LGR in Russia I NEVER saw games in big boxes ONLY little packages with cds

The biggest boxes usually had multiple CDs or DVDs. I also haven't seen real "big box" releases in Russia. Last game I bought for PC in retail store was GTA V. It has a big box due to 7 DVDs(!) and map.

In Soviet Russia, big boxes collects you

Lazy Game Reviews I can't see steam doing that much an impact on big box releases as a lot of people still rely on DSL connection as the only option in internet thousands unable to download most games on steam. While cable connectins are more commen these days as compaired to when steam startednot every cable user download big games like myself as an example. Also used games market probably take up more sales than new along with it unable to be mesured by market researchers meaning. plus ad in retailers adversion to copy protection preventing selling the same copy several times over adding to the maths. With all of that in mind I don't really see digital as big as people make it out to be. If I had to take a guess on how much of the market preowned games are takingup I would guess 30-40%. And PC games only castching up now due to the adoption of cable & fiber (thou Australias NBN sucks somehow.)

Steam in the beginning did not sell games at all, you had to activate the games you bought in the store via the key. Even when they started selling games it was only their own titles for quite a while. And when they finally did start selling other games, no huge titles were available because no company actually knew of Steam, and still relied on stuff like Gamespy. It took a good while before Steam became what it is now. It had no impact on big boxes ofcourse. And even little to none impact to the later jewel cases. Since most games you still had to go out and actually buy and only then activate it in steam for convenience. Or were simply not on Steam at all like the early CoD games

It all comes down to the departure of Trip Hawkins...he was the last executive with the old philosophy.

They probably think our wage is the same as rockstars. ha

HOW THE TIMES CHANGE

Lest you read that sentence aloud, you might still have never “heard” it. :›

Record companies treat rockstars like shit and pay them next to nothing. Therefore, the sentence isn't too far off!

exactly! I rather have my physical copy more then anything

Specially since the END USER License agreement no one reads you agree to says they can take it away at any time even though you paid full price like you would a physical copy you always have.

I printed off a list of the games I have installed and stuck it to my wall. It's an impressive wall of text, you're right, I couldn't fully appreciate this on my 27inch monitor. Especially with such a large font.

Honestly, I’m used to steam but I still want a physical copy of a PC game someday.

Hemi204 only issue is while id love to buy more of them the retro games near me don't sell them and the thrift stores rarely have any games made before 2000, still i keep my old dell insperion with the floppy & disc drive for when I inevitably by civ 4 on pc because i kinda wanted it and it was 3 dollars ok mom

Yes! I loved hyping myself up by reading the game manuals while waiting for the game to install.

Completely agree. Weekly trips to a computer store were special. Find the new releases, get the imagination going by looking at the individual cover art and box blurbs etc. Then spend the bus ride home reading through a spiral-bound manual. It might just be nostalgia but the game experience seemed LARGER than what we have today, even if many of the games back then had worse game design.

Well, it's partly because one of the reasons that was mentioned in the video. Games were far mor primitive back then so they had to invent things to pull people in. Hence the case size. It's kind of odd that with current technics we are capable in far more things than back then yet the creatiedirection has gone down considerably when compared to the past. It's only indie games really that still hold the flames of creativity.

@Deenie Beenie and yet still no manual. I've been playing on a computer of one type or another since 1979 and i really really miss the manuals. Especially when they are well done. Hell i even still have an old copy of the star trek game (non computer) with the tiles and maps. I've kept all my old manuals. They are just worth that much to me.... Wow i just had two run on sentences... time for a nap. :P

Yeah, but that's how you knew all those things *were* inside! If you shook the box and didn't hear anything rattling, then either it was *very* well packed, or someone had already removed the contents.

I think most people would disagree with that. Shaking a box and hearing it rattle gives you an indication of what is inside. It's like how when every child sees a wrapped present under the christmas tree the first thing they do is pick it up and shake it.

I think it has more to do with having a very big box for things that don't need that size of a box; everything inside of it is much smaller, nothing fits snuggly, so it feels like an afterthough.

It was just for frontage. I'm sure some people associated a bigger box with a better game. I suppose it allowed more artwork too.

