Hey Nintendo, make the switch to paper boxes permanent!

Funny how he singles out Nintendo for using "exorbitant" plastic casing, and fails to mention that plastic cases have been the industry standard, including his beloved Microsoft :)

We should do everything in our power to reduce our negative environmental impact, including using plastics as little as possible.

@98

except he doesn't...

Holy balls!

Wow, not a single dirty hippie on this comment thread took the time to point out that 3.5 grams is equivalent to an eighth of an ounce... of weed. Who needs digital scales when you have a buggy Lego Star Wars II to use as a counterweight...

my parents once bought high quality port from a winery in a giant milk bottle with the winery's label on it. it still tasted fantastic.

holy cow guys, our videogames are destroying the environment! we are SO selfish and ignorant to want a plastic case to keep our games in and in an organized fashion! heanven forbid we should have upgraded from the crappy GBA boxes, to plastic boxes like everyother game/dvd/cd is packaged in. But because of our barbaric actions, motherearth now must pay the ultimate price!

Go hug a tree with al gore and stare at a thermometer to see if it goes up. worry about something more important.

Yeah, I'm gonna have to go with the mob on this one. A plastic box you keep does less damage to the environment than the flimsy paper box you don't.

Just take a stroll through your local thrift store or used game shop if you need proof... the Sega Genesis games generally come with boxes, while the Super NES games almost never do. Where did all those missing Super NES boxes go? Straight into a landfill, most likely.

JR

Am I the only one who ever removed the paper art from my DS case to see if it was made of recyclable plastic? It would seem so.

I like the plastic DS cases. I will keep them a long time. And when I'm done with it, I will recycle it just like I do all my plastic.

This is a no-brainer folks. Just recycle your plastics, and paper, and card board. It takes like 5 times the energy to produce new materials (whether they be plaster or paper or metal) than it does to recycle old to make new.

These plastic cases are only bad for the environment if we don't recycle them.

DS games are tiny, thus i like the case for giving me something harder to lose

plus they give added space for my Pokemon games and the manual

"Go hug a tree with al gore and stare at a thermometer to see if it goes up. worry about something more important."

Eric Cartman, is that you?

First of all, it is Al Gore, not al gore. Second, the first letter of any sentence also must be in a capitals.

Third, although you may not think so, many people think the environment is very important. After all, we all have to breathe air, drink water, eat food, etc. Considering that the world's population is growing every year, there is a finite amount of space on this planet and Global Warming has started affecting the weather I would say that even you should be concerned about what is happening to the environment.

Then again you may love George Bush, believe in Intelligent Design and worry about "something more important," like the condition of your game boxes. By the time you pull your head out of the hole in the ground there will not be any clean air for you to breathe.

I really try not to be wasteful
but this is insane
if i pay 40 dollars for a game the least i can get is a solid plastic box for a 1 1/2 inch card.
which wont get crushed in your bag or when your mom accidentaly sits on the box
plus i already got my awesome shelf of ds games and carboard would just look weird
this is not good for my ocd

GREAT POST!
I couldn't agree more with this statement:
"Comprised of bits, games should be the most environmentally-friendly products to distribute."

I can't believe all the negative comments here. I don't consider myself an environmentalist -- I really do very little beyond simply recycling, but you people are rediculous. The ignorance posted here is astounding.

Humanity has no more important challenge than striving for greater environmental responsibility. Its easy to forget about the environment from within the structures we have built, but it sustains us all. We are damaging it at an alarming rate and disaster will come of this carelessness on your watch.

You owe it to your ignorant selves to take a closer look at our environmental situation before propogating this nonsense. I recommend the film "The Inconvenient Truth" as a start.

And thank you Vladimir for this post. It has been enlightening.

LOL this topic is great. To everyone that is freaking out at Vlad have you seen the European DS cases? They are about 1/4" thicker then the NA DS cases with ugly clear plastic. Europe gets the short end of the stick again.

Instead of OMFG JOYSTIQ R HIPPIES!!1!ONE! Do some research on the topic on hand before burning Vlad at the stake.

