SNES Game Boxes

smurf492

Hi Folks,

So as i am getting more and more SNES games, They are all cartridge only due to crazy price of boxed games at the moment(and my budget doesn't currently stretch that far!) and i am looking at getting reproduction boxes. Any advice on getting boxes for cartridge only games??? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks...

Kenjataimu

There are boxes you can get that will hold a few different types of carts. Kinda looks like a see-through mega drive box.
You then print out your own sleeve for it.

Not really reproduction though.

Edit : like this

Corholio

Whatever way you go with boxes it's still relatively costly. Reproduction boxes either cardboard or the cases above are still £5+ each in most places. If it's just protection you want for the carts I'd recommend the plastic sleeve type protectors, especially for the costlier games. They don't take up as much space and offer pretty good protection, if you get the stronger plastic ones, there's a few flimsy ones been sold too which aren't ideal. I bought mine from the guy below and all was good, they are quite strong and a great fit.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/sentinel_64*?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

smurf492

Kenjataimu wrote: »

There are boxes you can get that will hold a few different types of carts. Kinda looks like a see-through mega drive box.
You then print out your own sleeve for it.

Not really reproduction though.

Edit : like this

They were the kind i was looking at but from the states it was working out at around 50 euro for 4 delivered

smurf492

Corholio wrote: »

Whatever way you go with boxes it's still relatively costly. Reproduction boxes either cardboard or the cases above are still £5+ each in most places. If it's just protection you want for the carts I'd recommend the plastic sleeve type protectors, especially for the costlier games. They don't take up as much space and offer pretty good protection, if you get the stronger plastic ones, there's a few flimsy ones been sold too which aren't ideal. I bought mine from the guy below and all was good, they are quite strong and a great fit.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/sentinel_64*?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

Thanks for that Corholio. They look perfect for what i want. cheap enough too

Parawind

Gameseek sell the universal ones for 120 sterling per 100 which seems ok. That plus printing your own labels from thecoverproject looks like the most affordable option to me. While the reproduction cardboard boxes are a good option I worked out the price for my collection and it would cost a small fortune.

o1s1n

I looked into this type of thing for snes games a few times and they're just too expensive really. Postage is a huge issue.

The only reasonably priced cart casing I've found over the years is stuff that comes flat packed. I bought an absolute load of Neo Geo MVS mini boxes a few years ago as they were all sent flat packed as they're cardboard.

Doing the same with universal game cases costs so much more as they're plastic and shipping is going to be super expensive.

I guess it depends what you're into really. In the end I decided I was happy with my cart only snes games staying that way and spend the extra cash on more games rather than 3rd party boxes

Saying that, I wouldn't mind getting some kind of protective cases for the more pricey stuff.

Steve X2

I wonder could you do something with a laser cutter/engraver and some photographic cardboard printables. The cardboard insert would be relatively easy, just the outside I'd be concerned about.

Hank Scorpio

This is probably the best price you're going to get for the Universal cases

http://www.gameseek.co.uk/pd/Toysjfkf5k7zsfgq/snes-universal-game-case--for-n64-megadrive-snes--x50---fifty-

Parawind

Well there is the obvious want to protect the games and the fact that plastic cases are more durable and will last longer then the original cardboard cases which both appeal to me. Obviously it's going to be personal preference on plastic versus cardboard but what ever option people want to go for the biggest advantage for me is the ease of organising them and finding a game from your collection quickly without pulling out cartridges left, right and centre.

PAL and JAP snes games and N64 carts are the biggest pain to find no matter how well you organise them since they only have a label on the front. I will be honest and say that when I come in from work with the urge to play a specific game, my urge quickly dwindles when I realise I have to go on a quest just to find said game on my shelf.

Yes I realise that it doesn't take that long to find a game but anything that results in more time spent gaming and less time wasted (as long as it doesn't cost the earth) is a winner in my book.

Hank Scorpio wrote: »

This is probably the best price you're going to get for the Universal cases

http://www.gameseek.co.uk/pd/Toysjfkf5k7zsfgq/snes-universal-game-case--for-n64-megadrive-snes--x50---fifty-

PS: If anyone does decide to order from them it would be great to share the cost of the postage to Ireland. To give people an idea if it is feasible for their budgets.

Hank Scorpio

Postage is steep alright.. 30 pounds

Steve X2

You can get top labels for N64 carts (PAL and NTSC) on Etsy.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/222551264/pal-nintendo-64-top-end-spine-labels-pal

o1s1n

Parawind wrote: »

I will be honest and say that when I come in from work with the urge to play a specific game, my urge quickly dwindles when I realise I have to go on a quest just to find said game on my shelf

You know what, I used to think that until I organised all my carts alphabetically

I quite enjoy kind of guessing now where a game is and leafing through until I find it.

