Do you miss your game boxes?

[Gennadios]

Nope. I did descend into my basement yesterday looking for some old programming references and found an old box of Arcanum just made me realize how much of my storage space is dedicated to stuff I kept for sentimental reasons and lost all use for.

 

[Sincendiary]

Yes and no, I love Steam neatly organizing all my games for me - primarily I hate that some other publishers that shall not be named want me to use their proprietary service that essentially functions the same as Steam only more annoying.

I do think that boxes have helped immersion at times. I love maps that come with games and manuals that act like they're not only teaching me how to play the game but dumping some knowledge on me "in character." Oh, the fact that I'm a roleplay nerd is showing.

On the other hand, I do really, really miss having nice big glossy game manuals that actually provided fairly in depth knowledge about the game and game mechanics"

My Fallout 1 manual sits on my bookshelf like it's a novel I've pawed through it so many times.

 

[DeleteThisAcc]

Do you miss your game boxes?

YES. Still always try to buy boxed version. Unless it's insane sale on steam or humble indie bundle.

 

[necromanzer52]

No, because I refuse to buy games, unless I'm buying an actual physical copy of it.

This is also part of the reason why I refuse to buy DLC.

 

[Keepeas]

well....I got a boxed version of Skyrim on the PC.
It came with a large poster-sized map of Skyrim...

If all the boxes contained an awesome gift like that then yes I miss boxed versions....
but they don't...what I DO miss is the ability to lend your friend a game...only true drawback in my opinion...

 

[deleted126167]

DELETED

 

[Maya Posch]

I love game boxes but only for sentimental reasons as pointed out by Gennadios earlier. They're not practical to keep around I'll have to move soon (moving to another country) and I'm happy I don't have a huge pile of game boxes and books to lug around with me.

 

[])rStrangelove]

I used to enjoy seeing all the boxes on my shelves, but now that hardly any extra stuff comes with games (maps, tips&tricks, code-wheels, technical manuals, buttons, stickers, pens) i stopped thinking about it.

I buy a collectors edition every once in a while, but thats it. (AC Brotherhood CE is great!)

 

[Vault101]

*looks at PC game collection the my right*

*looks at collectors edition boxes to my left*

....miss?, what are you talking about?

 

[Justank]

Any game I'm particularly excited about, I still get a hard copy of. If I'm realllllllly realllllllllllly looking forward to it and have the money laying around, I'll grab the Collector's Edition for that extra spiffy box. Like Diablo 3

 

[Ranorak]

Remember these.

Love that smell of opening a new box, take out the manual that could beat a grown man to death and just sit there and read it while I was installing the game off of the 4 discs.

So, sadly, I do miss em.

 

[ChaosEternal]

I don't miss game boxes. They were fun to look at and pick out a game I hoped I would like, but now with the internet and reviews that part kind of doesn't matter any more.

On the other hand, I do really, really miss having nice big glossy game manuals that actually provided fairly in depth knowledge about the game and game mechanics, that you only now find in the first few chapters of strategy guides (before the walkthroughs).

I don't know how many times I read the Starcraft manual, or Homeworld. Or Myth: Total Codex... Zelda: OoT... among others.

Yeah, I miss those manuals too. Before I played a new game I used to read the manual. Many years back they were absolutely necessary to read in some cases. They also often expanded on the back story, but no longer. Now everything is in game and we get those two page manuals detailing how you turn on the console and press the start button on the game menu.

 

[BathorysGraveland]

I ONLY buy retail games, to be honest. There is just something about purchasing a download - a mere, humble, feeble download file - that just doesn't sit well with me.

 

[Smooth Operator]

I miss the loot but not the tech, I fucking hate optical drives they are the only thing less reliable then a floppy disc and make more noise then a jumbo jet.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

I don't really miss the lack of box art, and the industry seems to have shifted its focus away from it, in any case. You're lucky to get a DVD sleeve with a cover, some quick blurb in the back with a handful of screenshots, and that's it.

I bought Skyrim physically only because I wanted to spare my bandwidth the effort. However, the argument that one is cheaper than the other is false, seeing as:

A) physical copies might be priced close or identically to Steam releases in some cases, but the cost of schlepping your ass over to GameStop also counts. Fuel and/or bus fare.

B) the digital copies also come with their own extra fare, depending on where you're sitting in your bandwidth cap. If you're with one of the lenient sorts, then you pay extra if Skyrim or some other game causes you to go over the cap. If you're with Comcast, well... You get cut off. Which means that in some cases, you might have a purchase sitting in the rinks, ready to be downloaded, but be unable to actually nab what you legally obtained. Which sucks.

So seeing as convenience doesn't really apply, I think it's really down to personal preference. Do you still want to see box art on your shelves? If so, go physical or buy console games. If all you care about is the product itself, go digital.

It seems to me that this is all there is to the issue.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

This is why I'm going to buy nothing but physical games until the day that's no longer an option. I hate how I've lost the game boxes I had back when I was younger; NES, SNES and, N64. I found a few Sega boxes and a few of the PSX long-boxes I had long ago. Hell, I nearly cried when I found my Pokemon Red and Silver boxes (no manuals though). On a semi-related note, does anybody miss big detailed manuals? The manual for Duke Nukem Forever is about 4 pages long whereas the manual for Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past was an unofficial art book.

 

[Akimoto]

I miss good, fleshed out single campaigns that made you feel like a cog in the big machine - though there are some good ones here and there
I miss the simple multiplayer where you did not need to sign up, obey forum rules or risk bansturbation (EA I'm looking at you), and the choice to join any server you want (Big hint there, Activision).
I miss demos
I miss browsing through the other titles and admiring the box art

Yes, I miss game boxes

 

[Woodsey]

I did, for about 2 seconds. Then I had my cock sucked by the mouth that is the Steam sales, and not a shit was given. More convenient, better for the environment, better for my drawer space, no damaged discs.

Its the 21st Century, roll with it.