Go plant a Tree, pick up trash in your neighborhood, recycle everything in your house, walk to work, Hippie. That should keep you busy. Do more good than complaining about what Nintendo should do with their DS boxes. Why you are out doing that I will be playing my DS games, and collecting the plastic cases for my shelf.
Talking about impacting the environment doesn't get the job done. You actually have to pitch in. Changing the cases between cardboard and plastic, won't solve global warming. I also prefer Trees to oil. I know in the future i would prefer to breathe. Also soy beans those amazing little boggers, can make decomposible milk jugs, who know what will come from them in the future. Maybe HDdvd cases.

Some of you people are so stupid it hurts my brain. Someone concerned about the environment is not a "hippie." They are "intelligent." They "read." They "comprehend" what they read. Anyone referring to them as "hippies" in an attempt to discredit what they're saying is IGNORANT (go look it up, you might not know what it *really* means).

It doesn't matter if you *believe* things to be a certain way; that doesn't make it true. Facts are facts. Plastic products are more harmful to the environment than paper. It doesn't matter how long you hold on to that plastic product. This is about *more* than just landfills. But that is just too much for some of you to wrap your brains around.

I don't know *why* I'm even going to post this link, since it's waaaaayyyy too much reading for most of you, but here it is anyway. Read the facts and get a little educated (even if you don't accept it, the facts are irrefutable).

http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/

The plastic boxes suck. Sure, they're durable, but they're way to big to actually carry a game in them. The original GB got it right: cardbord boxes which contained a game *plus* a small plastic protection case for the game. Nintendo, go back to that.

I'd much rather have a cardboard box over a big plastic one. Anyone who disagrees needs to assess their priorities.

The environment will sort itself out?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5381456.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4969772.stm
Maybe but not before we've wiped out everything living on it.

The posts on this subject don't surprise me. A generation of ill informed, materialistic people who place more emphasis on their entertainment than their obligation to undo the massive harm we've done to the planet aren't likely to react any other way.
The tragic thing is the changes we have to make to put things right aren't difficult, it's just cooler to say we don't give a fuck and flip the bird at the people who get it.

Cardboard boxes could be made from recycled paper and be recycled again themselves. Paper has to come from somewhere originally so we should look to sustainable, maintained forests.

Or we could make plastic case which will take forever to degrade if they ever do. We may not think that the plastic game boxes we have make a difference but how many people do you know who own at least a handful of games? Chuck your old plastic game boxes on top of theirs. Not so insignificant now.

I dont live in trees with moss in my hair. I have tv's and fridge freezers so i'm doing my part to damage the environment as well. However if given the opportunity to make small sacrifices that make a big difference i'm right behind it.

Oh, and yeah, the environment *will* sort itself out. It'll start right after humanity has died out.

Ok then why don't we sell PS2 and 360 games in cardboard sleeves?

"Ok then why don't we sell PS2 and 360 games in cardboard sleeves?"

Good question.
The answer is because as a civilisation we've come to care more for material things than our own well being. It's obscene.
Half of the arguments against this so far is that the box doesn't look as good on a shelf, without a chunky box we'd loose games (look after your stuff) or that cardboard inst as strong.
It seems we are waiting for something to happen to make us change the way we live. That something will most likely be the crash in oil production/supply and the economy grinding to a halt.
Ironically a knackered economy will set us all straight eventually when games, consoles, PCs and most of our luxury items that we're so proud of become the preserve of the extremely wealthy.

I *hated* when Genesis cases went from high quality plastic cases to crappy cardboard. A move from the great-quality DS cases to cardboard would make me lose some of my goodwill toward Nintendo.

Not that anyone from Nintendo reads this, but once again: switch from plastic to paper and you'll lose some money from me. You like my money, right?

Doesn't everyone use a portable case that holds multiple games, like those made by MadCatz or something?

I'm generally environmentally friendly, but look at it this way: Plastic cases are only worse for the environment if you throw them out. I keep all of mine, and I keep the games in them. I'd be more inclined to throw them out if they were cardboard.

So personally, I would prefer to keep the plastic.

Cases made from a recycled plastic/natural fiber composite . That would please everyone.

I dont want appear a rabid eco warrior or anything so this will be my last post.

"I'm generally environmentally friendly, but look at it this way: Plastic cases are only worse for the environment if you throw them out. I keep all of mine, and I keep the games in them. I'd be more inclined to throw them out if they were cardboard."