Sounds kind of sad but its like flicking through vinyl. Almost forgot what I have sometimes and get a nice surprise.

Found a fully boxed SNES shadowrun recently I'd forgotten about and lost my ****

smurf492

Cheers for the responses folks, much appreciated. Some good options there. Sharing postage seems a great idea and one i would definitely be interested in

Parawind

Steve X2 wrote: »

You can get top labels for N64 carts (PAL and NTSC) on Etsy.

I did look at them at one stage but I don't like the idea of altering the look of the original carts even though the labels are quite nice. Just a personal preference thing.

o1s1n wrote: »

You know what, I used to think that until I organised all my carts alphabetically

I quite enjoy kind of guessing now where a game is and leafing through until I find it.

Sounds kind of sad but its like flicking through vinyl. Almost forgot what I have sometimes and get a nice surprise.

Found a fully boxed SNES shadowrun recently I'd forgotten about and lost my ****

I can understand that, but my thinking would be that pulling in and out carts all the time to find the one that you want adds a little extra wear and tear to them in the long run.

Also while alphabetizing is great most of the time the snes has a minor problem that a huge number of the games start with "Super" lol.

Parawind

FYI for anyone interested, I decided to take the plunge last night and go down the UGC + Cover Project route.

Ordered all the essentials last night and total costs including a printer (that i have needed for a while for practical reasons) came in around 450 euro.

I will put together a post with a break down of the requirements, costs, pitfalls and results for anyone who is interested once everything arrives and I get started.

*Crosses Fingers*

CiDeRmAn

o1s1n wrote: »

You know what, I used to think that until I organised all my carts alphabetically

I quite enjoy kind of guessing now where a game is and leafing through until I find it.

Sounds kind of sad but its like flicking through vinyl. Almost forgot what I have sometimes and get a nice surprise.

Found a fully boxed SNES shadowrun recently I'd forgotten about and lost my ****

Oh look, it's Superman 64....

Parawind

So I finally got around to starting this project and I documented my own experience so it might help someone else interested in printing your own covers.


Key things that I learned:
================
-Getting really high quality glossy paper is definitely the way to go. It is only a little more money but produces much nicer results and gives you a thinker high quality cover.

-Printing in High Quality vs. Standard makes Zero difference so you can save a lot of ink there.

-Guillotines are really handy how did I go all this years without one.


Shopping List
===========
UNIVERSAL GAME CASEs (link) (Delivery was 30 sterling)

A Printer (link)

Glossy photo printer paper (link)

Replacement ink cartridges (link)

Paper guillotine A4 size (link)


Breakdown of costs:
=============
250 (125 x UGC including delivery)
180 (All Printing equipment including delivery)
Total: 430


Preparation
========
-I got all my cover images from http://www.thecoverproject.net/ (Fantastic site and the people here deserve a huge amount of credit)

-I Printed a few test covers first with draft quality to perform some trial and error with the dimensions. (Can't stress how important this is to do, as you will likely make a few mistakes and you don't want to waste the ink)


Printing the covers
================
-Once you are happy with your dimensions you can then line up as many game covers as you like in PowerPoint for printing in one lot.

-Don't do too many at once to ensure you don't run low on ink and print a bunch in poor quality.

-Cut to size with the guillotine and put in the cases. (The guillotine I used was quite accurate and even allowed for some very tight recuts when I made an error)


How I printed the covers (Universal & DVD cases)
===========================

1. Open Powerpoint, use a blank template
2. Drag your image into the main window
3. Then drag the cover to the left leaving about ½ cm of space
4. Go to “Print > Printer Properties > Quick Setup”
   
   Orientation to “Landscape”
   Paper size to “legal”
   Print Quality to “Standard” (High comes out too dark)
   Media Type to “Glossy”
5. Back in the main window, select your cover, then go to “Format” and in the top right side change the sizes based on your liking.

DS cases
========
For the DS cases I just used Windows Photo Viewer and the following settings and it worked a treat.

Paper Size set to "Letter"
Untick "Fit page to frame"
Quality "High"
Paper Type set to "Glossy Photo Paper"

Measurements
=============
For DVD sized cases:
Height 17.78 cm
Width 26.6 cm

For the Universal Game Cases:
Height 17.22 cm
Width 27.6 cm

(These are just the measurements that I found to work well for me and you might find a better balance so consider these as a place to start with some test covers.)


Finally just stand back and admire.

eddhorse

Great work and thanks for documenting it.

Cantstandsya

I've got my loose carts in Sentinel64's cartridge covers. They're nice and neat. Recommended.