Video game packaging refers to the physical storage of the contents of a computer or video game, both for safekeeping and shop display. Packaging is the science art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution storage sale and use A personal computer Game (also known as a computer game or simply PC game) is a Video game played on a Personal computer, rather A video game is a Game that involves interaction with a User interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. In the past, a number of materials and packaging designs were used, mostly paperboard or plastic. Paperboard is a Paper -like material usually over ten mils (0 Plastic is the general common term for a wide range of synthetic or semisynthetic organic solid materials suitable for the manufacture of industrial products Nowadays, most console and computer games are shipped in (CD) jewel cases or (DVD) keep cases, with little differences between them. A Compact Disc (also known as a CD) is an Optical disc used to store digital data, originally developed for storing digital audio Optical disc packaging is the Packaging that accompanies CDs DVDs and other formats of optical media. DVD (also known as " Digital Versatile Disc " or " Digital Video Disc " - see Etymology)is A keep case or poly-box is a type of DVD (and sometimes CD) packaging
Aside from the actual game, many items may be included inside, such as an instruction booklet, teasers of upcoming games, subscription offers to magazines, other advertisements, or any hardware that may be needed for any extra features of the game. Video game journalism is a branch of Journalism concerned with the reporting and discussion of Video games. Advertising is a form of Communication that typically attempts to persuade potential Customers to Purchase or to consume more of a particular Brand
Contents |
Personal computers
Early machines such as the Commodore 64 were tape-based, and hence had their games distributed on ordinary cassettes. The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a Magnetic tape sound When more advanced machines moved to floppy disks, the cassette boxes stayed in use for a while (e. A floppy disk is an increasingly Obsolete data storage medium that is composed of a disk of thin flexible ("floppy" Magnetic storage medium encased g. Treasure Island Dizzy for the Amiga came on a floppy disk in a cassette box). Treasure Island Dizzy is a computer Puzzle game published in 1987 by Codemasters for the Amstrad, Commodore 64, The Amiga is a family of Personal computers originally developed by Amiga Corporation. A floppy disk is an increasingly Obsolete data storage medium that is composed of a disk of thin flexible ("floppy" Magnetic storage medium encased
In the late 80s and early 90s, computer games became significantly more complex, and the market for them expanded enormously. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. The 1990s collectively refers to the years between and including 1990 and 1999 Possibly in an effort to occupy more shelf-space than their rivals, and attract attention with their cover art, games began to be sold in large cardboard boxes. There was no standard size, but most were around 20cm x 15cm x 5cm (around 8in x 6in x 2in). The greatly increasing box sizes may have been justified in some cases. Games such as flight simulators came with extremely large, thick manuals. Others came with elaborate copy-protection systems such as Zool's circular code-wheel, or even a hardware dongle (although these were generally more common on expensive non-game software). ZooL is a defuct Danish band that was created by guitarist Henrik Flyman as a platform for classic Hard rock. A dongle is a small piece of hardware that connects to a Computer.
Variations on the "big box" format include a box within a sleeve, such as Unreal, and a box with a fold-out front cover, such as Black & White. Unreal is a First-person shooter Computer game developed by Epic Games and Digital Extremes and published by GT Interactive Black & White is a Computer game developed by Lionhead Studios and published by Electronic Arts and Feral Interactive.
Games re-released as Budget games usually came in much smaller boxes—a common format for Amiga budget games was a thin square box roughly 13cm x 13cm x 2cm (roughly 5in x 5in x 1in). Budget range is the name given to Software (usually Video games) that are sold for a fraction (usually less than half of a regular
As PC games migrated to CDs in jewel cases, the large format box remained, though to reduce printing costs, manuals came on the CD, as did many of the copy-protection techniques in the form of SafeDisc and SecuROM. SafeDisc is a CD / DVD Copy prevention and Digital rights management program for Windows applications and games developed by Macrovision SecuROM is a CD / DVD Copy protection Product, most often used for Computer games running under Microsoft Windows, developed Despite the CD jewel case format having been around since the invention of the music CD, very few full-price PC games were released in a jewel case only. A thicker variation with space for a thick manual was, however, used for most PlayStation and Sega Dreamcast games. The PlayStation (abbreviated PS, PSone, PS1, or informally as PSX) is a 32-bit fifth generation Video game console The is Sega 's most recent Video game console and the successor to the Sega Saturn.