It depends on the plastic. If its biodegradeable then you're spot on. But if it isn't holding onto the case for a few years before you chuck it is just prolonging the polution. Cardboard boxes may be thrown out immediately and chucked in a landfill but in a years time that cardboard has decompossed.
That plastic case will be there for hundreds of years. The same even if it's biodegradabeunless exposed to the correct environment moisture and oxygen which surprisingly is lacking in landfills.

The boxes that everyone holds onto and eventually throws out all add up when they dont degrade.

And i'm done lol

Wow I can't believe the responses I am reading here. Plastic is nicer then cardboard? A nice cardboard box is a million times nicer then a plastic one. The Digipacks you get CDs in look much nicer then a jewel case. The don't scratch or crack or peel.

As the Digipacks have shown a carboard box can be plenty durable. Nintendo can put a small plastic clip in there to hold thegame, much as digipacks use plastic to actually hold a CD.

Cardboard is much more environmentally friendly. First off wood is a renewable resource. You can farm trees just like you farm food, and there are plenty of sustainable paper manufacturers out there.

Plastic, for those who did not know comes from oil. Yeah the very same oil that is now costing us $70+ a barrel. Cardboard would also be mucher cheaper for everyone involved.

I am also amazed at how many of you people state you throw out your cardboard. Ever heard of recycling? Seriously, it is the same effort just a different can in your kitchen or garage.

Hello People.

This is a non-issue!

The DS plastic cases are recyclable! Just recycle them when you are done with them. Problem solved.
They don't have to end up in a landfill. They don't have to pollute the earth. They don't have to take hundreds of years to decompose. Someone already solved this problem when they decided to make the cases out of recycled plastic. Just do your part and recycle it rather than throwing it away.

Quit with the hippie calling and quit with the melodrama. This is not a problem.

10 MPG SUVs are the problem. Recycle your DS case, and go by a hybrid. Thats a hellava lot better than worring about a plastic that is already recyclable.

Good grief, some people just want to argue.

I dont mind cardboard boxes for handheld games- they sure look a lot better than the ugly white boxes we get for the DS,and if needs come you can flatten them for storage. It only takes a little common sense to keep old boxes looking nice, give or take a few bought second hand all of my GBA and GBC boxes are in mint condition, lying in a drawer under my bed. The games live in a completley seperate plastic tub.

Console games are a different matter.When something is large ( or just prone to damadge like a CD)you want to keep it in a stackable form. One of the reasons i never got a NES,SNES or 64 were the boxes- they looked far too flimsy and in most shops that sold them where i lived they were always tatty.

As much as I love ICO and shadow of the colossus's case art, their cardboard boxes are a pain in the ass to store without getting creased or deformed.

It doesn't take a million years to produce oil. It takes about a ton of "garbage" and a high pressure, high temperature furnace. Oil comes out overnight.

Hows THAT for renewable/recyclable energy.

*dons flame suit*

The larger game cases don't only allow the cases to fight for attention on the disply shelf but also thieving. :P

I perfer the plastic cases for multiple reasons already stated but the one that hasn't been brought up, used games. I have been buying more used DS games because of the plastic cases. They are cheaper then the new games and usually in the same condition. I bought very little used GBA games because very few of them came with the manuals and the cartidges were in poor condition. If there's more people buying used games instead of new there's less of a need to manufacture new games which lowers the cost to the enviroment for manufacturing, packaging and shipping.

As a side note milk does come in bags in Canada but just in certain Provinces but you can also buy it in cartons.

Actually I agree with VC on this subject (though I have to stress, only this one). DS (US/Japan) cases are nice, but if Nintendo (and others) would provide durable cardbox cases (ie. digipacks) made from recycled material then I would be all over it. Having said that, recycling technology has gotten better and DS cases, like some plastic cases are recycleable.

And just because some of you don't care (about the environment), many of us do.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet that I feel has merit is one of the reasons that these cases are so big for such a small card - to prevent theft. Note that most flash cards/SD cards/etc. come in absolutely gigantic boxes. It's harder to steal them that way.

It's not the only reason Nintendo does it (and indeed, a DS box would be easier to lift than one of the truly ginormous SD card boxes). But I have to believe it's at least part of the reason.

16. Oh bullshit!! Cut the hippy-dippy environment crap would ya? It costs trees to make the environmentally friendly boxes. Those no-minds that sit around thinking this shit up should get real jobs!

