Video game physical media top ten!
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- Опубликовано: 29 сен 2024
- From the dawn of the video game age, physical media has been a defining element of each new console. That's changing now with the proliferation of download services, so I wanted to put together a little ode and top ten list to my favorite physical formats that have graced the game industry since the 1970's - along with their labeling, branding and packaging. In short, the stuff you actually hold in your hands. Oh, and there are a few dishonorable mentions here too!
See if your favorite made my list, and let me know in the comments if it didn't! Please know that this is not meant to be exhaustive or in any way objective, and I'm kind of intentionally not mentioning every variant of the formats I do list; I'm concentrating on the main ones. (Some systems literally have as few as one or two official releases with their own packaging or labels! So that's a never-ending rabbit hole.) There are a couple of exceptions, but I mostly relegated them to the post-top ten Honorable Mentions. This is just meant to be a fun look at my favorite physical video game media over the years.
The PS1 jewel cases might actually be some of my favorite for collecting. One bonus is that they are usually cheap and easy to replace but my favorite thing is how uniform they are. Especially on the spine labels. Having the bunch of lined up on a shelf is so soo satisfying. Close second would be the PSVita, they're just so gosh darn cute.
I love the PS1 jewel cases. Being a kid back then I would always turn the disc the right way up out of OCD and appreciation, and it wasn't until last year when I learned that that gets discs scratched. I lost some games to that habit, and half my GameCube games lol.
But at least my PS1 games always looked good inside the case, the right way up.
I figure that it is best to open games and enjoy them. No doubt the people on the production line must have thought that someone would enjoy them, and they worked to make them, so they should be enjoyed.
Sellers: Please do _not_ ship game cases in just a bubble wrap mailer. If nothing else, at least insert a couple sheets of cardboard slightly bigger than the game case (though I prefer a cardboard box). It's embarrassing and annoying for collectors who purchased a game CIB, only to discover the shipper damaged the game case. You can't guarantee there won't be any damage, but _at least_ make an effort with the packaging.
I never have and never will spend money on digital games or music...
Why doesn't this have more views?!
This is an excellent presentation.
Jewel cases are actually good because they are non-proprietary and can be easily replaced. Try replacing a case for a Sega Saturn game or a Turbografx game. Good luck with that. Jewel cases are cheap and easy to find. So I don't know why you are ragging on them.
Good point, practical I guess, but not much fun
That's true, but that's also why I showed a couple games with missing cases... often when people break these, they lose the instructions or just toss the entire jewel case without transferring anything but the disc. (People are pretty careless!) If you're a real hardcore collector or you've just got a particular game that you want to keep in good shape, the fact that there are different styles of jewel case also means it can often be hard to find the exact "right" replacement case for it even if you have all the contents. Obviously I know not everybody cares about that, and in most cases I wouldn't either, but I probably would for a few games I have. If it's Radiant Silvergun or Giga Wing 2, I want the right jewel case for it.
Great video! Have you had a look at PAL Playstation 1 games? After some experimenting they settled for a very thick jewel case like design with playstation logos engraved. Yes, they break a lot too and are difficult to replace since you can only get them from new donor games but I love them nonetheless.
Imagine if the Internet had been around when the Channel F and the Atari VCS were introduced. Imagine all the Coleco Telestar owners whining "Why don't they just include all the games in the system? They're making you pay for half of a game console and milking you for the rest! Those new cartridges should be free!"
instaBlaster
Glad you are making videos again! Hope you are doing well and staying safe.
I know this is off topic, but I just watched your video about "The Last Jedi." First I want to thank you for talking about it without using words like "garbage" and "dumpster fire." You haven't made a video about "The Rise of Skywalker" and I'd really like to know your opinions about it. (I loved it so please be kind. Lol)
Good to see you, I trashed my game packages, back in the day as I didn't have room to store them. Now regret!
What about the gigantic 3DO cases! 🤣
That "distinctive corrugated look" of the 5200 games wasn't actually that distinctive because they used the same design language on the Atari XL computers and the redesigned carts for the Atari XE computers and XE Game System. Though they were beige and gray respectively instead of black, the XL systems and the XE cartridges had the exact same angled/beveled corners with slots seen on the Atari 5200 cartridges. On the XL computers they often hide vents in there.
