I'm sure we've discussed this before, but why the likes of wing commander, Xwing, Tie Fighter, and indeed Freespace haven't been revisited, I think, is criminal. Yeah, there have been space combat games, but they aren't immersive sims and more 'arcade' in style and gameplay 😦
The good old days of PC gaming. I remember having Myst III, Driver, and others in boxes before I stupidly got rid of them. I wish I'd had the space (and money) when younger to keep all the games and consoles I owned.
I have about a quarter of my collection left. Years ago, they were just old games to me, but I kept all my favourites. When I think of physical games, I think of all the extra goodies, manuals, etc. I honestly don't miss faffing about with floppy disks, tapes, and dvds 😂
Oh man, floppy disks 😂 I first played PC games on DOS when my dad bought a PC in the early 90s. Still love Wolfenstein 3D, Castles II, even the old Dogz and Catz games haha. They were so much fun.
God I miss those days. I think that’s why I transitioned to digital gaming. I missed when they would really put some actual effort into the box art and the manuals would also have some great artwork inside them, and would also have some lore within
I remember as a kid we didn’t even have a Walmart in our town so getting a new game was a treat that took at least a 20 minute drive (and was never the only reason we went to town) but I would pop the box or case open and read the manual on the way home. Everytime. My dad would always laugh about it
I remember some of the flight sims in the 90’s used to come with TOMES for manuals lol sometimes ring bound. People don’t know how much we’ve lost due to corporate greed slowly killing off physical media and manuals.
This is why I've been gravitating more and more towards Retro games, they just have it. Sure some of the games didn't age well, but it was just fun to play and had all the bells and whistles.
This is sad to be honest. It was game manuals that got me into reading; couldn't have played most of my childhood games had I just, "Picked up and played."
Always liked the manuals that had bits of lore tossed throughout them, character bios, spell descriptions; it made everything epic by default.
When I was a kid I'd take the bus to my local game rental place. Took about 20 mins. I'd get my game and snacks from the Safeway and on the bus ride home read the manual. Back story, characters, combat, mini games etc.
When I got home I was ready to plop the disc in and go.
I love how games like Tunic uses an in-game help manual in the form of an old school booklet. But still have it in your hands once you open the box was an amazing experience.
As a kid I got my copy of Diablo 1 and it came with a full book of lore, 99% of which had absolutely nothing to do with the game itself. It existed for the sole purpose of giving context to what was simply a randomized dungeon crawler.
This is what's stopping me from buying several CEs that I would love to own. No way I'm getting one without the game in a case, or, more egregiously, without the game at all. It's a rip-off. FF7 Rebirth came in a beautiful steel case with the CE. They all should.
There was something magical about flipping through the manual on the car ride home after getting a new game...soaking in the artwork, the lore, even the little gameplay tips. It made the anticipation even greater. Those were great times🫶
I remember buying Mechwarrior 2 for DOS (I know, I'm old) and it came with multiple manuals on the clans, weapons, mechs, and lore. I miss those little things these days.
I loved it when some games in the 80s came with a manual and a big fold out map of the games world. Not a CE. Just how the game was. Gunstar Heroes on SEGA Genesis came with a free fruit rollup inside. TMNT Arcade NES a coupon for a free pizza. We should go back to that
Core memory: I was 9 or 10 and had just gotten Fire Emblem for GBA. I eagerly read through the manual, excitedly boring my mom with game mechanics on the way home 😅
Comments
I miss manuals so much! They always provided perfect bathroom literature 😭
This is why i’ve switched to PC
If i’m gonna be forced into Digital, it’s going to be on Steam where at least my games scale with my hardware
Always liked the manuals that had bits of lore tossed throughout them, character bios, spell descriptions; it made everything epic by default.
When I got home I was ready to plop the disc in and go.
That's all 😅
Concord moment