podcast. It's interesting and it really sounds like it could help pc gaming.

[doubtingthomas]

I got one for Ghose Recon, yet the case was still house in a huge box. And the DVD case it's in is twice as thick. Kind of silly for a single DVD.

[Dr Quincy]

I was under the impression that the Games For Windows logo was to become the standard for all PC packaging.

[AspectVoid]

Unless it was a Blizzard Manual, or a Janes Flight Sim Manual, we did not miss much.

Bioware used to do great manuals too. I still have my BG2 manual that's a few hundred pages and is in a ring book form. I think that thing is still my all time favorite manual.

[Varsity]

That's pretty damn dull. Personally, I think the standard icon and more box art space would be better.

[Xaerin]

so as the consumer will not mistakenly purchase a PSP game when he really needed it for the Nintendo DS

How often does that even happen to warrant this? I'm glad that goofy big black bar wasn't all over the oblivion spesh ed. box. It would've ruined the look.

If we didn't need 'em before I don't see why it's suddenly necessary now. Morons don't deserve to play games if they can't tell 'em apart.

[MSUStud911]

This is pretty unnecessary in my opinion. I think that scaling the boxes down has worked out great, and the addition of DVD style (though thicker) cases to house the games has been awesome as well. Slapping a black bar across the top of the game just seems like a waste of time. PC games are usually in their own section, so there really is no need to prevent confusion. Also, I like how PC game boxes can have a lot more art and descriptions and whatnot. Console-izing the box will get rid of that cool aesthetic.

[Klade]

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

I collect video game boxes. Don't ask me why but I do. I have every video game box from every video game I ever bought, all the way back past Fury 3 the ultimate in Terminal Reality rip offs. Each video game box is unique and some of them do pretty nifty stuff, this is like the ultimate nail in the coffin for my collecting. I mean now I'll just have a bunch of damned dvd cases lying around.

[Zawath]

This has been the standard in Europe for many years now. USA is always behind.

[Ph00p]

I hope PC game-makers will actually use this. It would be nice if the small shelves that retailers give to PC software could hold more titles.

more shitty titles? I bet!

[51|RandoM]

It wasn't the boxes that got rid of the manuals, it was the "strategy guide needed for every game" mentality that got rid of the manuals. Why pay people to write a manual when you can pay them to write a strategy guide you can turn around and sell to idiots who can't paint without numbers?

On the switch to a standard size, too little too late. The only compelling reason for such a move is to maintain their shelfspace at the stores... and they've already lost that at most of them.

Screw boxes, spend your time on a viable system of digital distribution.

[GigaFuzz]

This has been the standard in Europe for many years now. USA is always behind.

Indeed, pretty much all PC games come in DVD cases, and in most cases, on DVD as standard, with no CD version available.

Saves a lot of space on the shelf, and I am overall in favour of them, but I do have fond memories of big chunky boxes with lots of pretty pictures.

[StANTo]

Unless it was a Blizzard Manual, or a Janes Flight Sim Manual, we did not miss much.

One thing that pisses me off is the elitism over Valve's console commands.

If I had never touched Half Life 2; or any other valve game. Brought it home, put it on. Played say, counter-strike source and suffered online issues with it I'd be crying. There's no menu options to tweak or optimise the game or the internet connection.

So I'd ask for help and people would assume I *knew* these commands, what they did and how they work. It's as bad as relying on the open source community for Linux. What's in the Half Life 2 manual? a piece of double sided A4 which only says the basic movement controls.

There needs to be a comprehensive reference list for this damn stuff and things like it. Rather than just being assumed and fumbling around. Which is similar to why I buy a book just so I know about the 'man' command in slackware linux.

[Roman]

I would love for all PC games to come in the standard size DVD cases (with the thicker ones used if the manual was really thick), and also for all new games to just be released on DVDs already! DVD drives are so inexpensive now, anyone who plays current PC games should be able to pick up a $40 drive.

[bean19]

more shitty titles? I bet!

Actually, my thinking was that they'd keep good titles for a longer period of time.

