A copy of Ignition’s Boing! Docomodake — a puzzler/platformer for the Nintendo DS — arrived in our Baltimore offices today. Like many of the publisher’s other DS games (Metal Slug 7, Tornado!), the game comes packaged in a fancy cardboard slipcase.
The presentation is nice, for sure. The game’s logo is raised, as are parts of the little docomodake mushroom itself. The boxes for Tornado! and Metal Slug 7 are just as slick, shiny boxes that would genuinely capture your attention at retail. But once you slip the cover off, you’re met with a traditional game case that features the same — but less fancy, with no raised lettering or shiny material — artwork on both the front and the back of the box.
It’s like those Russian nesting dolls, but perhaps more annoying. While I can appreciate the attention to box artwork, especially when I’m confident physical games will be a thing of the past sooner rather than later, sometimes I just want to get to my game. Why the extra steps? This is particularly annoying in some special edition boxes, like the Prince of Persia: Limited Edition also pictured above; you can’t even quickly slip the game box out, as it’s enclosed on all sides.
Am I lazy? Maybe. No, wait — definitely. But I’m torn, because like I already said, I appreciate the effort it takes to package an appealing retail product. But I’m just not sure if it’s something that’s necessary or if I actually want to deal with it.
So what do you think? Do you love or hate this kind of slipcover packaging?
