I can only speak for Germany, but over here, credit cards are not as common as in the US and paying online is/was 'a big deal' sort of. People are also more afraid to give away their credit card data to 'some obscure foreign internet company'. Also easier for minors to just go into a shop and buy a physical copy. Probably also slow internet conecctions in some areas... would take me an entire day to DL 4gigs of a DVD at home.
I think you got a point. Steam is also a huge thing here in Germany. But most of the gamers here don't trust unknown companies so they prefer to buy it in a physical form. And there is also the issue of bandwidth. Download 30-60 Gbs for one game only is nearly impossbile for a lot of people. And as a collector I also buy the physical disc. So I bought Duck Tales Remastered and will buy (even I have lets played it) Broken Sword 5 in a physical form. Maybe we'll get the Castle of Illusation Remake as a disc version. This would be nice.
for a Lithuanian it's horribly difficult to get a debit card that would work in the first place. First, to get a debit card you have to be 18. Secondly, a lot of internet stores will deny you because they don't send to your country. So I can buy digital goods from Steam and Amazon.com (fake adress and digital only), but if you try to grab items from European amazons they just refuse to send. Then places like Humble Bundle send you your money back and take away your games because your card confused them (even though it's a mastercard - a known brand).
Easy for minors to buy games in Germany??! You must be kidding me. In Denmark a 6 year old could by GTA, in Germany they'll ask for your passport if you don't look 16 enough (Buying a 16+ game being 16...)
sejekage01 At least Media Markt always asks for a passport if you buy any 18+ stuff. I was quite perplex the last time I bought a DVD there... I'm 40. Still easier than asking your dad for HIS credit card number to buy the game online.
Anyone older than the age of 8 should know how to properly handle their media without scratching it. Out of the 4,000+ discs I own I don't think a single one has even so much as a finger print on it.
videogameobsession did you first burn off your fingertips like kevin spacey in seven? that sounds just as nuts to me, i remember throwin all my tupperware out just so i didn't have to stack it and pack it when i was moving to a new apartment, can't imagine dealing with thousands little cardboard boxes of nerd vinyl, just the thought of dusting it gives me nightmares
No, but that's a good tip! I just pick up discs and hold them like they suggest. Press on the middle to release the disc and hold it on the edges. I have been wearing glasses since the age of 4 so I know how to keep things from getting scratched. "In the case or on your face"... or "in the case or in the tray" when it comes to this. ;)
Heh, well this is surprising. I didn't realize that some of those boxes weren't available in the USA. In Polish stores I have seen physical copies of Blood Dragon, Amnesia (with more mysterious box art that doesn't spoil monster), Worms Reloaded, Alan Wake's Nightmare, dlc packs for every Call of Duty, Simulations games, Minecraft and more. If had to guess reason of physical copies of digital games in Europe: - PC gaming was and is very popular in Europe even before the existence of Steam (personally I prefer GoG). - It's always nice to install a game without waiting hours for it to download - not everyone has fast Internet connection. - When talking about Poland itself there was problem with piracy. Back in a day there were big delay between premiers of games, new consoles in US and here. For example NES never came here, and we only had a clone called Pegasus and people would literally sell pirated copies of PC/cartridge games on markets. Since then it became a thing that publishers (like Cd Project) would publish games with goodies like maps, instruction manuals, guidebooks etc. - encouraging people to buy official products. Probably the same mentality publishers try to convey with digital games. Oh and by the way our first official consoles were PS1 and PS2 and Nintendo never became a thing here in Poland. Sorry for my overlong rumblings :P
I'm six years late, but I stopped buying physical releases because when I think I bought the orange box tonget l4d, tf and etc or it was l4d2.... it it was just a cd to install steam and then put in the cd key and it becomes bound to your account
It's really easy to answer the question of "why Europe gets this stuff?" To put it simply, PC gaming is big in Europe and it always was even before Steam so releasing boxed copies is some kind of a habit that sticked with European publishers guess because it is still worth it. In the US consoles rule the market, in Europe PC gets that attention in most countries.
Could also argue that some parts of Europe dont have the bandwidth to download big titles. I know I saw a lot of people on reddit posting about how many days it was going to take to download GTAV
That's not an issue actually: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Internet_connection_speeds Weirdly enough a lot of poorer European countries had better overall internet connections than the rest of the world for a long time... and well, compared to South Korea eveyone sucks. :D
@@sholva6809 It's not bullshit. In parts of the world where speeds are slow (Africa, Middle East), getting a DVD saves tons of download time, as only the updates need to be downloaded. I bought an imported physical release of Need for Speed: Heat, which came on 4 DVDs stacked on top of each other. Obviously, I only used the code to download the newest version of the game from Origin and kept the box as a novelty.
Retro City Rampage got a physical release for MS-DOS on an actual 3.5" floppy disc. It also got an extremely limited release (I think 2000 copies) on PlayStation 4 and PS Vita.
Retail distribution is easier/cheaper in the UK at least - we've only got one small island to supply. It may also be because of the slower spread of fast internet connections in the UK - some places in th eouter reaches are still offline.
About some regions of the country being offline - that's try in the US as well. Hell, there are patches of USA without stable internet connection bigger than the entire UK! 😂
There are many reasons why you're my favourite youtuber and videos like these is one of them. I love how you think outside the box and deliver such unique content; you really stand out from the rest. I've said this many times before but I'll say it again - keep up the good work, Clint. What you do is awesome.
Actually, there is a PS3 physical copy of minecraft, and a physical copy of the vita version coming up. Also, Killing Floor got a physical release, something that surprised me when I picked it up.
In Germany exists a boxed version of Beat Hazard Ultra, published by Headup Games (they published alot of indie/download games). Fun fact: on the Disc from Beat Hazard Ultra, you can find a Track made by me :D
In the U.S. (the area I live in at least), I have yet to find a hard copy cheaper than a Steam copy. I work at Best Buy and am constantly looking for better deals but Steam always beats the store version, even after my employee discount. I have looked in many other stores as well but Steam is always the best bargain.
I hate when they pull this crap. Its fine for the people who buy the game with fast uncapped internet but what about people with either slow internet or internet with a cap? If it's not going to actually use the discs why don't they just sell the case with the code?
I ended up buying DuckTales Remastered 3 times. once from PSN, then they released a physical boxed version for the PS3 which contained a cardboard disc with a code.. then they announced a Blu-Ray disc version for the PS3 so I bought that as well...
I think the reason Europe gets a lot more physical releases is because our internet can be absolutely rubbish in some parts. Downloading a whole game can take days so people just go buy it from a shop because it's easier. At least that was the case with me when I was living in the British countryside when I was younger.
A few games I didn't expect to see in stores but found them anyway: Monkey Island 1 & 2 Special Edition for the PS3 (which I bought without even blinking) Walking Dead Season 1 for PS Vita Angry Birds for PS3 (yes, you read that correctly)
Well, phsical discs are still the deal in Germany and it looks like it keeps going that way. Most of the gamers I talked from Centra and East Europe are aware of they actually do not OWN the games on Steam. They consider Steam as a rental system which would be shut down one day. Believe me, it sounds crazy but they really consider that posibility. Given the fact that the "beloved" users of OnLive were burnt so bad, I cannot blame them. >;-) As a person who travels between different far and close locations time to time, I prefer to reach my games any time and anywhere I want. Therefore, I prefer digital copies over physical ones. BTW, Doom 3 BFG Edition's DVD includes Doom 3 remastered alongside with The Ultimate Doom, Doom II and Doom II: No Rest for the Living. Requires Steam though...
Ah yes, this was one of my fears as adopting the PC Gaming way of life. Physical copies of games. Being a collector of games, I feel much more satisfied getting a boxed copy of a game rather than a digital one, putting that case on my shelf and taking a few steps back to see my entire collection before my eyes, it's wonderful. That's why no matter what, if there's a physical copy of a game, I get it always over the digital version. Obviously some games are digital only, and that's kind of unavoidable. My only exception is Steam Sales. Sometimes, those deals are just too good to pass up, but, I still infinitely prefer physical. Hell, for recent games, I got Watch Dogs and Titanfall on PC physically cause why the hell not?
