Nostalgia – The Video Game Packaging

(Pictured Above, Baldur’s Gate(PC) with Manual, map and game discs)

Lately I have read a few people on facebook have been joining this group “When I was a kid I use to have to blow on my video game cartridges before I used them.” That got me thinking of the whole experience of video games from when I was young to now. A lot has changed from the days of mainly PC Gaming(for me) and the occasional NES game(I skipped the SNES completely, and played strictly PC Games.) The PC Game much different from today’s console game use to come in oversized(most likely wasteful) 8x11x4(roughly) Packing and contained the game on Discs(Floppy or CD) and included usually a manual, warranty card, possible advertisement/drm  and/or some sort of bonus material such as schematics, maps, skill trees or collectible figurines.

Being a child one could not just buy a video game at anytime when he had money to do so, most of the time I didn’t even have money so I had to wait for that allowance worth of a game, or an upcoming holiday/birthday. When this was set in motion, I was then ready to begin the adventure of purchasing a video game. For me I found out most of my upcoming gaming news from friends or family, whether it be a game I played at their house, or something upcoming they have told mea bout. I also the older I got started getting my subscription of pc gaming magazine, one of the best gaming magazines ever created, specifically tailored to PC gaming.  This is what got me setup, and interested in the next major purchase I am going to be making most likely in the following months. This alone built the anticipation of the famed “Video Game,” as there was no online to read and watch trailers, demo’s where rare and if you did have them they came as part of your magazine subscription on CD and often after the game was released for a few months. This was true, childhood suspense happening, the magic of a new world and experience at my finger tips, but none of that ever lived up to the best moment of the whole video game experience….

 

 

..the unpacking.  Finally after convincing my parents to take me to the store to use either my allowance money, or later my paper route pay, I was finally able to smack down the forty to sixty dollars it was going to cost me to purchase my next video game. One in particular rings a special bell in my nostalgia for unwrapping, was the game Janes ATF(Advanced Tactical Warfighter) a modern military flight combat sim where you could pilot the latest in military aviation, jets such as the F22(not even produced yet), F-18,F14, M2 Mirage and the Eurofighter 2000. Who didn’t dream of being a fighter pilot as a kid, and this was the game that would let me experience the thrills of doing so. So as I picked up what would be the hefty package of ATF, my eyes glowed with excitement, my palms sweaty with anticipation of dog fights vs.. communist forces. I would proceed to the very sterile register and front area of the CompUSA where I purchased most of my games at the time(best buy was merely a glimmer in some investors eye), I took up my box, smacked down my ones, fives and tens, and purchased my game.

 

 

Next the magic of the new game was about to unfold, I have now acquired the game in which I have been anticipating for months to years, as I was not old enough to drive my dad was pulling out of the parking lot as I readily glossed over the front cover, with its cool graphics, and quickly turned the box over to read the highlights of the game. ATF in particular had a fold out front panel that stuck to the box with a Velcro latch, as I unfastened the latch a nice two page spread of the worlds most advanced fighter jets, rendered in the modern graphic engine of the Intel 386 and Voodoo 12mb video cards, openGL greatness here I come. I then after enjoying the thorough read and visual enjoyment, I then began to slide my finger tips across the top of the packaging to slice open the plastic circular seal that was all that stood between me and the cockpit of my F22 fighter jet. After breaking the seal and lifting open the top flap of the box, I then began to pull out the cardboard insert which held the cd firmly with the manual, not allowing the fragile plastic casing to slide around and break during transports.

It was that moment, I pulled out what was 250+ page video game manual. This thing was wire bound, with Janes official seal across the front, I felt like I was getting handed my pilots training manual and my dog tags, as I was about to join the flight academy. The experience was unreal, pages of technical read outs, aeronautical maneuvers, complicated applications of aerodynamics and physics which would aid me in the success and safety of my squadron. This was, before I even played the game, the coolest experience I was ever going to have, and to be honest, even thou I have loved and plenty of other games since them, played better made games, no experience has yet to match how I felt, when I use to open up a game box.

Below is a current game packing w/Manual.

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