worst game boxes and packaging.

[theantmeister]

Another vote for GBA boxes. Not only do they crush easily, they're 90% fresh bloody air and the spines are just littered with legalese and other bull plop.

I think NTSC SNES boxes are ok, but the Super Famicom ones are much better. The plastic try really helps keep the box in decent condition, the only downside is how the manuals bow if you leave them in the box without the cart to support them.

Japanese gamecube boxes are my favourite though. Just big enough for the disk, like little mini DVD cases. Very cute.

[greenberet79]

I quite like PSP boxes - the size and shape.

I used to like the 8bit/Speccy cardboard box games (big such as Robocop and small such as Rainbow Islands). The card was quite thick and heavy - I've still got some of them and they're in decent condition. Whereas the SNES/GBA boxes the card was really thin and easy to damage.

I also liked the plastic 8bit cassette containers (such as Yie Are Kung Fu and Ghosts n Goblins)- I guess they were a pre-cursor to the DVD case.

[Treguard]

N64 boxes were the worst. Not only are they really flimsy, you'd always get the issue where the instructions somehow wedged the inner tray in the box, making it impossible for you to get the cart out without opening the other end and pushing up. Which then ended up with the box having nothing holding it's shape and collapsing.

[Mr Kipling]

N64 boxes were the worst. Not only are they really flimsy, you'd always get the issue where the instructions somehow wedged the inner tray in the box, making it impossible for you to get the cart out without opening the other end and pushing up. Which then ended up with the box having nothing holding it's shape and collapsing.

Don't forget the bit where you'd end up ripping either the front or back cover of the instructions if you used the slightest amount of force when trying to free the stuck inner tray.

Awful, awful design..

[killbot]

The worst boxes by far imo are SNES (pal and us ntsc) jap ones arent too bad by being smaller and thinner, and Sega Saturn Pal boxes, truly, truly awful boxes...even the naff long 3Do boxes are better in comparison and thats saying something!
My favourite by a country mile as someone has already said, is the Neo-Geo Pocket clamshell boxes, small, look great and probably bomb-proof to boot!

Agree on the Saturn boxes - if the glue goes (which it invariably does) they end up with the artwork falling off. The DVD-style redesigned cases were better.

[kaiserspike]

The snes boxes were rubbish, the PSX boxes, were ok, but prone to cracking and the hinges usually went.

[Wookiee]

I always though the best boxes were the Megadrive ones.....big and solid, still in great nick now many years later....not something I can say for the N64 or other cardboard ones

[jdanddiet]

I don't mind the ps1/DC boxes too much, yes they were/are fragile, but at least they were vaguely iconic compared to the mass of dvd-like boxes these days. Another vote for MD as the best tho

[Megamixer]

There's not many that I do like...

PS1 and Dreamcast cases crack too easily. Jap PS1 jewel cases are obviously a million times better but the enormous multi-language manuals we were bogged down with sent that idea out of the window for Europe. The original US PS1 longboxes were a cool design but they also have that glued-on cardboard problem that original PAL Saturn cases sported.

Hate Saturn cases. The original ones just get so manky and battered over time and the plastic ones are often ridiculously tough to open. The CD spindles are useless in both variations. Also agree on those unnecessarily huge EA cases - what the hell were they thinking?

Any cardboard Nintendo packaging is a nightmare. Cheapskate stuff really and in the N64 era, these cheaply-packaged games were being sold for huge prices! Where's the discount for being hindered with crappy cardboard? There was none.

Wii game cases are alright but the white plastic on many pre-owned games looks manky as hell and sometimes like the previous owner(s) has p1ssed on it

360 cases feel incredibly thin and cheap too. Haven't had much experience with these though so I don't know if they're all like it.

3DO longboxes...why were these boxes so damn huge? All they usually have inside is a manual and a jewel case so there was no need for the box to be so tall.

32X boxes. Really unnecessarily complicated cardboard packaging that damages very easily hence why most 32X games are battered to buggery these days. Why they couldn't just stick the carts in something like the Mega Drive boxes I'll never understand.

[alistair_thomas]

I have a soft spot for N-Gage cases. They were a sort of small, landscape DVD case and look quite nice on a shelf.

[Mootown]

The worst game boxes are all the random old C64 / Speccy / Amiga / PC etc boxes - you know when you bought a PC game and it had 3 disks inside the box but the box they were in was the size of a small shed? There was seemingly no standard - I was working in Gamestation when PC boxed games were still popular, and f**k me merchandising the shelf was a massive pain in the ass.

[Shinobi]

Playstation 1 boxes broke easily and difficult to store, much prefered the Jap, US Playstation Jewel cases..
Not overly keen on the PSP case!
Other than that the Commodore 64 duel cases with only 1 game in or the larger cardboard boxes like Final Fight

Atari 2600 boxes are probally my favourite ever the arcade on them is supurb only bettered by the Coleco boxes like Cosmic Avenger and Ladybug

[nakamura]

SNES and Cardboard boxes in general are amazing to look at but useless in terms of functional design. The MD got the practicality right but are dull.
I do really like NTSC PS1 stuff with the clear disc holders that have pictures under them. PSP boxes are tidy as well.

Also Xenoblade for the Wii had been transferred to a clear DVD case due to the lovely picture on the rear side.

[Jonboy1977]

SNES and Cardboard boxes in general are amazing to look at but useless in terms of functional design. The MD got the practicality right but are dull.
I do really like NTSC PS1 stuff with the clear disc holders that have pictures under them. PSP boxes are tidy as well.

Also Xenoblade for the Wii had been transferred to a clear DVD case due to the lovely picture on the rear side.

thats me as well, love the look and style of the Cardboard boxes, hate how time treats them.

Starting to like the Dinky little PSP vita boxes as well.

[Nemesis]

PAL DC boxes were bland but then most formats look pretty unremarkable as they are all uniform in design. Helps to indentify the consoles they run on of course but you can't beat the diversity of the 8-bit era.