Worst game cover art?

[Valkysas]

show the awful things.

http://www.juegomania.org/Cheggers+Party+Quiz/foto/ps2/4/4047/c.jpg/Foto+Cheggers+Party+Quiz.jpg

[Red Dragon]

http://www.gamewad.com/top-20-worst-video-game-covers-ever-3097-p.html

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/6928/megaman.jpg (http://img210.imageshack.us/my.php?image=megaman.jpg)

[Biggie]

http://www.gametab.com/images/ss/ps2/1677/box.jpg

I still love it. :I

[Valkysas]

that was soooo deceptive. I told agetec "but you cant do this in the game, it's deceptive." and their reply was basically "it's fine"

and then everyone made topics here asking how to do that in the game, and then they got REALLY mad.

also,

http://www.pavilionboards.com/articles/rpgm1.jpg
Mark loooooooves red.

[Translucid]

Frequently, japanese got much better, interesting or source accurate boxart than america did. I'll post their counterparts in the other thread. these are all american boxarts:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/volantecalamto/boxart/196885_50215_front.jpg

boring castle silhouette. honestly you'd have no idea what the game is like, and it looks pretty cheesy altogether.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/volantecalamto/boxart/526675_44463_front.jpg

the phantasy star 2 cover portrays the main characters with horns, rather than long ears. the cover is interesting, but if you know phantasy star then this seems more like the cover of a Asimov novel.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/volantecalamto/boxart/198843_28033_front.jpg

starring (counter-clockwise from top left) Burt Reynolds, Dan Akroyd, Salma Hayek, Macaulay Culkin, Holly Marie Combs, and Bruce Campbell.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/volantecalamto/boxart/61V5BW03Q7L_SL500_AA280_.jpg

disgusting colors, America Online free trial ad, mishmash of logos and idealistic western imagery... what a cluster****.

I'm not saying Japan was always creative or awesome in their boxart. examples:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/volantecalamto/boxart/588726_3931_front.jpg

that's dracula's "o" face. WE NEED MORE BATS.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/volantecalamto/boxart/563334_2186_front.jpg

for the epic ending to the series, this seems pretty tame. my biggest gripe is that for a game where a boy becomes a man, Chaz looks undeniably like a woman and looks completely different in game.





But for boxart, I guess EU gets it the worst. this is my vote for worst boxart ever:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/volantecalamto/boxart/196817_10169_front.jpg

I suppose check the other topic for the opposites of some of these, as well as some other gems.

[Valkysas]

Oh man, never saw the EU BOF3 art before.

[Chrono]

Some good games with terrible art and some alternatives.

Ico
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/Chrono101/ico-1.jpghttp://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/Chrono101/1016523195Ico.jpg

MGS4. The good covers are on the PAL and special editions.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/Chrono101/mgs4.jpghttp://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/Chrono101/mgs4-lim-ed-box.png

Twin Snakes.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/Chrono101/1078969427-00.jpghttp://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/Chrono101/twinsnakes.jpg

Also, Killzone 2's art is pretty lame.

[Goufunaki]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/Gouki22/misc2/Street_Fighter_Alpha_-_Warriors_Dre.jpg

[Red Dragon]

Oh, man. I just saw this one in the store.

http://images.wikio.com/images/s/55e/dragon-ball-the-movie.jpg

WTF?

[marcus]

american designers loooooove red

http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/8/918848_front.jpg

http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/9/935509_86043_front.jpg

http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/8/582958_59986_front.jpg

also every US master system game has art that was drawn by a ****ing 5 year old. i'm not even exaggerating

http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/7/588027_40033_front.jpg

aw man a blond haired mario i so want to buy this!

[Bon]

http://chaosrexmachinae.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/ironsword_cover.jpg

[jacquel]

http://ftwgames.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/kid-chameleon-md.jpg

[Tintenfisch]

http://www.vgmuseum.com/scans/scans2/chuckrock.jpg

[Nixon]

I posted the GHS JP box art in the good thread. Now here's the ultra ****ty UK/PAL release box art!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v89/Nixon/Gregory_Horror_Show_Ps2.jpg

[John Mora]

Nocturne's box art is good!

[The_Real_Crunk]

Screw you Bonanza, that Wizards & Warriors 3 cover is awsome. And screw you too Jacquel, The Kid Chameleon cover is great!

[Riotsword]

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y69/riotsword/NESKidNiki.jpg

My ex-girlfriend had this game. Big surprise: the actual game looks nothing like this.

Here's one for Sword of Vermilion.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y69/riotsword/swordofvermillion.jpg

It could be worse, but damn, it's so plain and uninteresting. Looks like it should be on money or something.

And what "bad box art" topic would this be if it didn't have KAAARRRRNNNNNOOOOVVVV

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y69/riotsword/karnov.jpg

[marcus]

Nocturne's box art is good!

the japanese/eu lucifer's call box art is decent.

the american cover? lol no.

[Cosmic Jeff]

the japanese/eu lucifer's call box art is decent.

the american cover? lol no.

Your opinion, lol no.