See, the reason your channel is awesome is your sense of humor and facial expressions. They're great! Actually... I just noticed that you look like me with an added beard. XD
When you pulled that first manual out and flipped through it, it brought back so many memories! Every single time I got a new Sims game, I'd open the manual first and just enjoy the blissful scent! So beautiful! Don't you agree?
The Binding of Isaac also has a Most Unholy Edition, which I'm fairly certain was only in Germany - it comes with the same kind of stuff as in the Super Meat Boy boxed version
I suppose the lack of DVD rom drives in modern PCs is a driver for less physical copies. Also, some games are massive like GTA5 which would probably need 10 DVDs or so. My two cents :D - finally, thanks Clint for some of the best content on YT.
Part of me still hopes that The Sims 4 GPs, SPs, and EPs will come out as physical copies. I just don't trust digital copies. Its nice to look at a shelf full of Sims games rather than a screen full of box art.
I always try to get physical copies of games if I can.Not only for the box/case but the manual.Lets face it few of us actually look at the digital manual on steam games. Complicated games like the x3 (for example) series its almost a must to have the hundred plus page manual.As its not too convenient to tab out of a game to look at the digital manual then end up writing down key binds so you can remember. Edit: A old friend that now works at Tripwire Interactive says companies actually make more off selling physical copies.Since places like Steam take money off the top along with their publisher.His company publishes their own games so a physical copy for them is almost 100% profit. For small Indy type devs they deserve every penny so physical copies help support the developers.
Voxel8or The UK has CCTV the US has the NSA, same shit different name. Except the CCTV cameras stop crime just by being there, can't say the same for the NSA.
Hey LGR! Another odd thing about Tux Racer... I actually played Tux Racer on an Arcade Cabinet before I knew there were any other versions. It was strange indeed. My local Gattis had it I believe. you controlled the penguin with a WHEEL. A literal Car Wheel.
The reason Europe get so many physical releases and the US doesn't is because of everything else the US gets. In Europe, and pretty much everywhere else, we have to go through all sorts of travel problems and such just to get a Twinkie. I know you can probably order them online, but it's not the same as going to the store and getting them yourself.
Nearly all new physical PC games are kind of useless as they just essentially CD keys and once installed, the disc becomes useless. (Steam games come to mind) However being from the UK, we do get a lot of physical simulator games, most of which you install (with no CD key) and then you can play the game without ever having to insert the disc lol. Those are my favourite types of physical PC games :p
Since I live in Europe, finding downloadable games in physical form is so common I just never really notice it and I always assume it's like that over there as well. Kinda shocked the US is weird in that regard.
A lot of those games didn't get a US physical release since they were developed in the UK/EU. Worms Reloaded by Team17 in UK, Sniper Elite by Rebellion in UK, American Nightmare by Nordic Games (self explanatory).
Earlier versions of Worms, Sniper Elite 1, and Alan Wake were all sold in America in physical form though is the thing :) It's these more recent ones that are odd over here!
lee mottreshead It's K, I'm gonna go eat a hamburger, break the chair I'm eating in because I'm so fat and then blame it on all the "Feraners" invading our "Murica". Ahh stereotypes.
I Live in the UK - I have 'Might and magic X: Legacy' on physical release - this wasn't available in the US (at least on release, dunno about now) - you got the game on dvd, a FULL MANUAL!!!, soundtrack, Might and magic 6 uplay code, the first DLC and a cloth map, the map is great and really helpful. The good thing was that the physical release was the same price as the digital on release day plus if you bought from uplay directly they gave you a pre-release key so you can play when it went live and you just put in the code in the box to progress past act 1, so if the game was delayed then you could still download and play on release day - i wish more companies would do that, instant access to digital but post out a physical also
I really can't believe you uploaded this! What a huge coincidence. Yesterday my friend and I missed a bus from town and had 2 hours to kill until the next bus came so we went to the GAME (British video game shop with an original name www.game.co.uk ) and we were surprised how good the PC section had been updated. The prices were great and I picked up Tropico 5 for 30 pounds and then we suddenly realised that goat simulator was there. I picked it up to look at the box and then we realised that Monaco was there as well (in a very nicely designed box too) and then I saw LIMBO and Hotline Miami. It was very strange for me seeing these games but even though I owned them on Steam I really wanted to get them because the boxes were SO NICE (with the exception of Goat Simulator which was pretty standard). They were embossed and had sleeves and opened up like a book and stuff. Some even had holograms on the box such as Monaco. We were the only ones in the shop and we started chatting to a guy that worked there. He was talking about these boxed digital games and then we played a game of FIFA on the PS4 on display. In the end I bought goat simulator because I didn't actually own it at all anyway. But it was £9.99 which is quite a bit more than the standard price of the digital version. But it is expected for the packaging and stuff I guess but Tropico was actually cheaper than the digital version and it was on sale. I also bought LIMBO and Monaco for their lovely boxes. And they actually were boxes. Like in the old days. It's amazing you released this video today when this all happened to me yesterday. What can I say, I'm a sucker for boxes. XD If you are wondering the exact shop it was GAME, Ards Shopping Centre, Newtownards, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom :D it's my local shop and I love it to bits. :D
Some of the weirdest physical releases I've seen are for simulators, such as Train Simulator and Farm Simulator... Really weird to see that sort of stuff at a store...
Excellent video, Clint! Weird how some games are only physical releases overseas. The only physical (known as digital only) release I have is Necrovision: Lost Company. I'm huge fan on the original game, and have a physical copy of it. I had to get the prequel in physical condition. I got a physical copy of Lost Company from Thailand. Though the box and manual isn't in english the game is, and it's an actual install DVD, no Steam needed. :)
I have a physical copy of Awesomenauts and Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, I never knew these even existed (I mean the physical releases, not the games D:) and I just found them while browsing an ebay-like website for games :S
Lazy Game Reviews www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Chivalry-Medieval-Warfare-PC-/380915963796?pt=UK_PC_Video_Games_Video_Games_JS&hash=item58b05c5794 Right here bud.
www.g2a.com/chivalry-medieval-warfare-steam-cdkey-global.html?___store=englishus This is the only different version I've been able to find. The Polish version only seems to come from steam, I don't know man. I can't find a hard copy everywhere. Maybe your just lucky and have the only hard copy in existence xD?
Square and NIS America sometimes still release Boxed copies of game exclusively on their online store for Pre-Orders only. I know I've bought a few that never saw the light of day outside of that. One of my most loved physical copy happens to be the US Soundtrack to Final Fantasy VIII. Got it signed by Nobuo Uematsu at a Distant Worlds concert where no one had ever seen it before. Great moment there.
Hey man I love your channel. You always have cool and unique videos. Anyways, if you have a PS3 there are a lot of digital games that have physical copies. The first one is the Journey Collector's Edition where it comes with Flow, Flower, and Journey and also some codes for extra content. Second, the remastered HD version of Okami had a physical copy only in Japan, but you can still play it in an American PS3 since the games are region free. Lastly, the Best of PlayStation Network Vol. 1, has 4 popular games on the PSN in a retail disc. The games are: Vikings Attack, Sound Shapes, Tokyo Jungle, and Fat Princess.
As a games retail clerk from Czech Republic (at least until recetly - calling higher management useless won't exactly get you promotion, who would have thought) I'd say there are several reasons for these PC physical releases here: - PC is still the main gaming platform here (and that's probably true everywhere east from Germany, them included I guess) - There is little trust towards online payment methods here - many people just won't do online payments, kids usually can't. So just buying a boxed game with steam code (and yes there is almost always a disc) is pretty much the most straightforward, if not the only way to sell a game to basically all non-enthusiasts and kids. Hell, "we" even have boxes with codes fro DLC packs for AC, HoMaM games and such. Terraria actually suprised me though, never had that in store, lots of kids were asking for it.
