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On Early Game Packaging Treasures
Thanks to Armchair Arcade for its article discussing the wonders of classic game boxes, as the author reminisces about the "lost art of innovative game packaging from the early to mid-1980's, when there seemed to be an abundance of real thought and care behind the customer's experience beyond the software itself." He points out: "Hardcore gamers appreciate hardcore packaging, with unusual boxes and a handful of feelies... Today, hardcore packaging - if available at all - has a hardcore price. There are still tens of thousands of hardcore gamers like in the past, it's just more profitable to go after the hundreds of thousands of mainstream consumers instead." The article ends with a series of gallery pages, including some of the classic boxes from "the company with arguably the greatest overall packaging", Infocom.
I still have my Hitchhiker's Guide box, complete with destruction orders for my home/Earth, Sub-Atomic Space Fleet, and of course, Pocket Lint.
Sadly, the peril-sensitive sunglasses are long gone. Being the best of all items packed- including the game -they were often shown off, and eventually tore.
I think there was also a "Don't Panic" button that my mom ignorantly tossed away (curses!)
-- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
As anyone who was around in the 1980's probably remembers, pirate C=64 games were rampant (maybe even worse than today, especially most copying was done person to person, as opposed to via P2P networks).
In addition to the usual 1541 drive errors, it was common for the copy protection to include secret decoder wheels or references to a specific page in the manual, which provided the code you had to input before running the game. Some manuals even had the code printed such that you needed a red plastic lens to be able to see the code (to prevent photocopying).
Damn those codes were a pain in the butt! And of course, there were cracks and ways to bypass the codes, but the extra packaging, manuals, and maps did provide an incentive to actually buy the game. Today, companies are happy to sell nothing more than a CD-ROM and jewel case - and people are happy to download the game use their own CD-R disc.
Back then the biggest problem was graphics. it was really hard for some people to imagine that they were fighting some big ugly monster with ten heads when all they would see on the screen as representative of the monster was an ascii symbol. I think fancy packaging made up for this deficiency. Today it's no longer a problem. Besides I'd rather have a good game with extra money spent toward better QA or other things that are actually in the game as opposed to collectible junk.
The 200 page manuals in things like Stunt Island, Red Baron, Buzz Aldrin's Race into Space, Their Finest Hour, or even Master of Magic were one of the *primary* reasons why I'd spend $80 on a game. It always made me feel like I was getting something for my cash. These weren't just game manuals, they were often history lessons, and I learned a ton by reading them.
If I couldn't decide which game to buy, I'd always buy the heavier one. And the side benefit for the company was these things acted as copy protection, even if they weren't specifically meant to be.
Now, the boxes are shrunk, the manuals are tiny (if there at all), and I rarely buy games any more. It's been years now, actually. I didn't change, the games did.