5 ms·

I do miss the manuals, particularly the simulation games that had technical references, historical information and stories. The art-books that came with some g

I do miss the manuals, particularly the simulation games that had technical references, historical information and stories. The art-books that came with some games were pretty cool too. But for the most part, the packaging and pack-ins were just junk. and while I'm still storing a fair amount of it, I haven't played those games in 20 years - I should probably just write down the CD keys and throw everything else away.

maroonblazer 5y ago
There was a flight sim for the Mac (F/A 18, I think) that I played in the mid-90's that came with a thick paperback book. It included all the different flight envelopes and even a primer on the concept of "lift" and how it keeps planes in the air.
- symfoniq 5y ago
  The manual included with Microsoft Flight Simulator (4.0 maybe?) in the early 90’s was thick and dense. I remember using it to learn how to navigate using VOR stations. They don’t make them like they used to.
mysterydip 5y ago
I heard an interview with Bill Roper (of Blizzard fame back in the day), and he said they included junk on purpose to make the box heavier. If people were choosing between new games A and B, some chose based on which box was heavier as they thought they were getting more for their money.
- bombcar 5y ago
  The higher end VoIP phones sometimes have a bar of metal in them to weigh them down.
  - jumelles 5y ago
    Couldn't this be for practical reasons, to keep the receiver from moving when you pick up the phone?
    - bombcar 5y ago
      Sometimes it is sometimes it’s in the handset itself.
  - SilverRed 5y ago
    Sooo many products have this. Sometimes it actually serves a function of keeping the item stable but usually I assume it is for perception of quality.
- beenBoutIT 5y ago
  Blizzard was literally actively marketing its games to imbeciles. I'd love to know how common that type of buying decision gets made and if it carries over to online game buying - Amazon lists the weight of items. Rockstar Games takes the cake for the best material included with physical copies, every PS2 era game came with a booklet packed with material about the in-game world and GTAs also included a full-size poster and map. Any advertisements or leaflets included were always brilliant parodies that would lead to real sites. I've never seen this level of quality and depth from anyone except Rockstar. Valiant Video Enterprises Winter/Spring Catalog and Preview Guide https://www.gamesdatabase.org/Media/SYSTEM/Sony_Playstation_2/manual/Formated/Manhunt_-_2003_-_Rockstar_Games.pdf https://www.gamesdatabase.org/Media/SYSTEM/Sony_Playstation_... The companion parody website, password's not needed: http://web.archive.org/web/20070225094519/http://www.valiant-ent.tv/ http://web.archive.org/web/20070225094519/http://www.valiant...
- Aeolun 5y ago
  Can confirm I definitely did this. I mostly associated it with manual size though.
voidfunc 5y ago
While I do miss these old school boxes and manuals, I also realize, I don't care that much that they are gone? Don't get me wrong, I loved the Sim City 2000, Civ3, MechWarrior 2 manuals, and countless others, but I also just don't care either, like they were a cool thing... but they were something to read while I took a shit, which isn't saying much. All of that said, there was a fun nostalgia going into a game store in the mid-90s and being surrounded by boxes of games. I remember Media Play and EB Games were big things here and I bought countless N64 games at both. Before that we also had Toys R'US with its aisles of Genesis and Saturn games.

maroonblazer 5y ago

There was a flight sim for the Mac (F/A 18, I think) that I played in the mid-90's that came with a thick paperback book. It included all the different flight envelopes and even a primer on the concept of "lift" and how it keeps planes in the air.

symfoniq 5y ago
The manual included with Microsoft Flight Simulator (4.0 maybe?) in the early 90’s was thick and dense. I remember using it to learn how to navigate using VOR stations. They don’t make them like they used to.

mysterydip 5y ago

I heard an interview with Bill Roper (of Blizzard fame back in the day), and he said they included junk on purpose to make the box heavier. If people were choosing between new games A and B, some chose based on which box was heavier as they thought they were getting more for their money.

bombcar 5y ago
The higher end VoIP phones sometimes have a bar of metal in them to weigh them down.
- jumelles 5y ago
  Couldn't this be for practical reasons, to keep the receiver from moving when you pick up the phone?
  - bombcar 5y ago
    Sometimes it is sometimes it’s in the handset itself.
- SilverRed 5y ago
  Sooo many products have this. Sometimes it actually serves a function of keeping the item stable but usually I assume it is for perception of quality.
beenBoutIT 5y ago
Blizzard was literally actively marketing its games to imbeciles. I'd love to know how common that type of buying decision gets made and if it carries over to online game buying - Amazon lists the weight of items. Rockstar Games takes the cake for the best material included with physical copies, every PS2 era game came with a booklet packed with material about the in-game world and GTAs also included a full-size poster and map. Any advertisements or leaflets included were always brilliant parodies that would lead to real sites. I've never seen this level of quality and depth from anyone except Rockstar. Valiant Video Enterprises Winter/Spring Catalog and Preview Guide https://www.gamesdatabase.org/Media/SYSTEM/Sony_Playstation_2/manual/Formated/Manhunt_-_2003_-_Rockstar_Games.pdf https://www.gamesdatabase.org/Media/SYSTEM/Sony_Playstation_... The companion parody website, password's not needed: http://web.archive.org/web/20070225094519/http://www.valiant-ent.tv/ http://web.archive.org/web/20070225094519/http://www.valiant...
Aeolun 5y ago
Can confirm I definitely did this. I mostly associated it with manual size though.

voidfunc 5y ago

While I do miss these old school boxes and manuals, I also realize, I don't care that much that they are gone? Don't get me wrong, I loved the Sim City 2000, Civ3, MechWarrior 2 manuals, and countless others, but I also just don't care either, like they were a cool thing... but they were something to read while I took a shit, which isn't saying much. All of that said, there was a fun nostalgia going into a game store in the mid-90s and being surrounded by boxes of games. I remember Media Play and EB Games were big things here and I bought countless N64 games at both. Before that we also had Toys R'US with its aisles of Genesis and Saturn games.