Size of NES boxes

[James]

When Nintendo decided to bring their Famicom system over to North America and then later to Europe, they made some minor to major decisions based on security, etc. like making the cartridges twice the size of the Japanese ones and using the toaster approach, pin header size differences etc. well that's good and all but I've always wondered why they decided to stick a small piece of styrofoam at the bottom of every box making them about an inch taller. The only advantage I can see is for more real estate on the box for art, info etc. Anyone else ever wondered this?

[boatofcar]

My guess is that the styro helped cushion the game during shipping.

[mills]

If you've ever held a boxed nes game you would know that it shakes around inside the box if the foam isn't in there.

[Mattiekrome]

If you've ever held a boxed nes game you would know that it shakes around inside the box if the foam isn't in there.

I think what he was sayin was how come the box isnt the size of the cart itself?

Instead of putting styro in there, just shorten the box by a couple of inches... :/

[jajaja]

The first releases over here had small boxes. The cartridge fit just inside the box. I have no idea why they extended the box. Maybe to fit more text and pics on the back or that bigger box looked better on the shelf so ppl would notice them easier.

[retroplayer]

And you can put more info on a bigger box. More art and pictures.

[captain nintendo]

Dragon Warrior boxes need to be bigger!

Bigger boxes I say!

I have trouble packing everything into Dragon Warrior 4.

[James]

The first releases over here had small boxes. The cartridge fit just inside the box. I have no idea why they extended the box. Maybe to fit more text and pics on the back or that bigger box looked better on the shelf so ppl would notice them easier.

I didn't know that, how many games were released this way and how rare would a complete one be?

Dragon Warrior boxes need to be bigger!

Bigger boxes I say!

I have trouble packing everything into Dragon Warrior 4.

Yeah I agree, once you take all that cool stuff out of those boxes it seems almost impossible to get it all back in.

Those games have some of the most impressive extras I've ever seen come with a console video game. I kinda wish games still came with loads of cool stuff.

[jajaja]

The first releases over here had small boxes. The cartridge fit just inside the box. I have no idea why they extended the box. Maybe to fit more text and pics on the back or that bigger box looked better on the shelf so ppl would notice them easier.

I didn't know that, how many games were released this way and how rare would a complete one be?

There is about 40 smallbox releases. They were only released in Europe. Here is a pic of Ice Climber box and manual. They arent really rare over here, but more uncommon. The hardest to find with smallbox after my own experience is Donkey kong Jr, Tetris, Hogans Alley and Devil World.

[Sylentwulf]

My guess is just to look better on the shelf next to PC games, VCR tapes, etc... If you want to blame someone, Atari was probably the first ones to make their boxes too damn big compared to the cartridge size. Coincidentilly, every system since theirs until Disc based systems were the same size.

So, I guess the better question is, why did ATARI make their boxes that size?

[Jumpman Jr.]

The first releases over here had small boxes. The cartridge fit just inside the box. I have no idea why they extended the box. Maybe to fit more text and pics on the back or that bigger box looked better on the shelf so ppl would notice them easier.

I didn't know that, how many games were released this way and how rare would a complete one be?

By 'over here', he means 'in England' eh. When I first read that I didn't understand what he was saying (because I had never heard of it either), but then realized that they were PAL games.

[jajaja]

I dont think England had the smallboxes.
Scandinavia and Germany (possible Austria too) had them atleast.

[8bitnes]

When Nintendo decided to bring their Famicom system over to North America and then later to Europe, they made some minor to major decisions based on security, etc. like making the cartridges twice the size of the Japanese ones and using the toaster approach, pin header size differences etc. well that's good and all but I've always wondered why they decided to stick a small piece of styrofoam at the bottom of every box making them about an inch taller. The only advantage I can see is for more real estate on the box for art, info etc. Anyone else ever wondered this?

Quite possibly as Captain Nintendo suggested, it was to allow games to have maps/oversized manuals although I feel that happened as a result of the convenience of the box shape and not as a forethought.

On a side note, NES was toaster style because it was marketed as an entertainment system and not as a toy such as Atari. Nintendo wanted to get as far away as possible from looking like Atari due to the video game crash in the early 1980s. Consumers were reluctant to buy into toy-like video game systems again. Also, loading in the front made it look more like a VCR, a hot item back then, which also played into the hands of their "entertainment system" promotion. So, I have to wonder if the toaster style had anything to do with security.

Finally, then, I guess making the bigger box would make it larger such as a VCR tape and again closer to looking entertainment related and not toy related.

[Ruudos]

I dont think England had the smallboxes.
Scandinavia and Germany (possible Austria too) had them atleast.

True, but France and Benelux didn't have them.

[retroplayer]

The small boxes are an nice extra to your collection. Because its fun to see a big box zelda and a small one. And the black boxes are real nice to see.

[ManciGames]

So, I guess the better question is, why did ATARI make their boxes that size?

Besides the luxury (already mentioned by others) of allowing for bigger art and text, I was of the understanding that oversize boxes were used to help control theft.

For example, early CD releases in the U.S. were packaged in "longboxes" for that very reason. Eventually, stores went to packaging the CD cases in longer plastic "lock boxes" that were removed prior to you leaving the store, so the longboxes were done away with.

[Jumpman Jr.]

I dont think England had the smallboxes.
Scandinavia and Germany (possible Austria too) had them atleast.

Right, right.
As I read your other thread, I thought to myself "did I say England in the other thread."
My bad.
Europe is what I meant I guess.

[jajaja]

ok
I dont know why only a few countries imported these tho. I dont know if they are PAL-B or if they will work on a PAL-A (england/italy/australia) NES either. Only says "Euroepan Version". Anyone know if they work on PAL-A systems?