Take a look at Ben Heck's portable Atari 800XL project and you will see that he duplicated the same design language even though he wasn't dealing with Atari 5200.
The size of GameCube games had little to do with copy protection. Their 1.8cm was actually a standard size. It had more to do with load times, CAV vs. CLV, and forcing devs to be more efficient and code with Nintendo's compression tools available in the dev kit. This was intended to get devs to spend more care optimizing GameCube ports, but it really didn't work. Though first party games often had no real load screens, you'd see the same multi-platform game on PS2 with a loading screen on GameCube. The devs didn't bother changing the game to take advantage of the 'cube's strengths since the market was too small. Just quick and dirty ports. Also, thanks to the storage constraints of N64 carts Nintendo was forced to develop good compression and decompression routines so the ones in the GC dev kit were actually very good.
2600/7800 do not share the exact same cartridge design. 7800 games have extra contacts and do not have the built-in spring-loaded panel that covers the card edge connector. Though later 2600 games adopted that shell design they obviously did not have the same connector since they would only fit 7800 consoles.
Only late AES games came in hard plastic shell cases. The one you show is what we call a "soft box." At launch they also sold several games in straight-up cardboard boxes, liks Baseball Stars Professional.
Aw, yeah. Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack - how I learned to play poker. Loved the "shifty-eyed dealer."
You absolutely shouldn't lump Sony in with Microsoft as "doing their best to get us to stop buying and playing games" via physical media. Microsoft clearly doesn't want physical media and hasn't for many years now. Sony, on the other hand, would be perfectly content to continue using physical media. I could expound upon why I feel this way, if requested to.
Your opinion on Atari Lynx and Jaguar carts and cases? Thanks.
I actively dislike Jaguar carts; I don't like the look or feel and they don't stack at all. They don't even lay flat individually from what I remember. They're also kind of sticky in the system; they're a little hard to get in or out. I didn't have any boxes with any of my games when I owned a Jaguar (I bought my system new but at the very end of its life, and only ever had the Cybermorph pack-in until buying some games secondhand, all loose) so can't really comment on them, but they look pretty oversized in pics. They have cool artwork but I can understand people throwing them out.
Similar deal with the Lynx. I bought one new and the store I bought from was giving 7 or 8 games free with the system (again right at the end of its life), but they were all loose. I never actively collected for it so those are still the only games I have. It looks like the boxes are similar to other handhelds, though, like GameBoy or Game Gear boxes (but darker). Boxes like that are at least small so I'd have probably kept those even at the time, not just for collecting. The carts themselves are interesting - there's not really another cartridge design like them - but they're kind of hard to store because of it. I keep mine in an official Lynx soft storage case and I can just feel that top "lip" bulging out all the time. I've never had one break, but it always worries me a bit.
Glad you came back to vintage stuff, the reason I subscribed to your channel (F :-) ). Don't get me wrong. I know you like flying and thus produced some episodes about that subject, including (recent) flight simulators. But I am more for vintage computers, consoles and stuff. So glad you indulge to them again.
And for the Channel F it cannot be stressed out enough (citing the TV ad): "The home entertainment system that never gets old". :-D Well it did soon. But from a retro perspective it didn't. First programmable system, the grandfather of all video game consoles to follow.
The European PS1 and Dreamcast Cases are unique in that they are more robust thicker jewel cases to hold the mostly thicker manuals.
The European Gamecube Cases had a neat „cube“ shape around the disc holder.
It also felt strange that DS Cases also could hold GBA Cartridges.
Frankly, you are right with standarized jewel cases being boring and fragile but let me tell you, while European PS1 and Dreamcast cases look cool, it's a real horror to replace those.
My favorites are probably the European blue DC cases for its look and overall the Switch and Vita game cases for its small form factor.
Nice cover art and not much of a space waster.
17:14 */sniff* poor Master System 😥
For most unique I'd have to say the GameBoy e-Reader games. Basically games distributed as a pack of baseball cards that are scanned optically. Convenient? No. Unique? Hell yeah.