That's probably exactly what it was. I've always got a laugh out of things like VHS boxes and other materials that gave the idea that they just took whatever packaging was available.

I know, right? Talk about a company that _NEEDS_ to go back to its roots ASAP!

You either die a hero, or live long enough to become a AAA sellout.

Probably cuz they're not interested in the "art" anymore.

@@andrewortiz1703 Their only interest is the $$$.

Pretty sure Yahtzee is right and they quietly changed their name to "Extruding Arseholes" at some point, dropping the arts moniker entirely.

Today kids download the game and complain in the forums because it stutters at 4K.

I wish they would change back! I wonder how much money it would take to buy them out...

Yeah, this is what kept me from buying the PC version of "The Evil Within" for example >_> I think companies like Bethesda do not quite get the concept of "PHYSICAL COPY". It's not a physical Copy because the download code comes in a plastic box you can touch. *groans*

NerdyChat it's even worse when you buy a physical copy and it has the CDs for install and then it turns out you need online to even INSTALL THE FUCKER (God damn you Diablo 3)

or you buy a physical copy only to find it the disc has been turned into glitter.

Found out about this the fun way... Saw a game at the goodwill that I had some interest in, figured I'd buy it even though I typically like digital games, and then found out that I can't play it because someone else owned it... :/

It's just a way of getting the customers who might not shop online. I prefer the disc, simply because it's effectively a local copy/backup for me, and with a little help from the net, I can play it offline. I buy most of my games from GOG anyway for that reason. Not everyone has access to fast internet, and it just seems practical to me to have a local copy I can install on other computers, or reinstall if needed. I think physical media may disappear from shops anyway. The PC section is certainly shrinking. I would never buy a second hand online game - far too risky.

Because sadly history channel is all about reality TV shows that are fake. But I agree with you. Why has some channel witch actualy deals with history not contact Clint?

Clint is better off not being constrained to the demands of a TV channel

Well I also agree with you. What have I done?

Because he hasn't talked about aliens yet.

+jaman585 Not *completely* about reality TV shows. But yeah, it 'jumped the shark' along with a lot of other channels because 'reality' shows are so much cheaper to make.

Thank you!

His knowledge is just research and hard work ~~ But yes he is talented.

I plan to eventually! Still trying to track down some more examples of those.

I always loved the proper cloth maps you got in Ultima games. I also have a "big box" upstairs for The Witcher 2 (2011), so you could still get them occasionally in the UK--mind you, it's got so much stuff in it that they needed the room!

I still remember the Ultima IX box with all the things inside (I also still have it somewhere). It's also why I like just Asian music albums so much more than the boring western counterparts. Especially in Kpop that actually put effort into the design of the cases and all the things you get with them. They're not just a jewel case with a disc or two in them.

Yeah. I remember it could take an hour or two at best buy to go through the rows of games

At least back then you knew the box art was an "artist's interpretation" of the game's contents; nowadays they try to pass off cinematic trailers on custom builds of the game as "actual gameplay". I know what you mean though, so many worlds to explore at your fingertips; those were the days...

Oh boy, you haven't seen the software section in places like Rite-Aid and Walgreens in the early 2000s. Those games would actually turn your computer into a billboard. The new ones would most likely have you install steam before you could even use them.

As a teenager, I wish I could do that.

Yeah, more so than collectibles, I loved the physical items that were part of the game world, and my favorites among those were the kind actually used during gameplay. I still have the physical maps from Sierra On-line's _Aces_ series! CDPR's Cyberpunk 2077 seems to be doing a classic-style release, but it still remains to be seen if it will come with the full game on disc.

Love the avatar ...

EA as it is today would be unrecognizable to those around at it's beginnings. They were one of the first (if not the very first) publishers to treat their developers as talented artists, rather than just 'employees'. It's amazing how there always seems to be a correlation between the growth of a company and the decline of their morality. Just look at Google's, now laughable, motto: 'Don't Be Evil'.

They used to be EA: Electronic Arts, now they are EF: Electronic FArts.

Most people act normal before they are tempted too much by greed and other follies. It is later, AFTER the temptation, that bad folks start acted bad.

