Video game packaging refers to the physical storage of the contents of a
PC or
console game
A console game is a type of video game consisting of images and often sounds generated by a video game console, which are displayed on a television or similar audio-video system, and that can be manipulated by a player. This manipulation usually ...
, both for safekeeping and shop display. In the past, a number of materials and packaging designs were used, mostly
paperboard or
plastic
Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...
. Today, most physical game releases are shipped in (
CD)
jewel case
Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage.
Jewel case
...
s or (
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
)
keep case
A keep case or poly-box is a type of packaging, most commonly used with DVDs and Blu-ray videos (and sometimes CDs).
Besides DVD-Video films, keep cases are very common with most disc-based video games since the PlayStation 2, and they are al ...
s, with little differences between them.
Aside from the actual game, many items may be included inside, such as an instruction booklet, teasers of upcoming games, subscription offers to
magazines
A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combination ...
, other
advertisements, or any hardware that may be needed for any extra features of the game.
Personal computer packages
Early machines such as the
Commodore 64 were
tape-based, and hence had their games distributed on ordinary cassettes. When more advanced machines moved to
floppy disks, the cassette boxes stayed in use for a while (e.g. ''
Treasure Island Dizzy'' for the
Amiga came on a
floppy disk in a cassette box).
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, computer games became significantly more complex, and the market for them expanded enormously. Possibly in an effort to occupy more shelf space than their rivals, and attract attention with their cover art, games began to be sold in large cardboard boxes. There was no standard size, but most were around 20 cm x 15 cm x 5 cm (around 8in x 6in x 2in). The greatly increasing box sizes may have been justified in some cases. Games such as flight simulators came with extremely large, thick manuals. Others came with elaborate copy-protection systems such as
Zool
''Zool: Ninja of the Nth Dimension'' is a platform game written for the Amiga by Gremlin Graphics and published in 1992. It was marketed as a rival to Sega's '' Sonic the Hedgehog''. ''Zool'' was ported to other platforms and followed by '' ...
's circular
code wheel, or even a hardware
dongle (although these were generally more common on expensive non-game software).
Variations on the "big box" format include a box within a sleeve, such as ''
Unreal
Unreal may refer to:
Books and TV
* ''Unreal'' (short story collection), a 1985 book of short stories by Paul Jennings
* ''Unreal'' (TV series), a 2015 television drama series on Lifetime
Computing and games
* ''Unreal'' (video game series), ...
'', and a box with a fold-out front cover, such as ''
Black & White''.
Games re-released as budget games usually came in much smaller boxes—a common format for Amiga budget games was a thin square box roughly 13 cm x 13 cm x 2 cm (roughly 5in x 5in x 1in). It was during this time that
covermount
Covermount (sometimes written cover mount) is the name given to storage media (containing software and or audiovisual media) or other products (ranging from toys to flip-flops) packaged as part of a magazine or newspaper. The name comes from the ...
ing of cassettes and floppy discs became common.
As PC games migrated to CDs in jewel cases, the large format box remained, though to reduce printing costs, manuals came on the CD as well as with the CD (inside the front cover), as did many of the copy-protection techniques in the form of
SafeDisc
''SafeDisc'' is a copy protection program for Microsoft Windows applications and games distributed on optical disc. Created by Macrovision Corporation, it was aimed to hinder unauthorized disc duplication. The program was first introduced in 19 ...
and
SecuROM
SecuROM was a CD/ DVD copy protection and digital rights management (DRM) product developed by Sony DADC. It aims to prevent unauthorised copying and reverse engineering of software, primarily commercial computer games running on Microsoft Windo ...
. Despite the CD jewel case format having been around since the invention of the music CD, very few full-price PC games were released in a jewel case only. A thicker variation with space for a thick manual was, however, used for most
PlayStation and
Dreamcast
The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, Nint ...
games.
