I always thought my "I watched the Scott's Stash video on Excessive Video Game Packaging and all I got was this stupid t-shirt" shirt would never be relevant but thank god!
Agree with you here. I don't find myself particularly enjoying the style of videos and narration on his main channel, but here he is just casually talking about stuff and it exactly fits my constant need for content.
The reason why the Axiom Verge piece of paper exists is because of 2017 rules that the ESRB issued about game ratings needing to be on the front of all game packaging. A lot of publishers had to scramble to comply.
For the Super Mario Maker idea book, there was a digital manual in game with some stuff, including a place to insert codes found in the book, which took you to a page with a dedicated video and description. There were even some great Easter eggs hidden in the form of codes in the concept art pages, so it was really fun to look for those. But then there’s the question of why it wasn’t all digital in the first place…
@@ArshadZahid_nohandleideas it still doesnt solve this issue. The digital manual as far as I remember using it was a webpage, so when Nintendo decides to shut down the webpage, the physical idea book is incomplete
I just love Scott’s voice when he is noticeably happy or in admiration, it just has so much soul when he is talking about his passion to other alike people.
Small correction/interjection: Sonic Mania's Encore mode also has slightly different level layouts, and a different lives/partner system. You max out at 5 lives, each of which is one of the 5 playable characters, and various circumstances (dying, special item boxes) swap you between them over the course of a run. It's a fun twist on the game.
@@VictoryReviews Bro, we are all watching a video about a guy talking about cardboard around video games. Glass houses, we're living in the glass neighborhood.
11:20 I understand that for the collectors they want to keep everything, but that slip of paper like that is so the game box doesnt have all that stuff. It keeps the gamebox clean, collectors edition strategy guides/artbooks do the same thing sometimes. Its something made for store shelves to show info about the product, and tossed when unpacked.
@@edeliteedelite1961Even if it is an online only product (im guessing thats what you meant by the timestamp) sometimes its just part of the printing process. Maybe down the line they might end up selling something instores if theres high demands and dont want to repackage, sometimes theres rules of what needs to be on the product for advertising or safety, the slip could just be for personal inventory so they can scan a barcode and not have a sticker on a nice box.
Those pieces of paper are very common on certain blu-ray boxsets and steelbooks. It's in order to contain mandated information like ratings, barcodes, copyright information, details about the contents, etc. that aren't wanted by the designers to be on the collector's edition itself because it would obscure the art. It's also done so those info papers can be different (various languages or different country's age ratings) from region to region without needing to change the entire box.
I’m sure from a marketing perspective, the bigger box makes the product seem more enticing since it looks like you’re getting more than normal, and since it’s uncommon for games to come in a box unless there’s a bonus item included. Of course, people like Scott would know exactly that all they’re getting from their big box is a keychain from a surplus, but to the average consumer, a bigger box simply looks more special. This is also why I believe many booklets aren’t shrunken down to fit in the game case. The publisher obviously wants you to KNOW there is damn paper in there, and putting it in the case would make it more discreet and easy to overlook when perusing the GameStop shelves. When you see a game in a cardboard box, you KNOW there’s something else in there, and that’s what the publisher wants. And GOD FORBID they think of the consumer’s convenience first and put the booklet in a box, this is consumerism, damnit. Don’t get me wrong, I relate to Scott a lot in this video, and among most other topics he covers, I just wanted to take a look at this subject from the marketing perspective it likely stems from.
The Nintendo Selects sticker only does so much a bigger box that's the next step compared to making technology small I guess. For me I noticed the artbook sticker or Day One edition soundtrack with AA Japanese visual novels I bought because they were sitting in bins and they used the same cases. Each company is different though. Customers would be attracted to the yellow. No nobody thinks that. That and games can't yell. I do relate to normal boxes though. The cardboard sleeve one I have for Gran Turismo PSP can be annoying at times (it is pointless, a reflective look on it that's it, the postcard art is in the case and the advertising not the outside of the cardboard sleeve) let alone the anime DVDs I have with cardboard of the same just a sleeve or big box PC game like hold outs. Some made sense for Blu-ray/DVDs in one that works it needs more sometimes. It's possible to get without but it's fine enough. The not so bigger doesn't. Same with anything with multiple DVD cases like the DMC 5th anniversary but for DVDs I guess it works but could just put them in a holder I guess if the holder isn't flimsy and breaks easy or disks on top of each other and don't scratch. Danganronpa V3 soundtrack in a sleeve with the song list and fits in the PS4 case. Other games I have with inserts were made to fit the case size like Disagea 6's artbook (literally fits in where the paper of Switch cases are, it's that small, it's great. If NIS America can do it and for a case that small and thinner than a PSP case that Switch cases are why can't others in the AAA space) while others like Raging Loop (Kemco) but the big book and artbook size like he shows in the Day One Editions episode or I guess Mario Maker's box in this video in a bigger than the case box. Utawarerumono Mask of Deception's artbook fits in the PS4 case and has the sticker saying artbook included (Atlus published I think). Some AA devs publishers know what they are doing. AAAs think, nah big box that will do it to get attention when those unde rthem have figured things out for boxes and bonuses. It's cool at first then it becomes annoying unless it's got more art to show which some do with a fold out to show some (similar to big box PC games) but most don't. Only two of the big ones do and the other smaller shelves out of the I think 5 or so I think I have do that. So for that centimetre/inch difference sure I'll keep the box for custo art sake.
at this point I unironically enjoy this channel more than the main channel, I just really like watching scott nerd out and talk about his collection and various gripes/obsessions he has.