There's a couple of those jewel case w/ cardboard sleeve versions of Amnesia released through another value software company. Importing would be more fun if the PEGI logo didn't look like dogshit. Yeah I said it, ESRB for LIFE.
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i wish you had shown some more old boxes from 80/90s where all the boxes had awesome artwork that had nothing to do with the real game :P But i sure do miss buying games from the shelves.
Another example is the physical version of Skullgirls. After the game became unexpectedly popular in Japan, it eventually gained a physical release in Japan because of their general adversity to downloadable media.
Japan is great - quality rice, vending machines everywhere, still an almost entirely cash society (which would be a problem to most western people but I think it's interesting), and just likes physical stuff in general, such as video game boxes.
Caleb Jaaniste Then again, there is the fact that their workforce is merciless (to the point where their have their own term, Karoshi, that refers to death from overwork).
Normally I don´t collect retail versions of PC games but you have to check out the physical releases of Limbo, with need oldschool 3D glasses and Gone Home in a sweet SNES-Box style packaging. Keep on making awesome videos.
Holy crap, I've seen that Blood Dragon box in a mall two weeks ago. Didn't know it had a poster, now I just have to get it. Also, this made me look up World of Goo on an online ebay-like used goods shop which lead me to boxed copies of The Void, Planescape Torment, SWAT 4, The Thing and Tron 2.0 for about 1.25 bucks each, and a copy of The Dark Project for about $2.5 (all boxed, sadly Thief isn't the big boxed edition, but some weird "small-big" box with a jewel case inside, and it's german). I owe you a lot for these, man.
Main reason for physical copies here in Europe are 1. You want to feel that you actually own it, for same price as a digital you get a physical that you can uninstall and reinstall again and again and again unlike having an digital account that might ban you and ending up with you loosing all the games you bought. 2. Older gamers do not play games that manage accounts over the web (origin, battle.net, steam). 3. Digital doesnt do games justice sometimes, getting more "loot" for same price is better. It feels better.
***** Errrm, Most of EU has bad internet Errrrm Nope, compare with Aus, NZ, and Most of US. Hell even most of the World, EU has Pretty amazing access, I am getting 12Mbit access on my PC through tethered android device (unlimited download), and upto 60-100 Mb if I could be bothered getting a physical connection, and I am not living within 20km of a city.
***** that is 12mbs on a 2012 HSPA+ enabled phone (theoretical max is 14.4 Mbs) for the same price I could get a physical >100Mbs connection with unlimited transfer (and TV and phone), which seems to be a lot better than a lot of the US/Aus/Africa seriously bandwidth caps, packet shaping, throttling to certain competitor site servers really US internet providers,
***** I am aware that in some places throughout the EU there are varying degrees of net provision, however the majority of the EU enjoys good ISP choice and availability of service providers. Turkey espescially has it's own list of Internet problems the least of which is bandwidth. This was a response in the misconceived fact that the bulk of the EU is somehow impoverished, whilst the majority do not enjoy terminal 2Gbs fibre connections, the nature of having many individual nations and EU diredctives to increase communication availability throughout the EU states has resulted in many areas enjoying good connectivity. As to this reducing the preferance to Digitial distributed media, this isn't really a factor, I still have a steam / GOG /Desura /Origin account and even if the individual file DLs at 4Mbs I can just leave it on overnight. However there are a lot more physical copies available from the UK especially, this is due to market preference, (just that the argument that internet is crap over the bulk of EU is considerably incorrect)
Yeah, In Europe finding a physical release of a Simulator game is common as balls. Many of the games you showed I haven´t personally stumbled upon (maybe because I wasn´t particularly looking for them), but I did manage to find the Binding of Isaac most unholy edition in stores which was definitely a surprise to me.
i'm more jealous of japanese people and what japanese games never see a release anywhere else. you won't even hear about so many of them because of the language barrier. i wonder how many ni no kuni caliber games are there that are forever lost unless you learn japanese and go to japan in person because even if you figure out how to order something, the shipping fees and import taxes make it really expensive IF they deliver internationally at all.
I live in Poland, and although I'm not 100% sure why there are boxed releases here and not in the US I have some hunches that I can give from my perspective. For starters - downloadable games can be expensive in some countries. Steam operates in Euros here and has prices that you would expect, but the average pay over here is much lower. Local publishers sell PC games for half the price that you would expect to get people to buy them and they can still be considered expensive. Lots of people still don't have good download speeds or a credit card that can take internet transactions (in a different currency no less). Some are scared of inputing their credit card info on the internet (even though it's more likely to lose the info by giving a cashier the card to swipe). Finally there's just market penetration. A lot of people will buy the game in the box when they're just walking through that part of the supermarket or electronics store (there are zero physical stores that sell just games. You'd go bankrupt in a month.) Of course lots of this applies mostly to moms buying games for their kids, or kids buying games with their allowance. Most tech-savy (if you can call it that) people look through various sites on the internet and find some cheap options, though you'd be surprised for often you can get a physical copy ordered and shipped to your house and still pay less then the asking price on steam. PS: I have a polish retail copy of World of Goo myself. Sadly it's less snazzy then yours. It's just a CD with a DRM-free polish copy of the game, in a DVD box, in a cardboard sleeve. No extra slips of paper. I also have a retail copy of Civilization V. Not sure if you had those or not. It came in a DVD box with a Steam key and installation DVD, instructions and a giant fold out piece of paper that has a keyboard shortcut cheat sheet, the tech tree, policy tree, all the resources, units, upgrades, pretty much everything and half of it is totally inaccurate by this point.
physical game releases suck now because of steam. we won't be able to buy these games second hand anymore, the discs are totally useless and the manuals are pathetic.
I have an interesting comparison to this practise. Being a huge hip hop fan you can occasionally buy a physical form of a mixtape (meant to be a free alternative to an album) whether it be on vinyl, cassette or cd. This usually comes months after the mixtape has been given away for free online and i suppose is comparable to free games getting a boxed retail release.
Well, the UK is definitely cooler than Texas... especially in the summer. Although honestly, I don't like Germany, Sweden, or France at all. Switzerland, Norway, and Austria are all right... but really, aside from the UK and Australia, my favorite countries outside the US would probably be Japan and South Korea. I never understood what people see in continental Europe, or how they'd feel safe backpacking across it.
The reason Europe specifically the UK have more hard copy releases of their games goes back to the 80s. While here in the US we went for cartridge based systems like the NES, the European market found a niche with PCs like Sinclair ZX spectrum. They were tons cheaper thanks to a lack of import tax. Not to mention the games were generally cheaper. That filters into today's market because there is a higher population on PC gamers in the UK and Europe. These gamers tend to expect a physical release because of this history. It's like in Japan with music. Physical copies of music sell much more because of included content like posters, album art, etc.
+J.London Actually the US doesn't have many physical releases because FUCKING GAMESTOP doesn't carry physical copies of PC games, and since for some reason they are the dominant gaming retailer in the US this means no one bothers making physical releases here because FUCKING GAMESTOP won't carry them. Now the question is, WHY won't FUCKING GAMESTOP carry PC games? They claim it's because they weren't selling. This is of course, bullshit. What they actually wanted to do was take that shelf space to be able to put more used games up for consoles since it is impossible to resell used PC games. See, if Gamestop can't resell used games for 10x what they paid the chump who brought it in, they won't carry games for the system.
+RaithSienar while that's true- EB games (before it was GameStop) had PC games. It is mostly the modern iteration of PC games and the market for them here in the states. It goes back to my original comment- back in the beginning of the 8bit era US consumers preferred to have consoles as UK users were on a computer boom and so in today's world the big retailers don't think they'll make money with PC games. Hence GameStop doesn't sell them.
I already tweeted you about it, but I got Frozen Synapse, Collector's Edition in a box by sheer luck in a Gamestop store. Same store also carried a single copy of FC3:Blood Dragon, I might add.