Around 2000,
PC game packaging in Europe began to converge with that of
PS2 (and later,
Xbox
Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the ...
and
GameCube)
console
Console may refer to:
Computing and video games
* System console, a physical device to operate a computer
** Virtual console, a user interface for multiple computer consoles on one device
** Command-line interface, a method of interacting with ...
games, in the keep case format in which to this day the vast majority of games are sold. These boxes are sometimes known as Amaray cases, after a popular manufacturer of them. In the U.S., most PC games continue to ship in plastic DVD cases or cardboard boxes, though the size of such boxes has been standardized to a small form factor. Special packages such as a "Collector's Edition" frequently still ship with oversized boxes, or those with a different material, such as a "
Steelbook
Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage.
Jewel case
...
".
In the U.S., the
IEMA played a major role in improving, from a retailer's perspective, the way most PC games are packaged. In 2000, many retailers were becoming disenchanted with the salability of PC games as compared with their more profitable console game counterparts as products. Oversized software boxes were blamed for a lack of productivity per square foot (the profitability of a particular item sold at retail based upon its foot print). The IEMA worked with leading game publishers in creating the now-standard IEMA-sized box, essentially a double-thick DVD-sized plastic or cardboard box, which effectively increased the profitability per square foot by over 33% and appeased merchants and developers alike. ''
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault'' was one of the first PC games in the U.S. to come packaged in this new standardized box.
In creating the new box size the IEMA found itself in the unlikely position of platform guardian (where each console platform had a first-party publisher to oversee standardization matters, PC games by their very nature did not). As such, the industry pressured the organization to develop a platform identification mark which would unify the display and focus the customer's brand perception. Again the IEMA worked with publishers to create a new standard "PC" icon, and would provide its use on a
royalty-free basis to the industry.
In 2004, ''
Half-Life 2
''Half-Life 2'' is a 2004 first-person shooter game developed by Valve Corporation, Valve. It was published by Valve through its distribution service Steam (service), Steam. Like the original ''Half-Life (video game), Half-Life'' (1998), ''Half- ...
'' was released with a boxed retail presence, but required the game to be activated online through a proprietary service developed by
Valve
A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fitting ...
,
Steam, which also sold the game directly to customers - bypassing the traditional brick-and-mortar publishing model. It was met with backlash initially, with many users feeling that it meant they didn't really 'own' their game, and that it was a form of DRM that prevented reselling their titles second-hand. Digital distribution is now the most prominent and, for many titles, only method of distribution. Many boxed retail games as of 2021 contain only an activation code, in lieu of physical media.
Java games for cellphones are distributed almost exclusively via the internet. It is possible that the proliferation of home broadband will lead to electronic distribution for all games in the future, leaving physical packaging a niche market, though game developers cite the unsolved problem of
digital rights management as the main barrier to this.
Console packages
The earliest consoles had game ''cartridges''; the
Intellivision cartridge packaging featured a box color-coded to the "network" or category of the game (one of several themes, such as "action", "sports", etc.). The front cover opened up, book style; on the inner front cover, a slot retained the paper manual – a simple booklet, as well as the poly controller overlays. In the main confines of the box, a plastic tray was recessed into which the cartridge fit snugly. When other companies began to produce cartridges for Mattel's system, other types of boxes began to appear, such as Imagic's simple cardboard box, which opened from the top to reveal simple cardboard retainers for the cartridge and rules booklet.
Unlike PC games, console manufacturers charge a license fee to anyone developing for their machine, and exert a certain amount of influence in the style of packaging.
Nintendo, for example, maintained almost completely standardized boxes for
SNES
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in E ...
games.
PlayStation 2,
GameCube, and
Xbox
Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the ...
game boxes also conform to the keep case form factor.
All cases of
PAL region
The PAL region is a television publication territory that covers most of Europe and Africa, alongside parts of Asia, South America and Oceania. It is named PAL because of the PAL (Phase Alternating Line) television standard traditionally used i ...
games for
PlayStation and
Dreamcast
The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, Nint ...
are thicker than standard North American and Japanese CD-cases. This is due to thicker manuals that often include many
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
an languages. An exception to this were Australian-market PlayStation games later in the console's life, which were released in standard-sized jewel cases with the manual in English only.
Games for handheld systems are usually packaged in smaller boxes, to match the portable nature of the machine. The
Game Boy Advance
The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, ...