Around 2000, PC game packaging in Europe began to converge with that of PS2 (and later, Xbox and GameCube) console games, in the keep case format in which to this day the vast majority of games are sold. A personal computer ( PC) is any Computer whose original sales price size and capabilities make it useful for individuals and which is intended to be operated The Xbox is a sixth-generation Video game console produced by Microsoft Corporation. The, often abbreviated as GCN, is Nintendo 's fourth home Video game console and is part of the sixth generation console era. These boxes are sometimes known as Amaray cases, after a popular manufacturer of them. In the US, most PC games continue to ship in cardboard boxes, though the size of such boxes has been standardized to a small form factor. Special packages such as a "Collector's Edition" frequently still ship with oversized boxes.
In the US, the IEMA played a major role in improving, from a retailer's perspective, the way most PC games are packaged. The Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association (IEMA was a United States -based Non-profit organization dedicated to serving the business interests of leading In 2000, many retailers were becoming disenchanted with the salability of PC games as compared with their more profitable console game counterparts as products. 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. Oversized software boxes were blamed for a lack of productivity per square foot (the profitability of a particular item sold at retail based upon its foot print). The IEMA worked with leading game publishers in creating the now-standard IEMA-sized box, essentially a double-thick DVD-sized plastic or cardboard box, which effectively increased the profitability per square foot by over 33% and appeased merchants and developers alike.
In creating the new box size the IEMA found itself in the unlikely position of platform guardian (where each console platform had a first-party publisher to oversee standardization matters, PC games by their very nature did not). As such, the industry pressured the organization to develop a platform identification mark which would unify the display and focus the customer's brand perception. Again the IEMA worked with publishers to create a new standard "PC" icon, and would provide its use on a royalty-free basis to the industry. Royalty Free refers to a type of contract between a two entities (the licensor and licensee that is employed when licensing the rights to use content such as photographs
In 2004, Half-Life 2 was made available for download over the Internet, via Steam. Half-Life 2 is a Science fiction First-person shooter computer game and the sequel to the highly acclaimed Half-Life The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks Steam is a Digital distribution, Digital rights management, Multiplayer A physical boxed copy was also sold, though it also required activation over the Internet. Valve Software hopes this method of distribution will take off, as it delivers a greater percentage of the sale price to the game developer than boxed copies. Valve Corporation is an American video game development company based in Bellevue Washington, USA that was founded in 1996, and made famous A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual that creates Video games A developer may specialize in a certain video Steam also allows consumers to back up their copy of Half-Life 2 as well as other games that are downloadable through Steam onto CDs or DVDs. To complement this feature many fans have created box coverings for jewel cases that can be downloaded and printed, giving birth to a wide variety of game packaging styles and designs. Optical disc packaging is the Packaging that accompanies CDs DVDs and other formats of optical media.
Java games for cellphones are distributed almost exclusively via the internet. It is possible that the proliferation of home broadband will lead to electronic distribution for all games in the future, leaving physical packaging a niche market, though game developers cite the unsolved problem of digital rights management as the main barrier to this. Digital rights management ( DRM) is a generic term that refers to Access control technologies used by hardware manufacturers publishers and Copyright holders
Console packages
The earliest consoles had game cartridges; the Intellivision cartridge packaging featured a box color-coded to the "network" or category of the game (one of several themes, such as "action", "sports", etc. The Intellivision is a Video game console released by Mattel in 1979. ). The front cover opened up, book style; on the inner front cover, a slot retained the paper manual - a simple booklet, as well as the poly controller overlays. In the main confines of the box, a plastic tray was recessed into which the cartridge fit snugly. When other companies began to produce cartridges for Mattel's system, other types of boxes began to appear, such as Imagic's simple cardboard box, which opened from the top to reveal simple cardboard retainers for the cartridge and rules booklet.
Unlike PC games, console manufacturers charge a license fee to anyone developing for their machine, and exert a certain amount of influence in the style of packaging. Nintendo, for example, maintained almost completely standardized boxes for SNES games. is a Multinational corporation headquartered in Kyoto Japan founded on The Super Nintendo Entertainment System or Super NES (also called SNES and Super Nintendo) is a 16-bit Video game console that was PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox game boxes also conform to the keep case form factor. The, often abbreviated as GCN, is Nintendo 's fourth home Video game console and is part of the sixth generation console era. The Xbox is a sixth-generation Video game console produced by Microsoft Corporation.
