I really, really do hate labels of any variety. Got that? I hate them with great vengeance and furious anger, so don’t label me. Things stick and once they are stuck they’re very hard to remove or be rid of. So why is it that throughout my gaming time, I am constantly surrounded and bombarded with labels? Some are quite insignificant and unobtrusive but others are the mothers of all labels and can never be removed. It seems that not all of you share my hatred of labels, as I see many instances where people happily live with them, and are happy to let them stick. Not me!
Okay, I may be rambling as usual and have probably gone off on one of my tangents, so let me bring it back in to touch. When I say labels, what I really mean is stickers, stickers that shops plaster all over my precious game boxes. It wouldn’t be so bad if the stickers were of a low tack density, some are, but the vast majority are stuck on using glue for space shuttle heat panels. There is nothing more satisfying than peeling of a low-tack sticker to reveal a clean, glue-free box. Conversely, there is nothing as annoying as trying to remove browny, sticky gum left by the sticker monster, that for some reason will not shift. It didn’t used to be too much of a problem, the official Xbox magazine used to use proper game boxes for the demo discs so it was an easy swap out for a pristine box, joy! When I buy a new game I expect it to be sealed and in the plastic wrapper, not smothered with stickers, or sometimes with special shop seals on it. Even worse still… some shops put on electronic security tags which have a sticky compound greater than dried lava. If my new game is removed from a drawer with the manual, to me it’s not new, I didn’t get the chance to open the wrapper. Some shops are even putting stickers INSIDE the boxes!! WTF. Some have special labels that they put on the DISC!? Double WTF! Some shops even put new bar code stickers under the outer clear plastic, straight on to the inlay. Ever tried to peel that one off for hours until you realise that you’ve just scratched a hole in the plastic? One of my worst experiences was: a price sticker along with a special offer sticker, bar code sticker outside, bar code sticker on the manual, sticker on the disc and a special shop seal arrghhh! There is an easy solution of course, one low-tack price sticker, nothing more, nothing less-unless the game is new.
So I have now got the stickers out the way, but I’m not a happy bunny yet, there is one more thing that bugs me. Classic range/Platinum or whatever boxes! They just look so very cheap and nasty and I am happy to say that there is not one of them in my collection, none, nada, niet. I know, merely by looking, if a game is a classic, if I want to buy it. Not by some cheap looking box that robs the original artwork and puts hideous designs all over the box, not to mention huge Classic or Platinum logos. I will go out of my way to find a game, that is maybe in the budget range, but only if it is in the original box. All my games are stored side-on in a DVD case and a Platinum box would just throw my aesthetics right off tangent. There are also an increasing number of twin game boxes that were released as special packs. To my shame I own the Forza 2 and Viva Pinata pack, but it was only £7. Recently I had been looking for Lego Indiana Jones, but that had been bundled with Kung Fu Panda and I only wanted the Lego game. I waited patiently and eventually got it, by itself, proper box, result!
To summarise on all this, and it really is a horrendously easy thing to do. All shops and box maker people pay attention.
- Only put one price sticker on a box.
- Keep all new games in the wrapper, use shells for display.
- When a game goes Classic, just reduce the price, leave the box alone.
- Think how many trees you’ll save by reducing your sticker footprint.
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