's cardboard boxes are a little smaller than SNES/N64 packaging, and games for the
Nintendo DS and
PSP both come in smaller, CD-like cases.
While DVD-like boxes are common in the current generation of gaming, the original cardboard packaging used for past cartridge-based games is scarce, as they were often discarded by the original owner of the game. As such, many cartridge-based games bought in second hand markets often are missing their original boxes, and the boxes themselves are now viewed as collector items.
PlayStation 3
The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on November 11, 2006, in Japan, November ...
,
PlayStation 4,
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
,
PlayStation 5, and
Xbox Series X/S
The Xbox Series X/S are home video game consoles developed by Microsoft. They were both released on November 10, 2020, as the fourth generation Xbox, succeeding the Xbox One. Along with Sony's PlayStation 5, also released in November 202 ...
games are packaged into Blu-ray keep cases. With some generations, standardised colours have been used for the edging.
Box art
The term box art (also called a game cover or
cover art) can refer to the artwork on the front of PC or console game packaging. Box art is usually flashy and bombastic, in the vein of
movie poster
A film poster is a poster used to promote and advertise a film primarily to persuade paying customers into a theater to see it. Studios often print several posters that vary in size and content for various domestic and international markets. T ...
s, and serves a similar purpose. Additionally, screenshots on the back of the box often mix in-game sequences with
pre-rendered
Pre-rendering is the process in which video footage is not rendered in real-time by the hardware that is outputting or playing back the video. Instead, the video is a recording of footage that was previously rendered on different equipment (typic ...
sections. Historically, art featured on the box has been in excess of what the computer or console was technically capable of displaying. Veteran San Francisco box art illustrator Marc Ericksen, who produced nearly 100 illustrations for video games from 1982 to 2003, including games like Tengen's Tetris, Capcom's Mega Man 2, Atari 7800's Galaga, Data East's Bad Dudes, and SNK's Guerrilla War contends that there was very little in the screen graphics to sell the games. The sales arms needed illustrations to introduce a visual construct to acquaint young gamers to the gameplay concepts. The graphics were exciting when in motion, but offered very little to engage a prospective purchaser's attention when static.
![Fez (video game) cover art](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Fez_%28video_game%29_cover_art.png)
Illustrators were less frequently required beyond the year 2000, when screen graphics reached parity with illustrations and could be utilized as cover art.
Box art may misleadingly depict gameplay.
Weekly Reader
''Weekly Reader'' was a weekly educational classroom magazine designed for children. It began in 1928 as ''My Weekly Reader''. Editions covered curriculum themes in the younger grade levels and news-based, current events and curriculum themed-i ...
Software in 1983 advertised ''
Old Ironsides'' with the slogan "
What you see is what you get
In computing, WYSIWYG ( ), an acronym for What You See Is What You Get, is a system in which editing software allows content to be edited in a form that resembles its appearance when printed or displayed as a finished product, such as a printed d ...
!", promising that "Unlike other programs, where the pictures on the packaging and in the advertising bear no resemblance to the screen images, this program delivers precisely what's promised ... Better than arcade-quality graphics and sound!".
Cinemaware
Cinemaware was a video game developer and publisher that released several titles in the 1980s based on various film themes. The company was resurrected in 2000, before being acquired by eGames in 2005.
Cinemaware Corp. (1986–1991)
The compan ...
advertised ''
Defender of the Crown
''Defender of the Crown'' is a strategy computer game designed by Kellyn Beck. It was Cinemaware's first game, and was originally released for the Commodore Amiga in 1986, setting a new standard for graphic quality in home computer games.
In ...
'' in 1987 with screenshots that the company described as being an "Actual Atari ST screen!", "Actual Apple IIGS screen!", "Actual Macintosh screen!", and "Actual Commodore 64 screen!".
Deceptions continued, however; ''
Computer Gaming World'' in 1994 stated that "Careful consumers have learned to spot screen shots on a box that are probably just
animation sequences, not really a play shot".