I personally liked the Mario Maker artbook. It presented itself without any agenda or guidance, you get idea's from the book without any text pointing you in a certain direction. You are free to take away from it what you want, just like you are free to build whatever level you want in the game. For example: The page filled with enemys equiped with wing I think is just to let the reader know that all these enemys are able to change with these wings, without the book directly telling the reader. The formfactor of the book is BS tho
No excessive video game packaging, in my opinion, will compare to when I bought a PlayStation 5 from GameStop and they mailed it in a box three times the size of the console’s box
I collect blu rays, and occasionally secondary publishers will include a paper cover like the Axiom Verge case. I just fold it along the bottom (so it doesn’t crease the paper itself) and stuff it inside it’s own packaging.
It’s really intriguing seeing how the US and UK are different with special editions. In the UK, the Mario Maker book was hardback, the Mario All Stars release didn’t have a flap on the box, and Kirby’s Dream collection didn’t release there.
Anyone else like watching these a little more than the main series nowadays because of the way he just talks about stuff he likes instead of turning it all into an act?
I always like the calmer, simpler videos and this craves my itch perfectly. The big show stoppers like Chibi Robo and Borderline Forever are amazing, but this stuff is more enjoyable.
Yeah. I just like talking and learning about video games. Scott's so knowledgeable but young, he's like a combination of a professor and a friend. And even if I don't always like his skits (I often do) or the lightly gory or pukey jokes (I'm squeamish), I know I'll never get tired of him just sharing a thought on video games. I do so hope he gets his big, ol' game room he mentioned in a video on the main channel and gets to enjoy it and talk about all the stuff in it. I'd be so happy for him.
To me it depends on the type of 'act' you're talking. I don't mind that he puts a persona/character/whatever you wanna call, but I do recognize that he exagerates a bit too much sometimes, or the comedy skits are hit or miss sometimes lately (to me), so those ones I can be a little more "eh" towards (I still enjoy or find interesting things in them, though. It's not like I hate them or anything lol)
His opinions on games are all real though, obviously most are exaggerated like the Zip-lash video, but the way he talks about the game in the bloopers, he really does sound like a guy that would make a video essay based on his hatred for Chibi-Robo Zip-lash
When I went to buy my copy of Mario Odyssey there was an edition with a travel guide, for the same price as the normal copy. So for zero extra charge you could get a book that was perfect for any beginners. That’s the only box I have and I still loose sleep over that price
funny enough, the Sonic The Hedgehog movie on Blu-Ray had the same issue with Sonic Mania Plus; having a bonus comic book that you have to jam into the slipcover!
In the Wii & WiiU, Nintendo of America used to ship all game cases to Brazil inside cardboard sleeves, that was to translate the Box's text to Portuguese and add the ClassInd Rating instead of the ESRB. They did that because they were too lazy to change the piece of paper inside the case.
I'm shocked you didn't bring up BioShock for the PS3. It was just a base copy, no special edition, & it came with a cardboard sleeve & a giant booklet. Problem was that when you open the case, it has a thick booklet inside too, & since I live in Canada there's a second thick booklet for the French translation. So my copy has 3 different booklets, 1 of different size to the rest that doesn't need to exist. It's a complete waste of a good tree.
Talking about WiiU games, in Europe we didn't have the "two disc" WiiU case. In the case of Bayonetta 2 we had three versions of the game, regular case without Bayonetta 1, the special edition and a edition with the two games in separate cases inside a cardboard box. Star fox zero also came as a regular case game, SF guard being available in a code in a box edition. Both games also came on two disk on a cardboard box with the two cases and a steel book with space for the two disk. The only two disk in one case we saw in Europe is Rodea the Sky soldier, and that game came on a American case (WiiU cases are different in Europe and America)
Speaking of Bayonetta, the initial print run of Bayonetta 2 here in North America came with Bayonetta 1 on a download code but just recently it was announced that Bayonetta 1 is getting a separate physical release before Bayonetta 3's release. So now we can have all 3 games on a cartridge.
The first thing that personally comes to mind is Kid Icarus Uprising The game came packaged with a set of AR Cards (but not the kind of AR Cards that came with the 3DS, rather a set of cards only usable in Kid Icarus Uprising), and a stand to rest your 3DS in in order to scan those cards ... it really didn't add much value to the game. The game itself is already pretty amazing, a lot of people really didn't like the control scheme, but it was personally one of my all time favourite 3DS games, so much so that my left bumper actually got damaged because of how much time I spent with it (although that may have been related to the control scheme, as it is a lot of weight to rest on the bumper itself. To preface, I also played a lot of Mario Kart 7, and my preferred drift button was the right bumper, which still works fine to this day). But the cards themselves added pretty much nothing, if not nothing entirely. You can play the whole game 5 times over without even being aware that they did something (in fact I did just that)
Just today I came to the conclusion that my biggest hobby will be collecting video games after going to a retro game store. I never would have thought about it if it wasn’t for Scott
If you ever want to see something mildly infuriating and bizarre have a look at the Demon's Souls Deluxe Edition for PS3. It comes with the game, an extremely in depth strategy guide, an artbook, soundtrack, and a sleeve to put ONLY THE GAME AND GUIDE BOOK INTO BUT NOT THE ARTBOOK/SOUNDTRACK. It make absolutely no sense why they couldn't have just made the sleeve slightly wider to fit in the extra booklet, when it was sold the artbook and soundtrack were just held to the back of the sleeve with the plastic seal so once it's opened you just have no place to put them. Definitely happy to have it be a part of my own collection but good grief I still cant figure out how they thought that would be a good idea
I totally agree with that dislike of those pieces of paper box covers. Games, movies, CDs; none are safe from the dumb piece of paper. I usually just move them to the inside of the box to keep them from getting lost or damaged
Not really gaming related but it's related to physical media: Some of the Criterion Collection's box sets (Ingmar Bergman, Godzilla) are just big art books that have the Blu-Ray discs inside it. Like the book *is* the case. Granted those all come with like 15 movies but still. I think that more gaming collector's editions should take that approach. Would solve the problem of the art book just flopping around in the box.