Yes, but before you blow your lid and say uninformed things in a blog, perhaps you should be reminded that trees are a renewable resource. We can get them back. how do you think christmas trees are harvested?? Sustainably. Why? because their industry depends on it. And for you info. I have a real job ;)

Dumb ass I read this article and the first thing that I saw was "it only holds 128 megabytes"

Wow what a moron. Some of the games that are coming out for the DS are far larger than that (NSMB being one). DS cards hold 1.8 gig by default so do some research you tree hugger!

Also plastic may not be the best thing, but neither is the killing of trees to get the cardboard cases. C'mon plastic is a synthetic so it's not that bad for the environment. Reusable resources are the best and plastic is very reusable.

every single person here has bought many games in plastic cases, and will continue to buy games in plastic cases, no matter how 'environmentally friendly' they are pretending they are in this post.

you are all fucking lemmings, nobody here would give a shit if vlad wouldn't of said anything, giving all the anti-nintendo fanboys another thing to bitch about when it comes to nintendo.

you buy dvds in big ass plastic cases, dont you? blu-ray cases are even bigger than normal dvd cases, you would all buy them in a heartbeat. but if it's nintendo, all of a sudden they are being wasteful.

you all make me fucking sick.

Can't we recycle plastic? Why stop providing us with quality products if they can use recycled plastic to make game cases?

Joystiq needs to find some news, so they can stop complaining about everything! Wii packaging is ugly, PS3 packaging is ugly, DS packaging is too plastic and not environmentally friendly. Ya, you know what, make my Wii controller out of origami because I wouldn't want Nintendo to provide me with a durable product (as they always do)

Lets face it Joystiq. If they had originally been made out of cardboard you would have shun them for staying in the past, afraid to move foreward, and providing the consumer with a box that wasn't durable, easily lost, and not waterproof.

Joystiq opinion pieces make me sick.

Noooo! Keep the plastic cases!

"DS cards hold 1.8 gig by default so do some research..."

Um... DS card might hold 1.8 gigaBIT. Devide by 10 to get GigaBYTE (8 bits to a byte plus 1 start and 1 end bit). Therefor ~100-200 megabyte per cart.

They could easily make them larger, but that would get VERY expensive, VERY quickly.

They need to make the DS games snap together so that you can carry 5-10 of them around in your pocket without one falling out. I just keep all of mine in a zip lock and the boxes are in yet another box in the closet.

those games are only 128 Mb?

I look at my 3 disc copy of doom 3 in sadness.

First of all, for me it's cardboard FTW. Hey, if they really wanted to, Nintendo (or some third party like MadCatz) can sell after-market cases, and those people who freak out if they don't have their precious cartridges in a case can feel better.

I actually wanted to bring up a related topic: what about the cartridges themselves? I mean, what happens to all those N64 cartridges when no one is playing the system anymore? If anything, *those* things should be made out of recyclable materials. Someday old GB cartridges won't be supported anymore, you know. What will happen to them?

Traded in to Gamestop for 50 cents each? Sits on a store shelf until Africa or some other third world nations get GB colors, then they can ship them there?

Go to a landfill? Get eaten by dogs?

I dunno.

Just urinate on a hippie, it takes your mind off this whole hooha about plastic and trees and squirrels.

Kay, to settle this Canadian Milk-in-a-Bag thing.

Pheonix Gamma was correct. What provence are you from AirIntake?

I'm from Ontario and I always buy milk in a bag. It's not powdered. It's milk. Just like in the plastic jugs (which I rarely see) and the boxes. I've had the plastic jug kind while in the states and it had an after taste to it. And you can tell when it's from a box or not. Bags are the way to go.

So I woke up early this morning wondering what new news was posted on Joystiq overnight. I turned towards my wall and looked at my Donkey Kong poster.
http://www.hottopic.com/store/product.asp?ITEM=299044
Then I noticed something. Click that link again, and this time enlarge the poster, looking at the bottom left corner. IT'S AN OIL CAN! That's right ever since Miyamoto first laid his hands on a video game, he's been pushing his petroleum using agenda at us. From the start he's been sending us subliminal messages about how it's OK to be burning oil cans and how it helps Mario defeat the bad guy. Ok I don't really believe this but the coincidence freaked me out.