On the cover, many things are listed, such as the name and
logo
A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wo ...
of the game, what platform the game is for, the rating (
ESRB
The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is a self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings to consumer video games in the United States and Canada. The ESRB was established in 1994 by the Entertainment Software Asso ...
for
North America,
PEGI
PEGI () or Pan-European Game Information is a European video game content rating system established to help European consumers make informed decisions when buying video games or apps through the use of age recommendations and content descript ...
for
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
and
CERO for
Japan), logo of the
publisher
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
and/or developer, and quotes from magazines or
website
A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Wi ...
s.
As part of the marketing effort to build
hype, box art is usually released a few months before the actual game.
Many people find particular box art strange, or poor, such as ''
Phalanx
The phalanx ( grc, φάλαγξ; plural phalanxes or phalanges, , ) was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar pole weapons. The term is particularly ...
'' and ''
Mega Man.'' Often this is the result of art used for a localized version of an import title. Many early releases, especially Nintendo, replaced Japanese art with original US artwork, such as the ''
Dragon Warrior
previously published as ''Dragon Warrior'' in North America until 2005, is a franchise of Japanese role-playing video games created by Armor Project (Yuji Horii), Bird Studio (Akira Toriyama) and Sugiyama Kobo (Koichi Sugiyama) to its publ ...
'' and the ''
Final Fantasy
is a Japanese video game, Japanese science fantasy anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and developed and owned by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and ...
'' series. Recent import titles have made it a habit to retain the original cover art.
The boxes of
Nintendo games (
NES
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...
,
Game Boy
The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same t ...
,
Nintendo 64
The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and ...
,
GameCube,
Nintendo DS,
Wii,
Nintendo 3DS,
Wii U
The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4.
Th ...
, And
Switch
In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of ...
) from
PAL territories all have a small coloured triangle on their spines, but in each territory it's a different colour (to show the region that copy of the game came from).
Some common ones are: Green =
UK, Pink =
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, Red =
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, Light Blue =
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, Dark Blue =
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, Brown =
Australia.
There are 49 different colours. As well as geographic region it also has to do with the language of the box art and booklets; though PAL region Nintendo games are made in Germany, the triangles show the region that the game is shipped to.
[Nintendo The Official Magazine (Issue 21: 21st Oct. 07)]
Instruction manuals
An instruction manual, a booklet that instructs the player on how to play a game, is usually included as part of a video game package. Manuals can be large, such as the ''
Civilization II'' manual which runs hundreds of pages, or small, such as the single sheet of double-sided
A5 paper included with ''
Half-Life 2
''Half-Life 2'' is a 2004 first-person shooter game developed by Valve Corporation, Valve. It was published by Valve through its distribution service Steam (service), Steam. Like the original ''Half-Life (video game), Half-Life'' (1998), ''Half- ...
''.
PAL region
The PAL region is a television publication territory that covers most of Europe and Africa, alongside parts of Asia, South America and Oceania. It is named PAL because of the PAL (Phase Alternating Line) television standard traditionally used i ...
versions of games may include thick manuals with many languages. For example, the
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
an manual of ''
Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped'' for
PlayStation includes six languages:
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
,
French,
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
,
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
,
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
and
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
.
Personal computers
Computer games typically have larger manuals because some genres native to personal computers such as simulators or strategy games require a more in-depth explanation of the interface and game mechanics. Furthermore, instruction manuals for personal computer games tend to include installation instructions to assist a user in installing the game, but those instructions could also appear in a separate piece of paper or in a different leaflet. As some of these manuals are so large as to be cumbersome when searching for a specific section, some games include a quick reference card (usually a list of keyboard commands) on a separate sheet of paper or in the back cover of the manual.
A common use for printed manuals was to use it as a
copy protection
Copy protection, also known as content protection, copy prevention and copy restriction, describes measures to enforce copyright by preventing the reproduction of software, films, music, and other media.
Copy protection is most commonly found o ...
device: some games required the player to find the ''"word x in the y
th paragraph of the z
th page"'' or to input a code found in the borders of a certain page. These mechanisms were highly unpopular, as they only affected legitimate purchasers;
pirates would simply use a
crack or have the codes printed on a single sheet to bypass the mechanism. While this practice has fallen out of use since the
CD-ROM became the main medium for games, CD-keys serve a similar purpose and are occasionally printed somewhere in or on the manual.