The only titles with any longevity on the shelves were designed by one of three developers, all of whom are crazy awesome and have titles I'm looking forward to:

1. Stieg Hedlund - The clear winner as his Diablo II and Starcraft games have stayed on shelves for years and years after their initial release. He is currently working on Gods & Heroes (http://www.godsandheroes.com/). An upcoming MMORPG that won Best in Show (http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/loadFeature/660/page/4/) and Best Graphics (http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/loadFeature/660/page/4/) from MMORPG.com, as well as winning Best Gameplay and runner-up for Best in Show from Stratics.com.

2. Will Wright - His Sims titles were on shelves even after the release of Sims 2, and his Sims 2 titles will be on the shelves until Sims 3. Currently, he is working on Spore (http://www.spore.com/). This game won so many awards at E3 that it is easier to just link you to their press page (http://www.spore.com/press.php).

3. Sid Meier - Creator of many beloved series like Pirates!, Railroad Tycoon, and Alpha Centauri. All of his titles have strong shelf lives, but the one that excels is the Civilization series. Last year, he released Civilization 4 that won a ton of awards (http://www.2kgames.com/civ4/awards.htm). Currently, he is working on an expansion (http://www.firaxis.com/games/game_detail.php?gameid=13) for Civ 4 that will release this summer, as well as a new version of his Railroad Tycoon series (http://www.firaxis.com/games/game_detail.php?gameid=12).

So those guys rock hard enough to keep shelf space for literally years, but there are a lot of titles that are really good, but get taken off shelves due to space constraints before they can find their audience. Try going out to even Best Buy's large PC sales display and finding Psychonauts, Syberia 2, No One Lives Forever 1 & 2, the Gabriel Knight series, the Monkey Island series, the Jedi Knight series, Baldur's Gate series, Fallout series, Planescape Torment, Deus Ex, etc. Some of these are so old that they pop up as bargain classic titles from time-to-time, but the point is that there are awesome PC titles that you can't buy anymore except through internet retailers or, in some cases, using ebay.

[Skookum]

I'm trying to imagine the books I got with my copy of Oblivion in one of these boxes. Wouldn't work. Of course, I got the collector's edition, and I'm sure that any future collector's edition will eschew these boxes (gesundheit). It does suck that the "manual" now takes the form of a 40 dollar "guide" that you have to buy to figure out basic gameplay, but that's been happening for years (how else to figure out how to pick up the tunnels in BFV, or guide the chopper missiles in BF2).

[51|RandoM]

I'm trying to imagine the books I got with my copy of Oblivion in one of these boxes.

You're imagining the regular version of oblivion. Your typical pc game in a thick dvd style case. I read the manual, but only because I was stuck at work for a few hours before I could play. :-)

[Kelegacy]

I miss the old PC boxes. Man, just seeing one in a thrift store brings back memories. I recently picked up Quest for Glory III and King's Quest V for like a buck or so apiece in a Goodwill. I know the big boxes were a waste of space, but they were so much more attractive. I get goosebumps when I go through my big box collection and stumble across old memories.

Wal-Mart was instrumental in getting PC boxes cut in half. Again another reason I hate Wal-Mart.

[Inglorion]

I have mixed feelings about the old, big boxes; they had space for lots of nice artwork--kind of like with the transition from vinyl to CD, I guess--and a fat manual, but at the same time it took up so much damn space.

[51|RandoM]

I don't miss the boxes at all, I typically tossed them in the garbage before I even got the game home. I rarely find myself with the packrat/collector mentality, and even when I do it is for content, not containers. Moved out of an apartment recently, left the collectors' editions of WoW and Warcraft3 just sitting there.

[Thenetcase]

I don't mind the smaller boxes at all. But I must admit that it would be much easier to actually KEEP all my games if they came in an even smaller (console style) format.... Plus I could store them in my DVD case built into my desk instead of having a special cupboard for them. Sure, purely selfish reasons, but I see NO reason why this should be a big deal. You've got just as much (or verrry close) room for artwork on the DVD cases as one of the newer small boxes.

-TNC-

[51|RandoM]

One thing that pisses me off is the elitism over Valve's console commands.


Funny thing about that is that most of those commands didn't originate with Valve. :-) They're the same commands from engine technology Valve licensed from id, or direct descendents.

They don't expect the average user to have to delve into the console, which is one of the reasons it is disabled by default. Those who choose to do so should also be able to hit any of the community sites which just love to maintain lists of those commands, what they actually do, and how best to implement them.