I have a lot of games on my Steam account but i have less than 10 physical copies of pc games. Mainly because buying pc games in digital form is so cheap and easy nowadays but also because trade-in values on pc games are so low (in the UK at least) they're not worth trading once you're finished with them. A lot of PC games also have activation codes which can only be used once so you can't re-sell them, which i found out the hard way a while back buying some second hand pc games on Ebay. I do miss the days of getting a nice thick manual with games though, i bought Battlefield 4 and The Last Of Us on PS3 and all i got was a cheap leaflet with a help line number on the back and a link to the developers website.
Physical releases are popular here in the UK because they are usually cheaper than Steam. For example, Wolfenstein is £35 on Steam at the moment, but I can get a physical copy from almost anywhere for £25. I assume the distributors have some sort of deal with Steam and other retailers to keep the in-store copies cheaper.
Last year, I managed to snatch a copy of Dink Smallwood, a fun "RPG" Zelda-like game released in 1997-1998 in very limited quantities. Once the copies were sold, it was released as freeware in 1999. I had been looking for it for years and I was super excited to finally own it!
We still get these physical releases here in Australia too, it's not just Europe. I have a handful of the games you featured, and they're mostly the same editions/box art as here too.
Trine 2 also got a Physical collector's edition similiar to that of Super Meat Boy. It came with an art book, which is neat because as far as games with 2.5D graphics go, Trine is as gorgeous as it gets. It seems like PC gaming is the only area where US has it worse than EU, as many (mostly Japanese) console and hand held games that the US gets are only released digitally in Europe or not at all. Atleast with Nintendo DS and PSP you could import, but Nintendo put a region lock on 3DS and some games have on disc region protection, so no Shin Megami Tensei IV or Persona 4 Arena for Europe.
I had a bunch but they went out on the front nature strip when I moved. Was the metal box container for CIV III (the disc stopped working after a while)
Back in 2002 America's Army was mainly distributed through download, but you could get physical copies from Army recruiting offices. I couldn't download it with my slow internet at the time, so I actually picked one up at a recruiting office.
LGR, how about a video on neat or interesting game manuals? We don't see manuals anymore and there are some fool ones out there. Remember the manual for Fallout? Spiral bound, looked like a survival journal, and even had recipes in the back!
Really glad to see the Scratches box only because Im Argentinian. Also great video as always, you're one of my favourite youtubers, always admired old pc hardware and software.
It probably goes without saying but a lot of these came out in Australia too, rating logos and all. I nearly picked up Blood Dragon a few weeks ago. As for Minecraft 360, I thought that was pretty common knowledge tbh. All the other console editions (PS3, PS4, PS Vita, Xbox One) are getting physical releases soon too. And you can buy Minecraft PC digital codes in stores now. No idea Terraria had a physical release on consoles though.
Since you had Super Meat Boy there i might as well mention that Binding Of Isaac also got a pretty cool boxed version, it has some pretty awesome looking art on the front of the box and some cool goodies along with a non-drm copy of the game and the expansion patched to a newer version compared to the steam version (mostly bug fixes and what not). It's pretty easy to find around these parts, I've seen it in most Gamestops around here in Finland.
One recent release I always found super odd to see in stores is Angry Birds which as far as I know got multiple boxed releases on a few systems including PC (Not sure about US release). For such a simple game it seems to have made the rounds any anything good enough to play it! Thanks for another great video man!
I was surprised to come across a physical copy of Torchlight some time ago. It's nice to have the option to get yourself a box for a game you enjoy, even if it might be more convenient to get it digitally.
I've been playing APB Reloaded off and on for about 2 years now, and I never knew that there was actually a physical release of the Reloaded version. I gotta get my hands on one! Thanks LGR!
Your videos have such a homely feel. Like you're telling me a bedtime story or an old folk tale. I love it.
:) why thank you.
***** You're right, but uh... I'm not a she.
Scarfulhu Oops sorry honest mistake I think I had a bit of a drunk moment when typing that comment in I will edit now.
for reals though, clint's voice is one of those things that makes me feel warm and comfy.
this!
I can only speak for Germany, but over here, credit cards are not as common as in the US and paying online is/was 'a big deal' sort of. People are also more afraid to give away their credit card data to 'some obscure foreign internet company'.
Also easier for minors to just go into a shop and buy a physical copy.
Probably also slow internet conecctions in some areas... would take me an entire day to DL 4gigs of a DVD at home.
I think you got a point. Steam is also a huge thing here in Germany. But most of the gamers here don't trust unknown companies so they prefer to buy it in a physical form. And there is also the issue of bandwidth. Download 30-60 Gbs for one game only is nearly impossbile for a lot of people. And as a collector I also buy the physical disc. So I bought Duck Tales Remastered and will buy (even I have lets played it) Broken Sword 5 in a physical form. Maybe we'll get the Castle of Illusation Remake as a disc version. This would be nice.
for a Lithuanian it's horribly difficult to get a debit card that would work in the first place. First, to get a debit card you have to be 18. Secondly, a lot of internet stores will deny you because they don't send to your country. So I can buy digital goods from Steam and Amazon.com (fake adress and digital only), but if you try to grab items from European amazons they just refuse to send. Then places like Humble Bundle send you your money back and take away your games because your card confused them (even though it's a mastercard - a known brand).
Makes a lot of sense!
Easy for minors to buy games in Germany??! You must be kidding me. In Denmark a 6 year old could by GTA, in Germany they'll ask for your passport if you don't look 16 enough (Buying a 16+ game being 16...)
sejekage01 At least Media Markt always asks for a passport if you buy any 18+ stuff. I was quite perplex the last time I bought a DVD there... I'm 40.
Still easier than asking your dad for HIS credit card number to buy the game online.
it'll be a sad day when no more physical games are released.
Nothing to collect anymore:( guess we have to make our own boxes then
it just plays so much warmer with all the scratches
Anyone older than the age of 8 should know how to properly handle their media without scratching it. Out of the 4,000+ discs I own I don't think a single one has even so much as a finger print on it.
videogameobsession did you first burn off your fingertips like kevin spacey in seven?
that sounds just as nuts to me, i remember throwin all my tupperware out just so i didn't have to stack it and pack it when i was moving to a new apartment, can't imagine dealing with thousands little cardboard boxes of nerd vinyl, just the thought of dusting it gives me nightmares
No, but that's a good tip!
I just pick up discs and hold them like they suggest. Press on the middle to release the disc and hold it on the edges.
I have been wearing glasses since the age of 4 so I know how to keep things from getting scratched. "In the case or on your face"... or "in the case or in the tray" when it comes to this. ;)
Heh, well this is surprising. I didn't realize that some of those boxes weren't available in the USA. In Polish stores I have seen physical copies of Blood Dragon, Amnesia (with more mysterious box art that doesn't spoil monster), Worms Reloaded, Alan Wake's Nightmare, dlc packs for every Call of Duty, Simulations games, Minecraft and more.
If had to guess reason of physical copies of digital games in Europe:
- PC gaming was and is very popular in Europe even before the existence of Steam (personally I prefer GoG).
- It's always nice to install a game without waiting hours for it to download - not everyone has fast Internet connection.
- When talking about Poland itself there was problem with piracy. Back in a day there were big delay between premiers of games, new consoles in US and here. For example NES never came here, and we only had a clone called Pegasus and people would literally sell pirated copies of PC/cartridge games on markets. Since then it became a thing that publishers (like Cd Project) would publish games with goodies like maps, instruction manuals, guidebooks etc. - encouraging people to buy official products. Probably the same mentality publishers try to convey with digital games.
Oh and by the way our first official consoles were PS1 and PS2 and Nintendo never became a thing here in Poland.
