And when pondering if a new game should be acquired, the following variables are generally all considered in varying degrees and all affect perceived value: condition of the box; rarity of the game; popularity of the game; internal paper inserts or other “feelies” (condition & completeness); condition of the disk(s) or cartridge; game’s operational status; box’s virginity (has it ever been opened), etc. And yes, it’s a very eclectic and often expensive hobby to pursue and research is required.
For those with this strange addiction the whole process can bring a lot of pleasure and satisfaction, especially when a new piece to the collection’s puzzle is put into place.
Besides obvious economics, the most common reason I hear about not collecting physical games is a simple and totally understandable one: space. Boxes can take up a lot of space and many just don’t have much to spare.
I’ve read and even spoken to some who have kept their original disks (which are deteriorating) and manuals but dumped the thicker boxes for space considerations. For some games, sadly, the boxes and associated paperwork are worth far more than the original disks.
Regardless, there is one type of box that does not take up much room at all, and actually looks even better than any other. And, it came from a publisher who created some of the most iconic games of the early-to-mid 1980s across multiple computer platforms. This, of course, is the Electronic Arts (EA) “Flat” or “flat box”. At the time, games came on large 5 1/4” floppy disks and often on just one was all it took to send you to video gaming heaven. This media's form factor fit perfectly into a “sleeved” box concept borrowed directly from their vinyl counterparts in the music industry - the record album - larger-format art and a thin package. In 2004, Hugh Falk of GOTCHA (Gaming Obsession Throughout Computer History Association) was able to collect some fascinating background on the EA Flats through a series of email communications with (legendary) Trip Hawkins, Bing Gordon and Budd Steinhilber.
Budd Steinhilber, who was President of the San Francisco design firm of Steinhilber, Deutsch & Gard, which designed the original packaging, told GOTCHA:
It's worth noting that the Worms mentioned here is actually Worms? and is not the game most Amigans bring to mind from the 90s. Worms? was one of the original 5 games that launched Electronic Arts into being a real-deal video game company in 1983.In 1983 in respect to the three-leaf, two-fold, square album concept. I can tell you that the inspiration for this format grew out of sketches that Barry Deutsch and I first proposed to Rich Melmon, Trip Hawkins, and Bing Gordon. As you know, most video-games at the time were on cartridges, so presentation of the floppy disk deserved more than just a simple one part sleeve. Especially since Trip wanted to punch-up not only the game features, but promote the "electronic artists" as well. (And it allowed us to stretch Dr.J. & Larry Bird's lanky frames across three panels). We also worked closely with Jeff Silverstein (Goodby,Berlin & Silverstein) in some aspects of early advertising design strategy. Here are three of our earliest albums (One on One, Worms and Pinball) for which we did design, art production, and photo art-direction.
Hugh Falk:
Below is a comprehensive list of EA Flats (although not 100% complete as some OSes are missing) compiled by Falk in 2004 and modified here by Amiga Love with permission to re-publish. If you know of any other EA Flats that should be included - regardless of OS/platform - please let us know.There are four types of EA flat boxes:
- Tri-fold: The original flat-box that, upon opening, has three panels -- left, center and right. Examples include: Archon, Pinball Construction Set and The Last Gladiator.
- Bi-fold: This variant came slightly later and only features two panels that open like a book. Examples include: The Bard's Tale, Racing Destruction Set and Mail Order Monsters.
- Record Sleeve: This variant is similar to traditional record album packaging. It is simply a cardboard pocket with an opening on one side. Nothing folds out. Examples include: The "Amazing Software" line and budget repackaging for the "Software Classics" line.
- Fat Box: This variant is still approximately 9" square but is about three times thicker than a standard flat box. If it were a record album, it would be comparable to a boxed set. This box is unique in that it has a lid that separates from the bottom container. Examples include: The Bard's Tale II, Robot Rascals and Radio Baseball.
Game | OS | Media | Category | Year |
---|---|---|---|---|
Adventure Construction Set | C64 | 5.25" Disk | RPG | 1984 |
Age of Adventure | Atari | 5.25" Disk | RPG | 1981-86 |
Amnesia | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Adventure | 1987 |
Amnesia | Apple II | 5.25" Disk | Adventure | 1987 |
Amnesia | DOS | 5.25" Disk | Adventure | 1987 |
Archon | Atari | 5.25" Disk | Action / Strategy | 1983 |
Archon | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Action / Strategy | 1983 |
Archon II: Adept | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Action / Strategy | 1984 |
Arcticfox | Atari ST | 3.5" Disk | Arcade | 1985-86 |
Arcticfox | Apple II | 5.25" Disk | Arcade | 1985-86 |
Arcticfox | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Arcade | 1985-86 |
Axis Assassin | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Arcade | 1983 |
Chuck Yeager's Advanced Flight Trainer | Apple II | 5.25" Disk | Sim | 1987 |
Chuck Yeager's Advanced Flight Trainer | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Sim | 1987 |