It would be interesting to hear about NON-excessive packaging in 2022. I recently bought the Witcher complete edition for switch and it feels like a modern day equivalent of 90’s pc game packaging.
Honestly i like that the axiom verge box is like that cause it means i can remove the paper and all the things i dont wanna look at and just have the cool art showing on the box
There is a great video on Limited Run Games by a small creator named Mrixrt. After watching that, I'm not surprised in the weird form factor of that Axiom Verge box.
Fold the AV sleeve and place it inside the box, job done. Plus how do we know at a glance if a game is special, if it is the same size as the rest! Get those big boxes on the shelves there Scatt!
Game cases themselves are basically just a box. These collectors boxes are just artwork inside of a plastic box that is inside a paper box and the same picture inside the plastic box is printed on the outside of the paper box
Rune Factory 5 is the perfect example of how to correctly package and stylize a manual for a switch game. It’s a chunky manual, but holding the case feels so nice and it stores with the others perfectly!
My favorite type of packaging for games (and anime) is the chipboard artbox like for Horizon Zero Dawn and i think Uncharted collection has the same material too. You get nice artwork cover, its sturdy so you dont have to be careful bending the cardboard and its so satisfying to pull out the game and whatever book is included.
I think the Axiom Verge cover is that way to allow owners to show off a more sleek textless version of the case. Woulda been cool if they had a little slot in the case to keep the paper so you could store it while showcasing the sleek version. It’s a cool idea in concept cause that legal gibberish is ugly.
15:19 I wish we got the Kirby's Dream Collection in the UK. The only way for us to play it is either to import it, the original games or download some of them on the Wii U and the rest on the 3DS.
Same with the Avengers game on PS4! there's a version that comes with patches and the box is unnecessarily big like the patches could've fit in the game case!
TBH, depending on the packaging, I often put collectible boxes for games in a closet or other storage, and keep the game itself out on my game shelf so I can play it. I can visit the box if I want to look at artbooks or whatnot. Then again, now that you mention it, I often don't. If it's just a cardboard sleeve on the other hand, I usually keep them on my games, and keep such games in a specific spot I have for ones of that type.
N64 boxes IMO were too big. It’s nice that the manuals were big, but if the box was actually the size of the cartridge they’d be easier to store. Meanwhile the double disc GameCube game case very satisfyingly fits two disc side by side with a memory card, and I wish the DS game case used the GBA game slot more often.
I work with printing, so just a heads-up. There are fixed sizes for printing as you don’t want to waste paper when doing it. So that’s just the norm for this size, otherwise it would be an inconveniently strange proportion or something.
10:33 Honestly, you should. When companies like Nighthawk Interactive exist that get more obscure titles physical releases at normal prices that are always available, give all the flack in the world to the company that raises the price of a game just for it being physical, sells it for an extremely limited time, and takes MONTHS after the release date to actually ship their products.
Covid's been the cool thing to blame for a while, but it feels like companies taking preorders way too early and taking legit half a year or more to ship physical products for no good reason has become an epidemic lately, it happens all the fucking time. Like I get you want to fleece people as soon as possible but I'd rather just pay for the thing when I can actually get it in my goddamn hands before I've forgotten I've even bought it.
The issue with Axiom Verge is because this same special edition was created for multiple platforms. So, instead of printing separate boxes for each console, BadLands just made the different slips. Limited Run didn’t have anything to do with the production, just the distribution for the WiiU version.
I remember back in the day when buying a game was an occasion. Even gears of war 1 came with a nice little booklet. Thick and detailed it was. Gears of war 3 came with a folded A6 paper with barely anything on it. Now you don’t even get THAT. A code at best.
I was never into toys-to-life, so buying games with excessive boxes was the way I contributed to being a waster. Had to make my 5 year old boss happy somehow
Here's what I can't stand: when a physical game is released in a standard case, but then it also has an outer cardboard sleeve with the exact same cover art for no reason! Also, I have the Sonic Mania Plus for XBOX Series X, and I'm so glad that he brought up my biggest peeve, the art book. All of the pictures would easily fit within the case's dimensions, but the book extends to the overt size of the case so that the box is necessary to keep the two together. If I ever come across one of those multi-page paper cutters (like in an art class), I hope to cut the book down to instruction book size.
As a child the excessive packaging was SO exciting. It made me want it so bad. Now that I’m older I’m very much on Scott’s side this stuff takes too much space
The original release of Dragon Quest 8 included a demo for Final Fantasy 12 and came in a box that looked neat & special. But nope, the box only exists because the regular game case can't fit the manuals for DQ8 and FF12, so it makes the DQ8 manual sit outside the case and in the cardboard sleeve. Why even print a manual for a demo? Especially if the case can't even fit both at once.
Wait, so the manual of the actual game is outside of its case? Does that mean that the other manual, the one that's supposed to be the extra thing, is inside the case? That would sound like a really weird decision to me lol.
I actually really liked the Mario maker idea booklet. It had tons of hints in there about gameplay mechanics and secrets and every time I would go to read it I would see something weird or interesting and try to figure out how to do it. For example, the goomba with its head on one side and feet on the other of a really long pipe. I spent so much time trying to figure out if it was possible to make that in game. Idk if it was just me but it really sparked my curiosity and creativity
That Mario Maker book does have level design ideas in there, but the way to access them is bizarre. There's four digit codes spread throughout the booklet, and you're supposed to enter them into a spot on the in-game electronic manual to view a *video* showing off that design technique. Kinda clunky.
I did throw the Sonic Colors Ultimate box in the bin right after opening it, considering it takes way too much space just for a game case and a small keychain.
19:48 As someone who has super monkey ball banana mania on my shelf with the sleeve on it I can confirm that it does not fit with the switch games at all.
