Question about cases and boxes

[shubibiman]

Hi there,

Being a French pc engine fan, I have many questions to you US fans 'cause the japanese pc engine was more popular in our country back then (actually it was the only version ever imported there). Many a times, I have wondered wether the Turbografx16, CD or Turboduo games ALL came with boxes. I know for instance that all the older games came with both a crystal case AND  a box but what about the more recent ones? It seems, when I do searches on ebay or here, that at one point, Turbo games started being sold without boxes. Am I guessing right? If so, could you tell me which games only came in crystal cases?

Thanks for your answers

[Nemo]

It went:

TG-16 Games (Hueys) came with jewel cases and boxes.  Later, they only came with boxes and a plastic insert holder.  Then when TG-16 CD games came out those came with boxes and jewel cases again.  Of course when Super CD Rom2 games came out, those only came with jewel cases.  Even though NEC decided to save money and downgrade, it's kind of cool that we got any boxes because the JP games never had them. We also got the amazing cover for Valis III.

[merriman_bk]

Sup Nemo, didn't know you were around on these forums too, nice to see you.

[shubibiman]

Thanks for your answer

[Nemo]

Sup Nemo, didn't know you were around on these forums too, nice to see you.

Yeah I get around, probably too much really.  

[esteban]

Nemo already answered, but if you want some more details (i.e. concerning styrofoam, tabs, etc.), here's an old post:

U.S. vs. Japan packaging

What is sad is that I could improve that old post with even more trivialities! But I won't

[Joe Redifer]

I always thought that the bigger cardboard boxes were to increase exposure on store shelves.  They wanted the games to be seen by customers.  Kind of the same reaon for the giganto Sega CD and Saturn boxes (why Sega why?).  I still have most of my cardboard boxes and styrofoam inserts (along with the map for Ys 1 & 2), but I don't put the games on the shelf that way.  Cardboard looks cheap.  If I ever ran for president, my platform would be anti-cardboard.  Also I agree that the US Hu-card plastic arm was a great improvement!

Back when Sega switched to cardboard for their Genesis games, I was surprised they didn't make the cartridges themselves out of cardboard.  Man they suddenly got really cheap and it looked really bad on the company whose products were previously packaged better than everyone elses.  I thought they were about to go bankrupt or something!  Anyone remember the cardboard CD boxes for early PlayStation games?

[takashirose]

I remember the Original cardboard Playstation boxes.  I liked them.  Twisted Metal 1 was in one.  Were the cardboard boxes before or after the big jewel case Playstation package like the Sega CD and Saturn ones?

[esteban]

I always thought that the bigger cardboard boxes were to increase exposure on store shelves.  They wanted the games to be seen by customers.  Kind of the same reaon for the giganto Sega CD and Saturn boxes (why Sega why?).  I still have most of my cardboard boxes and styrofoam inserts (along with the map for Ys 1 & 2), but I don't put the games on the shelf that way.  Cardboard looks cheap.  If I ever ran for president, my platform would be anti-cardboard.  Also I agree that the US Hu-card plastic arm was a great improvement!

Back when Sega switched to cardboard for their Genesis games, I was surprised they didn't make the cartridges themselves out of cardboard.  Man they suddenly got really cheap and it looked really bad on the company whose products were previously packaged better than everyone elses.  I thought they were about to go bankrupt or something!  Anyone remember the cardboard CD boxes for early PlayStation games?

Yeah, I think GEX was cardboard for PS1. Pretty lame. Raiden Project was the first "jumbo jewel case" PS1 game I ever had.

I was really surprised that Sega dropped the AWESOME plastic clambshell cases. It was lame because Sega had been offering essentially the same case since the SMS days and I really liked the consistency (shelving SMS and Genny games together) and the durability (i.e. the cases were indestructable, unlike jewel cases that CRACK).

I also remember that Sega switched the "Genesis" logo they used on the packaging. Maybe they did this a few times, but off-the-top-of-my-head I only seem to remember two distinct logos: the original logo that looks like it was stamped on a silver plate, and then the newer logo that dropped the silver plate altogether and used a thinner font for "Genesis". I think this happened for the "Welcome to the Next Level" campaign later in the Genny's life (around the time of Sega-CD?).

Trivia: the Sega-CD, PS1 and Saturn jumbo jewel cases were all nearly the same size, which was nice. I like to think that Sega-CD paved the way here , even though they really were too friggin' big.

But, to get back to TG-16: you're right, the cardboard boxes probably were intended to increase visibility and shelfspace for most stores... except for Toys'R'Us, which used a different system (plastic cards) that were uniform across all systems. EB put empty boxes on shelves... and I know some other stores kept sealed games on display (mom-n-pop) ...

I'll have to revise my thoughts on purpose behind the packaging . For some reason, when I wrote my old post, I was thinking about the long cardboard boxes CD's used to come packaged in and "theft deterrence" was the only issue I considered.

And, finally, while I'm at it, I should mention something about the labels on the spine of the jewel cases changing from orange-black to multi-colored...

[NeoFreak]

yeah stevek666,

there were actually 3 long style boxes for PSX around launch time. there was the twisted metal "all cardboard" case, which didnt have a hinge, it was like a "photograph" of beveled plastic hinge that was added right into the box art. [everything was just one piece of cardboard, no definition between front, spine, and back.

then there was the resident evil "plastic cardboard" combo [maybe "loaded" had this style case as well, cant remember] it was all cardboard but the the front and back were attached to an opaque black plastic spine with beveling details. [so the case could lay completely flat when opened]

then there was the later, all plastic one a la Warhawk / Kileak: the DNA imperative. and most came with a soft foam block that would sit on the cd.

pretty weird

trivia: which was the only US saturn game that didnt have a logo or text printed on the spine?

[takashirose]

I don't know.

[T2KFreeker]

yeah stevek666,

there were actually 3 long style boxes for PSX around launch time. there was the twisted metal "all cardboard" case, which didnt have a hinge, it was like a "photograph" of beveled plastic hinge that was added right into the box art. [everything was just one piece of cardboard, no definition between front, spine, and back.

then there was the resident evil "plastic cardboard" combo [maybe "loaded" had this style case as well, cant remember] it was all cardboard but the the front and back were attached to an opaque black plastic spine with beveling details. [so the case could lay completely flat when opened]

then there was the later, all plastic one a la Warhawk / Kileak: the DNA imperative. and most came with a soft foam block that would sit on the cd.

pretty weird

trivia: which was the only US saturn game that didnt have a logo or text printed on the spine?

Astal, one of the most amazing sleeper hits of the Saturn. I love that game so much and still play it regularly!

Oh, and Loaded did indeed release in the plastic/Cardboard combo box. Doom released in all three though, I still do not know why!

[Joe Redifer]

I put an Astal logo on my box spine that I cut out of a GameFan or something.  Fit perfectly.  I wonder how Sega missed that when printing it, though.

As for the PS1 games, I think they got cheaper and cheaper.  It started out with the jumbo all-plastic cases like Sega CD and Saturn boxes.  I bought Raiden on launch day, still have it, and it has that style of box.  Then later came the cardboard/plastic combo.  Sony loved their customers sooo much that they decided to go all cardboard after that with just a wimpy picture of the spine printed on the box (Return Fire).  Then Sony decided it might be a good idea to try and give customers something good, so they went with the standard-sized jewel cases (Motor Toon GP) which still had a picture of the spine on the box.