Feelie
Historically, feelies allowed video game developers to implement copy protection and minimize the amount of digital space used for supplemental materials while simultaneously distinguishing their products from those of competitors.
[1] It had previously been used to describe a form of entertainment that also stimulates the senses of touch and smell by Aldous Huxley in his novel Brave New World (1932), which likely provides the etymology.
[a][6] Other recorded feelies have included tissues and dry pasta (Infogrames' Murders in Venice, 1989),[7] as well as a cotton ball and a plastic bag said to contain a "microscopic space fleet" (Infocom's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 1984).
[9] Collectibles, meanwhile, are understood as generally scaled-down objects that represent elements of the game world without being offered as examples of items contained therein.
[11] Examples include Lucasfilm Games' The Secret of Monkey Island (1990), which locked solutions behind a "Dial-a-Pirate" wheel, and Infocom's Return to Zork (1993), which came with an Encyclopaedia Frobozzica answering in-game questions.
These special editions, partly due to the size of the figurines and other merchandise contained therein, have distinctive packaging that distinguishes them from other games.
Other feelies are used to provide general guidance, such as the cloth maps included with Sierra Entertainment's Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress (1982) and subsequent instalments.
The Witness (1983), for instance, included the fictitious magazine National Detective Gazette as well as a modified copy of the Santa Ana Register, thereby introducing players to game characters as well as the general context of 1930s California.
Regarding the Ultima series, Origin vice-president Dallas Snell recalled that developer Richard Garriott would argue for high quality feelies with every instalment, despite the financial burden imposed on the company; conversely, the publishing team would suggest using paper instead of cloth and plastic instead of metal.
Examples include Spectrum HoloByte's Star Trek: The Next Generation – A Final Unity (1995), which came with a poster and an LCD pin depicting the USS Enterprise, and Vicious Cycle Software's Robotech: Battlecry (2002), which shipped with an art book, dog tags, a t-shirt, and the game's soundtrack.
[29] The game boxes may be shaped like in-game objects, such as the batarang case used for the deluxe edition of Rocksteady Studios's Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009).
The video games scholar Carly Kocurek writes that, although these items are not identified as feelies, they "all fit the general purpose" by integrating merchandise and gameplay.
The since-closed website feelies.org, for instance, produced physical items to accompany works of interactive fiction by writers such as Neil deMause, Emily Short, Stephen Granade, and Robb Sherwin.
[33] Peters argues that feelies offer insight into the concept of play, and research into the subject – which he characterizes as lacking – would allow for a better understanding of the texts they generate.
Writing for PC Gamer, Andy Chalk described them as bringing games "to life in ways that digital just can't replicate.
"[38] Adam Rosenberg, writing for Digital Trends, recalled the feelies of the 1980s with fondness, describing them as his biggest attraction when purchasing Bureaucracy (1987).
[3] In Rock, Paper, Shotgun, Alice O'Connor recalled that "feelies especially could blur the edges of reality and draw the world close around you", considering them potentially one of the best parts of gaming.