Games for handheld systems are usually packaged in smaller boxes, to match the portable nature of the machine. The Game Boy Advance's cardboard boxes are a little smaller than SNES/N64 packaging, and games for the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP both come in much smaller, DVD-like boxes. The Game Boy Advance (often shortened to GBA) is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed manufactured and marketed by Nintendo. The is a dual-screen Handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. The PlayStation Portable (officially abbreviated PSP) is a Handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment.
Box art
The term box art (also called a game cover or cover art) can refer to the artwork on the front of computer or video game packaging. Box art is usually flashy and bombastic, in the vein of movie posters, and serves a similar purpose. A film poster is a Poster used to advertise a Film. There may be several versions for one film Historically, art featured on the box has been in excess of what the computer or console was technically capable of displaying. Additionally, screenshots on the back of the box often mixed in-game sequences with pre-rendered sections, in the (mostly justified) belief that the appearance of good graphics would increase sales.
On the cover, many things are listed, such as the name and logo of the game, what console the game is for, the ESRB rating (or PEGI for Europe and CERO for Japan), logo of the publisher and/or developer, and quotes from magazines or websites. A logo ( Greek el λογότυπος = el-Latn logotypos is a graphical element ( Ideogram, Symbol, Emblem, Icon, Sign) The Entertainment Software Rating Board ( ESRB) is a self-regulatory organization that applies and enforces ratings, Advertising guidelines and Pan European Game Information ( PEGI) is a European Video game content rating system. The ( CERO) is the Organization that rates video games and Computer Software in Japan with levels of rating that informs the customer For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. A video game publisher is a company that publishes Video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a Video game developer A website (alternatively web site or Web site, a back-construction from the Proper noun World Wide Web) is a collection of Web pages Sometimes listed is "Only For" or "Only On", for the GameCube, GBA and Xbox consoles respectively, which indicates an exclusive game not found on any other console, although sometimes an event occurs after the official art has been released and the game is no longer an exclusive. The, often abbreviated as GCN, is Nintendo 's fourth home Video game console and is part of the sixth generation console era. The Game Boy Advance (often shortened to GBA) is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed manufactured and marketed by Nintendo. An example would be Resident Evil 4's box art. While originally exclusive to the GameCube, it was later released for the PlayStation 2 (and later the Wii).
As part of the marketing effort to build hype, box art is usually released a few months before the actual game. It is one of the last things made during development, but even so it is common for screenshots to be of parts of the game which did not make it into the final release.
Many people find particular box art as being particularly strange, or poor, such as Phalanx and Mega Man. Phalanx is a space shooter Video game designed by ZOOM Inc for the Sharp X68000, and Kemco for the Super Nintendo Mega Man, known as in Japan is a Video game developed and published by Capcom in 1987 for the NES/Famicom Often this is the result of art used for a localized version of an import title. [1] Many early releases, especially Nintendo, replaced Japanese art with original US artwork, such as the Dragon Warrior and the Final Fantasy series. published as Dragon Warrior in North America until the 2005 release of Dragon Quest VIII Journey of the Cursed King, is a series of role-playing The cover of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is one example of US art that replaces an Ayami Kojima cover. Castlevania Symphony of the Night is a 2D Action-adventure game developed and published by Konami in 1997 is a Japanese illustrator and concept artist that is most well known for her work on the Castlevania series of Video games Recent import titles have made it a habit to retain the original cover art.
