vga256 on Nostr: twenty years ago steam made digital distribution for games ubiquitous. lost in the ...

twenty years ago steam made digital distribution for games ubiquitous. lost in the desire for convenience was a heterogeneous world of physical packaging.

even when we've documented physical packaging, the vast majority of archival has been devoted to big box games with the most impressive browsies and feelies.

almost totally neglected by archivists has been shareware packaging. these were the diskettes sold in little wire racks at grocery stores and pharmacy checkouts, usually for a few dollars.

a few years ago, someone local sold me their collection of shareware diskettes that he bought and played throughout the 80s and 90s.

at the time, shareware distributors all sold the same games published by companies like Apogee, Epic MegaGames, Sensible, etc.

i was struck by how unusual and unique the cover art and packaging was for each shareware distributor. some were in blister packs, others came in cheap paper sleeves, some just were raw diskettes with labels. some had screenshots, many did not.

here are a handful of disks that we loved by their previous owner. i'd like, at some point, to create a shareware packaging/art archive.

#shareware #dosgaming #retroGaming #GamePreservation