为什么《微软娱乐包》上会贴着带有俄罗斯方块的标签?
Why Microsoft Entertainment Pack had a sticker announcing that it had Tetris?

原始链接: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20260818-00/?p=112621

最初的《微软 Windows 娱乐包》在发布时并未带有编号,因为该系列未来的走向尚不明确。值得注意的是,产品包装上并未列出游戏《俄罗斯方块》;取而代之的是,厂商通过一张亮红色的贴纸补加了该游戏,上面写着“现已包含 Windows 版俄罗斯方块!”。 这一不同寻常的营销策略源于授权方面的不确定性。微软在《俄罗斯方块》的谈判尚未最终敲定前就开始了包装盒的印刷工作。为了避免因协议破裂而不得不销毁预印包装所带来的高昂成本,他们删除了所有关于该游戏的提及。他们准备了“俄罗斯方块”贴纸作为备选方案,仅在获得授权许可后才将其贴在包装盒上。 随后的生产批次最终将《俄罗斯方块》的标志直接融入了包装设计中,并追溯性地将该合集命名为《微软娱乐包 1》,以与后续已经发布的各卷保持一致。如今,带有原始红色贴纸的版本被视为稀有的收藏品。

这篇 Hacker News 帖子讨论了关于最初版《微软娱乐包》(Microsoft Entertainment Pack)的一个有趣细节:包装上有一个醒目的贴纸,宣传其中包含《俄罗斯方块》(Tetris)。 用户推测该贴纸为何特意使用了“现已包含”(now)一词。有人认为这是一种心理营销策略,旨在让产品看起来像是“升级版”;另一些人则推测,贴纸是应对供应链物流的一种实用方案——无论《俄罗斯方块》的授权是否能在包装初次印刷前及时敲定,微软都可以照常出货。 讨论还涉及了人们对“老派”计算轶事的广泛兴趣,评论者们指出雷蒙德·陈(Raymond Chen)的博客《The Old New Thing》是了解此类技术和历史故事的主要资源。讨论还简要转向了制造业和印刷周期演变的问题,并指出 90 年代初的物流与当今快节奏的生产环境之间存在巨大差异。
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原文

The first Microsoft Entertainment Pack for Windows didn’t have a number after its name because it was the first one, and nobody knew that there were going to be any sequels.¹

It may not have had a big number 1 on the box, but initial runs did have a bright red sticker that said, “Now includes TETRIS for Windows!” There was no mention of Tetris anywhere else on the box. Why did it announce the inclusion of Tetris only with a sticker?

Because at the time the first run of boxes were being printed, the negotiations to license Tetris hadn’t yet concluded. There was a chance that the negotiations would fall through, and the Entertainment Pack would have to be released without Tetris.

Rather than including Tetris on the box art and risking having to destroy a production run of boxes if the license couldn’t be acquired in time, the decision was made to produce boxes that omitted any screen shots or even a mention of Tetris. In anticipation of the deal coming to a satisfactory conclusion, they did have a run of red stickers on standby. When the deal was completed, the “Now includes TETRIS for Windows!” stickers were applied to the already-made boxes.

Later runs of the product box incorporated the Tetris sticker into the box art, and even called itself “Microsoft Entertainment Pack 1” and suggested that you try out “other volumes of Microsoft Entertainment Pack for Windows” because packs 2 through 4 had already been released by then.

So I guess that means that if you have a copy of Microsoft Entertainment Pack for Windows with the Tetris sticker, you have an ultra-rare copy, like the original Windows 95 box with a hologram of a shirtless baby.

Bonus chatter: Other sticker shenanigans.

¹ Just like how World War I was initially called “The Great War”. If you had called it “World War I” from the outset, people would look at you funny, like “Do you know something I don’t?”

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