Pershing24 Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 (edited) So last week I've watched a video commentary about The Death of Video Game Box Art by NakeyJakey. He mentions how video games box art, or the front cover of the box, have gotten worst in recent years, as their mostly just the main protagonist looking cool looking at the camera. And compared to earlier games from the 80's and 90's, yeah they were more retro and iconic, and alot more appealing to look at. Here's the video. Now I've started to think of a few examples, and the more I've think about it, the more I see that he's right. Take the first uncharted game, yeah its not great, but its more colorful and artistic, and has the sense of adventure. Now look at the recent Uncharted 4, and suddenly I realize, its really boring, Nath looks like he's trying to remember if he left the stove on. There are alot of prime examples that I could go on all day but my question to you is.... Have game's box art gotten worst this recent generation? Why do you think that, and what are some examples of good and bad box art of your favorite games regardless of the console? Mine favorite is Killzone Shadow Fall, as it doesn't just focus on Micheal Keller, but also his drone, the OWL, and Echo. Plus the layout is pretty sick, and is a welcome change. My lest favorite is probably Doom 4, talk about a major downgrade from the original (right). Edited February 21, 2017 by Pershing24 spelling mistakes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnowxSakura Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 3 minutes ago, Pershing24 said: So last week I've watched a video commentary about The Death of Video Game Box Art by NakeyJakey. He mentions how to video games box art, or the front cover of the box, have gotten worst in recent years, as their mostly just the main protagonist looking cool looking at the camera. And compared to earlier games from the 80's and 90's, yeah they were more retro and iconic. Here's the video. Now I've started to think of a few examples, and the more I've think about it, the more he's right. Take the first uncharted game, yeah its not great, but its more colorful and artistic, and has the sense of adventure. Now look at the recent Uncharted 4, and suddenly I realize, its really boring, Nath looks like he's trying to remember if he left the stove on. There are alot of prime examples that I could go on all day but my question to you is.... Have game's box art gotten worst this recent generation? Why do you think that, and what are some examples of good and bad box art of your favorite games regardless of the console? Mine favorite is Killzone Shadow Fall, as it doesn't just focus on micheal Keller, but also his drone, the OWL, and Echo. Plus the layout is pretty sick, and is a welcome change. My lest favorite is probably Doom 4, talk about a major downgrade from the original (right). The reverse cover for doom 4 is pretty sick though. I'd say it is hit or miss really, not all old game boxart was good either, with some being downright awful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheYuriG Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Nope, opinion is subjective. Have you seen the cover for the new YS? It's the bomb 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superstarmaste1r Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Judging of a box cover art in video games is indifferent. Don't think it makes or breaks the first impression of a game where mostly, it looks good enough to show what the game is about, and how good looking the cover is. Doesn't matter if its bland looking or awesome to look at, it is just a cover box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
totallycrushed Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 (edited) While I find most of PS2 box art better than last gen or current gen games' box art, I'm not I'm going to watch them too much just like the PS4 themes and it does not make me buy the game. Edited February 21, 2017 by totallycrushed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edunstar84 Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Reminds me being a kid where my only information regarding a game was its box art and the description on the back. Now, I actually don't even consider it anymore as I get my info online. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caesar Clown Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Japanese made games tend to have way better box cover art than the North American/European made games. As shown, most games made outside of Japan are just someone standing there, while the Japanese ones are full of color and excitement (most of the time). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NetEntity Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 (edited) It's more of a problem of "showing off pretty CGI models" vs "making a cover that actually has style". All regions are guilty of that, even, and the trend started right around PS1 era, when the 3D started to become "all the rage". You still can find good covers if you look around, but ratio had shifted ages ago. Just now, Superstarmaste1r said: Doesn't matter if its bland looking or awesome to look at, it is just a cover box. Well, I like me some beautiful covers, even have a little collection buried on my HDD somewhere. To some of you it may not matter, but to me it does, like a nice little bonus. Its function is to get you interested, to set the mood. It isn't just a throwaway. It matters. In the age of the Internet, we can get all the info on the game beforehand, but before that... Which game would catch your eye, one with a bland cover or one with an awesome cover? Edited February 21, 2017 by NetEntity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jak Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 (edited) Definitely. Plenty of my favorite series have gotten not too appealing boxarts. I dont agree with his partly contradicting claims of best boxart being vague, full single colored backgrounds with the games logo on it, like his FF examples. Obviously, it's lazy to keep doing the same covers with just different numbers up there in a series.. that's not good boxart. Good boxarts best imo when they capture the theme, tone, and main feature of a game. Seeing Jak 3 in his video baffled me when the series is Spoiler - Literally named after the character, and has a storyline that ties into his character. Its not a make your own avatar game nor do you play as anyone, so Jak being on front is perfectly fine. - Then you have the desert setting, the main setting of the game. - The buggys, one of the core gameplay features you'll be using most of the game and which Jak 3 focuses on. - The Marauders, which are the enemies of the wasteland and who you'll be fighting a great deal of the time. Etc. Literally a bad opinion on his part. The boxart would only be bad if all it showed was Jak and the desert with no other details. That'd be bland. Id give it a 9.8 or 9.5. The only reason Killzone Shadow Fall looks the way it does (and you like it) is because it's not a character, story driven game just about Michael. Echo and the Helghast faction are just as important and all universally play big roles, a big step up from Killzone 2 and Killzone 3. Literally the same case with Horizon Zero Dawn, it's not just about the machines, or Aloy, it's about both which is why they share the cover. Though Horizon's could have been done a bit better imo, entertainment wise. It captures everything generally great, I just dont personally think it looks visually stunning enough, but representation wise it's perfect. Edited February 21, 2017 by Mar 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NetEntity Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Good cover can sear itself in your memory and stay in there forever. I did a little research into the Resident Evil covers not so long ago... and let me tell you something. Most of the covers for RE4 are just "Leon with a Gun". No matter the region, even. They are not terribly memorable, and they don't really get you in a mood to play a horror game. But in Europe, the cover of RE4 is this. Spoiler Twelve years have passed, but I still remember this. This made me uneasy even before I started playing. This told me that I was heading towards mortal peril and not on a vacation to shoot some zombies. This is memorable. I can't accept the saying that "box art doesn't matter". It does. Or rather, it did. And I wish it still mattered. