These N64 Spine Labels Are The Perfect Way To Organise Your Game Collection

I bought some PAL-style ones similar to these from Ebay a few months back and they're great!

I may have to do this. None of my N64 games have boxes and so I have the issue of pulling them out to see what they are. Same issue with my Master System games as most of them don't have boxes either. Wish I could punch my younger self for chucking them!

I'm surprised that the article assumes people has cartridges only. Which I guess is sadly true for most people. Poor material choice, Nintendo, when making your boxes before GameCube and DS. Sega only failed with Game Gear games. And with cardboard boxes many people just threw them away, not necessarily when they were too worn-out, and probably because of some parental nagging. Am I right?

This shouldn't be the case (no pun intended), thus it's surprising that the article assumes it anyway.

So for people with this problem yes, those stickers can help definitely. In my case I don't have so many games, so I'll pass.

@Moroboshi876 Most people do only have the cartridges because of your own reasoning.

These are a brillant idea

@Bunkerneath Yes, I know, I was just saying the article easily assumed this is a standard situation. Not even a mention about the unfortunate situation. I hope I made myself clearer now. That's what I meant.

I just couldn't afford to get the games new and boxed as a kid and neither could my mom so they were all from bargain bins and garage sales, etc. (Hence none of my cartridges have any packaging)

These actually seem like a really great way to sort the collection. At the moment I just play a game of bingo, pulling out each one randomly until I find the one I want to play, lol

@Moroboshi876 if as you said most people don't have the box then it is a standard situation

@Moroboshi876 I would assume it is the standard situation which is why they write it as the standard, those who started collecting more recently possibly being the exception since they would likely look for boxed versions with the intent of keeping it boxed.

Whenever I've personally seen somebody's N64 games, the majority to all of them have been unboxed. I say majority, I can't think of a time I've seen a boxed game in somebody's house, but I'm leaving it open to the possibility that I've forgot. Anecdotal evidence sure, but even a sample size so small should be a hint towards the truth given these are people I know from different areas, different upbringings, different age ranges, etc,etc.

Along with parents possibly saying to get rid of the boxes, I would say that the fact Nintendo put them in flimsy cardboard boxes basically said to the customer "you're not supposed to keep this bit" and even if you did, it's likely little kids would destroy them over time anyway.

It's baffling that they continued to use flimsy cardboard when SEGA had been using plastic clam shell boxes since the Master System at least, and again it's anecdotal, but I've seen noticeably a lot more "in box" Megadrive games.

I could always pinpoint Donkey Kong 64 and Majora's Mask easily

Jokes aside it is a great idea and an elegant solution to the problem. I only wish this was a thing a few years earlier

This is great, anyone know where I can get some labels for PAL SNES games?

@smithpa01 It is, I'm not saying it isn't. I didn't mean to troll here. I just miss some line there saying something like "as you people know, most of N64 collections sadly consist of loose cartridges".

@Tao I do have boxed N64 games, but a few only. Bought when they were already retro, as you said. But a friend of mine once told me about some games collecting dust in his parents' home and he wanted to give them to me. Which he eventually did, and dude, the boxes were in mint condition, I could have sworn they were repros if it wasn't him who gave them to me. Unfortunately he didn't keep the booklets, but it's nice to receive a boxed Super Smash Bros. for free.

@Moroboshi876 I could be wrong, but I think Smash Bros is the only box I still have. It's in awful condition if I do still have it and not fit for purpose (thus I see it as not even having the box), but I always liked the box art and kept it because of that.

Shame they dropped that art style and 'toys to life' concept almost immediately after Smash 64.

For all my N64 games I still have the box and the manual.

But I could really use spine labels for PAL SNES games.

@Tao I remember when, after a 5 year "pause" in gaming, I returned and started to look back and buy a lot of retro games and systems. And looking at the collection I already had when I was a child and a teenager, and rediscovering those games, I noticed that at some point I had started to keep Game Boy boxes. I don't know why, but it seems that at some point I didn't listen to my parents and started to keep them. But back when I returned to video games and checked my collection I deeply regretted having thrown away dozens of boxes (kept the booklets, though), because then I was starting to feel what retro meant to me and it was really sad.

This has never bothered me, as we never had it for SNES carts in PAL so never felt like I was missing it. I mostly have boxes for my N64 collection, but due to space and not being able to display my games in any way (I don’t have a games room), I have all the boxes stored in the attic, and have the many carts in a plastic carrier bag for me to access when I want to play them! These spine labels wouldn’t really help me with my Tesco carrier bag storage solution 😀

This is awesome! Might have to get a set! I’ve been going for a complete set. Luckily had the foresight to get some titles before they blew up in price (Clayfighter Sculptors Cut-I’m looking at you).

Over the past couple years I bought a set of end label stickers for my N64, Master System, and 32X games. The seller on ebay I get them from makes them out of vinyl so they’re easy to remove and don’t leave residue or paper fragments. I’m probably going to get a set for my Jaguar collection when it consists of more than two games (admittedly Alien Vs. Predator and Tempest 2000 are arguably the only two games worth having for that system).

I'm with you too @Medic_alert, though it's a nice addition to some, I too keep mine without them. I know it's a convenience factor for some but to me I just don't want my cartridge to stray too far from being original. The same applies to my Super Famicom cartridges too which also had no spine labels. I just don't like seeing addition label on there that wasn't there originally.

Haven't these been on the market for years now?

@ReaderRagfihs Well, I'm not a hardcore collector, not even close. At least according to my definition of a hardcore collector. I think those keep their games in mint condition and never actually play them, using emulation instead. Some of the collectors I know told me that's their way. Because yes, boxes get in bad condition when they are opened and closed. In fact, not only N64 boxes: SNES, Game Boy and NES ones too. The flaps always bend, no matter how careful you are.

So I'm not a hardcore collector, because I use the boxes, and wear them off, but I do like having them on display. I know it's not space efficient, and I'll end up having to sell things or renting a place to keep my junk, but I still like seeing my games in the shelves, boxed if possible.

I may have to invest in these as most of my games do not have the boxes. I had the boxes for several years but when I was in my early 20's and moved across country I had to save space and got rid of the boxes but kept most of the manuals.

Why put loose carts in plastic protectors?

So that PAL label collection I assume counts for the four PAL games that didn't get a US release? (though I don't know if any of those are highly desired games.)

I would guess they won't be tackling the Japanese set.

@smithpa01 Not for me, and I have a lot in my collection with no original boxes. .

Look cheap and tacky, it's a no from me dawg!

Would love these!!!! If my carts weren't in their boxes.

Got them cheap on Etsy a couple years ago. Might still be there

I got these a few years back and love them. I've even peeled them off and reattached them to new games when I happen to come across a better condition cartridge than was already in my collection. https://www.etsy.com/listing/196193603/nintendo-n64-cartridge-spine-top-end

The labels unfortunately in all the images above are upside down from how they should be oriented. All NES and SNES games have their labels oriented so that the spine art is attached with the face label at the top. All of the images in this article have them oriented exactly opposite of that, not a big deal to some, but I'm obsessive compulsive about things like that I suppose.

Store them in alphabetical sequence within categories and it severely reduces the problem.