Over the years I've had lots of favourite types of game box. Back in the day some Commodore 64 games used to come in fancy cardboard boxes as opposed to crappy cassette cases that were not built to withstand the vigorous force of sporadic fits of juvenile game rage. These were my first favourite type of game box. They had removable lids and belonged to games made by Ultimate (who pretty much turned into Rare). Here's an example:
Above: Like it says, this was pretty much the king of boxes in 1985
After that I developed a real fondness for SNES boxes. But only when they were in perfect condition. All lined up with firm, pristine edges, nice big logos on display. Lovely. But as soon as they got a bit crumpled and lost some of their angle integrity, the sliding action required to remove or insert the cartridge housing became a bit fiddly. And they just didn't look as good anymore.
Since then, I've found game boxes to be less exciting. Not as inspiring. They don't really move me. Until now.
Having recently had our first PS Vita game boxes arrive at the office, I can happily say that they are the sweetest, most adorable little game boxes I've ever had the pleasure of fondling in my paws. Tiny, slim-line, lightweight, discrete. Like a PS3 case, but small. Diddy. Compact. Cute. They remind me of pocket bird watching books and those fold-out maps of foreign cities that you buy when you're on holiday. Admittedly they are unnecessarily huge in comparison to the game card they're housing, but let's not talk about that.
Here's a picture of one being held in my hands:
Above: It's so miniature
And the other day I saw a pre-order display full of lots of them and it was just about the most lovely thing I'd seen since the kitten shop closed down. So it's little surprise that as of right now PS Vita game boxes are my new favourite types of game boxes.
So that's me. But what about everyone else? What's your favourite type of game box? This is the shit that matters. Join the conversation. And while we're on the subject of boxes, why not check out our Top 7... most significant boxes in video games 2011 feature. It's a good one. Lots of boxes.