The boxes of Nintendo games (NES, Game Boy, Nintendo 64, GameCube, DS and Wii) from PAL territories all have a little coloured triangle on their spines, but in each territory it's a different colour (to show the region that copy of the game came from), Some common ones are: Green = UK, Pink = Spain, Red = France, Light Blue = Italy, Dark Blue = Germany, Brown = Australia. is a Multinational corporation headquartered in Kyoto Japan founded on The Nintendo Entertainment System (often abbreviated as NES or simply Nintendo) is an 8-bit Video game console that was released by The is a handheld video game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. The, often abbreviated as N64, is Nintendo 's third home Video game console for the international market The, often abbreviated as GCN, is Nintendo 's fourth home Video game console and is part of the sixth generation console era. PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is a colour -encoding system used in Broadcast television systems in large parts of the world The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. There are 49 different colours. As well as geographic region it is also to do with the language of the box art & booklets, though PAL region Nintendo games are made in Germany, the Triangles show the region that the game is shipped to. [1]
Notable packaging
- Some games have limited editions packed in tin boxes, like Quake III Arena (30,000 units [2]), the DVD Special Edition of Unreal Tournament 2004 [3], the Halo 2 preorder edition, or Half-Life 2 Gold and Collector's Edition, and the special edition of Bioshock. Marathon Infinity is the third and final game in the Marathon Trilogy of Science fiction First-person shooter Computer games A tin box, or tin for short is a metal container with a re-closeable lid Quake III Arena or Quake 3, abbreviated as Q3A or Q3, is a Multiplayer First-person shooter Unreal Tournament 2004, also known as UT2K4 and UT2004, is a futuristic First-person shooter computer game Halo 2 is a Science fiction First-person shooter Video game developed by Bungie Studios. In Mathematics, especially in Order theory, preorders are Binary relations that satisfy certain conditions
- All three games in the Marathon Trilogy came in boxes shaped similarly to triangular prisms. The Marathon Trilogy is a Science fiction series of First-person shooter Computer games from Bungie Software, originally General right and uniform prisms A right prism is a prism in which the joining edges and faces are perpendicular to the base faces
- Flashback had several box designs throughout the world, but at least the UK Amiga version featured a half-sleeve designed to give the box art a 3D appearance. Flashback, released as Flashback The Quest for Identity in the US is a cinematic platformer developed by Delphine Software of France The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located
- The Amiga version of Cannon Fodder had camouflaged box art, to fit with its military theme. Cannon Fodder is a short series of two War (and later Science fiction) themed action Computer and video games developed by Sensible A pre-release version had the corn poppy flower as its main motif, but critics in the British media took offense, calling it an insult to the British war dead. The Corn Poppy, Field Poppy, Flanders Poppy, or Red Poppy is the wild Poppy of agricultural cultivation&mdash Papaver rhoeas.
- Legend of Zelda had a heraldic shield divided into four sections on the front cover. is a Video game designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and developed and published by Nintendo. The upper left quadrant was cut out to show off the game's shiny gold cartridge.
- EA Sports games traditionally have an all-white box with a live-action or athlete photo in front. EA Sports is a brand name used by Electronic Arts since 1993 to distribute games based on Sports Formerly a gimmick inside Electronic Arts sports
- The Thief series and early Tomb Raider games shared a rather unusual trapezoidal box shape. Thief is a series of first-person Computer games where the player takes the role of Garrett a Thief in a Fantasy / Steampunk Tomb Raider is a Video game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive.
- Some games developed or published by Psygnosis had artwork by psychedelic/fantasy artist Roger Dean. Psygnosis was a British Video game developer publisher, perhaps best known for their Lemmings, Wipeout Roger Dean (born August 31, 1944, in Ashford Kent) is an English Artist.
- EarthBound has an oversized version of the Super Nintendo box, designed to accommodate the cartridge as well as a player's guide inside. EarthBound, known in Japan as, is a role-playing Video game designed by Shigesato Itoi for the Super Nintendo Entertainment
- The PC versions of some games published by Rockstar Games feature notable packaging: Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City both come in fold-out cardboard cases, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas comes in the form of a hardback book with the game disc mounted on the inside back cover[4]. Rockstar Games, (also known as Rockstar NYC) is a British -founded development division of Video game publisher Take-Two Interactive Max Payne 2 The Fall of Max Payne is a Third-person shooter developed by Finnish Remedy Entertainment and produced by 3D Realms Grand Theft Auto Vice City is a sandbox-style action-adventure computer and Video game designed by Rockstar North (formerly Grand Theft Auto San Andreas is a sandbox-style action-adventure computer and Video game developed by Rockstar North A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) is a Book bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with Cloth
- The Sims: The Complete Collection has an outer box containing three fold out wallets that hold all of the 13 discs in the set.
See also
References
- ^ Nintendo The Official Magazine (Issue 21: 21st Oct. 07)
External links
- Official PC box specifications from IEMA
- Video Game Box Art
- The Cover Project
- Video Game Media Archive
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic