Inside The Big Cardboard Box is where we delve into the history of the largely defunct world of boxed PC games, with a particular emphasis on all the ones I used to own, but later gave away or sold.

This series seems to have encapsulated a descent into middle age, in that where my preparation for a FFG piece would once have involved spending far too much time searching for downloads and second hand copies of games that I remembered, I’m now reduced to searching my own memory for details of those that I’ve forgotten.

As I’ve long since accepted, the full details of what used to be in my 90s and early 00s collection of boxed games are going to remain forever out of reach. But I think we’re at the point now where nearly every memory-jogging angle has been exhausted, so it’s probably time to type up a quick packing note before we seal up this big box for good.

First, though, a random mind dump of memories and games not shared thus far, many of which have come to me at moments where I really should have been thinking about, or doing, something else. (You’d think that the matter of which particular boxed version of an old DOS game someone once used to own would be something that helped them get to sleep, rather than keep them awake, but there you go).

Some games that we haven’t mentioned in this series have already been reviewed. Including: Quarantine and Quarantine II: Road Warrior (both original big box versions, one possibly acquired second hand, the other from a bargain bin), Iron Assault (sold, boxless, for cheap in either Dixons or Currys), NBA Jam: Tournament Edition (some budget label never seen before or since, and – possibly – bought in a newsagents?!) and the dreaded Zone Raiders (big box, bargain bin again, purchased either from the long-defunct Future Zone or its successor Electronics Boutique).

To which we can add, with no particular link between them, except that they were also original big box releases, rather than budget or compilation re-releases:

Tunnel B1, a PlayStation port that looked very nice on the box, but was pretty slow and dull.

FX Fighter, a 3D beat ’em up, which got good reviews, but I remember as being a bit crap.

Track Attack, an arcade racer which started life as something else (and I’m sure claimed some link – even if only as a ‘spiritual successor’ – to Geoff Crammond’s Stunt Car Racer) but ended up as a blocky neon-future spectacle undermined by a bad frame rate.

Terminator: Future Shock, which was quite good, but also pretty hard, as I recall. (My main memory is of watching Stoo start a campaign with the callsign ‘Antisocial’, which was then repeated endlessly throughout quite serious briefing sequences. And possibly was the inspiration for this childish but snigger-worthy feature).

For reasons of preserving my sanity, and that of the site’s 7 readers, I’m not going to attempt to recount or catalogue here the millions of football games that have passed through my hands over the years. From memory, like most others, I generally participated in the process of selling or part-exchanging older versions of FIFA to fund the purchase of the newest one. I certainly had, at some stage, every version of FIFA released on PC during the 90s. (And pretty much every cricket game that you could think of, too).

But, let’s throw in a few lesser-known ones here. Such as the non-FIFA EA game, The F.A. Premier League STARS, as well as World League Soccer ’98 from Eidos, and Microsoft International Soccer 2000. Oh, and Kick Off 3: European Challenge: another one that I’ve actually gone back to.

And so now to the recap of previous posts, which increasingly felt more like a look back at the different ways of getting cheap games in the 90s and 00s than helping me get a grip on what might have been in my own collection (although the former is probably of more interest to you, dear reader, so it was probably for the best).

Here we go!

 

The White Label

As noted in the piece, The White Label started off as a ‘prestige’ budget range which generally focused on well-received games, so it perhaps makes sense that there aren’t many to note here as lost.

But I definitely had White Label copies of Rebel Assault and Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire (as separate copies, not the double pack) from the classic 90s cardboard box era.

Plus Shiny Entertainment’s Messiah, after the move to DVD cases.
 

EA Classics

EA didn’t release much rubbish back then, so their budget line was also pretty decent, although I remember optimistically buying lots of games that were probably beyond me, or that I couldn’t get into for some reason.

I can definitely say that I once had Strike Commander, Wing Commander: Privateer and System Shock from the orange jewel case era, and then Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels, PGA Tour Golf 486 and Crusader: No Remorse in the big blue box days.

(I’m also belatedly remembering Die Hard Trilogy, which I think had an EA Classics release, although I possibly had the big box original).

I also got rid of Populous: The Beginning, one third of an EA triple pack with NBA 2000 and Need for Speed: Porsche Challenge.

(Another delayed memory: my copy of Medal of Honor: Allied Assault came in an EA triple pack from a later era, along with Command and Conquer: Generals and Battlefield 1942, both of which have gone, gone, gone).
 

