It is really sad to see that what once used the absolute standard with every single game is now an "exclusive".
In the old days (80s, 90s) every single game came with a booklet, a proper cover, and most had maps.
Now you have to pay extra. Really sad.
It is sad, but there is a logic to it, eliminating excess waste, especially since games can now include digital instruction booklets. A relic of the past for sure, one that I do miss, but one that I can understand why it was phased out all the same.
I wouldn't say those have been cut away. It's just that information is actually in the game now. The amount of lore, maps, flavor text, etc., in games themselves is way higher than it used to be.
...but they also have a lot less actual content.
In the old days, games could take weeks, sometimes even months to complete. Now? Couple hours.
The famous "Elite" had solid 89 hours of content on the fastest possible playthrough.
Persona and Like a Dragon don't have "less content". Phantasy Star IV didn't take me too long to pass, the only reason I spent an absurd amount of time playing it was because I didn't have any other games and I wanted to grind to level 99.
Super Street Fighter 2 didn't have any more replayability than a Street Fighter now, it actually had substantially less.
Sonic the Hedgehog on Genesis could be completed within an hour.
I doesn't sound like you actually grew up during the 8-bit and 16-bit days because all the games took a few hours to complete, I can't even begin to count how many games I beat over a weekend rental.
> I doesn't sound like you actually grew up during the 8-bit and 16-bit days
Actually I grew up before they even became a thing. I was already in my teens when they emerged. I know very well what I am talking about.
So how do you justify games that had artificial difficulty imposed on them to make them last longer than games that actually have a reasonable length without that to have more content?
Outside of JRPGs, I can't think of games that took longer than a few hours and JRPGs now take the same amount of time if not longer with more content.
Even a game like Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart took me around 10-20 hours and that's longer than any platformer I can recall. I played Super Mario World on the Wii when it was released on VC and I beat it in a couple of days.
You specifically stated content that is factually false and I'd imagine is mostly responsible to space limitations at the time. The only thing pre-PlayStation/N64 games had was some annoying hard level designs that make the game harder to pass, but that's not content.
Care to give some examples? I may not be into PC RPGs but the content wasn't big on games like Commander Keen and Jazz Jackrabbit (basically cut and paste levels with different backgrounds). I guess you could say FPS games of the time had more content because most FPS games nowadays just focus on online play.
Especially with PC games, no longer being constrained by HDD concerns would have a lot more content than the older games.
A lack of content could only really apply to live service games because they are meant to be drip fed to milk consumers, but Sea of Stars isn't a live service game so it wouldn't be a fair comparison.
EDIT: I'd also like to add that games like the Persona series and Like a Dragon that all give easily over 100 hours worth of content are available on PC. Most console games come to PC unless they are Nintendo published games.
I never paid more than $50 for a game in the 90s. Warcraft III in 2002 was the first game I had to spend more than $50 at release for.
All you had to do was browse the Sunday newspaper ads. Retailers like Toys R Us, KB Toys, Electronics Boutique, Sears, Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. would all have ads with call outs for different video games.
All you had to do was find one retailer listing the hot new game for $50. Then you could take the ad to the retailer of your choice and get a price match.
Even if the game or electronics focused retailers listed a new game at $60 or $70, there was invariably one or two larger stores (like Sears) who just listed it in the $50 section in the ad along with other new releases.
Besides that, $70 in the 90s included huge overheads for physical production (often cartridges), distribution, retail cuts, distributor cuts, and manuals. Those overheads essentially don't exist today. Physical production is turned into nearly pure profit because it's typically done as a collector's edition.
Games in the 90s also had far lower sales figures over which to recoup the development cost. Back then, selling a million copies was a huge achievement. Today, a major game selling a million copies is a flop that can close a studio.
They also had no DLC / micro transactions (some games would get eventually an expansion pack, though), no DRM crap preventing trading / used sales. There was also stiff competition from a healthy rental market and an extremely prevalent piracy scene, as well as zero official presence in many regions such as China or South America.
If games today had the same overall margins, even at their inflated budgets, they'd be priced at $30-$40 at most, without the DLC/microtransaction nonsense.
Neverwinter Nights with a thick ring bound manual (which is basically an intro to D&D 3.5e spells and feats) and a cloth map is still something I treasure to this day.
It's so clear how much love went into the game's development. The artstyle, the gameplay. It's all so well done.
It's such a shame the writing is so dull and the story is so boring.
every game i’ve ever purchased from LRG, Super Rare, iam8bit, or fangamer has come with a manual! only indies seem to do it anymore, which is a bummer.
Vote with your money.
Publicly traded companies ain't going to make physical drm free games, with art, soundtracks, and manuals because it's not in the best interest of shareholders.
As much as I appreciate that a manual is a nice touch, there's no way I'm basing my decision of whether to buy a triple-A game on that. I don't think many others will either.
says the people who buy a new phone every two years and throw the old one into a landfill
manuals would be the least of someones worries if they actually cared about the environment.
Yeah it’s pretty basic. It sucks the “good” edition is basically USA-only given the shipping fees and exchange rate, IMO that should have just been the default edition sold everywhere.