Sorry for my overlong rumblings :P
I'm six years late, but I stopped buying physical releases because when I think I bought the orange box tonget l4d, tf and etc or it was l4d2.... it it was just a cd to install steam and then put in the cd key and it becomes bound to your account
It's really easy to answer the question of "why Europe gets this stuff?" To put it simply, PC gaming is big in Europe and it always was even before Steam so releasing boxed copies is some kind of a habit that sticked with European publishers guess because it is still worth it.
In the US consoles rule the market, in Europe PC gets that attention in most countries.
Could also argue that some parts of Europe dont have the bandwidth to download big titles. I know I saw a lot of people on reddit posting about how many days it was going to take to download GTAV
***** I live in Rural America and it still took me a fucking week to download.
ZaxxerDog *laughs in Balkans' supreme internet connection*
That's not an issue actually:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Internet_connection_speeds
Weirdly enough a lot of poorer European countries had better overall internet connections than the rest of the world for a long time... and well, compared to South Korea eveyone sucks. :D
@@ZaxxerDog sure it's available but how many people have access to it?
I prefer physical copies of games. I have slow internet & actual copies of games are great.
Z M In the words of The Nerd (I think) "I prefer something I can get my hands on."
Thats true me too
Your voice is one of the most soothing, plesant things i've ever heard. You should narrate books.
Why thank you.
Say that's not a bad idea. I use the heck out of audible-dot-com, I've heard plenty of voice actors less interesting than Clint.
We get all these physical copies in Australia as well, I work at EB Games so I also get first picks on all this stuff ;)
The only downside is a few physical copies nowadays in Australia just have a steam installer on the disc which is bullshit.
Damn I wish we still had EB Games... (In the US)
That's cool, but more likely to find more variety in JB HIFI ( my local EB never has the games I'm looking for😭)
@@sholva6809 It's not bullshit. In parts of the world where speeds are slow (Africa, Middle East), getting a DVD saves tons of download time, as only the updates need to be downloaded. I bought an imported physical release of Need for Speed: Heat, which came on 4 DVDs stacked on top of each other. Obviously, I only used the code to download the newest version of the game from Origin and kept the box as a novelty.
Retro City Rampage got a physical release for MS-DOS on an actual 3.5" floppy disc. It also got an extremely limited release (I think 2000 copies) on PlayStation 4 and PS Vita.
th-cam.com/video/Il65FIKWgEk/w-d-xo.html
Aliens Studios Productions Did that even work on Dos? Seemed pretty resource intensive even if it's small in comparison to modern games
Retail distribution is easier/cheaper in the UK at least - we've only got one small island to supply. It may also be because of the slower spread of fast internet connections in the UK - some places in th eouter reaches are still offline.
About some regions of the country being offline - that's try in the US as well. Hell, there are patches of USA without stable internet connection bigger than the entire UK! 😂
Found a physical copy of I Am Bread at Target yesterday and bought it. Weird. Also got Goat Simulator at the same Target last year.
Oh wow, didn't know I Am Bread had a physical release, will have to track it down.
Duke Nukem 1
Duke Nukem 2
Duke Nukem 3d
Duke Nukem 4ever
+Mason Dorobek omg I never noticed. Although 4ever sucked though lol
+Mason Dorobek do not forget Manhattan son.
I literally never noticed this
How is it that I've only recently discovered your fantastic channel? Your content is absolutely phenomenal, you are definitely a top tier "TH-camr".
Thank you, I'm glad to have been found!
There are many reasons why you're my favourite youtuber and videos like these is one of them. I love how you think outside the box and deliver such unique content; you really stand out from the rest. I've said this many times before but I'll say it again - keep up the good work, Clint. What you do is awesome.
Thank you very much :)
Actually, there is a PS3 physical copy of minecraft, and a physical copy of the vita version coming up.
Also, Killing Floor got a physical release, something that surprised me when I picked it up.
In Germany exists a boxed version of Beat Hazard Ultra, published by Headup Games (they published alot of indie/download games).
Fun fact: on the Disc from Beat Hazard Ultra, you can find a Track made by me :D
I have a physical copy of the Half Life 1 collection. It's quite funny really, it's a physical copy of a digital copy of a physical game.
Madness.
*THE ORANGE BOX* RRRREEEEEE
I primarily buy the boxed copies because they're cheaper than the Steam versions.
Tends to be the opposite for me.
Mashu You should look in bargin bins, I got 6 copies of frozen synapse with red dlc for $5
In the U.S. (the area I live in at least), I have yet to find a hard copy cheaper than a Steam copy. I work at Best Buy and am constantly looking for better deals but Steam always beats the store version, even after my employee discount. I have looked in many other stores as well but Steam is always the best bargain.
PS4 version of Watch dogs (Special edition) costs 10$ less than digital
Iris Zizka Yup, let the spawn of capitalism engulf you ^_^
I hate when they pull this crap. Its fine for the people who buy the game with fast uncapped internet but what about people with either slow internet or internet with a cap? If it's not going to actually use the discs why don't they just sell the case with the code?
They do. At least here in Australia
I ended up buying DuckTales Remastered 3 times. once from PSN, then they released a physical boxed version for the PS3 which contained a cardboard disc with a code.. then they announced a Blu-Ray disc version for the PS3 so I bought that as well...
Yeah, I'm glad I waited and just got the disc version for PS3! Very cool to own.
Well, at least the first cardboard disc release came with a collectible Disney DuckTales pin. So not a total waste hehe.
I have the Wii U version!
You're part of the problem
@@mbii7667 Who's part of the which problem?
It's really weird to hear that america doesn't get many physical releases.
I just love the idea of Goat Simulator sitting on a shelf next to the 20 other more serious simulators out there.
I think the reason Europe gets a lot more physical releases is because our internet can be absolutely rubbish in some parts. Downloading a whole game can take days so people just go buy it from a shop because it's easier. At least that was the case with me when I was living in the British countryside when I was younger.
A few games I didn't expect to see in stores but found them anyway:
Monkey Island 1 & 2 Special Edition for the PS3 (which I bought without even blinking)
Walking Dead Season 1 for PS Vita
Angry Birds for PS3 (yes, you read that correctly)
Well, phsical discs are still the deal in Germany and it looks like it keeps going that way. Most of the gamers I talked from Centra and East Europe are aware of they actually do not OWN the games on Steam. They consider Steam as a rental system which would be shut down one day. Believe me, it sounds crazy but they really consider that posibility. Given the fact that the "beloved" users of OnLive were burnt so bad, I cannot blame them. >;-)
As a person who travels between different far and close locations time to time, I prefer to reach my games any time and anywhere I want. Therefore, I prefer digital copies over physical ones.
BTW, Doom 3 BFG Edition's DVD includes Doom 3 remastered alongside with The Ultimate Doom, Doom II and Doom II: No Rest for the Living. Requires Steam though...
danielroxheaps Yeah, that is why OnLive's consumers burnt and physical game users have a point to be doubtful for Steam.
+REA987 Valve once said that if they go under, they'll make a way to play all your Steam games without Steam.
Ah yes, this was one of my fears as adopting the PC Gaming way of life. Physical copies of games. Being a collector of games, I feel much more satisfied getting a boxed copy of a game rather than a digital one, putting that case on my shelf and taking a few steps back to see my entire collection before my eyes, it's wonderful. That's why no matter what, if there's a physical copy of a game, I get it always over the digital version. Obviously some games are digital only, and that's kind of unavoidable. My only exception is Steam Sales. Sometimes, those deals are just too good to pass up, but, I still infinitely prefer physical. Hell, for recent games, I got Watch Dogs and Titanfall on PC physically cause why the hell not?
See, the reason your channel is awesome is your sense of humor and facial expressions. They're great!
Actually... I just noticed that you look like me with an added beard. XD
Don't forget his Duke Nukem voice. :P
Right, right.
*In Duke Nukem voice*
Marvel at the amazing voice of Duke Nukem
Be dazzled as he takes on goat simulator
Wait what?