[marcus]

Your opinion, lol no.

okay if you like ugly and boring box covers then whatever.

unless it carries a distinct and recognizable symbol like the baldur's gate skull, box art should contain elements of the game's theme in an easy to recognize picture.

and this isn't a recent occurence. ever since dvd's replaced vhs, box art as a whole has declined. look at any modern movie poster and you'll notice the same boring garbage across the board. it's some boring, neutral shot of the main character staring blankly at the viewer with a solid color background or terrible gradients.

look at everything in the good box art topic. the box itself is a work of art itself. ico's surreal landscape and imposing buildings towering over the main lead holding hands with a woman addresses themes of team work and isolation. you know snatcher will be a cyberpunk game from the blade runner style gun to the details in the background. i haven't even heard of gregory horror show but i'd pick the box up from a glance at the cover alone.

but man, people would rather settle for terrible covers with uninteresting art and uninteresting characters staring uninterestedly at an uninterested audience. i blame the internet for the downfall of good marketing. since there's 50 million gamer websites, nothing is secret anymore. old games required catchy covers because oftentimes you never heard about them until you picked up the case for the first time. now that screenshots and info and youtube videos are publicly available, anyone can use photoshop fill tool for background, stick their title on the box, and call it a day. good design doesn't matter anymore because you already know what the product itself is like before you buy it.

but man, it still pains me that some of this stuff is approved.

http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/4/939444_87544_front.jpg

"hey. i'm on the front cover and i'm staring at you. i'm too cool to be doing anything interesting because the cover designers have no taste."

[Toaster]

the japanese/eu lucifer's call box art is decent.

the american cover? lol no.

http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/devilmaycry/images/thumb/0/09/SMT_Cover.jpg/200px-SMT_Cover.jpg

HEY GUYS. DANTE FROM DEVIL MAY CRY 2 IS IN HERE. JUST IN CASE YOU DON'T BELIEVE US HE'S ALSO IN THE BACKGROUND!!! HE'S NOT EVEN A PIVOTAL CHARACTER.

http://i.neoseeker.com/boxshots/R2FtZXMvUGxheXN0YXRpb25fMi9Sb2xlLVBsYXlpbmcvU2NpLUZp/shin_megami_tensei_nocturne_frontcover_small_rPdVyyTTyZkdJkG.jpg

Then there's the director's cut version of the box art for japan. Only difference is the color. Do you really hate red that much? What a silly thing to get hung up over. :p

[Nixon]

To each his own. :p

[marcus]

HEY GUYS. DANTE FROM DEVIL MAY CRY 2 IS IN HERE. JUST IN CASE YOU DON'T BELIEVE US HE'S ALSO IN THE BACKGROUND!!! HE'S NOT EVEN A PIVOTAL CHARACTER.

gaudy sticker aside, the european cover has better composition (and art) than the us cover.

and red is an overpowering color. reds and yellows should be used sparingly to guide the reader's eye or accentuate forms. the red in that cover is also a ridiculously oversaturated one. color theory

and this is the delux box

http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/8/582958_27041_front.jpg

i guess the appealing covers are saved for people who spend that extra 20$ because that's how much it costs to print them. it's still a pretty boring cover but at least they break the "zoom in face shot" and "staring at the audience" cliches.

[BeeZee]

and red is an overpowering color. reds and yellows should be used sparingly to guide the reader's eye or accentuate forms. the red in that cover is also a ridiculously oversaturated one. color theory


I disagree strongly. Red is a strong color, but that doesn't invalidate it from being a major part of a palette; it just means that anything using it is going to have its red characteristic. Saturation is the same. It's a stylistic choice, and a valid one.

[John Mora]

So Marcus hates zoom and red. Okay, we get it.

[Cosmic Jeff]

God damn internet ruining marketing!

[Libby]

No one likes red?!


:(

[Goufunaki]

http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/7439/metalgearsolidboxart.jpg


I always felt that the white background with only text was just so boring.

[John Mora]

It's called class!!

[Goufunaki]

A 5th grader could do better with MS Paint! :p

[SirTMagus]

Somehow I doubt that...

[Nixon]

I agree that it's a boring cover. They didn't even try to try.

Here's some more crap.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v89/Nixon/SuperBust-a-move.jpg
WTF? I never would've played/purchased this if not for a friend telling me "don't let the cover fool you, that's actually a fun puzzle game." I could do without the baby spit bubble, thanks. '-'

I remember thinking this box was really ugly when I was a kid:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v89/Nixon/3f92_8.jpg

I looked up the JP box art, and it's not much better. Also: DEAD DANCE? :lol
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v89/Nixon/588812_71831_front.jpg

Magus and Mora will like this one (it falls under the "classy" category, apparently):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v89/Nixon/706.gif

[Goufunaki]

Loved loved LOVED BoF2.

Ugly U.S. box art, however.

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/6654/boxartbreathoffire2.jpg

[Loki]

I love that Ghost House cover.