I've always hated that they add 1 thing to the larger boxes. It breaks the flow of the shelf for what? an idea book? some of the posters they give out are cool tho but even then fallout 4's came in the disk case
In Europe the Mario Maker bonus book was actually hardcover, felt a little more premium. But I must admit I only ever skimmed through its slightly strange contents.
Sometimes I feel that way about slipcases of music CDs, dispite making the whole package thicker and more difficult to store on the shelves, most of the times they add extra artwork that's not included in the booklet so it's nice. But other times it's just the same artwork of the cover or a boring photo for the band so it's kinda pointless. Also the 10:18 situation with Axiom reminds me of Obi Strips, little paper thingies to the side of Japanese music CDs, which I think can also be found in vidya CDs.
For Axiom Verge, there is way more context to that release that may explain the shoddy presentation of the physical release. With the game getting delayed numerous times and whatnot, parts of the purchases were meant to go to charity, but BadLand did not fulfill the promise entirely. There was a whole legal situation between the combination of Tom Happ and Limited Run Games, versus BadLand. There's more details about it that I didn't cover in the comment, but there's some articles and videos about it. YongYea discussed it in a video when LRG addressed the situation on a gaming news article.
I don't know if it is a PAL thing, but I remember the box of Super Mario Maker being even more annoying. It had a cardboard hanger so stores could also hang it on their shelves easily. The hanger added to the form of the box and disturbed its form as a solid block...
Scott: Can't do an artbook in a Switch game case. Disagea 6: hold my artbook in the Switch paper holder we got you covered. You thought only advertising or a language/digital soundtrack card can fit think again. Will have the soundtrack card with a link to our website to redeem it 5 times or so and the small artbook fit in here. It's still readable text and easy to see art for an artbook that small.
Maybe there’s a good box protector out there for the (Switch) Super Monkey Ball cardboard box with art book. It’ll keep the cardboard box in shape and looking clean!
I suppose a solution to the SEGA artbook games iissue could be to put the actual game cases with the rest of the games and to get blank cases/cheap games to fill in the spaces of the larger boxes to then display on the collectibles shelf.
10:40 I have the first season of the Ace Attorney anime on Blu-Ray and the box came with such a godawful piece of paper for no apparent reason. I hate that piece of paper as much as I'd hate my second biggest enemy, but I'm NEVER gonna throw it away. This mere sheet of paper is what'd come out if someone turned an escort mission into a piece of packaging.
Fun fact: You can stuff almost package in this video into one copy of "Sonic & Garfield Pack" for Windows 95. (well, okay, maybe just a few, but still, that's a lot of existence taken up by Sonic & Garfield Pack)
I love that this channel has turned into basically a no script lower production version of Scott the Woz. As a result we get a lot of extra content.
Minus the blue border
That's exactly what I wanted, too
Found this channel today!
Same
@@MiladAhmed3 nice! You’re gonna love it :)
I can't believe I've lived long enough to witness the first ever Scott's Stash video on Excessive Game Packaging, truly an honor
Annnd that honor is damnation!
I always thought my "I watched the Scott's Stash video on Excessive Video Game Packaging and all I got was this stupid t-shirt" shirt would never be relevant but thank god!
Damn congrats on living,I unfortunately was run over by my pet fish 2 seconds before this video uploaded
@@whatr0 I’m just happy my “I Love Scott’s Stash’s Video on Excessive Video Game Packaging” coffee mug can be appreciated now.
Are you terminally ill?
Scott’s Stash is honestly my favorite “second channel” on UA-cam, I really like when he makes videos that wouldn’t cut it on his main channel
okay but Alpharad Deluxe
@@DoneThatSeenThat I think alpharad deluxe has transcended the 2nd channel status.
What is his main channel
@@DoneThatSeenThat very close second
Agree with you here. I don't find myself particularly enjoying the style of videos and narration on his main channel, but here he is just casually talking about stuff and it exactly fits my constant need for content.
For these videos I imagine Scott is laying on the ground on his stomach swinging his feet in the air as he shows off his games to us
"Whatcha thinkin' 'bout?"
"Oh, nothing. Nintendo stuff."
It's so weird knowing that he actually films this with a tripod setup and a carpet on top of a table.
Actually nah, he has a table with another same carpet with tripod for camera pointing at the table
It's so that Scott didn't break his back everytime
@@frds_skce no wonder the carpet always looks freshly vacuumed ten times over
The reason why the Axiom Verge piece of paper exists is because of 2017 rules that the ESRB issued about game ratings needing to be on the front of all game packaging. A lot of publishers had to scramble to comply.
It's also in the other physical prints which were released in 2017. (and in other regions)
But the physical release of Axiom Verge was 2018, wasn't it? At least the print that Scott has?
@@KeybladeMasterAndy Scott has the later Wii U print.
For the Super Mario Maker idea book, there was a digital manual in game with some stuff, including a place to insert codes found in the book, which took you to a page with a dedicated video and description. There were even some great Easter eggs hidden in the form of codes in the concept art pages, so it was really fun to look for those. But then there’s the question of why it wasn’t all digital in the first place…
It's probably easier to market and sell a big shiny idea book over a digital function but the compromise is really odd
finding koji kondo playing the original mario theme my own was so cool
What if the original hardware becomes inaccessible?
@@ArshadZahid_nohandleideas dawg, emulators are real preservation, not hardware
@@ArshadZahid_nohandleideas it still doesnt solve this issue. The digital manual as far as I remember using it was a webpage, so when Nintendo decides to shut down the webpage, the physical idea book is incomplete
Scott hates excessive packaging because he knows that it was the sole reason why Wii Play sold 28 million copies
@MJ’s Stash
(unbridled virgin anger)
It’s
Pose
MII
I just love Scott’s voice when he is noticeably happy or in admiration, it just has so much soul when he is talking about his passion to other alike people.