I think it just boils down to idiot-proofing the product in the hopes of reducing service calls. If you put buttons on something, even if labeled in bright blinking red, "DO NOT TOUCH!" somebody will press them. How many calls do they really want where they have to explain tick rate to the customer?

[Mozgus]

One thing that pisses me off is the elitism over Valve's console commands.

If I had never touched Half Life 2; or any other valve game. Brought it home, put it on. Played say, counter-strike source and suffered online issues with it I'd be crying. There's no menu options to tweak or optimise the game or the internet connection.

So I'd ask for help and people would assume I *knew* these commands, what they did and how they work. It's as bad as relying on the open source community for Linux. What's in the Half Life 2 manual? a piece of double sided A4 which only says the basic movement controls.

There needs to be a comprehensive reference list for this damn stuff and things like it. Rather than just being assumed and fumbling around. Which is similar to why I buy a book just so I know about the 'man' command in slackware linux.
I saw this article and immediately thought of HL2. One of the most hyped up PC games of all time, and when I recieve it, it came in a cheapass box...with no manual. I was sure that someone ripped me off. But then everyone else online started complaining...

Yes, console commands should be explained and listed for every consumer of the game. They are vital.

[Draft]

GOOD. I was jazzed when PC games went to smaller cardboard boxes, and I'm even more jazzed they're going to straight up DVD cases.

Not only were the old boxes big, unweildy and wasteful, they were yet another disadvantage for PC games on the already crowded gaming shelves of EBs and Best Buys all across the country.

You people that collect game boxes are weird. They're trash. You don't keep the box your TV came in, do you?

[Mozgus]

You people that collect game boxes are weird. They're trash. You don't keep the box your TV came in, do you?
God no. We give them as Christmas presents to the kids. :)

[Draft]

God no. We give them as Christmas presents for the kids. :)Hahahaha.

alskjf;alsd

[Demize99]

If you put buttons on something, even if labeled in bright blinking red, "DO NOT TOUCH!" somebody will press them.

THOSE BUTTONS ARE RED, YOU'LL KILL US ALL!!!

Seriously though, I think people need to let go of the box fetishes. Digital downloads is where its at for the PC, why get up and go give 50$ to a store that takes a cut just for being a middle man between you and the developer?

And I hardly think that smaller boxes are the cause for smaller manuals. Frankly I think the size reduction in manuals results in the ability to have smaller game boxes, not the other way around.

[Dirty Harry]

Indeed, pretty much all PC games come in DVD cases, and in most cases, on DVD as standard, with no CD version available.

Saves a lot of space on the shelf, and I am overall in favour of them, but I do have fond memories of big chunky boxes with lots of pretty pictures.
and openable flaps that reveal an entire BIZARO cover :D. (aka the cover within a cover)

[DoubleUranium]

Seriously though, I think people need to let go of the box fetishes. Digital downloads is where its at for the PC, why get up and go give 50$ to a store that takes a cut just for being a middle man between you and the developer?


Funny thing is that those middlemen are the only ones who ever give us price breaks. When was the last time you saw a sale on a Steam title?

[Mason]

Funny thing is that those middlemen are the only ones who ever give us price breaks. When was the last time you saw a sale on a Steam title?
Why would you? Stores buy a amount of something, and if it doesn't sell at MSRP, they start shooting lower in order to minimize their loss. I think it'd make sense for online distribution services to lower prices for twilighted games, but since there's no physical inventory they just don't have the same incentive to do anything to get the boxes off the shelf.

[lost]

I think it's a sensible idea, not exciting, just sensible. In that it makes sense.

Having said that the box design proposed is intensely formal, it Mr Norton holding a copy of Norton Antvirus LIKE an american football would look quite suited to that packaging.

I like the Stubbs the Zombie PC packaging, its not a phsycadelic masterpeice but I think the silver band is cool and you know...promotes the fact that all in all PCs are probably the best place to play games.

http://www.gametab.com/images/ss/pc/3855/box.jpg

Just in case you want to disagree...

[JRR006]

I didn't mind the shift to smaller boxes, though I was a bit unsettled at first. I'll miss the smaller cardboard boxes, as the DVD-style cases just look so plain and cheap. I don't think the plastic cases are *that* much smaller than their cardboard counterpart... *grabs ruler* The two boxes I have to hand are 3.2 cm wide, and the DVD-case for the GOTY Halflife-2 is about 2.8 cm. So for every eight DVD cases they stock as opposed to the cardboard boxes, they can fit one extra game on the shelf. (.4x = 3.2) Then again, PC game shelf space has never been in short supply around here, so I'm not really going to see any benefit at all from the plain, ugly cases.

