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@73CC@social.tchncs.deI really miss the days of old big box #PCgames. There was something magical about opening one of those oversized packages, manuals you could actually read, cool artwork, maybe even a map or a little trinket inside. Every time I see one of those classic boxes, and then look at today’s dull DVD cases (or worse, digital-only releases), I wish we could go back to the good old days of PC #games.
They weren’t just games, they were experiences right from the packaging.
John @73CC I remember, back in my Atari ST days, buying games from Microprose such as M1 Tank Platoon and F-19 Stealth Fighter.
There were keyboard overlays, posters, and a manual so thick, you could probably drive/pilot the real vehicle after reading it!
@UKFilmNerd I personally have never played these kinds of games, but I often watched at a neighbor friend's place, and yes, the manuals were thicker than some novels 
The moment I opened the box, that unmistakable smell of a freshly printed manual hit me, like pure nostalgia. I couldn’t help myself; I had to check out every single unit in the game and read through all their stats and abilities 
@73CC same. All of this!!
@73CC My brother and I kept many of those boxes. As kids/teens, we used to display them. I think we still have the original boxes for Starcraft, Diablo, Ultima Online, maybe C&C. Plus some others.
For sure miss these!
@jcphoenix When I was a kid, I stupidly threw away most of my boxes and just kept the CDs and DVDs in a big folder to save space... 
I miss KKND, Theme Park, SimCity2k/3k, Diablo2 etc. 
@73CC Oh no!
I think the SimCity 2000 box we eventually tossed. I remember that thing came with a whole-ass book/manual on how to build a working city. Which I read as a kid.
I don't know if we have the Theme Park or Theme Hospital boxes. But I'm like 95% sure we still have the CDs somewhere for both!
@73CC @irgndsondepp was just thinking about those. Sometimes you’d get a manual the size of a novel. I missed the peak of these but I got into PC gaming when there were still some big ones around.
@aceattveg @73CC I remember STALKER coming with an actual novel (that I never ended up reading 
).
@73CC I mostly wasn't crazy about the boxes, so didn't lose too much with things going simpler, but there were a few exceptions. One nice one had a little light novel included (I forget which this was.) Morrowind particularly springs to mind though as one of my favorites. It came with a large paper (sadly not cloth) map of the island. The game itself had a detailed map and I never once referred to the included map, but darn it was nice to see and hold. Things like that really can fuel the imagination and help put one in the game. It is too bad stuff like that went away, but sadly it was all too rare even before. 