I mean, there’s *some* passion in there but also a healthy dose of annoyance.
Scott starting with a strong "F*ck You" is honestly the exact kind of vibe we need in these trying times.
Its weird to think someone was a hand model for Super Mario Maker and their hand will live longer than them.
Not only someone, but multiple colors of someone. And dogs and cats. And Mario. Shit's crazy.
Small correction/interjection: Sonic Mania's Encore mode also has slightly different level layouts, and a different lives/partner system. You max out at 5 lives, each of which is one of the 5 playable characters, and various circumstances (dying, special item boxes) swap you between them over the course of a run. It's a fun twist on the game.
And also the Special Stages are not only harder to find, but are hard as shit. I still haven't gone back to get all the emeralds in Encore mode, lmao
Also has a different ending, and FUCKING HARD AS SHIT Special Stages.
Nerd
@@VictoryReviews Bro, we are all watching a video about a guy talking about cardboard around video games. Glass houses, we're living in the glass neighborhood.
11:20 I understand that for the collectors they want to keep everything, but that slip of paper like that is so the game box doesnt have all that stuff. It keeps the gamebox clean, collectors edition strategy guides/artbooks do the same thing sometimes. Its something made for store shelves to show info about the product, and tossed when unpacked.
Even Blu-ray box sets have done it.
11:39
@@edeliteedelite1961Even if it is an online only product (im guessing thats what you meant by the timestamp) sometimes its just part of the printing process. Maybe down the line they might end up selling something instores if theres high demands and dont want to repackage, sometimes theres rules of what needs to be on the product for advertising or safety, the slip could just be for personal inventory so they can scan a barcode and not have a sticker on a nice box.
Those pieces of paper are very common on certain blu-ray boxsets and steelbooks. It's in order to contain mandated information like ratings, barcodes, copyright information, details about the contents, etc. that aren't wanted by the designers to be on the collector's edition itself because it would obscure the art. It's also done so those info papers can be different (various languages or different country's age ratings) from region to region without needing to change the entire box.
I’m sure from a marketing perspective, the bigger box makes the product seem more enticing since it looks like you’re getting more than normal, and since it’s uncommon for games to come in a box unless there’s a bonus item included. Of course, people like Scott would know exactly that all they’re getting from their big box is a keychain from a surplus, but to the average consumer, a bigger box simply looks more special. This is also why I believe many booklets aren’t shrunken down to fit in the game case. The publisher obviously wants you to KNOW there is damn paper in there, and putting it in the case would make it more discreet and easy to overlook when perusing the GameStop shelves. When you see a game in a cardboard box, you KNOW there’s something else in there, and that’s what the publisher wants. And GOD FORBID they think of the consumer’s convenience first and put the booklet in a box, this is consumerism, damnit.
Don’t get me wrong, I relate to Scott a lot in this video, and among most other topics he covers, I just wanted to take a look at this subject from the marketing perspective it likely stems from.
The Nintendo Selects sticker only does so much a bigger box that's the next step compared to making technology small I guess.
For me I noticed the artbook sticker or Day One edition soundtrack with AA Japanese visual novels I bought because they were sitting in bins and they used the same cases. Each company is different though.
Customers would be attracted to the yellow. No nobody thinks that. That and games can't yell.
I do relate to normal boxes though. The cardboard sleeve one I have for Gran Turismo PSP can be annoying at times (it is pointless, a reflective look on it that's it, the postcard art is in the case and the advertising not the outside of the cardboard sleeve) let alone the anime DVDs I have with cardboard of the same just a sleeve or big box PC game like hold outs. Some made sense for Blu-ray/DVDs in one that works it needs more sometimes. It's possible to get without but it's fine enough. The not so bigger doesn't. Same with anything with multiple DVD cases like the DMC 5th anniversary but for DVDs I guess it works but could just put them in a holder I guess if the holder isn't flimsy and breaks easy or disks on top of each other and don't scratch.
Danganronpa V3 soundtrack in a sleeve with the song list and fits in the PS4 case.
Other games I have with inserts were made to fit the case size like Disagea 6's artbook (literally fits in where the paper of Switch cases are, it's that small, it's great. If NIS America can do it and for a case that small and thinner than a PSP case that Switch cases are why can't others in the AAA space) while others like Raging Loop (Kemco) but the big book and artbook size like he shows in the Day One Editions episode or I guess Mario Maker's box in this video in a bigger than the case box.
Utawarerumono Mask of Deception's artbook fits in the PS4 case and has the sticker saying artbook included (Atlus published I think).
Some AA devs publishers know what they are doing. AAAs think, nah big box that will do it to get attention when those unde rthem have figured things out for boxes and bonuses.
It's cool at first then it becomes annoying unless it's got more art to show which some do with a fold out to show some (similar to big box PC games) but most don't.
Only two of the big ones do and the other smaller shelves out of the I think 5 or so I think I have do that. So for that centimetre/inch difference sure I'll keep the box for custo art sake.
at this point I unironically enjoy this channel more than the main channel, I just really like watching scott nerd out and talk about his collection and various gripes/obsessions he has.
I personally liked the Mario Maker artbook. It presented itself without any agenda or guidance, you get idea's from the book without any text pointing you in a certain direction. You are free to take away from it what you want, just like you are free to build whatever level you want in the game.
For example: The page filled with enemys equiped with wing I think is just to let the reader know that all these enemys are able to change with these wings, without the book directly telling the reader.
The formfactor of the book is BS tho
No excessive video game packaging, in my opinion, will compare to when I bought a PlayStation 5 from GameStop and they mailed it in a box three times the size of the console’s box
In aus, our Ideas Book for SMM was a hard cover. Which means I can put it on my regular book shelf with my cool art books.
18:14 Its good to see scott finally fet over his greatest of fears...