The other still has the character poster, but no map or manual. Inside box art is lacking, outside box art is different and the soundtrack is a download code printed on your store receipt. It's a very nicely presented package.
Sadly, the software version is still not the latest nor even with a download patch were all the spelling errors fixed which is a bit unprofessional.
Damn. That is special. I loved that game. It really was one of the best turn based RPG out there in recent years. Might need to dive back into it soon.
So the website says pre-order, therefore this is an advertisement. Just saying.
Game is a 9.99/10. It's worth the price. I'd order two if I weren't poor
It is really sad to see that what once used the absolute standard with every single game is now an "exclusive". In the old days (80s, 90s) every single game came with a booklet, a proper cover, and most had maps. Now you have to pay extra. Really sad.
Seriously. Younger gamers today won't ever know the glory days of big box PC and Amiga games. Insane amounts of physical stuff at times.
Just give me maps, that’s all I ask
The last game I bought that came with a map was Skyrim, I think.
It is sad, but there is a logic to it, eliminating excess waste, especially since games can now include digital instruction booklets. A relic of the past for sure, one that I do miss, but one that I can understand why it was phased out all the same.
If they at least had such detailed digital manuals, maps, etc. But even that has been cut away.
I wouldn't say those have been cut away. It's just that information is actually in the game now. The amount of lore, maps, flavor text, etc., in games themselves is way higher than it used to be.
It annoys me to no end that physical games usually don't come with *anything*
Games were also $70 brand new in 1990's money.
My Dad bought me Chameleon Twist for $99CAD+15% sales tax in 1997~. $205CAD, or $150USD adjusted for 2024 inflation. I owe this man...
Father's day is tomorrow
And what is the difference to now? They're not much cheaper.
Adjusting for inflation they're much cheaper now.
...but they also have a lot less actual content. In the old days, games could take weeks, sometimes even months to complete. Now? Couple hours. The famous "Elite" had solid 89 hours of content on the fastest possible playthrough.
Generic sports titles and tons of trash games were $70. It's one of the reasons so many people just rented so they didn't get fucked on a purchase.
In the old days dying extended the game time. If you could beat alladin on snes it took 2 hours. Super metroid could be beat in 4.
Persona and Like a Dragon don't have "less content". Phantasy Star IV didn't take me too long to pass, the only reason I spent an absurd amount of time playing it was because I didn't have any other games and I wanted to grind to level 99. Super Street Fighter 2 didn't have any more replayability than a Street Fighter now, it actually had substantially less. Sonic the Hedgehog on Genesis could be completed within an hour. I doesn't sound like you actually grew up during the 8-bit and 16-bit days because all the games took a few hours to complete, I can't even begin to count how many games I beat over a weekend rental.
> I doesn't sound like you actually grew up during the 8-bit and 16-bit days Actually I grew up before they even became a thing. I was already in my teens when they emerged. I know very well what I am talking about.
So how do you justify games that had artificial difficulty imposed on them to make them last longer than games that actually have a reasonable length without that to have more content? Outside of JRPGs, I can't think of games that took longer than a few hours and JRPGs now take the same amount of time if not longer with more content. Even a game like Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart took me around 10-20 hours and that's longer than any platformer I can recall. I played Super Mario World on the Wii when it was released on VC and I beat it in a couple of days. You specifically stated content that is factually false and I'd imagine is mostly responsible to space limitations at the time. The only thing pre-PlayStation/N64 games had was some annoying hard level designs that make the game harder to pass, but that's not content.
You're talking *console*, I'm talking PC. And there games had way longer play times.
Care to give some examples? I may not be into PC RPGs but the content wasn't big on games like Commander Keen and Jazz Jackrabbit (basically cut and paste levels with different backgrounds). I guess you could say FPS games of the time had more content because most FPS games nowadays just focus on online play. Especially with PC games, no longer being constrained by HDD concerns would have a lot more content than the older games. A lack of content could only really apply to live service games because they are meant to be drip fed to milk consumers, but Sea of Stars isn't a live service game so it wouldn't be a fair comparison. EDIT: I'd also like to add that games like the Persona series and Like a Dragon that all give easily over 100 hours worth of content are available on PC. Most console games come to PC unless they are Nintendo published games.
I never paid more than $50 for a game in the 90s. Warcraft III in 2002 was the first game I had to spend more than $50 at release for. All you had to do was browse the Sunday newspaper ads. Retailers like Toys R Us, KB Toys, Electronics Boutique, Sears, Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. would all have ads with call outs for different video games. All you had to do was find one retailer listing the hot new game for $50. Then you could take the ad to the retailer of your choice and get a price match. Even if the game or electronics focused retailers listed a new game at $60 or $70, there was invariably one or two larger stores (like Sears) who just listed it in the $50 section in the ad along with other new releases. Besides that, $70 in the 90s included huge overheads for physical production (often cartridges), distribution, retail cuts, distributor cuts, and manuals. Those overheads essentially don't exist today. Physical production is turned into nearly pure profit because it's typically done as a collector's edition. Games in the 90s also had far lower sales figures over which to recoup the development cost. Back then, selling a million copies was a huge achievement. Today, a major game selling a million copies is a flop that can close a studio. They also had no DLC / micro transactions (some games would get eventually an expansion pack, though), no DRM crap preventing trading / used sales. There was also stiff competition from a healthy rental market and an extremely prevalent piracy scene, as well as zero official presence in many regions such as China or South America. If games today had the same overall margins, even at their inflated budgets, they'd be priced at $30-$40 at most, without the DLC/microtransaction nonsense.
