Back in the late 80s and early 90s, the “pack in” was a standard way for computer and console manufacturers to sway you towards buying their system over a rivals. For the companies themselves, as much as the customer, choosing the right pack in title (or titles) could make or break a systems chances in the shops. And by a pack in I don’t just mean a game you got with they system, oh no. A proper pack in has a custom box for the system featuring the game (or games) prominently as part of the artwork.
Some companies kept it simple, mostly console manufacturers, by putting just 1 high profile, AAA title inside the box with your shiny new machine. A prime example of this was Sega choosing to put Altered Beast into the initial US & European releases of the Mega Drive (Yes, I know ti was the Genesis in the US, but I’m British, so it’s the Mega Drive on here, OK?). Pushed as being the “arcade in your home”, the Mega Drive with Altered Beast was a massive leap forward for gamers who had a Master System or NES at the time. It truly was a leap forward into the 16bit era.
That isn’t to say that the 8 bit consoles didn’t have their own pack in options to try and keep their piece of the market. Sega spent years packing Alex Kidd in Miracle World in with the Master System. And while it wasn’t exactly super game, it was good enough (and visually appealing enough on the box) to cement Sega as the console company in Europe. The NES didn’t really gain any traction over here until they launched the legendary Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles pack. You see, Turtle-Manai was at it’s peak when Nintendo got the exclusive rights to create a console game based on the franchise. And by making it the pack in for Europe, suddenly the NES became a must have system for Turtles fans. Of course Sega struck back later on by making Sonic The Hedgehog the pack in title for both the Mega Drive and Master System, ensuring even more sales for their 8 & 16 bit systems.
Hell, during it’s lifespan the Mega Drive had a huge number of pack in variants made available to buyers. From the core Sonic titles, to an Aladdin pack, a Street Fighter 2 pack, a Virtua Racing pack, etc. There were dozens of official pack in bundles out there.
And Nintendo did the same when they launched the SNES. You had a Super Mario World pack in. You ahd the much lusted after Street Fighter 2 pack in. And later on, other titles took that spot (most notably Mario All Stars and Starwing).
Meanwhile, in the home computer space, the pack in bundles were a little less exciting quite often. For years, Sinclair branded machines came with the same creaky old Sinclair Software bundle of some very early, very simple games. Hell, the only “proper” pack in I ever recall was the James Bond pack in version of the Plus 2A.
Commodore took the lead here. FOr the C64 there were a variety of official pack ins. A Night Moves bundle featuring the eponymous compilation from Ocean Software. And the later on a Terminator 2 bundle (which undoubtedly helped extend the C64s lifespan somewhat). And the Amiga? Oh boy…
In 1989, Commodore managed a deal that allowed them to ride Bat-Mania. They struck a deal with ocean to bundle the highly anticipated and well reviewed Batman: The Movie game into a fully themed Batman Pack for the Amiga. You got an A500, a joystick, a copy of Batman: The Movie, plus copies of New Zealand Story, F/A 18 Interceptor (just called Interceptor on the box), and Deluxe Paint II (because every Amiga had a version of DPaint with it). And this pack was everywhere. Shops, magazine ads… if you were into games, you knew about the Amiga Batman pack. And it sold. Many would argue that it was this pack in set that made the Amiga the 16bit home computer to own, and I’d be loathe to argue that point. The Batman Pack crushed the cheaper Atari ST, and firmly established the Amiga as the 16bit king.
Commodore would follow this up with the also well received Cartoon Classics Pack (featuring Lemmings, The Simpsons: Bart vs. The Space Mutants, Captain Planet, and DPaint III) for the A500+. The A600 had its The Wild, The Weird, and the Wicked pack (Push Over, Silly Putty, Grand Prix, and … DPaint III) which wasn’t as well received. And the A1200…. well, that seemed to focus more on productivity.
Now, you do still get the occasional “special edition” console system, but the days of the standard “pack in” appear to be lost to the past. And to me, that’s really kinda sad.
