What's your favorite game box?

JAST Games Your Suggestions To Us
#1

Many of us download games now, but for those who buy retail box editions what’s your favorite VN box in your collection?

Internally here at JAST we’re discussing future box designs, taking a look at what we’ve done over the past couple years and comparing it to alongside MangaGamer, Sekai Project and various box styles seen in Japan. Higher quality of course means higher costs, which affects a game’s price.

If you had the option of either an artbook or a Japanese style box for a limited edition, which would you rather have?

We’d love to hear your opinion on this, since ultimately this is all for you, our fans!

#2

my ideal box design is small but sturdy, i like the size that ef a fairy tail of the two from mangagamer is, however i want the box was a bit more sturdy, maybe more akin to old anime box sets. in the end i just want them to take up the least amount of space when on display yet feel like quality in your hand, also housing all the extras well is a must. i really dont like the school days hq box just for the fact that i havent been able to put it on my shelf because it is to big, well at least the mousepad fit i guess. the littlewitch box was pretty good however it felt really empty so it lost points for me.

#3

I don't like large empty boxes. It should be big enough to hold what it needs to hold, and it should be sturdy enough that I can put a textbook on top of it and it won't collapse. I haven't even taken the shrinkwrap off my Littlewitch Romanesque box, and I'm not sure I want to now just to assess it. o.O


Here's what it really comes down to though. Artbooks are for me. Boxes are for convincing others to play the game. I'd rather have a nice artbook. But a nice box makes the game an easier sale to my friends. Those friends could become your customers. Consider a nice box an investment in marketing, while the artbook is a nice extra that has value unto itself.

#4

I like boxes that doesn’t take too much space and are pretty, my favorite is the Yumina one . The Japanes style box is for me since I’m not a big artbook fan and I like putting stuff on display in my room.

#5

I like what you did with Starless/Steins;Gate. The collectors box thing is pretty cool and very stylish while not taking up a lot of space. You could have like a regular edition for sale where its just the game alone and then a limited edition with a cool collector box + art book? Like with School days you had a LE and a standard edition for sale. I like things I can display easily :3

Pic for reference.. I think the box for Starless is a *perfect* size for a collector box (ignore the blue blob it was just a note on my wall)

![](upload://g2wq0Br7UEnJ11WGOHd6uQpP2TX.jpeg)


#6

Yumina's box is one of my favorites. I also enjoy the Saya No Uta box as well.


Whenever you can get both the physical and download version, I enjoy that best seeing as you get the best of both worlds.


For box size, I believe Yumina's size is the ideal size for Normal box cases. Understandably it is harder to do that with Limited Editions since they have more content.


If I have to choose between an artbook or special Japanese style box for limited editions. I would choose the Artbook since it feels like you're getting a great extra with the VN that may further explain the story or characters more than the game itself can. The Steins;Gate Official Fanbook is the thing that made the Limited Edition worth it the most, along with the other unique goodies that are in it.

#7

Thanks for the replies so far! I love hearing (and seeing) what you guys like! Sometimes it becomes a you can see the forest but not the trees thing for us after working on the logistics and localization end of VNs.

#8

Depends on the extras I guess. I liked the larger size artbook that came with Starless so the larger box that came with the game actually makes sense. I also liked how you improved upon the box by not having the game float inside the box as was the case for Littlewhich. But if the extra is a sound track in a separate dvd case then a traditional standard size art box like the ones used in Japan for anime DVD and Blu-ray box sets makes more sense. If you go with the regular size art box make sure its thick and sturdy like others have said.

As far as extras go I prefer artbooks and hope you can do more of those in the future. It would also be nice to get some more Limited / Collector’s editions for future Nitroplus titles like Django. I think not including a full size artbook for titles like Demonbane was a missed opportunity.

#9

The box for School Days HQ was a little too humongous for my liking. It literally will only fit upright on one shelf in my house. With that said, I’m kind of cool with it if Shiny Days is the same size. There’s something to be said for symmetry in these things… And at least it beats the heck out of Graduation '95. I kid you not, this enormous flipping thing contained nothing but a CD-ROM in a paper sleeve, haha. As a civilization, we have come a long way. :wink:



I really thought the size and style of box you used for Starless and Littlewitch was stellar for a large-box limited edition. They’re big enough to be visually impressive, but small enough to be pretty easy to store. I also liked that Starless had a paper “fitting” to hold the Amray case still, which was a subtle but appreciated improvement over the Littlewitch box.

In terms of true personal preference, though, I think my tastes echo SwiftTalon’s: “take up the least amount of space when on display, yet feel like quality in your hand and also house all the extras well.” I would actually point you toward a certain anime company’s boxing style as my ideal for limited edition boxes: while their bells and whistles are often lackluster, the outer package for Funimation’s “limited edition” Blu-ray/DVD combo sets are basically perfect. They come in a colorful sleeve box that allows for really pretty cover art, the chipboard casing is super-solid and durable, and it fits anywhere you could store a standard Amray DVD case. In your case, you could use the extra room for either an artbook or a soundtrack disc. Take a look below for reference (vis-a-vis an Amray case):


In the end, the takeaway is that I’m not a fan of huge Japanese-style boxes. I do like artbooks a lot. Soundtracks are better still. I think you could do very well by sticking to the size of boxes you have with Starless and Littlewitch, but I’d encourage you to go smaller rather than larger if you make a change. Hope that helps somewhat!