Grab yourself a bargain!

I feel llike I’ve had a little time to reflect since my last blog, once my initial fear had subsided, my rationale returned and I thought that downloadable only console games were a silly idea, and that for some it would br a popular, space saving choice, but to most would mean the demise of collections growing, resale value dropping and how on earth would you be able to do the fancy-dan limited editions? It just won’t happen. So that said, lets move on…phew!

I have to say, I am something of an Ebay addict. I wish it were to selling, but unfortunately it’s for buying. Ebay is where I get my staple diet of retro games. I go through stages of different consoles and entertainment systems and buy up a few on one, then a few on another. I’ve noticed a slight dwindling on some formats though (my poor Commodore Amiga collection is suffering), which I have to say I’m quite surprised at, especially in the current climate. Ah well, looks like everyone is as eager as me to hold on to their beloved games. It’s a shame, there are still a lot of games out there I’ve not got in my collection that I either used to own that I want again, or have just never had. So searching on Ebay is becoming quite stressful, especially with all the crazy ‘buy it now’ prices that are out there these days! I have no clue where these people are getting their games valued, but who’d want to pay over-the-odds prices for below par quality merchandise is beyond me.

It’s seems the days of hunting down bargains on Ebay is slowly coming to an end as the online stores slowly take over and you end up paying £19.99 plus £3 postage for Sonic 3 on the megadrive rather than maybe picking it up for £5-£10 from your average Joe who’s having a clean out of bits and pieces they don’t want. It’s a shame, but I suppose that’s how they earn their money. I’ll just be keeping my eye’s out for the bargains. You won’t be catching me, you overcharging stores, trying to cash in on our weak minds wanting to own that rare game in almost mint condition with limited edition poster and pin badge!!!

It has to be said though, there are still plenty of places on Ebay that you can actually pick up a real bargain with! I got a mint Zelda: Ocarina of Time, boxed and in perfect condition for less than £5! It’s buys like these I consider myself lucky with. So what do you guys think? Do you use Ebay as your local retro game store, or do you get yourself down to the high street for them? What bargains have you picked up lately that your friends would be jealous of?

PSP: No more packaging?!

So I don’t know if any of you have seen all the news floating around the internet this last day or two about the new PSP GO! that Sony are being rumoured to be unveiling at E3 this week, but the one snippet of info that caught my eye was the ‘download only’ element of it.

Now don’t get me wrong. i think this is a brilliant idea in many ways. Space saving (until you run out of HD or flash memory), carry all your games around with you, its greener than putting it in packaging…and so on. And yes, I know UMD isn’t the greatest of formats, it’s noisy, slow to access, and you can’t carry too many around with you at once, but what about my collection.

Very selfish I know. It was inevitable this day would finally come, even if it’s not right away, but the day companies stop producing video game packaging is a sad day for my shelves and the rows of beautiful boxes I have on them. It’s silly really because I’ll only probably play a game through once or twice and then it’s just sat there (at least for a while until I rediscover it). But there’s something about having the box on your shelf, something that says, ‘I own this game’ that makes you feel like your collection of boxes isn’t just a collection of boxes.

Then there’s the ‘value for money’ factor. Are these going to be charged at regular prices? I’m not sure how much packaging costs for these games, but I’m sure it must impact in some way to the cost of buying a game? Designing, printing, cases, instructions. I like these things, i like them being there so I can take them off my shelf and say, ‘yeah, that was a good game’ and, ‘wow, look at that box art, that takes me back a few years.’ And what about those collectors editions?!

Maybe I’m not being with the times on this one. I don’t know. But I’m a collector and I like having boxes on the shelves! Please don’t stop putting your games in pretty boxes, Sony!

What do you guys think? Could this be the beinging of the end for video game packaging? Is it a good move? Or are you as obsessive about me as having all those boxes on your selves to marvel at? Let me know what you think!

Gameboxx’s Official Blog!

Welcome to Gameboxxonline.com’s official blog.

Just the first post so nothing too over strenuous. But lots in the pipeline. First is an overhaul of this blog site, then it’s back to work on the Gameboxx site.

It’s been something of an uphill stuggle to get the site up and running. not because of any major difficulties, more because of the lack of time and resources available to build the site. The site is something of a labour of love to those who are designing and developing ths site, so it’s unfortuantely fit in around everyones full time jobs. We have great plans for the site here at Gameboxx HQ though. The first stage is just to get the site launched.

There’s some major planning in the works at the moment to make sure we can bring you the site you want, so the site will be launched in phases. These are as follows.

Phase 1
Launch the site with the following

• Signifficant video game packaging archive…afterall, this is what the site is all about
• News and features that are updated on a regular basis. Who’d come back to a site that’s bot being updated regularly? Certainly not me!
• A history of videogame packaging through the ages
• Information about us and why we’re doing this
• A sign up favility so you can register for our eNewsletters

Phase 2
Next will be the implementation of:

• Sign in feature so you are able to comment and rate stories, articles and packaging, including star ratings
• A forum faclity so you can discuss all things video games
• Competitions…with prizes!!!
• The ability to add favourite packaging to your profile

There may be a phase 3, but that will hinge on how well the site takes off and how much support there is out there not only from you guys but from the intustry as well. So fingers crossed for that one. But a the moment all our efforts are on making sure phase 1 hapoens, and soon!! It’s felt like a long stuggle to get here, but there’s finally some light at the end of the tunnel!

So there you have it. Our first footsteps into the blogging world. Please feel free to get in touch, share your thoughts and ideas about how you ‘d like the site to work, what you’d like to see on there and anything else you might think we’d be interested in!