That was when nerds owned the company. The moment they went public trading everything went to shit and still is going to shit.

rip Will Wright - hero of my childhood !

Theodore Doudak Might be the only game weirder than Ninja Nanny!

Not yet, but I bought it specifically because of his video!

Lazy Game Reviews you should do an "oddware" about it!

I knew he showed it to us only to make us suffer. I had just forgotten about that fever dream of a game. Thanks, Clint.

Lazy Game Reviews you'll lose your sanity, I felt lost for a couple of days after watching those videos

Happy birthday!

Lazy Game Reviews Thanks man, never stop doing what you and your fans enjoy.

happy birthday mate

Happy birthday!!

Happy Birthday!

Larry Bundy Jr look who it is it’s Larry ”I comment on every video” Bundy Jr. Nice seeing you here

I actually had that game. And could never play it. I was way too young to try that level of crap, and was way over my head.

It comes down to "money, dear boy". All those lovely, wonderful "feelies" that you and I loved so much, cost money to make. Back in the day, a lot of people thought "oh, a CD only costs a couple cents. Surely the game companies are making money hand-over-fist." Um... no. There were expenses at every step. They had to pay advertisers. They had to pay the artists who designed the box art and the art for the manual. They had to pay someone to print and bind the manual. They had to pay someone to press the CDs. They had to pay someone to make the boxes. They had to pay someone to deliver the boxes to stores. They had to pay all the artists and musicians and programmers who worked on the game. They even had to pay for shelf space (especially if they wanted an end cap)... and if all the copies didn't sell, they had to pay the store to return all the copies that didn't sell! By the time they were done, they made at most 5-10% of the sale price in profits (so a $40 game = $2-$4 profit.) They were probably happy when high-speed Internet and digital distribution came along. It saves them from having to pay so many middlemen that they make a bigger profit, even after the 30% that Steam keeps as payment. And even then, they have to sell hundreds of thousands of copies to make their money back.

SpearM3064. Game companies in the past were making games for the lulz? Honestly, they were out to make a profit and most of the inclusions were gimmicky junk. Most people here are feeling nostalgic is all - getting excited over junk mail in you packaging? Now days everyone would be pissed. The reason it stopped is because it doesn't work as a marketing gimmick, except in special editions for a small percentage of the games.

who? actually most people.

Consoles still seem to sell some physical copies, unlike PC games

Why are boxed games the way to go? They're wasteful (ink, paper, plastic), they take up space, they can get lost, they can get dirty or broken... And besides, buying games from the comfort of your chair is a lot more convenient. I don't hate boxed games and I fully agree that they have a certain charm, but they're not the way to go.

The boxes are cool, but why would I go out and buy a box when I can just get the game online instantly.

Queen Clementine Due of you can sell the game, give it away or keep it for collecting.

GOOGLE IMAGE SEARCH TO THE RESCUE! It should be "Hotline Miami: Special edition"... CLint even did a video about it some time ago

I believe it's Hotline Miami Special Edition.

Thanks for the answers, guys! I don't know, but I remember seeing a box with a similar pattern in my cousin's room... that was in the early 2000's.

Wartinald Maybe a white label rerelease ? Like the one for Screamer, or Resident Evil, or Broken Sword...

I don't own it!

I'll buy you one! It's John Goodman's magnum opus!

Two Words: *John Goodman*

It was certainly brought up here and there, but from my research here it didn't seem to be the driving factor in this particular extinction as it really was about shelf space versus profits. I've actually seen more of a focus on the environmental impact of game packaging over the past ten years, with the rise of "eco friendly" cases that use less plastic and more biodegradable materials.

Thank you for your reply! I appreciate it

That was the impression I was given as well, that the motivating factor was shelf space versus profits. More profits for the game publisher, because smaller boxes are less expensive to manufacture, and more profits for the game seller, because smaller boxes allow them to put more product on the shelves. The fact that smaller boxes were more "eco friendly" was just a byproduct.

Ugh...environmentalists...

Ugh... People thinking about the diminishing availability of resources and of ways to counteract this problem...

Thank you!

ALL HAIL LORD GABEN!

Good old times mate I still can remember those days so clearly as if they happened yesterday