I almost, ALMOST love these more than the main videos
I collect blu rays, and occasionally secondary publishers will include a paper cover like the Axiom Verge case.
I just fold it along the bottom (so it doesn’t crease the paper itself) and stuff it inside it’s own packaging.
I’m loving the more frequent releases on the stash! I went through almost every carpet video, so I’m glad theres more now
It’s really intriguing seeing how the US and UK are different with special editions.
In the UK, the Mario Maker book was hardback, the Mario All Stars release didn’t have a flap on the box, and Kirby’s Dream collection didn’t release there.
Still pissed we didn't get Kirby's Dream Collection.
Anyone else like watching these a little more than the main series nowadays because of the way he just talks about stuff he likes instead of turning it all into an act?
I always like the calmer, simpler videos and this craves my itch perfectly. The big show stoppers like Chibi Robo and Borderline Forever are amazing, but this stuff is more enjoyable.
Yeah. I just like talking and learning about video games. Scott's so knowledgeable but young, he's like a combination of a professor and a friend. And even if I don't always like his skits (I often do) or the lightly gory or pukey jokes (I'm squeamish), I know I'll never get tired of him just sharing a thought on video games.
I do so hope he gets his big, ol' game room he mentioned in a video on the main channel and gets to enjoy it and talk about all the stuff in it. I'd be so happy for him.
To me it depends on the type of 'act' you're talking. I don't mind that he puts a persona/character/whatever you wanna call, but I do recognize that he exagerates a bit too much sometimes, or the comedy skits are hit or miss sometimes lately (to me), so those ones I can be a little more "eh" towards (I still enjoy or find interesting things in them, though. It's not like I hate them or anything lol)
His opinions on games are all real though, obviously most are exaggerated like the Zip-lash video, but the way he talks about the game in the bloopers, he really does sound like a guy that would make a video essay based on his hatred for Chibi-Robo Zip-lash
I would be fine with no friends that don't know how to stand in front of a camera.
14:32 Did you know the official name for Game and DVD cases are "Keep Cases"?
3:53. Scott. Please look up the Star Fox Zero First Print edition. That box you have there is smaller and tidier in comparison.
When I went to buy my copy of Mario Odyssey there was an edition with a travel guide, for the same price as the normal copy. So for zero extra charge you could get a book that was perfect for any beginners. That’s the only box I have and I still loose sleep over that price
There’s also one for Breath of the Wild and Splatoon 2.
I got it for Breath Of The Wild, it's called the Adventurer's guide there
I love the packaging for Pokemon Heartgold and Soulsilver. Probably the coolest packaging I own. Too bad I lost my Pokewalker.
funny enough, the Sonic The Hedgehog movie on Blu-Ray had the same issue with Sonic Mania Plus; having a bonus comic book that you have to jam into the slipcover!
In the Wii & WiiU, Nintendo of America used to ship all game cases to Brazil inside cardboard sleeves, that was to translate the Box's text to Portuguese and add the ClassInd Rating instead of the ESRB. They did that because they were too lazy to change the piece of paper inside the case.
I'm shocked you didn't bring up BioShock for the PS3. It was just a base copy, no special edition, & it came with a cardboard sleeve & a giant booklet. Problem was that when you open the case, it has a thick booklet inside too, & since I live in Canada there's a second thick booklet for the French translation. So my copy has 3 different booklets, 1 of different size to the rest that doesn't need to exist. It's a complete waste of a good tree.
Talking about WiiU games, in Europe we didn't have the "two disc" WiiU case. In the case of Bayonetta 2 we had three versions of the game, regular case without Bayonetta 1, the special edition and a edition with the two games in separate cases inside a cardboard box. Star fox zero also came as a regular case game, SF guard being available in a code in a box edition. Both games also came on two disk on a cardboard box with the two cases and a steel book with space for the two disk. The only two disk in one case we saw in Europe is Rodea the Sky soldier, and that game came on a American case (WiiU cases are different in Europe and America)
Speaking of Bayonetta, the initial print run of Bayonetta 2 here in North America came with Bayonetta 1 on a download code but just recently it was announced that Bayonetta 1 is getting a separate physical release before Bayonetta 3's release. So now we can have all 3 games on a cartridge.
The first thing that personally comes to mind is Kid Icarus Uprising
The game came packaged with a set of AR Cards (but not the kind of AR Cards that came with the 3DS, rather a set of cards only usable in Kid Icarus Uprising), and a stand to rest your 3DS in in order to scan those cards
... it really didn't add much value to the game. The game itself is already pretty amazing, a lot of people really didn't like the control scheme, but it was personally one of my all time favourite 3DS games, so much so that my left bumper actually got damaged because of how much time I spent with it (although that may have been related to the control scheme, as it is a lot of weight to rest on the bumper itself. To preface, I also played a lot of Mario Kart 7, and my preferred drift button was the right bumper, which still works fine to this day). But the cards themselves added pretty much nothing, if not nothing entirely. You can play the whole game 5 times over without even being aware that they did something (in fact I did just that)
I would love a full video on limited print games. I feel like opinions on them are fairly mixed.
Strange thing about the Idea Book: If you bought the game with the Amiibo you got a binded version of the idea book instead of the flabby one
Just today I came to the conclusion that my biggest hobby will be collecting video games after going to a retro game store. I never would have thought about it if it wasn’t for Scott
If you ever want to see something mildly infuriating and bizarre have a look at the Demon's Souls Deluxe Edition for PS3. It comes with the game, an extremely in depth strategy guide, an artbook, soundtrack, and a sleeve to put ONLY THE GAME AND GUIDE BOOK INTO BUT NOT THE ARTBOOK/SOUNDTRACK. It make absolutely no sense why they couldn't have just made the sleeve slightly wider to fit in the extra booklet, when it was sold the artbook and soundtrack were just held to the back of the sleeve with the plastic seal so once it's opened you just have no place to put them.
