Pack-in game

A pack-in game is a game that is included with the purchase of a video game console. It is a form of product bundling.

Characteristics

Pack-in games are generally intended to be desirable enough to help sell the system, and make good use of its positive features. Sometimes a pack-in game will be changed to a more popular game, or another game will be added, along with the original pack-in, if it is perceived that a newer game will sell more systems. Pack-in games are often the most plentiful games at used game shops.

Alternate-format pack-ins

In the case of Super NES, Super Mario All-Stars was added as a free mail-in offer. Other systems have included pack-in games on a built-in chip, such as Solitaire for Game.com.

Pack-in games

• 3DO Interactive Multiplayer- Crash N Burn,^[1] Gex,^[2] FIFA International Soccer^[2]
• Atari 2600 (VCS)— Combat, Pac-Man, 32 in 1^[3]
• Atari 5200— Super Break-out, Pac-Man
• Atari 7800— Pole Position II
• Atari Lynx— California Games, Batman Returns, Shadow of the Beast
• ColecoVision— Donkey Kong
• Coleco Adam— Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom
• Game Boy— Tetris, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, Killer Instinct, Star Wars
• Game Boy Advance— Pokémon Crystal, Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (Toys "R" Us only), Final Fantasy IV Advance ^[4]
• Game Gear— Aladdin, Columns, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2
• Intellivision— Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack, Astrosmash
• Neo Geo— Magician Lord, NAM-1975, Baseball Stars Professional
• Nintendo Entertainment System— Gyromite, Duck Hunt, Super Mario Bros., World Class Track Meet, Super Mario Bros. 3, Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles
• Sega Master System— Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Astro Warrior, Hang-On, Master Games 1, Safari Hunt, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Zaxxon 3-D
• Sega Mega Drive/Genesis— Aladdin, Altered Beast, Mega Games I, Mega Games 2, Mega Games 6, Mega Games 6 Vol. 2, Mega 6 Vol. 3, NFL Football '94 Starring Joe Montana, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Sonic & Knuckles, Sonic Compilation, Sonic Spinball, Streets of Rage, Streets of Rage 2, The Lion King, Vectorman
• TurboGrafx-16— Keith Courage in Alpha Zones
• Super Nintendo Entertainment System— Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario World, Super Mario All-Stars, Super Mario All Stars + Super Mario World, Mario Paint, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Killer Instinct, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Kirby Super Star, Star Fox, Super Mario Kart, Tetris Attack, Street Fighter II: The World Warrior
• TurboDuo— Ys Book I & II, SuperCD disc with 4 games: Bonk's Adventure, Bonk's Revenge, Gate of Thunder and Bomberman
• Sega Multi-Mega— Sonic the Hedgehog CD, Ecco the Dolphin, Sega Classics Arcade Collection^[5]
• Virtual Boy—Mario's Tennis
• Nintendo 64— GoldenEye 007 (U.K. only), Donkey Kong 64,^[6] Pokémon Stadium,^[7] Star Wars Episode I: Racer,^[8] Super Mario 64
• PlayStation— Battle Arena Toshinden, Gran Turismo, Ridge Racer, Spyro: Year of the Dragon, "Demo Disc"
• Game.com— Lights Out
• Dreamcast— NFL 2K/NBA 2K (double game bundle), Sonic Adventure/Sonic Adventure 2 pre-release demo/Sonic Shuffle (triple game bundle), Sega Smash Pack
• Nintendo GameCube— The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition, Mario Kart: Double Dash‼, Metroid Prime, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Smash Bros. Melee, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Resident Evil 4, Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness
• Nintendo DS— Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt, Mario Kart DS, Nintendogs, Animal Crossing: Wild World, Super Mario 64 DS, Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day!, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
• Xbox— Halo: Combat Evolved/Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding, Sega GT 2002, Jet Set Radio Future, Forza Motorsport, Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space, Top Spin/NCAA Football 2005
• PlayStation 2— ATV Offroad Fury 2, Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec, Gran Turismo 4, Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Ratchet & Clank, "Demo Disc"
• Xbox 360— Hexic HD, Burnout Revenge (Wal-Mart only), Gears of War (Australia only), Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (with Kung Fu Panda),^[9] Kinect Adventures, Kinect Sports, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Fable III, Gears of War 3, Halo 4, Halo: Reach, Kinect Star Wars, Dance Central 2, Forza Motorsport 4, Sega Superstars Tennis (with Xbox Live Arcade Compilation), Mass Effect 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Final Fantasy XIII ^[10] In Canada: Project Gotham Racing 3, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (with Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged Volume 1), Call of Duty 3 and Forza Motorsport 2, In Brazil: Project Gotham Racing 3, Perfect Dark Zero and Forza Motorsport 2.
• Wii— Wii Sports (until 2011) (except in Japan and South Korea), Wii Sports Resort (with Wii Sports) (as of 2009), New Super Mario Bros. Wii (with limited edition red console), Mario Kart Wii (as of 2011), Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (UK only, up until the end of London 2012)
• PlayStation Portable— ATV Offroad Fury Pro, Daxter, FIFA 09, God of War: Chains of Olympus, God of War: Ghost of Sparta, Gran Turismo, Killzone: Liberation, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (with limited edition entertainment pack), LittleBigPlanet, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, ModNation Racers, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, Need for Speed: Undercover, Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters, Resistance: Retribution, Rock Band Unplugged
• PlayStation 3— Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, LittleBigPlanet, God of War Collection, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Gran Turismo 5, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Assassin's Creed III, God of War: Ascension Legacy Bundle, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, LittleBigPlanet Karting, The Last of Us, NHL 11, Infamous (video game), Grand Theft Auto V, NBA 2K14, MLB 14: The Show, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, MotorStorm: Apocalypse, MotorStorm, NHL 14, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XIII-2 and (Demo disc) ^[11][12]
• Nintendo 3DS— The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (North America only), Fire Emblem Awakening, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (Japan only), Animal Crossing: New Leaf, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team.
• Wii U— Nintendo Land (except Japan), ZombiU (North America & Europe), Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (Japan & Europe), The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD (except Japan), New Super Mario Bros. U & New Super Luigi U, Wii Party U & Wii Fit U (Japan), Mario Kart 8, Xenoblade Chronicles X(Japan) , Splatoon
• PlayStation 4— Killzone: Shadow Fall, The Playroom, Knack, Destiny^[13]
• Xbox One— FIFA 14 (Day One Edition only), Forza Motorsport 5 (Day One edition only), Titanfall, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Assassin's Creed Unity, Sunset Overdrive, Madden NFL 15, Halo: The Master Chief Collection^[14]