D-Bug | Atari | 5.25" Disk | Edu | 1983; |
Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Arcade | 1986 |
Deathlord | C64 | 5.25" Disk | RPG | 1988 |
Deathlord | Apple II | 5.25" Disk | RPG | 1988 |
Delta Patrol | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Arcade | 1987 |
Demon Stalkers | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Arcade | 1987 |
Dragon's Lair | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Arcade | 1983 |
Earl Weaver Baseball | DOS | 5.25" Disk | Sports | 1987 |
Earl Weaver Baseball | Amiga | 3.5" Disk | Sports | 1987 |
EOS: Earth Orbit Stations | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Strategy | 1984-1987 |
F/A-18 Interceptor | Amiga | 3.5" Disk | Sim | 1988 |
Ferrari Formula One | Amiga | 3.5" Disk | Sim | 1988 |
Golden Oldies | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Misc. | ? |
Grand Slam Bridge | DOS | 5.25" Disk | Misc. | 1985-87 |
Hard Hat Mack | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Arcade | 1983 |
Hard Hat Mack | Atari | 5.25" Disk | Arcade | 1983 |
Heart of Africa | C64 | 5.25" Disk | RPG | 1985 |
Legacy of the Ancients | DOS | 5.25" Disk | RPG | 1987 |
Legacy of the Ancients | C64 | 5.25" Disk | RPG | 1987 |
Legacy of the Ancients | Apple II | 5.25" Disk | RPG | 1987 |
Lords of Conquest | Atari ST | 3.5" Disk | Strategy | 1986-88 |
Lords of Conquest | Atari | 5.25" Disk | Strategy | 1986 |
Lords of Conquest | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Strategy | 1986 |
M.U.L.E. | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Strategy | 1983 |
M.U.L.E. | Atari | 5.25" Disk | Strategy | 1983 |
Mail Order Monsters | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Arcade | 1984-85 |
Make Your Own Murder Party | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Misc. | 1986 |
Marble Madness | Apple IIGS | 3.5" Disk | Arcade | 1984-87 |
Marble Madness | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Arcade | 1984-86 |
Mind Mirror | C64 | 3.5" Disk | Misc. | 1986 |
Mind Mirror | Apple II | 5.25" Disk | Misc. | 1986 |
Murder on the Zinderneuf | DOS | 5.25" Disk | Adventure | 1983-84 |
Murder on the Zinderneuf | Atari | 5.25" Disk | Adventure | 1983 |
One on One | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Sports | 1983 |
One on One | Atari | 5.25" Disk | Sports | 1983 |
Patton VS Rommel | Mac | 3.5" Disk | Strategy | 1986 |
Patton VS Rommel | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Strategy | 1986 |
PHM Pegasus | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Sim | 1987 |
PHM Pegasus | Apple II | 5.25" Disk | Sim | 1987 |
Pinball Construction Set | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Arcade | 1985 |
Pinball Construction Set | Atari | 5.25" Disk | Arcade | 1985 |
Pinball Construction Set | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Arcade | 1985 |
Pinball Construction Set | Apple II | 5.25" Disk | Arcade | 1982-84 |
Racing Destruction Set | Atari | 5.25" Disk | Arcade | 1985 |
Racing Destruction Set | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Arcade | 1985 |
Radio Baseball | DOS | 5.25" Disk | Sports | 1986 |
Realm of Impossibility | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Arcade | 1983-84 |
Realm of Impossibility | Atari | 5.25" Disk | Arcade | 1983-84 |
Return To Atlantis | Amiga | 3.5" Disk | Adventure | 1985-88 |
Robot Rascals | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Board | 1986 |
Robot Rascals | Apple II | 5.25" Disk | Board | 1986 |
Sanxion | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Arcade | 1986 |
Skate or Die | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Arcade | 1987 |
Skyfox | Atari ST | 3.5" Disk | Arcade | 1984-85 |
Skyfox | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Arcade | 1984-85 |
Skyfox II: The Cygnus Conflict | Amiga | 3.5" Disk | Arcade | 1987 |
Skyfox II: The Cygnus Conflict | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Arcade | 1987 |
Skyfox II: The Cygnus Conflict | DOS | 5.25" Disk | Arcade | 1987-88 |
Starflight | DOS | 5.25" Disk | RPG | 1986 |
Strike Fleet | Apple II | 5.25" Disk | Sim | 1987 |
Super BoulderDash | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Arcade | 1984-86 |
The Bard's Tale II | Amiga | 3.5" Disk | RPG | 1988 |
The Bard's Tale II | C64 | 5.25" Disk | RPG | 1988 |
The Bard's Tale III: Thief of Fate | Apple II | 5.25" Disk | RPG | 1988 |
The Bard's Tale III: Thief of Fate | C64 | 5.25" Disk | RPG | 1988 |
The Bard's Tale: Tales of the Unknown Volume I | Apple IIGS | 3.5" Disk | RPG | 1985-87 |
The Bard's Tale: Tales of the Unknown Volume I | C64 | 5.25" Disk | RPG | 1985-87 |
The Bard's Tale: Tales of the Unknown Volume I | Atari ST | 3.5" Disk | RPG | 1985-87 |
The Last Gladiator | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Arcade | 1983 |
The Last Gladiator | Apple II | 5.25" Disk | Arcade | 1983 |
The Official America's Cup Sailing Sim | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Sim | 1986 |
The Seven Cities of Gold | Atari | 5.25" Disk | RPG | 1984 |
The Seven Cities of Gold | C64 | 5.25" Disk | RPG | 1984 |
The Standing Stones | C64 | 5.25" Disk | RPG | 1983 |
Touchdown Football | Atari | 5.25" Disk | Sports | 1985-86 |
Ultimate Wizard | C64 | 5.25" Disk | Arcade | 1984-86 |
Wasteland | C64 | 5.25" Disk | RPG | 1987-88 |
Wasteland | Apple II | 5.25" Disk | RPG | 1986-88 |
Word Flyer | Atari | 5.25" Disk | Edu | 1983 |
World Tour Golf | Apple IIGS | 3.5" Disk | Sports | 1985-87 |
Worms? | C64 | 5.25" Disk | ALife | 1983 |
Worms? | Atari | 5.25" Disk | ALife | 1983 |