Name: 大型PC遊戲盒為何消失【LGR科技故事】？ (Why Big PC Game Boxes Disappeared [LGR Tech Tales])
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T09:30:30.000Z
Duration: 9 min 58 s
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基礎被動語態

PC games were primarily distributed in boxes

with extravagant box art and unique package designs.

they rapidly started disappearing from store shelves,

and by 2004 these retroactively named big box PC games

and replaced with smaller uniform packaging.

where we take a look at noteworthy stories of technological inspiration, failure,

and their seemingly sudden demise from store shelves.

traces its origins back to the late 1970s

Machines like the TRS-80, Apple II and Commodore PET

third-party computer games were being developed

and passed around computer clubs and user groups.

This was usually done by entrepreneurial hobbyists

writing their own games to cassette tape or floppy disk,

is Richard Garriott's Akalabeth from 1979,

which was first sold in a Ziploc bag in Texas ComputerLand shops.

But as personal computers steadily gained popularity

began shifting hundreds or even thousands of units,

it wasn't long before new businesses formed around them.

While it's difficult to pin down the very first computer game

a great example is Wheeler Dealers for the Apple II from 1978.

The reason this was distributed in a box instead of a plastic bag

is because it came with a unique controller

that let four players play the game at once.

leading to games like Computer Bismark from Strategic Simulations, Inc. in 1980

being a more well-known title with early boxed commercial distribution.

so it's little wonder that the package was inspired by tabletop wargame publishing,

like the products from Avalon Hill Games.

At the time, Avalon Hill distributed many of their tabletop games in a box

that was meant to stand upright on a shelf,

They not only looked impressive on display

due to the sheer number of items inside the box needed to play it.

And perhaps influenced by someone else getting there first,

Avalon Hill soon brought the bookcase game package design

with their newly formed Microcomputer Games division.

And the era of boxed computer games was thoroughly underway.

Note that I didn't say "big box" computer games,

as that was a term that didn't really exist until the mid-2000s.

Originally, there was no need for a size distinction.

and the packaging could vary wildly from one publisher to the next.

Electronic Arts was one company to distinguish itself in the early 1980s

with their gatefold LP-style boxes known as folios.

Considering themselves electronic artists,

EA wanted to treat their developers like rockstars,

giving their games colorful cover art and packaging that resembled a vinyl record.

often took the straightforward approach you would expect

packing games in functional but ultimately drab sleeves.

taking computer game boxes to the next level.

They primarily made interactive fiction games,

which lacked in-game graphics and instead relied on the player's imagination.

Infocom packaging greeted you with colorful and creative artwork,

with comic books and colorfully illustrated manuals.

They took it even further by including what they called "feelies."

These were physical items like patches, brochures,

and other collectibles to help suck players into their virtual worlds.

But feelies weren't the only reason computer game boxes

due to the technology and expectations of computer games in the '80s.

Software came on cassette tapes or floppy disks,

so you needed a box big enough to hold them.

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大型PC遊戲盒為何消失【LGR科技故事】？ (Why Big PC Game Boxes Disappeared [LGR Tech Tales])

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