Gamecool10 Still wouldn't be surprised if Duke took on goats. :P
When you pulled that first manual out and flipped through it, it brought back so many memories! Every single time I got a new Sims game, I'd open the manual first and just enjoy the blissful scent! So beautiful! Don't you agree?
The Binding of Isaac also has a Most Unholy Edition, which I'm fairly certain was only in Germany - it comes with the same kind of stuff as in the Super Meat Boy boxed version
I suppose the lack of DVD rom drives in modern PCs is a driver for less physical copies. Also, some games are massive like GTA5 which would probably need 10 DVDs or so. My two cents :D - finally, thanks Clint for some of the best content on YT.
Part of me still hopes that The Sims 4 GPs, SPs, and EPs will come out as physical copies. I just don't trust digital copies. Its nice to look at a shelf full of Sims games rather than a screen full of box art.
You can buy some combo packs physically, I got spa day and perfect patio bundle at walmart
I always try to get physical copies of games if I can.Not only for the box/case but the manual.Lets face it few of us actually look at the digital manual on steam games.
Complicated games like the x3 (for example) series its almost a must to have the hundred plus page manual.As its not too convenient to tab out of a game to look at the digital manual then end up writing down key binds so you can remember.
Edit: A old friend that now works at Tripwire Interactive says companies actually make more off selling physical copies.Since places like Steam take money off the top along with their publisher.His company publishes their own games so a physical copy for them is almost 100% profit.
For small Indy type devs they deserve every penny so physical copies help support the developers.
I'm so buying a copy, because why not? I live in the UK, But hooray, The UK gets something the US doesn't, what a change!
It'd be very hard for the US to do that, They are also very well implemented. They stop a lot of crime, so I don't mind.
Andrew Fishburn
I'd rather stop crimes from "needing" to happen and not have to have cameras on every street corner.
Voxel8or The UK has CCTV the US has the NSA, same shit different name. Except the CCTV cameras stop crime just by being there, can't say the same for the NSA.
*****
You must be living in an alternate version of Britain then because that's exactly what I see on the streets every week.
cardiacade Yeah, but you'd see more of it. Crime can never be completely stopped.
Hey LGR!
Another odd thing about Tux Racer... I actually played Tux Racer on an Arcade Cabinet before I knew there were any other versions. It was strange indeed. My local Gattis had it I believe. you controlled the penguin with a WHEEL. A literal Car Wheel.
Maybe Europeans just have more Shelves
I knew it! Shelves are the real MVP.
Thanks Ikea!
What always confuses me that gets a physical release is the angre birds games . And the cut the rope games .
Physical copies ftw!
Love the Tapwave Zodiac in the corner. Perfect match with Jazz Jackrabbitz.
The reason Europe get so many physical releases and the US doesn't is because of everything else the US gets. In Europe, and pretty much everywhere else, we have to go through all sorts of travel problems and such just to get a Twinkie. I know you can probably order them online, but it's not the same as going to the store and getting them yourself.
Plus you'll have to pay twice as much for it
I love twinkies...
I've seen a bunch of physical UK PC releases get released here in Canada with the Pegi rating still on them.
makes a vídeo about one of these phisical releases that Just come with a key code inside
If we could find physical copies of all of Bucketheads Pike series, we would be complete.
For the record, the PS3 edition of Minecraft is getting a physical release very soon, with different box art than the 360 edition.
It did come out a while ago, I saw a copy at a store.
Yeah I just saw a copy and I was just like "Oh wow when did this come out?"
Nearly all new physical PC games are kind of useless as they just essentially CD keys and once installed, the disc becomes useless. (Steam games come to mind)
However being from the UK, we do get a lot of physical simulator games, most of which you install (with no CD key) and then you can play the game without ever having to insert the disc lol. Those are my favourite types of physical PC games :p
Since I live in Europe, finding downloadable games in physical form is so common I just never really notice it and I always assume it's like that over there as well. Kinda shocked the US is weird in that regard.
I SEE JAZZ JACKRABBIT 2 IN THE BACKGROUND.
REVIEW CONFIRMED.
+1!
I have the original JJ2 box with comic/manual :3
Yeah but you're not reviewing it.
i got minecraft on disc mostly because it was a time when I couldn't get internet.
At the Walmart in San Bernardino there was a copy of Space Engineers. Didn't have the money to buy it though :/
Worms isn't surprising at all.. There were console and handheld versions and shit.. Big franchise..
Considering we don't get them physically here in the US, it's surprising to me!
Lazy Game Reviews We get them in Canada 0.o..
Good old worms, made in the little town I grew up and live in, makes me proud of living here since Team 17 are only a short walk away from me!
A lot of those games didn't get a US physical release since they were developed in the UK/EU. Worms Reloaded by Team17 in UK, Sniper Elite by Rebellion in UK, American Nightmare by Nordic Games (self explanatory).
Earlier versions of Worms, Sniper Elite 1, and Alan Wake were all sold in America in physical form though is the thing :) It's these more recent ones that are odd over here!
lee mottreshead It's K, I'm gonna go eat a hamburger, break the chair I'm eating in because I'm so fat and then blame it on all the "Feraners" invading our "Murica". Ahh stereotypes.
Shmaples Actually, Mexico has become fatter than america. Yay, we in murica lost 0.0000001 pounds! Thats real progress. Yes, I am american
You left the little plastic stickers on your minecraft box
It took all my strength not to try peel them off through the screen
Living in Europe, I had no idea all those games DIDN'T exist in the US. I see these in stores all the time.
I Live in the UK - I have 'Might and magic X: Legacy' on physical release - this wasn't available in the US (at least on release, dunno about now) - you got the game on dvd, a FULL MANUAL!!!, soundtrack, Might and magic 6 uplay code, the first DLC and a cloth map, the map is great and really helpful.
The good thing was that the physical release was the same price as the digital on release day plus if you bought from uplay directly they gave you a pre-release key so you can play when it went live and you just put in the code in the box to progress past act 1, so if the game was delayed then you could still download and play on release day - i wish more companies would do that, instant access to digital but post out a physical also
You are delightfully nerdy, mate.
I really can't believe you uploaded this! What a huge coincidence. Yesterday my friend and I missed a bus from town and had 2 hours to kill until the next bus came so we went to the GAME (British video game shop with an original name www.game.co.uk ) and we were surprised how good the PC section had been updated. The prices were great and I picked up Tropico 5 for 30 pounds and then we suddenly realised that goat simulator was there. I picked it up to look at the box and then we realised that Monaco was there as well (in a very nicely designed box too) and then I saw LIMBO and Hotline Miami. It was very strange for me seeing these games but even though I owned them on Steam I really wanted to get them because the boxes were SO NICE (with the exception of Goat Simulator which was pretty standard). They were embossed and had sleeves and opened up like a book and stuff. Some even had holograms on the box such as Monaco.
We were the only ones in the shop and we started chatting to a guy that worked there. He was talking about these boxed digital games and then we played a game of FIFA on the PS4 on display. In the end I bought goat simulator because I didn't actually own it at all anyway. But it was £9.99 which is quite a bit more than the standard price of the digital version. But it is expected for the packaging and stuff I guess but Tropico was actually cheaper than the digital version and it was on sale. I also bought LIMBO and Monaco for their lovely boxes. And they actually were boxes. Like in the old days. It's amazing you released this video today when this all happened to me yesterday.
What can I say, I'm a sucker for boxes. XD
If you are wondering the exact shop it was GAME, Ards Shopping Centre, Newtownards, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom :D it's my local shop and I love it to bits. :D
Some of the weirdest physical releases I've seen are for simulators, such as Train Simulator and Farm Simulator... Really weird to see that sort of stuff at a store...
You've clearly never visited a German game store :P
Dutchling Aren't most of the simulators made in Germany?
Whole section to NOTHING BUT simulators in a Gamestop shop in Dublin. It was amazing.
Excellent video, Clint! Weird how some games are only physical releases overseas.