I didn't measure the cases with lasers or anything, and I'm one of the dumbest people on earth, so please, take everything I said with a grain of salt.

If there are environmental benefits, then I'm all for it. My understanding of such things is akin to a four year old's simplistic view of the world, though. More trees cut down for boxes = bad, more and more non-biodegradable plastic for cases also = bad?

[Deathbane27]

LotR-like Oblivion Collecter's Edition box FTW!

[gawaintheblind]

Bah, I LIKED the bigass boxes. That was back in the day when you could usually tell how good a game was going to be by the weight of the box...

[Rook34]

From a retailer standpoint, I couldn't be happier. God-damned planograms will actually be a breeze now and look halfway decent.

And from a gamer standpoint... I really liked some of those boxes...

Sorry Klade. Progress is a harsh mistress.

[DoubleUranium]

Why would you? Stores buy a amount of something, and if it doesn't sell at MSRP, they start shooting lower in order to minimize their loss. I think it'd make sense for online distribution services to lower prices for twilighted games, but since there's no physical inventory they just don't have the same incentive to do anything to get the boxes off the shelf.

From a consumer point of view, the move to digital distribution is not a win. Sure there's some moral win of places like EB getting less money, but I'm not thrilled to be paying full MSRP for every single game. Those one day Fry's specials/etc are great for my gaming library.

[MrWonderstuff]

This is fine as a standardised set keeps it all cohesive. As a designer who has worked on box packaging there either needs to be guidelines (measurement/typeface/colour references etc) or artwork to download. If neither are offered then there won't be a take up.

As for digital downloads, I prefer boxes (I buy music CDs as well). Something tangible to open and sift through is all part of the process of game buying/playing.

[markster3000]

in hopes of formalizing the appearance of PC videogame packaging.
Frankly, I find the plastic DVD case style to be less formal for PC games. It exudes a new cheapness.

And if it's an issue of identifiability, since only computer games use the cardboard cases, that's really a non-issue.

[TheBrainKills]

psygnosis..... i cry

[AntB]

Bah, I LIKED the bigass boxes. That was back in the day when you could usually tell how good a game was going to be by the weight of the box...

I absolutely loved the old school PC giant boxes.

I loved buying 2-3 games on EBGames.com and anticipating them coming and receiving a giant box from UPS, it felt like christmas every time. I loved ripping apart those big ass boxes and then going through the manuals and reading the backstore of games. I guess were the few. And I still have my grim fandango, quake1/2 and HL1 boxes for sake of nastalgia.

[Claus DuBois]

Wow,why all the news articles on this lately? No offense, but uhhhh it's a fuckin box!

[TheBrainKills]

Wow,why all the news articles on this lately? No offense, but uhhhh it's a fuckin box!

You have no soul, .... I have posters from the 80's that were included in those old PC box's. Such as Roger Dean. And if you don't know who he is ...well.

http://www.psygnosis.org/games/bloodmoney/covers/lcover2.jpg

[drakkarim]

great, its bad enough pc games are starting to be as crappy in quality/content as console games, now they have to start looking like them as well...

[Pumped'Up]

For the most part, I'm glad PC game boxes are taking this change. Yes, big boxes = absolute nostalgia...the biggest ones I have that come to mind are Diablo 2 CE and Ultima 9 CE - just huge!

But the new PC games will surely fit better on the shelf, including game manuals etc. I hate having loose manuals and maps disjoint from the game cd/dvds case.

Less garbage and lower dev/production costs. Overall, great. Btw this is nothing new - other countries like Europe have been doing this for a while already. Enjoy the change.

[sardonic_wrath]

I like the current style of the plastic (not box) cases, they're like double-size DVD cases. However, I wouldn't mind a change to DVD-size cases, they'd free up a lot of shelf room

[Demize99]

Price breaks from retail have all sorts of reasons, none of which involves actually trying to benefit the consumer. Mostly, its about getting people into the store at all. Retail sells stuff at a loss all the damn time because they know once you get in there you're gonna buy batteries, or printer ink, or paper, or cables. Those things that cost way too damn much for what goes into them and thats where retail makes their money.

