Old PC game packages.... what to do?

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Mnx4

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jul 29, 2005
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I just moved and finally got access to a box I had made up of old PC game packages. This house is much smaller so I'm trying to figure out what to do with all of them. I'm not particularly attached to them, but is there much of a second hand market for packaging? I know some of the games were collector's editions and those aren't going to get tossed, but games like Half-Life GOTY, Tribes, Homeworld, Starsiege, Freespace, Shogo and the like are just regular old game boxes. I'm thinking of keeping some of the old manuals or inserts just for fun.
What do you do with old game boxes? Any real reason to keep them other than shelving them?
 
I used to keep all my boxes and media, however after several years, and never once taking time to look at the media, i finally decided it was okay to toss the majority of it. I kept the install CD, the CD key and often I kept the instruction booklet. Everything else was tossed into a garbage sack and went out the next morning.
 
After many years of gaming, I only kept 2 boxes: UFO : Enemy Unknown, and Ultima Online Charter Edition. UFO (xcom) because it was my favorite game for the longest time, and UO because the box was huge and came with artwork and a cool cloth map. I randomly checked eBay listings last summer and saw the UO Charter edition box going for ~ $100 so if I were you I would not throw away those old boxes and check the market first.
 
I wish I still had some of the old boxes for my old games. That was back when you'd get a big box containing manuals, warranty info, and the CD-ROM.
 
I love old game boxes. I don't have a lot of room, but still. There is just something so cool about them. They looked so great years ago. Companies could get pretty creative like Eidos and their pyramid style boxes or the huge box that Wing Commander IV comes in. I like having them just to say I have them. Plus those old manuals are just awesome. I don't think there really is a market for just old game boxes, but some of the games are worth more when they come with boxes. People like me are always will to pay a little more for complete games.
 
I've only kept one game box, which is for Starsiege Tribes to symbolize the years of my life it took up :p
 
I've got a box of old PC game boxes in my parents' attic. I know it has Shogo, Half Life, and some other oldie goldies. I need to check it for System Shock 2. If that box isn't in there...I'll be devastated.
 
ive kept them all, store them in a plastic bin in my basement
 
I recently experienced a nice bit of cathartic release by ripping up the game boxes and breaking the CDs of Everquest and all the expansions I bought, in celebration of the 5 years of my life I lost to it.

Still keeping my Marathon Trilogy Box Set though.
 
dont have room for boxes any more... but I do make sure have the cd/dvd , manual, any keys the important stuff... shoot Id have a room full of nothing but boxes if I kept them all.
 
It is possible to save a lot of room by flat collapsing all your boxes and separately storing big cd jewel cases.


Semi related question - do you all keep patches for all your games on physical media too? For games that don't have DRM/remote authentication I'm starting to collect the patches on my hard drive that I download now,


For the few online games that have DRM/remote authentication, I figure if patches or latest copies of the game aren't available online in the future, most likely the DRM auth service is probably dead too.


I also stopped "cannibalizing" my computer setups (or at least not all of them) and keep them intact for "yesteryear" compatibility. Sometimes, I wish I kept my old 286 and 386 PC's.
 
I've still got Nintendo 64 boxes. I've thrown out a few boxes here and there but only if I hated the game.
 
Wish I had kept a lot of my older ones. Once console games started coming in DVD cases I started saving PC boxes as well. Not sure why. Now I just buy everything on Steam though.
 
I keep them all. They fit nicely into the case boxes you get when you buy an entire case of paper. You can fit two rows two layers deep. Approx 32 full size boxes per case.
 
I only keep games that are important to me. The rest I tossed after many years of being a pack rat.
 
I have a collection of about 40+ pc game boxes all just in several drawers in mint shape. CDs are in one big wallet with keys mostly. I'll keep them until I move out of the apt most likely, though I do wish I could add the older games permanently to steam.....
 
Could you remove the top and bottom inserts and fold down the boxes nearly flat?
I would think you could fit something like 40+ game boxes (folded) inside a shoe box.
 