The only physical (known as digital only) release I have is Necrovision: Lost Company. I'm huge fan on the original game, and have a physical copy of it. I had to get the prequel in physical condition. I got a physical copy of Lost Company from Thailand. Though the box and manual isn't in english the game is, and it's an actual install DVD, no Steam needed. :)
I have a physical copy of Awesomenauts and Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, I never knew these even existed (I mean the physical releases, not the games D:) and I just found them while browsing an ebay-like website for games :S
Whoa, Chivalry got a retail release huh? Will have to track that one down.
Lazy Game Reviews www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Chivalry-Medieval-Warfare-PC-/380915963796?pt=UK_PC_Video_Games_Video_Games_JS&hash=item58b05c5794
Right here bud.
Lazy Game Reviews Also, it only again seems to have been released in the uk. That's all I've seen so far.
Spanked Diox
I own a Polish copy, it's being distributed by, well, CD Projekt D:
www.g2a.com/chivalry-medieval-warfare-steam-cdkey-global.html?___store=englishus
This is the only different version I've been able to find. The Polish version only seems to come from steam, I don't know man. I can't find a hard copy everywhere. Maybe your just lucky and have the only hard copy in existence xD?
Wow, this was really cool stuff, man! I was surprised by quite a few of these entries. Thanks for sharing your thoughts :)
"Forget life play Snood"
Square and NIS America sometimes still release Boxed copies of game exclusively on their online store for Pre-Orders only. I know I've bought a few that never saw the light of day outside of that. One of my most loved physical copy happens to be the US Soundtrack to Final Fantasy VIII. Got it signed by Nobuo Uematsu at a Distant Worlds concert where no one had ever seen it before. Great moment there.
Sniper Elite V2 is free on Steam !!!
Hey man I love your channel. You always have cool and unique videos. Anyways, if you have a PS3 there are a lot of digital games that have physical copies. The first one is the Journey Collector's Edition where it comes with Flow, Flower, and Journey and also some codes for extra content. Second, the remastered HD version of Okami had a physical copy only in Japan, but you can still play it in an American PS3 since the games are region free. Lastly, the Best of PlayStation Network Vol. 1, has 4 popular games on the PSN in a retail disc. The games are: Vikings Attack, Sound Shapes, Tokyo Jungle, and Fat Princess.
JJR2 video incoming!
As a games retail clerk from Czech Republic (at least until recetly - calling higher management useless won't exactly get you promotion, who would have thought) I'd say there are several reasons for these PC physical releases here:
- PC is still the main gaming platform here (and that's probably true everywhere east from Germany, them included I guess)
- There is little trust towards online payment methods here - many people just won't do online payments, kids usually can't. So just buying a boxed game with steam code (and yes there is almost always a disc) is pretty much the most straightforward, if not the only way to sell a game to basically all non-enthusiasts and kids.
Hell, "we" even have boxes with codes fro DLC packs for AC, HoMaM games and such. Terraria actually suprised me though, never had that in store, lots of kids were asking for it.
Sounds very reasonable, to me. Thanks for the insight!
There's a couple of those jewel case w/ cardboard sleeve versions of Amnesia released through another value software company.
Importing would be more fun if the PEGI logo didn't look like dogshit. Yeah I said it, ESRB for LIFE.
i wish you had shown some more old boxes from 80/90s where all the boxes had awesome artwork that had nothing to do with the real game :P
But i sure do miss buying games from the shelves.
Another example is the physical version of Skullgirls. After the game became unexpectedly popular in Japan, it eventually gained a physical release in Japan because of their general adversity to downloadable media.
Japan is great - quality rice, vending machines everywhere, still an almost entirely cash society (which would be a problem to most western people but I think it's interesting), and just likes physical stuff in general, such as video game boxes.
Caleb Jaaniste Then again, there is the fact that their workforce is merciless (to the point where their have their own term, Karoshi, that refers to death from overwork).
@@Kytseo I say it's worth it
Normally I don´t collect retail versions of PC games but you have to check out the physical releases of Limbo, with need oldschool 3D glasses and Gone Home in a sweet SNES-Box style packaging. Keep on making awesome videos.
Over in Euroland they don't have FUCKING GAMESTOP. Gamestop killed the PC retail scene by not carrying PC games anymore.
Gamestop in my country (in europe), still have physical PC games.
In England, CEX and Game still carry physical PC games.
+Milo O'Rourke me too but they mostly have very obscure games were I live
+Ollie Taylor cex doesn't count because all the games are second hand.
+otakuploader I don't get why people say GameStop is evil?
Holy crap, I've seen that Blood Dragon box in a mall two weeks ago. Didn't know it had a poster, now I just have to get it.
Also, this made me look up World of Goo on an online ebay-like used goods shop which lead me to boxed copies of The Void, Planescape Torment, SWAT 4, The Thing and Tron 2.0 for about 1.25 bucks each, and a copy of The Dark Project for about $2.5 (all boxed, sadly Thief isn't the big boxed edition, but some weird "small-big" box with a jewel case inside, and it's german). I owe you a lot for these, man.
Main reason for physical copies here in Europe are 1. You want to feel that you actually own it, for same price as a digital you get a physical that you can uninstall and reinstall again and again and again unlike having an digital account that might ban you and ending up with you loosing all the games you bought. 2. Older gamers do not play games that manage accounts over the web (origin, battle.net, steam). 3. Digital doesnt do games justice sometimes, getting more "loot" for same price is better. It feels better.
The EU and Germany in particular are really cracking down on valve to allow reselling of games and other things on steam.
***** What? I don't think so.
***** Errrm, Most of EU has bad internet Errrrm Nope, compare with Aus, NZ, and Most of US.
Hell even most of the World, EU has Pretty amazing access, I am getting 12Mbit access on my PC through tethered android device (unlimited download), and upto 60-100 Mb if I could be bothered getting a physical connection, and I am not living within 20km of a city.
***** that is 12mbs on a 2012 HSPA+ enabled phone (theoretical max is 14.4 Mbs) for the same price I could get a physical >100Mbs connection with unlimited transfer (and TV and phone), which seems to be a lot better than a lot of the US/Aus/Africa
seriously bandwidth caps, packet shaping, throttling to certain competitor site servers really US internet providers,
***** I am aware that in some places throughout the EU there are varying degrees of net provision, however the majority of the EU enjoys good ISP choice and availability of service providers. Turkey espescially has it's own list of Internet problems the least of which is bandwidth.
This was a response in the misconceived fact that the bulk of the EU is somehow impoverished, whilst the majority do not enjoy terminal 2Gbs fibre connections, the nature of having many individual nations and EU diredctives to increase communication availability throughout the EU states has resulted in many areas enjoying good connectivity.
As to this reducing the preferance to Digitial distributed media, this isn't really a factor, I still have a steam / GOG /Desura /Origin account and even if the individual file DLs at 4Mbs I can just leave it on overnight.
However there are a lot more physical copies available from the UK especially, this is due to market preference, (just that the argument that internet is crap over the bulk of EU is considerably incorrect)
Yeah, In Europe finding a physical release of a Simulator game is common as balls. Many of the games you showed I haven´t personally stumbled upon (maybe because I wasn´t particularly looking for them), but I did manage to find the Binding of Isaac most unholy edition in stores which was definitely a surprise to me.
Europeans don`t trust in online shopping and prefer buying a retail game
Don't know why I haven't found your channel until today, great vid, subbed
i'm more jealous of japanese people and what japanese games never see a release anywhere else. you won't even hear about so many of them because of the language barrier. i wonder how many ni no kuni caliber games are there that are forever lost unless you learn japanese and go to japan in person because even if you figure out how to order something, the shipping fees and import taxes make it really expensive IF they deliver internationally at all.
I live in Poland, and although I'm not 100% sure why there are boxed releases here and not in the US I have some hunches that I can give from my perspective.
For starters - downloadable games can be expensive in some countries. Steam operates in Euros here and has prices that you would expect, but the average pay over here is much lower. Local publishers sell PC games for half the price that you would expect to get people to buy them and they can still be considered expensive.