Random Compilations

Of the different random collections discussed, two were both jettisoned in their entirety:

Megapak 6:

Al Unser Jr. Arcade Racing
Death Gate
The Legend of Kyrandia: Malcolm’s Revenge
Pinball 3D VCR
Manic Karts
Druids: Daemons of the Mind
Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! The Riddle of Master Lu
Action Soccer
Panzer General II
Steel Panthers

The Big 6ix:

Sensible World of Soccer
Battlecruiser 3000AD
Mortal Kombat 3
Enemy Nations
Stargunner
Bedlam
 

More Budget Labels

I think, despite the number of different labels covered here, it’s just Hexen II (Activision Essential Collection) from this piece, and that was donated to Stoo.
 

Sold Out

The most prolific and long-lasting of all the budget series covered, I kept most of my Sold Out discs, if not always the boxes. But I definitely got rid of:

Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare
Prisoner of War
Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive
Commandos 2

But not Anachronox! (Retro gamer points +1) Although it’s still sealed (Retro gamer points -5).
 

Lost and Found

This was mainly about unearthing a stash of games that had been with my Dad for the past 20 years or so. (To be fair, most of them were his, not mine, in the first place).

However, I did remember here that I once (foolishly) bought a copy of Homeworld (Sierra Bestseller Series) which never saw much use before being sold on. And that I once had a big-box copy of a late 90s Sierra compilation called Police Quest: Collection Series which I sent to a keen gamer in the US.
 

(Mostly) Xplosiv

Another budget label dominant in the 00s, I again kept most of my discs, from what I remember. Although I no longer have my Xplosiv copy of GTA 2, and I have a distinct memory of also selling on Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2.

And then, a rush of other memories came flooding back from somewhere:

Project IGI (Eidos Premier Collection)
Forsaken (Unbranded Acclaim Budget Release)
Olympic Soccer, Under a Killing Moon, Power F1 (Eidos/Kixx CD wallet release)
Big Red Racing (possibly the original big box version).

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I think that’s probably the full extent of what I can remember. Most of what went into that big box must be up there somewhere, along with sundry other games that I jettisoned at some other point.

Apart from the slightly odd desire to access information about my PC gaming past, once I realised it was lost, I guess this whole thing has been driven by a fascination with the idea of old games not tried or fully explored, despite being once in my possession, and despite my subsequent contribution to a website dedicated to going back to such things.

But looking at that list now, there are good reasons why I never got into most of those games at the time, or returned to them since. Some were clearly too difficult or complicated for me, while others were just a bit rubbish. There’s not a lot of regret there, except at my naivety in thinking I could play certain types of game when I already knew that I couldn’t, and in convincing myself that titles which were given middling reviews across the board might actually be unheralded gems. And there are one or two that I might come back to still.

I’ve also been left wondering about the games that I did keep, particularly those from the DOS era. In 2003, when I moved out of my parents’ house for good, getting those games up and running was more difficult than it is now (apparently the first version of DOSBox had been released by then, although I don’t recall using it much until the mid-00s…) plus my contributions to FFG were intermittent at best (in fact, I contributed precisely 0 reviews in 2003 itself). But, for whatever reason, I just couldn’t bring myself to move them on. Or the discs, at least: all of the big boxes and manuals are long gone.

Which, at the time, seemed to make perfect sense. Big boxes had already been replaced by slimmer DVD cases, while big, detailed, printed manuals were also on their way out. And the success of budget labels like Sold Out showed that gamers were content to do without such things, for the right price.

But while I’ll never be someone with the time or inclination to set up a big retro room with expensively-acquired 90s games on display, I have belatedly started to feel that there was something rather beautiful about the era of proper, physical boxes that’s been lost now. And while the younger me was happy to just get a disc in a plastic case to save a few quid, there’s not really much difference between that and the modern digital download. A few jewel CD cases are all that remain in my collection from the big box era.

Strangely enough, it was looking at my second hand copy of a big PC game of 2003, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, that caused me to become slightly wistful. Perhaps it was because that game was released around the time that I sold my big box of old games and moved out; perhaps it was because Vice City itself had just been de-listed from Steam in preparation for the botched digital release of a remaster.

But, looking at the slightly tatty box, and the maps and the artwork within, just made me think of the person buying that game upon release and all the excitement and enjoyment that it may have brought them. Perhaps someone out there has my old big boxes and is thinking the same thing. [About Quarantine II: Road Warrior, Tunnel B1 or Zone Raiders? I doubt it! – FFG Reader]

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NB: All cover art sourced, once again, from MobyGames.