Last time I saw a price break on steam was when I preordered Sin Episodes. 10% off baby! And Half-Life2 on steam is 30 bucks now. Digital has sales all the time, they just don't send you a big full color ad in your sunday paper.

[Sl1pstream]

great, its bad enough pc games are starting to be as crappy in quality/content as console games, now they have to start looking like them as well...

That's why pc games get patched, even before they're released, right?

[Stormwatcher]

I like that fact that the standardized the container itself, but I hate the black stripe on the top. Leave the art design alone!

Yesterday I took all my unfolded big boxes and folded them again... They're nice, but they're too damn big. that's bad, because I have to disassemble them, and keep the games on a huge DJ case and the manuals on old game shoe-type boxes (like wing commander and Tie Fighter)... It's a nightmare, I have 3 different things to worry about. The smaller cardboard boxes are better, I can keep the game and the manual together, and it can hold a thick manual. DVD cases are nice because it's easy to retrieve the game disk, but it's too small for a really big manual. Fable did come with a pretty manual, anyway.

I just don't get why MS packs the dvd cases in huge transparent plastic blister things, that make the DVD case as big as an old box. weird.

[Citizen Philip]

I lost all my boxes in a horrible recycling accident. :(

Of course, since that horrible accident and now, I've gain another 30 odd new boxes.

I don't really mind the change, paper boxes have a terrible shelf life, ratty corners and torn paper. The plastic box protects the goods, which is the important part.

[Librum]

I only keep the nice boxes these days, though those are few and far between lately. Blizzard's CEs have been among the nicest and among the most value for the increased price. Usually the games I'm currently playing still stay in their boxes, but when it's time to store them away, the CDs go in a wallet and the manuals go in a bin and the rest of it goes in the trash.

I'm all for standardized boxes that make sense, as long as there will be a place for CE versions of games and they don't make manuals completely impossible to include.

[RevGored]

From a retailer point of view, this is fantastic - PC games are one of the lower-moving stock items in a video game retailer, and they take up the most room. Take for example, PS2 vs. PC in an average EBGames.

PS2 does about double the business that PC does, and also takes up half the room in a stockroom. For a retailer having all that extra room is going to be awesome. They'll be able to stock more PC games because they'll take up WAY less space, and they'll be able to take better care of them - anyone who bitches that "I bought Spellforce 2 from EB and the box was wrecked ooohhhh I'm never shopping at EB again because they raped my mom" is basically pissed off because a cardboard box was shipped across the country, changed shipping means 3-6 times, and was packed/unpacked 3-4 times along the way from manufacturer to retailer, and took some damage. You don't see that with console games (often) because the packaging is much hardier.

And yes, I remember the 'good old days' of PC gaming as well - I bought my copy of Ultima 4/5/6/7/Serpent Isle, Might and Magic 3/4/5/6, Wing Commander, etc etc etc all in the old 'big box' format, and yes, it was pretty cool, but after working in games retail off and on since '98, I know what a nightmare those things are, as well.

[Claus DuBois]

From a retailer point of view, this is fantastic - PC games are one of the lower-moving stock items in a video game retailer, and they take up the most room. Take for example, PS2 vs. PC in an average EBGames.

PS2 does about double the business that PC does, and also takes up half the room in a stockroom. For a retailer having all that extra room is going to be awesome. They'll be able to stock more PC games because they'll take up WAY less space,........

Even though you can only get so much of anything of any size in the puny 25 square feet (and dwindling) of shelf space that my EB stores dedicates to PC, we can still hope that smaller boxes will help.

[Shifteh]

I was so pissed when I lost the Homeworld story book while moving. They actually had a manual, which was fairly large, and a book all about the backstory.

Sadly, that is pretty much gone now.

I don't mind the smaller boxes - but jesus, how about we use more intelligent packaging? I have three games now that have a cardboard covering on a plastic case that houses 1 DVD. How about we make thin cases with no cardboard cover, and since there wont be big manuals anyway, just have a single DVD.

More space, looks better, wastes less.

[Johan]

I'm just glad they phased out the old style of packaging, with boxes the size of an atlas or encyclopedia. I wonder if it will actually be cheaper for them to use this standardized format for multiple cds in a game...DVD games only take a disk, but cd games can run four or five.