As for standard CD jewel cases, being fragile is not that terrible of an issue considering you can easily replace them for really cheap. I'd criticise them a lot more for being BORING and unimpressive, precisely because of how standard they are. A game costing tens of bucks in the same package as a shareware compilation, or some music album by a random artist nobody knows in a bargain bin? Oh, no!
That GameCube case is nightmare for physical media collectors like me, the slipcovers are easily damaged and often tossed by previous owners. My favorite boxes are the PS1 cardboard longboxes.
Love the choice of Odyssey 2 cartridges as the best. They are super satisfying to use. The perfect size, stackable, and the handle! Crazy that these were one of the first. Every games console cartridge design that followed never quite matched how awesome they were, to say nothing of the cool keyboard overlays and other game-specific stuff that came with various games, especially Quest for the Rings.
While I like the Saturn case, your assessment is spot on-they scratch easily, and the hinges are as delicate as balsa wood. On that note, I strongly disagree with your assessment of jewel cases, both Japanese Saturn and audio. Digipaks, slipcases, and all their variants are horrible-they don't protect the contents from damage, if there's too much atmospheric moisture they warp, and you can't replace them if they get damaged. Jewel cases, are easily replaceable if they get cracked or damaged but the contents is safe, they won't warp, and if you spill something on them you can just wipe it off.
One annoyance I have with multi-disc cases, is that some media storage shelves, trays, and racks, can't accommodate them. I have a couple of two-disc audio titles; one of them I carefully cut notches in the case so it'll slot into storage shelves and trays, but the other I can't do that without damaging the paper cover inside. I don't know why manufacturers didn't consider making a slot on two-disc cases, or to simply avoid the problem by issuing the two-disc title in two separate jewel cases (using standardized cases saves cost).
Glad to see another video! There really was something wonderful about the packaging of physical game media, especially in the earlier days when all of the the styling of the branding seemed to match the styling of the consoles themselves, and even extended into print media, such as in the way Nintendo Power magazine matched the rest of the Nintendo style. The fact that manuals back then were printed in color and designed with much more care, and people were much more likely to read them, also tied in with all of this. Playing video games wasn't just about a software experience you had on a screen. It was part of a larger creative culture tied in with visual art and writing and design that altogether added up something greater than the sum of its parts--a rather magical feeling of engaging with a whole new form of creative culture.
The gold cartridges for the Legend of Zelda games were the pinnacle of this feeling for me as a kid. Sure, it was a clever branding choice, but it's notable that it didn't extend into making a bunch of other metallic or alternate-colored cartridges. It was just something special for the Zelda games, because they were special. And it really felt magical for that reason. Contrast that special feeling with the physical emptiness of merely downloading a piece of software onto a hard drive, and the difference between the two eras of video gaming is vividly seen. We have devalued the physical far too much in our culture, and not just in the realm of video games.
The first console I had was a Chinese NES clone in about 1991, and it came with a pirate cartridge with multiple games on it. I never had the experience of unboxing a game until the PS1 era.
Oh man, I LOVED Combat on the 2600! It was my first favourite game! I think I was 4 years old at the time.
@17:04 even weirder.. the gameboy player for the gamecube came with a disc in the japanese-style plastic box, even in the US.
I preffer physical media. If your system breaks at least you've still got your collection. That applies to games, music and movies.
Great video
He's back!
He is alive
the gameboy color was my first handheld game console
The absolute worst cases are for PAL Dreamcast. They look nice, but break even more easily than regular jewel cases. Especially the disc holder thingys fall apart just by being looked at. A real danger for scratched discs..
what percentage of PAL Dreamcast cases that exist today do you think have any type cracked damage? 20% is my guess, but who knows, right?
@@dbnpoldermans4120 20% sounds about right
The only PAL DC game I have is Rez. Its case is definitely different than either the US or JP releases, but I don't know if it's the same as other PAL games. It's weirdly thick. I haven't had it break, but I do baby it a bit as it's one of the more sought-after games for the system. The DC's US and JP releases at least had some of the better jewel cases, in that I honestly don't think I have any broken ones. The worst I've experienced are the JP Saturn jewel cases. About 90% of mine are either broken or missing.