References

1. "Shelley Duvall's It's a Bird's Life". Entertainment Weekly. January 14, 1994. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
2. "Price Slashed on 3DO". GamePro (IDG) (85): 170–172. October 1995.
3. "Atari 2600 - 32 in 1 (Atari)". AtariAge. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
4. "Final Fantasy IV Advance bundle". SiliconEra. Retrieved 2014-09-20.
5. "CDX-essive?". GamePro (60) (IDG). July 1994. p. 158.
6. "IGN: Nintendo Goes Bundle Bananas". Ign64.ign.com. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
7. "IGN: Pokemon Stadium Bundle on the Way". Ign64.ign.com. 2000-02-01. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
8. "IGN: N64 Uses the Force". Ign64.ign.com. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
9. "Xbox 360 Elite Console 120GB with 2 Bonus Games: Video Games". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
10. "Xbox 360 Hardware". vgcollect.com. Retrieved 2014-10-20.
11. "PlayStation 3 Hardware". vgcollect.com. Retrieved 2014-10-20.
12. "PlayStation 3 Hardware". vgcollect.com. Retrieved 2014-10-20.
13. Ashcraft, Brian (26 February 2014). "The biggest selling PS4 game during the console's first two days out in Japan?". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
14. "New Xbox One bundle comes with Halo: The Master Chief Collection - CNET". CNET. Retrieved 2015-10-27.