Lots of people still don't have good download speeds or a credit card that can take internet transactions (in a different currency no less). Some are scared of inputing their credit card info on the internet (even though it's more likely to lose the info by giving a cashier the card to swipe).
Finally there's just market penetration. A lot of people will buy the game in the box when they're just walking through that part of the supermarket or electronics store (there are zero physical stores that sell just games. You'd go bankrupt in a month.)
Of course lots of this applies mostly to moms buying games for their kids, or kids buying games with their allowance. Most tech-savy (if you can call it that) people look through various sites on the internet and find some cheap options, though you'd be surprised for often you can get a physical copy ordered and shipped to your house and still pay less then the asking price on steam.
PS: I have a polish retail copy of World of Goo myself. Sadly it's less snazzy then yours. It's just a CD with a DRM-free polish copy of the game, in a DVD box, in a cardboard sleeve. No extra slips of paper.
I also have a retail copy of Civilization V. Not sure if you had those or not. It came in a DVD box with a Steam key and installation DVD, instructions and a giant fold out piece of paper that has a keyboard shortcut cheat sheet, the tech tree, policy tree, all the resources, units, upgrades, pretty much everything and half of it is totally inaccurate by this point.
physical game releases suck now because of steam. we won't be able to buy these games second hand anymore, the discs are totally useless and the manuals are pathetic.
I have an interesting comparison to this practise. Being a huge hip hop fan you can occasionally buy a physical form of a mixtape (meant to be a free alternative to an album) whether it be on vinyl, cassette or cd. This usually comes months after the mixtape has been given away for free online and i suppose is comparable to free games getting a boxed retail release.
because Europe is cooler :)
Stfu nerd :)
+Garry Cowan at least the US has 1 language....!
Lol
A language which you borrowed from us which in itself is an amalgam of many European languages French unfortunately being one :)
Well, the UK is definitely cooler than Texas... especially in the summer. Although honestly, I don't like Germany, Sweden, or France at all. Switzerland, Norway, and Austria are all right... but really, aside from the UK and Australia, my favorite countries outside the US would probably be Japan and South Korea. I never understood what people see in continental Europe, or how they'd feel safe backpacking across it.
The reason Europe specifically the UK have more hard copy releases of their games goes back to the 80s. While here in the US we went for cartridge based systems like the NES, the European market found a niche with PCs like Sinclair ZX spectrum. They were tons cheaper thanks to a lack of import tax. Not to mention the games were generally cheaper. That filters into today's market because there is a higher population on PC gamers in the UK and Europe. These gamers tend to expect a physical release because of this history. It's like in Japan with music. Physical copies of music sell much more because of included content like posters, album art, etc.
+J.London
Actually the US doesn't have many physical releases because FUCKING GAMESTOP doesn't carry physical copies of PC games, and since for some reason they are the dominant gaming retailer in the US this means no one bothers making physical releases here because FUCKING GAMESTOP won't carry them.
Now the question is, WHY won't FUCKING GAMESTOP carry PC games? They claim it's because they weren't selling. This is of course, bullshit. What they actually wanted to do was take that shelf space to be able to put more used games up for consoles since it is impossible to resell used PC games. See, if Gamestop can't resell used games for 10x what they paid the chump who brought it in, they won't carry games for the system.
+RaithSienar while that's true- EB games (before it was GameStop) had PC games. It is mostly the modern iteration of PC games and the market for them here in the states. It goes back to my original comment- back in the beginning of the 8bit era US consumers preferred to have consoles as UK users were on a computer boom and so in today's world the big retailers don't think they'll make money with PC games. Hence GameStop doesn't sell them.
I already tweeted you about it, but I got Frozen Synapse, Collector's Edition in a box by sheer luck in a Gamestop store. Same store also carried a single copy of FC3:Blood Dragon, I might add.
I have a lot of games on my Steam account but i have less than 10 physical copies of pc games. Mainly because buying pc games in digital form is so cheap and easy nowadays but also because trade-in values on pc games are so low (in the UK at least) they're not worth trading once you're finished with them.
A lot of PC games also have activation codes which can only be used once so you can't re-sell them, which i found out the hard way a while back buying some second hand pc games on Ebay.
I do miss the days of getting a nice thick manual with games though, i bought Battlefield 4 and The Last Of Us on PS3 and all i got was a cheap leaflet with a help line number on the back and a link to the developers website.
3:28 I remember playing this game as a kid on Windows 7 or maybe even Linux I think , ahh such memories
Physical releases are popular here in the UK because they are usually cheaper than Steam. For example, Wolfenstein is £35 on Steam at the moment, but I can get a physical copy from almost anywhere for £25. I assume the distributors have some sort of deal with Steam and other retailers to keep the in-store copies cheaper.
Last year, I managed to snatch a copy of Dink Smallwood, a fun "RPG" Zelda-like game released in 1997-1998 in very limited quantities. Once the copies were sold, it was released as freeware in 1999.
I had been looking for it for years and I was super excited to finally own it!
We still get these physical releases here in Australia too, it's not just Europe. I have a handful of the games you featured, and they're mostly the same editions/box art as here too.
Trine 2 also got a Physical collector's edition similiar to that of Super Meat Boy. It came with an art book, which is neat because as far as games with 2.5D graphics go, Trine is as gorgeous as it gets.
It seems like PC gaming is the only area where US has it worse than EU, as many (mostly Japanese) console and hand held games that the US gets are only released digitally in Europe or not at all. Atleast with Nintendo DS and PSP you could import, but Nintendo put a region lock on 3DS and some games have on disc region protection, so no Shin Megami Tensei IV or Persona 4 Arena for Europe.
Physical, let's get PHYSICAL!
Physical, let's get...let's get PHYSICAL!
Sorry, I just had to. :D
I had a bunch but they went out on the front nature strip when I moved. Was the metal box container for CIV III (the disc stopped working after a while)
Back in 2002 America's Army was mainly distributed through download, but you could get physical copies from Army recruiting offices. I couldn't download it with my slow internet at the time, so I actually picked one up at a recruiting office.
LGR, how about a video on neat or interesting game manuals? We don't see manuals anymore and there are some fool ones out there. Remember the manual for Fallout? Spiral bound, looked like a survival journal, and even had recipes in the back!
Totally planned :)
@@LGR did you ever do it?
Really glad to see the Scratches box only because Im Argentinian. Also great video as always, you're one of my favourite youtubers, always admired old pc hardware and software.
It probably goes without saying but a lot of these came out in Australia too, rating logos and all. I nearly picked up Blood Dragon a few weeks ago.
As for Minecraft 360, I thought that was pretty common knowledge tbh. All the other console editions (PS3, PS4, PS Vita, Xbox One) are getting physical releases soon too. And you can buy Minecraft PC digital codes in stores now. No idea Terraria had a physical release on consoles though.
12:23 Holy shit, a new game with a BBFC rating! Shame that rating system doesn't apply to games anymore...damn you, continental Europe.
Since you had Super Meat Boy there i might as well mention that Binding Of Isaac also got a pretty cool boxed version, it has some pretty awesome looking art on the front of the box and some cool goodies along with a non-drm copy of the game and the expansion patched to a newer version compared to the steam version (mostly bug fixes and what not). It's pretty easy to find around these parts, I've seen it in most Gamestops around here in Finland.
One recent release I always found super odd to see in stores is Angry Birds which as far as I know got multiple boxed releases on a few systems including PC (Not sure about US release). For such a simple game it seems to have made the rounds any anything good enough to play it! Thanks for another great video man!
I was surprised to come across a physical copy of Torchlight some time ago. It's nice to have the option to get yourself a box for a game you enjoy, even if it might be more convenient to get it digitally.
I've been playing APB Reloaded off and on for about 2 years now, and I never knew that there was actually a physical release of the Reloaded version. I gotta get my hands on one! Thanks LGR!