GOG expand their Preservation Program with more games and now 3D scans of box art too

If only they started selling boxed versions of those games... That would definitely make me support, and buy, more games from the preservation program, and GOG.

Quoting: ArehandoroIf only they started selling boxed versions of those games... That would definitely make me support, and buy, more games from the preservation program, and GOG.

If only the ocean was made of coffee instead of salt water and world peace was abound. I think you're missing the point of preservation. It's not feasible for GOG to start selling extremely low volume niche physical goods like that, especially when games in the preservation program are getting active updates so they can remain playable on modern computers.

But, there's nothing stopping you from getting box art printed on card stock and disk art printed on a few blank DVDs, then folding up a box and burning the DRM free installers to said disks yourself. You wouldn't be the first.

Now that is really cool news. Some of these old school games had really attractive boxes

Quoting: StalePopcornNow that is really cool news. Some of these old school games had really attractive boxes

Absolutely. I still keep two big boxes full of big boxes in the basement (and have thrown away others I now regret). Together with the manuals and feelies they were an integral part of the experience, and ensuring they remain available to admire, at least in digital form, is to be applauded.

Quoting: kaiman

Quoting: StalePopcornNow that is really cool news. Some of these old school games had really attractive boxes

Absolutely. I still keep two big boxes full of big boxes in the basement (and have thrown away others I now regret). Together with the manuals and feelies they were an integral part of the experience, and ensuring they remain available to admire, at least in digital form, is to be applauded.

Me too. The original boxes are in storage as I've replaced most of them with digital versions from GOG and Steam.

The most heart-wrenching thing was accidentally misplacing my original Morrowind install CD. I have everything else but have never located the disk.

Last edited by Caldathras on 8 Sep 2026 at 6:51 pm UTC

GoG is also having a giveaway for State of Mind that runs for another 41 hours or so Has a Linux build. Enjoy :)

Quoting: drucifer

Quoting: ArehandoroIf only they started selling boxed versions of those games... That would definitely make me support, and buy, more games from the preservation program, and GOG.

If only the ocean was made of coffee instead of salt water and world peace was abound. I think you're missing the point of preservation. It's not feasible for GOG to start selling extremely low volume niche physical goods like that, especially when games in the preservation program are getting active updates so they can remain playable on modern computers.

But, there's nothing stopping you from getting box art printed on card stock and disk art printed on a few blank DVDs, then folding up a box and burning the DRM free installers to said disks yourself. You wouldn't be the first.

iam8bit sometimes does this with old cartridges and it's really cool, but yeah, it's really niche. It seems they have to be really careful with what they do if they want to make a profit.

I agree, but at the same time, you kind of explained why they actually could do it with PC games. They could probably be on demand printed down to the box. Most people don't have high quality card stock printers and even DVD burners anymore. Maybe this is something they could offer that would actually be (mildly) profitable.

Quoting: StalePopcornSome of these old school games had really attractive boxes

Right? Back then the game could have been a couple pixels across, but the box art was made by hand, by an actual artist.
Now? Lots of store capsules generated by AI for no reason. Example: (External Link: You need to be logged in to view this.) - a 2020 game with a not-great but not-terrible hand-made artwork, and they added a horrible AI-generated capsule. Why? Hell knows. On the flip side, I've also seen some (non-AI-made) games that initially used AI capsule and then replaced it with a hand-made one, so there's still hope...

Devs spending time on building a game and then putting out AI slop as the first thing their potential players see is beyond my comprehension. It's totally opposite of the approach of the old games, where the cover art was a big sales driver and sometimes the only thing connecting the player's imagination to the 4x4 character flickering on the screen...

Quoting: pb

Quoting: StalePopcornSome of these old school games had really attractive boxes

Right? Back then the game could have been a couple pixels across, but the box art was made by hand, by an actual artist.
Now? Lots of store capsules generated by AI for no reason. Example: (External Link: You need to be logged in to view this.) - a 2020 game with a not-great but not-terrible hand-made artwork, and they added a horrible AI-generated capsule. Why? Hell knows. On the flip side, I've also seen some (non-AI-made) games that initially used AI capsule and then replaced it with a hand-made one, so there's still hope...

Devs spending time on building a game and then putting out AI slop as the first thing their potential players see is beyond my comprehension. It's totally opposite of the approach of the old games, where the cover art was a big sales driver and sometimes the only thing connecting the player's imagination to the 4x4 character flickering on the screen...

True, there have been multiple examples of some game apparently using genai and then the devs were like "oh but it's just promo materials, the game is actually fine, except this one thing and maybe also this one thing we totally forgot to replace...". So like, just the cover you're supposed to judge the book by is a throwaway ugly garbage generated by a slop machine? Ok

This is great news! I hope this means we get a more streamlined "make your games physical" later on, with already set up box art for printing and clean CD burns
Would love to have some of my games physically (if GOG ever decides to do regional pricing that is, but i can dream)