@@ModernClassic All pal dc cases are like that
Great video! I never kept any of the cardboard boxes for my Atari 2600 games
I kept all my N64 boxes for the longest time, then threw them away when I realized none of my friends did.
My first game console was the Subor (aka a Famicom clone with a keyboard)
Fantastic video. Making me long for a physical media collection in both games and other media.
Jewel cases must have been stupid cheap at the commodity level given how common they were in the 90's.
Having been a while since you posted similar videos, this one is truly a modern classic! 👍
nice!
been a while since you upload a movie
and this is worth the wait....👍
No mention of UMDs often splitting open?
Awesome video
I love looking at physical media like this
Hey, what about PSX Doom's dual jewel case that only contained one disc? :v
I feel like I have a couple games like that (didn't double check for the video, but I feel like I've seen that). Yeah, it's pretty stupid. Except I'll at least say the double jewel cases are at least a little more durable.
@@ModernClassic I wouldn't be surprised if those were coming from suppliers who had a surplus of the duals for one reason or another.
I have to say that one of my biggest gripes with collecting is the oversized boxes used. Blu-ray boxes have been my biggest disappointment going forward. Not as tall as a DVD, means unless it's a shelf only of Blu-ray, chances are it's not saving space. I would have liked to have seen thinner cases even if they were as tall as DVD cases.
And talking of DVD cases... I know you said you liked the clam shell designs, but man I hated when PC games went from big box to DVD cases. I much preferred the box art, the contents, real size manuals, posters etc AND almost always you'd get a CD Jewel case with it's own art work design as well if you just wanted to get rid of the bigger box (I know).
Now, in my opinion as much as you said CD cases for games were the worse I think they've been the best. Super easy and cheap to replace the plastic casing with brand new ones, even now in 2021. Can't say the same for any of the other cases from systems. Either you're paying a lot more for some new old stock or you're junking common games for their cases.
I have to admit though, when it comes to console games and it's cases, Sega was ahead of the game. Not only in the case for the cartridge, but the cartridge itself... but I think EA had a little help in that with the magical yellow tab they added to the games. As a kid, that meant the game was special.
I like the oversize PC boxes but honestly, at the time I threw them away. (I have several storage binders full of CD games for PC that I bought.) There was just no way to store them all. And they're almost impossible to have a decent sized collection of today. Look at LGR - he has to rent a separate storage unit mainly because of his big box PC collection.
I admit to being a little inconsistent on this - it wasn't until I watched my footage back that I realized I complained about the size of some formats' packaging but then I like the PS1's longboxes and Genesis/MD boxes, the former of which are as tall as anything and the latter thicker, meaning fewer fit on a shelf. Some of that's evolving views with time and some of it's just other factors outweighing the size.
I know some people like jewel cases because they were standard, but it just wasn't a good standard IMO. It is nice that they're basically as small as the disc for storage but to me that's about their only good quality. They just don't do the main thing that a case is supposed to do, which is protect the contents. And they don't hold up themselves either, which makes for bad collecting too. If they had just been made of a more pliable material, like a lot of the clamshell cases are, they'd have been good.
Your videos are so informative, subbed 👍
The psp was great other than the load time
NeoGeo Pocket, anyone??
so good to see you again!
What game is at 18:20?
I really appreciate the early box art for Atari though, just so representative of the era. I have a really great book called Art of Atari, visually wonderful (also Poster Art of Atari is another good one, bunch of 11x17 prints)
Addendum: Japanese Famicom cart artwork is even better now that I think of it....well maybe just as good but different.
Oh I agree, and now that you mention it I wish I had mentioned it in the video too. I've thought about that in the past, and I know about that book; not sure why it didn't make it into the video. I guess just thinking about all the other formats at the same time meant certain things just got glossed over. But Atari definitely did have great artwork too.
You're still alive!
Nice
Blew right past colecovision 🤔
Well, it's just kind of unremarkable in terms of the carts and packing, IMO of course.
Great vid! I love physical media for such little things like these, having a manual to flick through in the car ride home while you're eager to play a game, something to display on a shelf. I could probably tell you a lot of what physical games I own simply cause I have them on a shelf! They're part of the room decor at this stage :P
Glad you're back!