Definitely happy to have it be a part of my own collection but good grief I still cant figure out how they thought that would be a good idea
These types of videos have an almost ASMR like effect to me. Very relaxing to watch. Very hype
I totally agree with that dislike of those pieces of paper box covers. Games, movies, CDs; none are safe from the dumb piece of paper. I usually just move them to the inside of the box to keep them from getting lost or damaged
Not really gaming related but it's related to physical media: Some of the Criterion Collection's box sets (Ingmar Bergman, Godzilla) are just big art books that have the Blu-Ray discs inside it. Like the book *is* the case. Granted those all come with like 15 movies but still. I think that more gaming collector's editions should take that approach. Would solve the problem of the art book just flopping around in the box.
It would be interesting to hear about NON-excessive packaging in 2022. I recently bought the Witcher complete edition for switch and it feels like a modern day equivalent of 90’s pc game packaging.
Honestly i like that the axiom verge box is like that cause it means i can remove the paper and all the things i dont wanna look at and just have the cool art showing on the box
PC games back in the day had way oversize packaging for just a disc or two in a jewel case, and some paper.
Yes! A new episode of Scotts Stash!
This truly is the greatest timeline
Have you seen the Sifu collectors packaging? It contains art cards in a cardboard sleeve that are 1cm off from fitting in the box.
There is a great video on Limited Run Games by a small creator named Mrixrt. After watching that, I'm not surprised in the weird form factor of that Axiom Verge box.
Fold the AV sleeve and place it inside the box, job done. Plus how do we know at a glance if a game is special, if it is the same size as the rest! Get those big boxes on the shelves there Scatt!
Game cases themselves are basically just a box. These collectors boxes are just artwork inside of a plastic box that is inside a paper box and the same picture inside the plastic box is printed on the outside of the paper box
Rune Factory 5 is the perfect example of how to correctly package and stylize a manual for a switch game. It’s a chunky manual, but holding the case feels so nice and it stores with the others perfectly!
18:13 "Alright, time to pop open Sonic Mania Plu- AAAH!"
My favorite type of packaging for games (and anime) is the chipboard artbox like for Horizon Zero Dawn and i think Uncharted collection has the same material too. You get nice artwork cover, its sturdy so you dont have to be careful bending the cardboard and its so satisfying to pull out the game and whatever book is included.
this new scott's stash video format is really awesome. Thanks for making these, Scott!
I think the Axiom Verge cover is that way to allow owners to show off a more sleek textless version of the case.
Woulda been cool if they had a little slot in the case to keep the paper so you could store it while showcasing the sleek version. It’s a cool idea in concept cause that legal gibberish is ugly.
15:19 I wish we got the Kirby's Dream Collection in the UK. The only way for us to play it is either to import it, the original games or download some of them on the Wii U and the rest on the 3DS.
Same with the Avengers game on PS4! there's a version that comes with patches and the box is unnecessarily big like the patches could've fit in the game case!
I will always have a gripe with sonic mania plus because i was so hyped for the reversible sleeve and mine didn’t have it
TBH, depending on the packaging, I often put collectible boxes for games in a closet or other storage, and keep the game itself out on my game shelf so I can play it. I can visit the box if I want to look at artbooks or whatnot. Then again, now that you mention it, I often don't. If it's just a cardboard sleeve on the other hand, I usually keep them on my games, and keep such games in a specific spot I have for ones of that type.
N64 boxes IMO were too big. It’s nice that the manuals were big, but if the box was actually the size of the cartridge they’d be easier to store.
Meanwhile the double disc GameCube game case very satisfyingly fits two disc side by side with a memory card, and I wish the DS game case used the GBA game slot more often.
I work with printing, so just a heads-up. There are fixed sizes for printing as you don’t want to waste paper when doing it. So that’s just the norm for this size, otherwise it would be an inconveniently strange proportion or something.
10:33 Honestly, you should. When companies like Nighthawk Interactive exist that get more obscure titles physical releases at normal prices that are always available, give all the flack in the world to the company that raises the price of a game just for it being physical, sells it for an extremely limited time, and takes MONTHS after the release date to actually ship their products.
Covid's been the cool thing to blame for a while, but it feels like companies taking preorders way too early and taking legit half a year or more to ship physical products for no good reason has become an epidemic lately, it happens all the fucking time. Like I get you want to fleece people as soon as possible but I'd rather just pay for the thing when I can actually get it in my goddamn hands before I've forgotten I've even bought it.
I just want to see a zoom out camera where we can see Scott just laying on the floor talking about random nintendo games
Thanks for all the uploads scott!
The Axiom Verge paper thing actually fits inside the box, so that's where I keep it.
The issue with Axiom Verge is because this same special edition was created for multiple platforms. So, instead of printing separate boxes for each console, BadLands just made the different slips. Limited Run didn’t have anything to do with the production, just the distribution for the WiiU version.
you should absolutely look into the limited run company if you haven’t already. the rabbit hole goes pretty deep
I remember back in the day when buying a game was an occasion. Even gears of war 1 came with a nice little booklet. Thick and detailed it was. Gears of war 3 came with a folded A6 paper with barely anything on it. Now you don’t even get THAT. A code at best.
I was never into toys-to-life, so buying games with excessive boxes was the way I contributed to being a waster. Had to make my 5 year old boss happy somehow
I thought he was 4?
@@lone_stick I think he's turning 2 on August
Your all are mistaking his age, they are going to make him in a few months
What a brave guy, starting a business as a mere sperm.
1.5, you a*s!
In the PAL-Version of mario maker the extra booklet was a hardcover variant. The same was true for the booklet for xenoblade chronicles x.
