What The Case?

Posted by ASandoval on November 19, 2009 under Games | Read the First Comment

On Tuesday, I picked up Assassin’s Creed II (yes, it’s amazing) for Xbox 360. I also picked up a copy of Square-Enix’s Unreal Engine epic The Last Remnant, also on 360, as well, as it was $15 on clearance and figured “Why not?” As I’m leaving the store, I went to go move the games into my book bag when I noticed something not quite right about Creed in comparison to Remnant… that being the box felt squishy, almost as if it had no front cover. “Great,” I thought to myself. “The box is broken.” I quickly tore off the shrink wrap to ensure my copy wasn’t broken when I came to the startling realization that the box was fine, it just wasn’t the same box I had been used to. The area where the CD is held on the bottom and what lays on top of the CD had been hallowed out! Well, almost anyway.

For comparison, I took another 360 game and put it next to Creed II (I would have liked to use Creed I, but alas, I don’t actually own it). Take a look yourself:

If you’ve picked up Creed II, then you know what I’m talking about, but for anyone else, the box feels as if it could break at any time. I recognize this was probably done to save some money, but much like the switch from plastic cases to cardboard in the Sega Genesis era, it’s an unwelcome one. DVDs are hard enough to take care of as it is, and some collector’s out there maintain that the case should be in mint condition, so why make it harder on us? Is this supposed to be yet another excuse to shell out money for collector’s editions?

But what really bugs me is that I had no idea this even happened. I haven’t bought any 360 games in a while. Is this a recent trend? Are there other games out there like this? As much as the internet likes to crap on the cardboard Genesis cases, how come no one has said anything about it?

If this kind of thing matters to you, understand now that these are your options:

• Buy the limited edition. Sure, you’ll get the same case, but at least you’ll have a better case to keep it in!

• Buy the PS3 version. Unless they changed their case, too. I honestly wouldn’t know. This also assumes you’re like me and actually own both.

• Suck it up.

Not quite consumer friendly, but there you have it. Can anyone else shed some light on this for me?