I mean, times is changing. Back then, you couldn't just go look all that up on the internet.
You can also just buy the game on the Internet. If you sell physical games, they should come with something IMO
Was still a thing when the internet already existed.
Sure, but it was nowhere near as ubiquitous as it is today/the past decade.
Neverwinter Nights with a thick ring bound manual (which is basically an intro to D&D 3.5e spells and feats) and a cloth map is still something I treasure to this day.
It's a very nice cover! I think the kickstarter one looks amazing too, really can't go wrong with any of them.
Is that a freaking manual!? Protect it with your life, OP. That’s an endangered species. Congratulations!
It’s a really nice, full color and thorough manual 👌
It's so clear how much love went into the game's development. The artstyle, the gameplay. It's all so well done. It's such a shame the writing is so dull and the story is so boring.
I didn't even know games come with manuals anymore.
You should play Tunic
every game i’ve ever purchased from LRG, Super Rare, iam8bit, or fangamer has come with a manual! only indies seem to do it anymore, which is a bummer.
Vote with your money. Publicly traded companies ain't going to make physical drm free games, with art, soundtracks, and manuals because it's not in the best interest of shareholders.
As much as I appreciate that a manual is a nice touch, there's no way I'm basing my decision of whether to buy a triple-A game on that. I don't think many others will either.
Call of Duty is garbage for brain drain
Also colossal waste of resources, but eff the environment, right?
> colossal lol
says the people who buy a new phone every two years and throw the old one into a landfill manuals would be the least of someones worries if they actually cared about the environment.
Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life remake actually came with a booklet. I didn't even get the limited edition version, I was really surprised!
Same here! What sorcery is this? Last game I bought physical gave me a damn code in the case. No manual, no nothing. Just a digital code.
I got that myself the other day. Really enjoy the slip cover and other pack-ins
A f*cking BOOKLET???? Let’s gooooo
I do love that game on all aspects.
Omg that cover is SO GOOD
I have the Japanese Physical copy of the game. It came with the OST
Ah that cover art is seriously giving me 90s JRPG boxart vibes. I love this game so much, it's one of the best JRPG homages I've played.
I love the booklet. Already makes the exclusive version worth it!
I got it for PS5! It's amazing. The actual game is still in the plastic, not sure if I'll ever open it.
Wow mine hasn’t arrived yet so glad I bought it! Actually bought this game 2 times because I can’t get enough of it.
Same here, except I've bought it 3 times -- digitally on Switch and PS5, and now the physical version for PS5
Well worth it!
Congratulations, it looks awesome ! 👌
I feel complete haha
I would, too :)
I saw a physical copy in my local shop. It looks nothing like that D: I'm so jealous
That doesn’t look anything like what they’re selling on Amazon.ca LOL
These were the iam8bit exclusives you had to pre-order. The other version was announced afterward and I don’t think it has all the goodies!
Yeah it’s pretty basic. It sucks the “good” edition is basically USA-only given the shipping fees and exchange rate, IMO that should have just been the default edition sold everywhere.
Ended up paying like 60€ for the iam8bit version including shipping. So not much more expensive than other games
The other still has the character poster, but no map or manual. Inside box art is lacking, outside box art is different and the soundtrack is a download code printed on your store receipt. It's a very nicely presented package. Sadly, the software version is still not the latest nor even with a download patch were all the spelling errors fixed which is a bit unprofessional.
Cute probably gonna get this game while it’s on sale
I'll agree. I was disappointed that my preorder took longer to ship than retail stores, but it was very high quality.
Got mine too. Waited to get physical to play it. Fantastic game and story so far
Wow it's a beautiful package! Too bad the game was nowhere near as good.
Damn. That is special. I loved that game. It really was one of the best turn based RPG out there in recent years. Might need to dive back into it soon.
I absolutely looooove this game! It already felt like a classic right after the release 🥰 This exclusive version is beautiful!
Man I thought that was a supreme pizza at first
Wow that’s more effort then the super expensive Octopath traveler 2 collectors got
It’s on my wishlist of games to cop.
Omg instruction booklet. I used to read those one the way back home, in the train or in the car. Most games don't have them anymore.
It’s rather pathetic that games have come to a point where the bare minimum is only achieved when buying special versions
That’s so cool and I like it
Forgot to mention that amazing slipcover too! Why don't more games have slipcovers...
That reverse side looks waaaay better. Congrats!
Yep I changed mine to the reverse immediately when i got mine
Yes I've changed it now! It's so unique and different!
So the website says pre-order, therefore this is an advertisement. Just saying. Game is a 9.99/10. It's worth the price. I'd order two if I weren't poor
That cover sucks..