Game Packaging – A Look to the Past When Treasures Beyond the Game Were Within the Box

In the early days of game publishing, many companies invested great effort not only in the design of their games, but also in the way those games appeared on store shelves and what was included in the box. This article’s intention is to describe this lost art of innovative game packaging from the early to mid-1980’s, when there seemed to be an abundance of real thought and care behind the customer’s experience beyond the software itself. —Bill Loguidice
—Game Packaging – A Look to the Past When Treasures Beyond the Game Were Within the Box (Armchair Arcade)

I’m procrastinating a bit after a morning of productive work, so I haven’t had time to look through the whole issue. I personally find artificially-paginated articles very hard to read online. Yes, it makes sense to break up a longer article, but I’d prefer the option to see a whole article in a single file (for printing or in-browser full-text searches). I love the site’s use of an old, beat-up videogame box as its design theme.

(Update, 17 Jan: Bill told me how to get a printable version. I’ve changed the URL.)

By the way, a group of interactive fiction enthusiasts has created Feelies.org, where current authors of games typically shared in electronic-only form can produce and sell feelies. From the home page: “We already have posters, pamphlets, coins, maps and CDs from some of the best games of the post-Infocom era.”