Id say post them on the FSFT section. Ive got a friend who buys all that stuff.
 
Still have complete boxes/cds/floppies of my old games such as Loom, X-Wing and B-Wing, Sam and Max and MOO and MOO2, Ultima I, III, III and IV, and my favorite Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe and many others. Shame to throw them away but they do take up a lot of space. My closet is stuff with them.
 
If space is an issue dont you have an garage/attic/loft you can just shove them in? Bung em all in a large bag, seal it up and put them out of sight, and then put all the discs onto a spool.

Thank god for digital distribution, now most of my games are electronic, even if my drive dies downloading them again is no problem with 50mbit internet, neeeeooowwn :)
 
Ya know how everyone has the old relative that passes on and leaves piles of useless crap everywhere? Don't be that guy. lol
 
If you've got your own space or area somewhere, like your own den or modding space or something, and you were going to throw them away anyway, you could always cut the front covers off the box and create a whole wall of game covers.

Like a mosaic of game covers, just without an overlying picture. Well if you could come up with something that would be sweet too.
 
Ebisan said:
Still have complete boxes/cds/floppies of my old games such as Loom, X-Wing and B-Wing, Sam and Max and MOO and MOO2, Ultima I, III, III and IV, and my favorite Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe and many others. Shame to throw them away but they do take up a lot of space. My closet is stuff with them.
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I have Loom, The Secret of Monkey Island, and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge in mint condition displayed on a shelf in my office.

At one point in college I had mint copies of every Lucasarts adventure game and every Sierra adventure game as well as 10-15 Infocom text adventures w/feelies. Unfortunately, I sold most of them for tuition money (I'm talking a full semester plus books), but looking at ebay now I probably did well.
 
I don't have an attic and there's just less room than previous houses, so space is just tighter. I've just been going through a "nothing's sacred" cleaning spree of old junk, toys, books and other stuff I've been holding on to. Kinda had to look away when throwing away old gi joes QQ

Most of the boxes can be collapsed if i toss out the thick cardboard packaging. The only hard cardboard box i've got is sim city (GD 5 1/4 floppies were huge). The console boxes will be a little bit easier. The PC clamshells are still a little bit of a pain.

Thanks for the ideas guys!

As for the patches on separate media, I have a folder on my archival hard drive that I use for patches and old save games. Some of the patches can still be found online if you luck out. But really, the bigger problem than patches (for me) is compatibility. I haven't kept an older pc, so it's hit or miss if it works.
 
Only 2 boxes left are:

Sam and Max (original floppy version)
Sam and Max (talkie CD version i bought off ebay)

:)

Until about 4 years ago, I still had the original EA NHL (circa 1993) box, the first year EA released it for the PC.
 
I have 2 boxes I think full of game boxes. Honestly, I wouldn't want to throw them away... gaming has always been a main hobby of mine and I don't "collect" anything in particular other than movies and games but I figure once I have my own house and office i'll be putting those game boxes up on shelves just like people put up books they've read but still keep.
 
Put your favorites in one of those large picture frames that hold uniforms. It's a work of art.
 
I recently had to clean out all my boxes. I still have atari, collector edition stuff and tons of Blizzard crap but I think my rarest item that no one I have ever known has had is my KISS Psycho Circus poster (yes the game sucks, but it is rare because everyone that did buy it threw it away).
 
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Cut the fronts off and artistically arrange them in a poster sized frame from Target, then put next to your computer. That way you can enjoy all of the memories, without all of the clutter.
 
kcthebrewer said:
... my rarest item that no one I have ever known has had is my KISS Psycho Circus poster (yes the game sucks, but it is rare because everyone that did buy it threw it away).
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Omg...lmao... I remember I had that game for Dreamcast. It sucked bad but I kept going back to it for some reason.
 
I kept all my Amiga game boxes since I only have a dozen or so. All of my current games are the DVD case size so those are easy to store.

Put your boxes on ebay and see if anyone wants them.
 
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