Here's what I can't stand: when a physical game is released in a standard case, but then it also has an outer cardboard sleeve with the exact same cover art for no reason! Also, I have the Sonic Mania Plus for XBOX Series X, and I'm so glad that he brought up my biggest peeve, the art book. All of the pictures would easily fit within the case's dimensions, but the book extends to the overt size of the case so that the box is necessary to keep the two together. If I ever come across one of those multi-page paper cutters (like in an art class), I hope to cut the book down to instruction book size.
As a child the excessive packaging was SO exciting. It made me want it so bad. Now that I’m older I’m very much on Scott’s side this stuff takes too much space
id love a scott the woz podcast where scott just kinda talks about something random off script for like 30 min
It's the same style of humor, just off the cuff!
As a Senran Kagura Estival Versus Vita Special Edition owner I can relate man.
The original release of Dragon Quest 8 included a demo for Final Fantasy 12 and came in a box that looked neat & special. But nope, the box only exists because the regular game case can't fit the manuals for DQ8 and FF12, so it makes the DQ8 manual sit outside the case and in the cardboard sleeve.
Why even print a manual for a demo? Especially if the case can't even fit both at once.
Wait, so the manual of the actual game is outside of its case? Does that mean that the other manual, the one that's supposed to be the extra thing, is inside the case? That would sound like a really weird decision to me lol.
@@Alfonso162008 I own the box myself and can confirm. It made me irrationally angry. I would've just not bothered printing a manual for a demo.
0:06 it sounds like he's singing along to the mario world song when he says "standard plastic case"
Can't wait for the sequel minimal video game packaging
4:53 I got the idea book too as part of a larger bundle that came with the amiibo and it came with a hardcover, it's really wierd to see it so flaccid
I actually really liked the Mario maker idea booklet. It had tons of hints in there about gameplay mechanics and secrets and every time I would go to read it I would see something weird or interesting and try to figure out how to do it. For example, the goomba with its head on one side and feet on the other of a really long pipe. I spent so much time trying to figure out if it was possible to make that in game. Idk if it was just me but it really sparked my curiosity and creativity
You should rename this channel to: Scott's First World Problems
That Mario Maker book does have level design ideas in there, but the way to access them is bizarre. There's four digit codes spread throughout the booklet, and you're supposed to enter them into a spot on the in-game electronic manual to view a *video* showing off that design technique. Kinda clunky.
So you need to have the physical manual to access the in game "manual"? Fascinating. Truly a Nintendo move.
Watching Scott freak out over Super Monkey Balls box was a highlight! 😂 Thanks for the content Scott 😃
I did throw the Sonic Colors Ultimate box in the bin right after opening it, considering it takes way too much space just for a game case and a small keychain.
His hands have so much character
19:48 As someone who has super monkey ball banana mania on my shelf with the sleeve on it I can confirm that it does not fit with the switch games at all.
I've always hated that they add 1 thing to the larger boxes. It breaks the flow of the shelf for what? an idea book? some of the posters they give out are cool tho but even then fallout 4's came in the disk case
It's amazing that Scott cannot physically fathom the idea that the cardboard outer layer is meant to be thrown away.
You should see the box for the Vita release of Gal*Gun Mr. Happiness edition.
In Europe the Mario Maker bonus book was actually hardcover, felt a little more premium.
But I must admit I only ever skimmed through its slightly strange contents.
Sometimes I feel that way about slipcases of music CDs, dispite making the whole package thicker and more difficult to store on the shelves, most of the times they add extra artwork that's not included in the booklet so it's nice. But other times it's just the same artwork of the cover or a boring photo for the band so it's kinda pointless.
Also the 10:18 situation with Axiom reminds me of Obi Strips, little paper thingies to the side of Japanese music CDs, which I think can also be found in vidya CDs.
For Axiom Verge, there is way more context to that release that may explain the shoddy presentation of the physical release. With the game getting delayed numerous times and whatnot, parts of the purchases were meant to go to charity, but BadLand did not fulfill the promise entirely. There was a whole legal situation between the combination of Tom Happ and Limited Run Games, versus BadLand.
There's more details about it that I didn't cover in the comment, but there's some articles and videos about it. YongYea discussed it in a video when LRG addressed the situation on a gaming news article.
I don't know if it is a PAL thing, but I remember the box of Super Mario Maker being even more annoying. It had a cardboard hanger so stores could also hang it on their shelves easily. The hanger added to the form of the box and disturbed its form as a solid block...
I've never actually seen gameplay from Star Fox Guard before. Is it basically Five Nights at Peppy's?
I love these long informational videos. Keep up the great work Scott!
Scott: Can't do an artbook in a Switch game case.
Disagea 6: hold my artbook in the Switch paper holder we got you covered. You thought only advertising or a language/digital soundtrack card can fit think again. Will have the soundtrack card with a link to our website to redeem it 5 times or so and the small artbook fit in here. It's still readable text and easy to see art for an artbook that small.
Just found this second channel, I GET SCOTT CONTENT QUICKLY, AT NO EXTRA COST FOR HIM YOO
Look at Scott and his box using grin
Maybe there’s a good box protector out there for the (Switch) Super Monkey Ball cardboard box with art book. It’ll keep the cardboard box in shape and looking clean!
I suppose a solution to the SEGA artbook games iissue could be to put the actual game cases with the rest of the games and to get blank cases/cheap games to fill in the spaces of the larger boxes to then display on the collectibles shelf.
10:40 I have the first season of the Ace Attorney anime on Blu-Ray and the box came with such a godawful piece of paper for no apparent reason. I hate that piece of paper as much as I'd hate my second biggest enemy, but I'm NEVER gonna throw it away. This mere sheet of paper is what'd come out if someone turned an escort mission into a piece of packaging.
Fun fact: You can stuff almost package in this video into one copy of "Sonic & Garfield Pack" for Windows 95. (well, okay, maybe just a few, but still, that's a lot of existence taken up by Sonic & Garfield Pack)