There's always been a little bit of contention over the design of physical game cases and their box art on Switch consoles, with most of the hate pointed towards the rather ugly way that the spines can sometimes present unevenly whilst sat on shelving, and at the printed disclaimers that take up some premium space on Switch 2 cases in particular.
For those who have an issue, for whatever reason, there's now another avenue to walk(man) down when it comes to displaying your precious physical games. Indeed, and as reported by Polygon, some clever persons have been creating very funky-looking cassette case covers which you can actually purchase online, should you like the look of them.
Over on u/SwitchSpines, one creator by the name of Eridyon has been showing off cassette case designs that they've made and they've got us coming over all Art Attack, in honesty. We're feeling a little bit Neil Buchanan all of a sudden. Yes, as you can see, some of these case designs are really slick, and what's more, they're smaller, so you can have more of them, meaning more games. Or at least that's what this writer shall be telling his wife.
Speaking to Polygon, Eridyon said:
“This originally started as a way for me to display my digital indie games that never got physical releases, and I have always wanted to be a cover art designer, but had never done any graphic design work before...I loved designing them that it quickly went to making a goal for making a case for all of my games!”
Now, according to Eridyon, they have over 600 Switch games and they'd actually shelved doing the designs. With the arrival of Switch 2, though, this creator is back to making them with gusto.
In order to make your own cases, well, you can simply jump onto any online retailer (Amazon's got them), to pick up some cheap empty cassette cases firstly. Then you'll need a 3D Printer, but only if you insist on having the snug little cart holder to place on the inside of your cases. Otherwise, it's a pack of empty cases and your imagination (or the work of somebody else - with permission, of course), printed out and stuck in for display.
There's a whole bunch of very cool designs over at the Switch Spines subreddit, too, so make sure to check them out for inspiration if you fancy any of this. It's also just a very good stop for getting lots of handy info on how to make, design, or simply just download some new art or ideas, with some users even providing templates.
Once you've done all this, make sure to send us in a picture too, and any we show on the site will get a Blue Peter bagd...oh wait, sorry, we're having a flashback to the '90s here. Must be all this cassette patter.
Interested in sprucing up your Switch 2 physical collection? Have any issues with the current default boxes? Make sure to let us know.