Can you believe that 80% of games bought in the UK last year were digital? Downloads from the digital eShop, heaps of indie gems on Steam and masses of blockbuster AAA games. Boxed games still made up a sizeable chunk, but these days it’s all about apps and pressing play at midnight! What about those cold winter nights spent camping outside your local GAME, EB or GameStop? The whiff of sealed plastic. The joys of boxed games!
As technology and internet speeds ramp up; we’re in it for the instant fix. Buy a game? It’s yours to conquer in minutes. Seconds. It’s quick and simple. You could pop some chips on in the oven, make a tea and even read this blog. The game’s now yours, forever etched within your hard-drive.
But how about that feeling of saving up, travelling to the local game shop and tearing though the plastic? The box, the box in your hands! Here’s a little gaming trip down memory lane, the joys of boxed games. Do you relate?
Love at First Magazine Read
A once-a-month read. Every single page absorbed into your brain and you know exactly what games are coming out when. That must-have Lee Carvello’s Putting Challenge for NES must be yours!
Release Day Looms
Anything to pass the time. A brisk walk. Doing the laundry. Anything to pass the excruciating wait for the game’s launch. Might as well re-read that magazine!
Goodbye, Piggy
Piggy bank, you’ve served me well! All the loose change, random buttons and staples; all ready to take down to the game shop. Rest in peace, little one!
Dodging the Boss Battle
It’s finally release day, but it’s a weekday. Is it worth waiting till Saturday rolls over? Of course not. Time to face the boss with the “I’ve got toilet problems and can’t come in today” spiel.
The Long Bus Ride
Hop on the bus, and in those days, there were no smartphones, no Pokémon GO stops. Silence. Music if you had a Walkman, but otherwise Timmy eating a bag of chips is your entertainment.
Navigating the Queue
After that excruciating journey into town, it’s time to face the dread. The queue. Deirdre’s looking for that “jumping man” game for her son and Sean wants a refund for FIFA 2003 because it’s the exact same game as FIFA 2002.
The Joys of Physical Boxed Games – Finally, Mine
It’s now in your paws. The wait, the adventure, the queues. A freshly wrapped bundle of joy is now yours to devour – the pure joys of physical boxed games!
A Whiff of Sealed Plastic
This box, this shell of plastic is visual masterpiece! But doesn’t it just smell good? Tear it open and breathe it in, soak up those pixels and polygons! There’s no feeling quite like it!
Those Instruction Booklet Feels
Safety guidelines aside, it’s time to memorise the entire instruction booklet. How to put the game in correctly? Done. You’ve read it five times. Move the character up, how to jump, how to thrust, how to pump. It’s all there with glorious colour diagrams!
Set Sail for Adventure!
You’re now back home, exhausted but ready to take on that first chapter, that first adventure-mode run, that opening cut-scene. It’s all be worth it!
Do you relate? Do you prefer physical games over digital, or does it depend solely on the game itself? Let us know!
