The life of a Limited Edition Multiwnia Tin

[KingAl]

But that space wasn't lost- it was replaced by awesome.

I have two of the old boxes from my favorite games mounted to a corkboard, despite their age. The first is the Homeworld GOTY edition. The other is Outpost 2 from '94. I seem to have misplaced my Darwinia case though. But it was tiny and didn't deserve much love.

But at least my Multiwinia case will feel much love when I return to my campus for the coming quarter.

By the time they were being replaced by small boxes, games with 'feelies' were a very small minority, hence:

Special editions are a different matter entirely, of course.

You're complaining about games not coming with cool stuff, not about the change in box size. I've got many games with cool stuff in small boxes (Dreamfall, STALKER, Silent Hunter 4, Sid Meier's Pirates!, etc.), but they're far outnumbered by the games without cool stuff and with tiny manuals in large boxes. Things like the Monkey Island Dial-A-Pirate and Infocom adventure extras can fit inside the small boxes - the fact is just that publishers aren't willing to go to the trouble. It's also lame that CDs don't come with cool gimmicks like record covers used to - the spinning disk of Led Zep 3, the peeling banana of The Velvet Underground & Nico etc. - but it's hardly a limit of the format (look at The Information by Beck). The same goes for PC games. Being attached to boxes being big is silly - it was always impractical.

[Kuth]

Well, in both those cases, the games came with big, informative manuals (Homeworld came with a hint guide and Soundtrack CD. Try fitting THAT into a current-sized PC box. And no, .PDFs are cheating).

[KingAl]

Well, in both those cases, the games came with big, informative manuals (Homeworld came with a hint guide and Soundtrack CD. Try fitting THAT into a current-sized PC box. And no, .PDFs are cheating).

Two games using the space wisely isn't too compelling in the face of all those that don't But I totally agree with you on the latter point; PDF manuals are a travesty.

[Xocrates]

Well, civilization IV brings the manual Outside the box

[Xarlaxas]

I still have the manual for it, but I wish I still had the floppies for Star Trek 25th anniversary edition. You may laugh, but through that game, I learned how to read.

Well, I learned how to read playing Warcraft II myself, all those mission briefings scrolling up the screen while they're read out to you. Words like "pathetic", "sylvan", "lumber" etc were a big part of my vocabulary, though I did learn the word "corpse" from Beasts & Bumpkins. Heh.

[Rosti]

On the subject of modern packaging for games, I don't know any company with the same flawless record as Introversion for interesting boxes. Between Uplink's physically hidden stuff (was that also put into the DVD case?) and the manuals/disks for Darwinia and DEFCON (and their soundtracks), I suspect they have produced the finest collection of 'standard edition' boxes of the moment. On the other hand, I don't buy many games: people who do tell me this, who else cares about their boxes at the moment?

Which means I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what the team do to keep Multiwinia warm at night.

[Kuth]

Well, given the mediocre reaction to Big, Sexy Boxes... how would the community feel if games started being sold in DVD cases?

[KingAl]

They have started
I generally choose games with a cardboard outer over the same game in a plain DVD case, though, on account of prettiness.

[KingAl]

I should clarify - I just mean I prefer having a cardboard box to having a DVD case, and choose the former over the latter when both are available. I don't really care whether there's a DVD case inside the box etc., though my previous post almost makes more sense when interpreted the other way

[estel]

I'm a fan of the steelseries cases even when they have virtually nothing in them (like Bioshock). Some games still come with really good extras in the standard DVD case (or a slightly bigger version thereof). I was particularly impressed with Oblivion's release. UT3's wasn't bad either.

[Kuth]

Right, so they are. I see smaller cardboard boxes every now and then, though. Sometimes they're packed around the DVD cases.

*shrug*

[desktopsimmer]

Never figured out why they put a DVD box in a cardboard box
However I do like the style of the Tin box for the Blade-Runner Final Cut (yeah right, final) Release.

[OrR]

There are three Foamwinian colors, right? Can we choose which two we get? Will they be available separately? (To build armies...)

[Phelanpt]

I asked Will when I ordered, and he said no, you can't choose. Just thought I could save you and him an email.

[Xocrates]

(To build armies...)

If that's what you want, then why not lobby for those Darwiniahammer 40.000 figurines?

Heck, I want one