There’s nothing quite like owning physical goods, but they can be expensive, and shelf space can come at a premium. Every Wednesday Hardcore Gamer picks a premium collectible from our cavernous swag vaults and tells you whether it’s worth a spot in your Collector’s Cabinet.

Usually, Collector’s Cabinet is used to showcase a wide variety of limited editions, figures, unique gaming goods. However, recently I've found myself looking through video games and lamenting just how much has been stripped from standard physical copies over the years. At this point we're lucky to get manuals! Those of us who grew up gaming before the millennium had it good when it came to physical releases . One of the best examples of this is Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers. This, along with most other PC games of its time, came in a massive box because the size was required to fit everything inside.

Space Quest IV is a comedic adventure game starring everyone’s favorite space plumber, Roger Wilco. The cover conveys all of this succinctly with a cartoon depiction of Roger attacking an alien with a plunger. This art totally pops against the light blue backdrop. Although these pictures don’t convey it well, the “Roger Wilco” text also happens to be embossed. It’s a shame that the later Space Quest boxes relegated listing their series title at the top in a dull red bar. A sticker on the bottom corner of the box, which wraps around to the back, details what version of the game is included within while recommending some truly antiquated computer specs.

The cover is actually a cardboard sleeve which houses a plain white box underneath. This is notable as Space Quest III (and most other Sierra games of the era) had a gorgeous mountain range printed on the inner box. Inside players are greeted with a ton of 3.5 inch floppy discs, a Sierra catalog, a game manual, and an issue of SpacePiston Magazine. Although it was not included with the game itself, I've chosen to share the Hint Book as well, since it was more or less a necessity for anyone who bought the game.

Modern gamers might be astonished that six floppy discs are included. You’ve got to understand that Space Quest IV was released in 1991, when CD-ROMs had yet to become standard for PC games. Heck, in previous Space Quest boxes they included both 3.5 inch floppies and the larger 5 1/4 inch variety. Each disc has a dull, thin paper label and not much else. That’s totally acceptable considering they contain one of the funniest adventure games out there. The manual is similarly drab, containing little information about actual game content. Instead it focuses primarily on explaining how to get it running on different systems.

You might find yourself feeling underwhelmed, but that feeling won't last long after you crack open SpacePiston Magazine. This fake periodical presents itself as one you’d find in the world of Space Quest, and follows through with goofy articles, games, and advertisements for in-game locations. The only nod to the real world is on the first page, where all of the game's developers are credited. All pages include color images, which is a huge step above Space Quest V’s almost purely black and white National Enquirer spoof. Fans owe it to themselves to dig up a PDF of SpacePiston Magazine, because it’s full of silly goodness.

Finally, there’s the pocket-sized Space Quest IV Hint Book, which is a little under 50 pages. It’s worth noting that while this did not come with the game, Sierra’s cheap pricing and smart marketing effectively made Hint Books a necessary additional purchase. Inside is basically a pre-GameFAQs selection of tips which walk you through every puzzle in the game, with a few pieces of original artwork to give it some flavour. To actually read the solutions you need to use the included "Sierra Adventure Window," which turns the red scribbles on every page into readable solutions.

To some degree I lament PC games' shift toward digital distribution, because it means we can no longer have game boxes such as this. Of course, we get incredible discounts and convenience as a trade-off, but I'd take a bulky treasure box like this any day fo the week. Old-school PC "big boxes" make an excellent addition to any retro game collector's shelf.

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