There's something i've come to notice a lot more recently, what with the amount of people showing off their videogame collections on the old interwebs. I have noticed that some of the product design seen in these collections, specifically i'm talking about game cases here (expanding on my previous entry, but this time not looking at box art specifically) and the manner in which they've been designed.
Disclaimer: Images are from google search, so if they are yours many apologies i'll replace them if you want.
First up,
Gamecube games:
Ok, so i'm used to seeing video games a certain way, it's always been that way and changing that serves no purpose in my mind other than to confuse, bewilder, or differentiate simply for the sake of it. I can think of no reason at all, other than completely fucking with someones head why gamecube game cases should be, essentially, upside-down. It makes no sense, it confuses the eye, and it's already distracting/disorienting enough staring at a shelf of gamecube games because they have spine artwork instead of an easily readable font and solid colour background like most games.
Playstation 2 Games:
That said, I do prefer the consistent black boxes of non-budget games, in the UK we have something like 95% come in nice blue boxes, then 5% will be in black cases just to fuck things up, it's pointless and annoying. All blue, or all black, what difference does it make? So why do we need both?
Also, why does the Playstation logo need to be in it's own little white box? Again, pointlessly distracting and honestly, I just think it looks hella ugly.
Playstation Games:
So, aside from the fact that all I see in the picture to the left is what looks like 30 copies of Diablo II: LoD, PSX games are fine right? Wrong. Very wrong. I've seen some ugly product design in my day, but this has got to be the mother of them all. What better way to persuade people to go for a new, full priced retail game than to make your budget games snot green?
I suppose there are some redeeming features, some of the greatest hits range kept their original box art, which was the same with the platinum range in the UK (yet again we got silver/grey instead of some crazy psychadelic colour) and it's not as immidietely obvious from the side as it is with the UK design, the whole spine is silver for us.
Other Offenders:
There is a multitude of other similar things i'd like to talk about, but they don't need a whole section. Firstly, it would seem that Sega Saturn games suffered the same fate as Gamecube games, needlessly flipped spine artwork, the difference there being that this is the same in the UK. I still hate it though.
SNES games? They looks like building blocks. C'mon, tell me they don't looke like Lego bricks or something. But there's a downside to the UK ones as well, they don't have end labels (which as James Rolfe will tell you, is a bad thing) so you win some, you lose some.
Most other things have only minor differences. DS games for example have a similar appearance in the US to PS2 games, they have the logo atop the spine, then artwork and the games logo below. In the UK however, I feel that they've struck a nice balance. We have a slightly enlarged DS logo (no reason, I guess) and a white background on the spine with the games logo on it. This makes the logo itself slightly easier to read, but maintains some of the appeal of the artwork. Although some games choose to use the generic text for it's title instead of displaying a logo.
Overall, i'd honestly say that while PAL product design is arguably just as shitty, i'm glad my PSX and DC games look the way they do. I'm not going to actually score this review, as that would be a bit pretentious and honestly I have no position to gauge from, after all it's whats on the disc that counts right? Not what box the game comes in.
What do you guys reckon? Like them the way they are? Hate them? Hate PAL designs instead? Discussion and ideas for the next stupid thing to review are welcomed.
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