Although it may be hard to believe for those who haven’t experienced it, there was a time when PC video games came in huge boxes. Very well taken care of, with manuals, maps, and all kinds of extras, buying a game was a truly sensory experience. In fact, the gaming experience would begin even before getting home. Just by seeing that enormous box and everything it contained and promised inside, our imagination would soar as far as possible.
Now these boxes are practically non-existent. The industry is driven by profits and cutting back on packaging, distribution, and industrial design was a way to make more money from each copy sold. That’s why they are now little more than objects of nostalgia and collectibles. Fortunately, a man has decided to make them accessible.
The Big Box Collection website is literally what its name indicates. A visual collection of video game boxes created by Benjamin Wimmer, which allows us to appreciate how those carefully crafted releases were. All of this without leaving out a single detail.
Because Big Box Collection’s main interest is that as much care has been taken in the presentation as was initially put into these boxes. With impeccable aesthetics, 3D models that we can rotate as we please, and images of the contents of the box itself, Big Box Collection is currently the best source of information on the packaging of old PC games. With over 700 games currently cataloged, it is a fascinating archaeological work that shows us a world that today seems inconceivable, but that in the 90s and 00s was the norm.
This makes Big Box Collection not only a nostalgic pleasure, but also a necessary source of preservation. These boxes will become increasingly difficult to find in an acceptable condition, and thus it is possible to have a record of them. Something that, as we always say, is important for the video game industry to start taking much more seriously.
