Boxed version
 

Hey, I was wandering around Staples today and look what I found. Sorry the 3rd photo was blurry, the sales people was starting to head toward my direction, me with the camera and all. edit -- ok, I went back to Staples and took another shot of the back of the box and the cutoff bottom of the front of the box.

Yep, that's the box.

May I make some observations:

It does not say "beta".

It does say "Deluxe Screensaver".

It says you can adjust "lights, bubbles, and sound effects" - bubbles on/off, bubble sound on/off would seem to make that statement correct, however, "adjust lights"? How?

Says you can change from night to day? Again, how?

Or, am I missing those features in the beta?

Jim is going to have to put in some overtime to bring the SS up to the specs stated on the box.:D

Remember - this is Nova's box, not mine. It is about as different from the box art I submitted as it could possibly be. They call it a screensaver, I don't. One of my problems with the box is that they ignored my request to have a list and screenshots of some of the high-profile movies and TV shows in which the Aquarium has made an appearance. The fact that producers always use SereneScreen and never any other competing product should tell a potential buyer something. For some reason Nova saw no value in, for instance, a screenshot of Justin Timberlake and Jessica Alba in front of a giant image of Marine Aquarium at the Teen Choice Awards. Prolific put a lot of effort into securing the rights for all those images. It was even a lot of trouble getting Nova to put in the tiny "Over 1 Million Sold" blurb. They were simply unfamiliar with the product, and the fact that the previous publisher had stopped counting at 1 million about 5 years ago. (Not to mention Web sales and the 8 million copies in the MS Plus Packs.)

Surferminn is correct - you adjust the lights with the F1 through F4 keys (just like it says in the About box).

And "Day/Night"?

Also, it would seem then that a change to "auto adjust lights" would make it a true screensaver since all pixels (as long as it is panning) would be changing.

Otherwise, great presentation on the box.

I really do understand those frustrations and arguments, and you're quite entitled to disclaim any responsibility for the box.

Yeah, I look at that box, and it's clear that they took no input from Jim whatsoever.

Which just confirms my longstanding observation that marketing people are morons.

Well, IMHO the box presentation is excellent, very colorful, and except for the "day/night" phrase, arguably accurate, and it certainly will get MA3 out to a larger audience.

As far as I know, we all really like MA3, so we are just talking among ourselves here. Overall, I'd say this Nova packaging is a good thing, although Jim's comments certainly are valid as well.

Special thanks to Surferminn for the images.

:TU:

The marketing folks would certainly not label the boxed product as Beta.

And, regardless of what it is, they will sell many more copies by calling it a Screensaver, than by just calling it a simulation of an aquarium.

Selling more copies is good, and presumably provides more peanut butter for Jim.

I wonder what the box (or included documentation) says about updates? [That is, where/how to get them, etc.]

And about Creature Packs?

And whether there is a pointer to this forum?

[By the way, nice customer reviews on Amazon]

There's no listing on Amazon.ca, so I guess there's no distributor for Canada? I was introduced to the world of virtual fish by Aquazone Desktop Garden as a gift from my Mum from Walmart. It might be too small of a market to consider though. Also, with shipping, duty, exchange rates, taxes, it's often usually a better deal to buy digital download from the US.

Only to be picky... :D As noted before the "day / night" emphasized on the box is a bit premature. Up to 3 displays confuses me.. what does that mean? One of the features which would be a selling point is not mentioned.. the fact that you can customize the crystal with your own logo or picture. The other "feature" that is not well (at all) mentioned is the panning aspect to give a 3D effect.
Then, when the product does not perform the way the box states... who are you going to call?

Re-reading it - image number 2 - it appears that the "day/night" implication is the F1-F4 lighter/darker function.

Not what some of us consider the "fade to black (night) then lighten to full color (day)" effect, however.

I do have a question, though:

when this boxed edition is loaded, does it show as Marine Aquarium version 3.0 or does it show as "3.0 beta"?

Top 10 list of things Jim Sachs regrets in life:

10. Labeling MA3 a Beta.
9...

Thanks for them great store pics.

Noticed on their picture of it in the box, green lower background. What
if customer can't get the green bottom? (without knowing the reg hack)

And 10 bucks is a great deal, too.

Well, it is a "mail in" rebate, however, I've done a number of these with Staples and always gotten the rebate so I wouldn't let that be a problem.

Correction - the Rebate is with NOVA Development.

I've done a few with them too and while they seem to take about 2 months, I've gotten all of the rebates.

Yes, I missed that rebate under the price. Personally, I do not like
rebates at all. Guess this box product is geared for ppl that never buy
online stuff. It's only 50 times easier to go to serenescreen.

Interesting! What did you base this fact on?
When I think about the word "Screensaver" I still think of quality like "Flying Toasters". When I think about the word "Simulation" I think more like the quality of a flight simulator. Maybe that's just me...