Other manuals go much farther than being simple guides: some games based on historical or well-developed fictional stories often include extensive information about the settings, like the
WWI
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
combat simulator ''
Flying Corps'', where every campaign was thoroughly described with historical information. In some genres, this led to the aforementioned large manuals traditional with computer games.
Decline of printed manuals
The trend in recent years is towards smaller manuals – sometimes just a single instruction sheet – for a number of reasons. Console games are no longer sold in large cardboard boxes; instead, since the early 2000s,
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
cases have been used (as today's major consoles use DVD-sized optical discs), which leave no room for a large manual. Printing is also expensive, and
game publishers can save money by including a
PDF of the manual on the disc (for PC games). Notably, most video games produced during and after the
fourth generation include in-game instructions via tutorials and other such methods, meaning printed manuals are often overlooked. However, this trend is unpopular among many video game collectors because it may decrease the perceived value of a game, as manuals are sometimes considered works of art themselves as an essential part of the game's packaging. Some consider reading manuals an enjoyable experience. Also, reading manuals on a computer monitor or other display device may be considered more "awkward" as opposed to printed paper.
As opposed to most
console game
A console game is a type of video game consisting of images and often sounds generated by a video game console, which are displayed on a television or similar audio-video system, and that can be manipulated by a player. This manipulation usually ...
s which have printed manuals, games for the
Nintendo 3DS,
Wii U
The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4.
Th ...
, and
Nintendo Switch store manuals in digital form on the
Nintendo 3DS game card,
Wii U optical disc, and
Nintendo Switch game card, respectively.
Missing manuals
While their use in PC games post-2000 is scarce, console games and older PC games are expected to have them. Games acquired in second-hand markets often miss the manuals, much like missing their original boxes, after being kept, lost or discarded by their previous owners. As occasionally the manuals are part of the game experience, owners of games missing manuals try to find replacements in other second-hand stores or with other players or collectors. Alternatively, sites like
Replacementdocs provide a large repository of fan-made and official PDF manuals to download. Those range from simple page scans (which is impractical in longer manuals, due to larger file size and the inability to search text) to
OCR-scanned and carefully assembled manuals to remain as close to the original manuals as possible.
MMORPG manuals
MMORPGs in particular continue to be packaged with a comprehensive and high-quality manual. ''
World of Warcraft
''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth ...
'' and ''
Guild Wars
''Guild Wars'' is an online role-playing game franchise developed by ArenaNet and published by NCSOFT. The games were critically well received and won many editor's choice awards, as well as awards such as Best Value, Best Massively Multiplaye ...
'' include instruction manuals that are 150 to 200 pages; they explain everything from in-game lore to detailed overviews of the different character classes. In general, MMORPGs have a larger variety of features in which the player can focus on while playing than normal games and often take much longer to semi-complete (usually defined as reaching the highest-possible
character level
An experience point (often abbreviated as exp or XP) is a unit of measurement used in some tabletop role-playing games (RPGs) and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's life experience and progression through the game. Exper ...
: due to the nature of MMORPG games, with constant content additions, etc., requiring many hours of weekly play in order to stay competitive in-game, it is impossible to ever "complete", "finish" or "beat" one in the traditional sense one can complete a game like ''
Final Fantasy X'' or ''
Rome: Total War''). The detailed instruction booklets that accompany the games help answer any questions that players may have in order to make public relations and technical support easier once the game is released. These manuals also invite potential players to explore an aspect of the game that was previously unknown to them. More than any other genre, the community and longevity of an
MMO are important to the developers because they often charge a monthly fee for playing the game.
Archival efforts
Some efforts have been made to archive older manuals of out-of-print video games for various consoles. For instance, in October 2022, a preservationist known as Kirkland uploaded a complete collection of manuals (including variants) for USA-region
PlayStation 2 games on the
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
, all scanned and uploaded in
4K resolution.
References
External links
The Cover ProjectVGMuseumVideo Game Box ArtReplacementDocs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Video Game Packaging
Packaging
Video game marketing