[Toaster]

European Platinum Hits Cover for MGS4. They took a good cover, and completely ruined it.

http://www.beefjack.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/mgs4platinum.jpg

[marcus]

surprisingly the American greatest/platinum/whatever versions of games are the least obnoxious. We have to deal with a obnoxious red label but man, the Japanese versions shrink the cover art 30%, shove this horribly ugly metallic gray border around it, the label is yellow (yellow and gray jesus christ guys) and has a MASSIVE yellow circle with the price on it.

[BeeZee]

I'm with Mora on the MGS1 cover. It's not brimming with action, but it's classy. There's something to be said for stripping things down; it was also surprisingly forward-thinking a decade ago, as there's a huge trend towards simplifying things down to basic shapes and static colors in modern design. It still takes skill to do this; it only really works if the remaining design elements are designed well and carefully placed. Sometimes, it's even harder to do this than to make a huge, exciting design; if the remaining elements are poorly done, there's nothing else for them to hide behind. I think the MGS1 logo is decent enough to pull it off, and the shiny texture they printed it on sets it off nicely.

The Master System cover Nixon posted is the worst of both worlds. It's too plain to be exciting, and it's too poorly executed (Times New Roman logo? Unnecessary grid-thing? Image of the cartridge?) to be classy.

[Nixon]

It may be clean and balanced and simple, but it's not an interesting or compelling cover. I never would've picked it up if not for a friend.

[John Mora]

I agree it's something best used for titles with huuuuge name recognition.

[BeeZee]

It may be clean and balanced and simple, but it's not an interesting or compelling cover. I never would've picked it up if not for a friend.

No, I agree to a point; that's why I tried to make a distinction between this and "exciting." I'm mostly trying to refute the MS Paint thing. This is still skillful design.

[jacquel]

I'm with BZ, I liked the MGS cover for being understated. Actually, I tend to like that in most presentation.

Though I first played the game in demo form, so admittedly, if I had not done so, I might have not been impressed at all with it- but I think they thought it would sell on the hype (it did) so there was no need for super-flashy advertisement.

[1ce]

http://tacofish.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/raw-danger.jpg
Terrible cover, good game.

[Goufunaki]

:lol

You guys are giving it too much credit.

Compare the boring U.S. cover to the Japanese and European covers.

Still a white background, but you also got Snake thrown in there. More pleasing to look at the nice art style. This would definitely catch people's eye more.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/Gouki22/misc2/metalgearsolidintegraljapfront.jpg

This one, too close to his face, but at least it's got something extra on it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/Gouki22/misc2/metal-gear-solid-ps1-cover-front-eu.jpg

[Toaster]

I remember seeing MGS at K-mart when it was first released and being really intrigued by it. This was before I had actually ever heard of the game or played it.

Plain white box with foil red lettering. The cover art choice managed to use its negative space to distinguish itself from other noisier games, draw me in, and leave an impression on me that I remember to this day.

[John Mora]

Yoji Shinkawa's coffee-stain designs actually turn me off.

[SirTMagus]

Yoji Shinkawa's coffee-stain designs actually turn me off.

:\

[Valkysas]

GUH.

wow.

yup. mora hates everything.

[John Mora]

You keep saying that, but it's not true.

[Loki]

I was going to post that Raw Danger cover.

=(

[Gustaff 13]

http://wpcontent.answers.com/wikipedia/en/b/bf/Wonder_Boy_in_Monster_World.jpg

http://image.jeuxvideo.com/images/mg/d/a/dademg0ft.jpg

[RPGD]

Several Mega Man series had a stint of extremely poorly-done cover art in PAL territories. They were pretty much hacked together in Photoshop.

Mega Man X7 (US)

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/bestselling-games-2006/3436-1.jpg

Mega Man X7 (PAL)

http://www.gifgratis.net/immagini/PS2/M/Megaman_X7_Ps2.jpg

[marcus]

i'm sorry but i love the "americanized" covers like the megaman and breath of fire cover. seeing big eyed anime characters turned into generic musclemen is fantastic. they're really horrible but so horrible they're good. it's like looking at a chuck ****** VHS.

[highwind]

i win.

http://www.junkyardclubhouse.com/images/anticipation-for-the-nes.jpg

[RPGD]

He totally does.

:steak

[MRevelle83]

http://www.zeldacapital.com/Games/preview/Zelda_adventure_box.jpg

Stupid Zelda leaving the lights on and wasting electricity.

[American Hero]

http://kidfenris.com/rivalturf.gif

[marcus]

ah, the late 80s early 90s. how i miss your leather jackets, popped collars, bright ass blue denim jeans with the rips in the knees and backwards baseball caps.

[Translucid]

http://gamefly.gameflycdn.com/images/games/e/130630e.jpg

[Jehuty]

Marcus have you played The Last Remnant at all?

The box art makes sense if you have.

[marcus]

Marcus have you played The Last Remnant at all?

The box art makes sense if you have.

and that's an excuse for a really uninteresting cover art? the game looks boring enough and the cover isn't really enticing me to try it.

[Duel]

http://kotaku.com/assets/images/kotaku/2008/05/badbox.jpg