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superstarmaste1r Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 22 minutes ago, NetEntity said: Well, I like me some beautiful covers, even have a little collection buried on my HDD somewhere. To some of you it may not matter, but to me it does, like a nice little bonus. Its function is to get you interested, to set the mood. It isn't just a throwaway. It matters. In the age of the Internet, we can get all the info on the game beforehand, but before that... Which game would catch your eye, one with a bland cover or one with an awesome cover? Well, its like a saying "don't judge a book by its cover." I think that can relate mostly to that where a bad cover of any game can be bland, but either if you watch a review of a game that has a bland cover, can have excellent gameplay that mostly can be great to own. Not all game covers that the game designer of the cover can be excellent looking just to fit of how it looks beautiful where as long if the back side explains what the game is if they don't know what the game is about, then that's the important part where have a good cover art is bells and whistles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevvik Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Very few people these days browse for games in a store that they haven't heard of which is what cover art was aimed at. Nowadays everything is hyped or "discovered" online with screenshots etc (real or otherwise like Colonial Marines) and the closest people get to browsing in a game store is to see if a game has price dropped yet. Otherwise, they have a pretty good idea what they were looking for when they went in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlazingCat83 Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 If box art is a deal breaker, your priorities aren't straight. In any event, my games are organized in a way I don't really see the art. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
totallycrushed Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 23 minutes ago, Mar said: The only reason Killzone Shadow Fall looks the way it does (and you like it) is because it's not a character, story driven game just about Michael. Echo and the Helghast faction are just as important and all universally play big roles, a big step up from Killzone 2 and Killzone 3. Gotta say I like KZ:SF box art. The pure color scheme of white and blue of it depicts the Vektan side nicely, the Helghast symbol breaking the Vektan look and they even put the old red eyes on the cover! If the title and subtitle were to be moved up or down or removed completely, it would make a nice poster! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvelboy10 Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 (edited) In my opinion its not about the box art but how good the game is. Some games have awesome box art but terrible gameplay. Some games have a terrible box art but Great gameplay. As they say never judge a book by its cover. Edited February 21, 2017 by marvelboy10 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jak Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 (edited) 6 minutes ago, totallycrushed said: Gotta say I like KZ:SF box art. The pure color scheme of white and blue of it depicts the Vektan side nicely, the Helghast symbol breaking the Vektan look and they even put the old red eyes on the cover! If the title and subtitle were to be moved up or down or removed completely, it would make a nice poster! Like this one. Btw, this looks better in person. Edited February 21, 2017 by Mar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DARKB1KE Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Killzone cover looks boring as hell. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
totallycrushed Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 @Mar Yeah that I don't like. Buff anime dudes looking pissed and tbh I don't like the artstyle of Dragon Ball. Simple ones are really nice . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Aexuz Posted February 21, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted February 21, 2017 Japan keeps getting some awesome box art covers. Spoiler 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jak Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 6 minutes ago, totallycrushed said: @Mar Yeah that I don't like. Buff anime dudes looking pissed and tbh I don't like the artstyle of Dragon Ball. Simple ones are really nice . Simple isnt cool when its easy and requires no effort. GT4 is a racing sim. A white background and car simply drawn on the cover isnt interesting. And what difference is there from a character on the front cover vs the car? That's what really bugs me. Somehow a car is ok to take up a cover but not a character? Just saying certain type of games would really suffer if they had these simplistic designs. A lot of BA do a good job promoting the games features and showing the player what to expect/what's in store for them when/if they play the game (*cough 3*). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zombie-Valentine Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 I never got why the newest Doom doesn't use the reversible sleeve art, it's so much better. At least they give you the option of being able to reverse it though. Really though, other than the old 80s and early 90s cover art being iconic (though a lot of it just looking the same) game art hasn't really changed much, in my opinion, since they started to shift from that style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
totallycrushed Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Just now, Mar said: Simple isnt cool when its easy and requires no effort. GT4 is a racing sim. A white background and car simply drawn on the cover isnt interesting. And what difference is there from a character on the front cover vs the car? That's what really bugs me. Somehow a car is ok to take up a cover but not a character? Just saying certain type of games would really suffer if they had these simplistic designs. A lot of BA do a good job promoting the games features and showing the player what to expect/what's in store for them when/if they play the game (*cough 3*). Spoiler I mean car sims can do the basic dude on the cover. But see car sims and arcade racers are about the cars and enthusiast love car porn. The cars are the focus point of the game. Spoiler This shit is sexy as hell! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gommes_ Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 He has a point. The difference is, now you don't need to check up the box art for infos. You already know everything through reviews, let's plays etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HellcoreFire Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 I think it's worse, worst means sausage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dangisuckatgamin Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 A white background with text to me is lazy though.. so have to disagree with him there. I don't buy physical anymore so the cover to me isn't that important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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