Game box dos and don'ts!
OK so because I'm all on the subject of game boxes, I decided to have a little pageant of sorts. I've compiled a DOs and DON'Ts list of various game boxes over the past years.
DOS:
This game box works great for so many reasons. The artistic director at Capcom clearly wanted to let people know that this game wasn't fucking around. The stern font and violent imagery of an old man surrounded by blood-red broken glass displaying his multiple personalities practically leaps off the wall. If someone asks if we have this game at EB, I can usually spot it at a glace regardless of where I'm standing in the store.
Good stuff Capcom! Instead of boring us all and showing legions of zombies or a close-up of our protagonist's face, we get this clever candid shot of some dude (who's clearly fucked at this point) trying desparately not to get eaten while his buddy lends him a helping hand. One can only imagine why he's handing him a gun! Perhaps one of those "kill me before I become one of them" moments? Spooky!
Now here's an overlooked game with awesome artwork. You basically play a skinny, tormented anti-hero who clearly has personal issues with all the shit he has to do. The font is a bit typical, but the striking reds do the box a good service. At least he's not posing like all those clowns in my previous entry.
Now, the artwork for the US version of my game of the year was pretty good, but nowhere near legendary. The European version however, takes the piss out of every other survival horror game box out there and gives you a great idea of what to expect from the game. The balance of cleverness with creepyness must have been measured in a lab somewhere using a finely-tuned apparatus. It's one of those images where you go "Uh huh, so what am I...ohhhhhhhhh".
This game box looks good enough to eat. Your eyes become immediately drawn to it, like it was a sizzling T-Bone steak and you've been eating sunflower seeds for weeks. You know this game is going to be wicked fun just by looking at it. And for those who are playing the early levels and are starting to get bored with rolling around in living rooms, at least they can always look to this box as a beacon of light showing how awesome things get later on.
Well! It looks like our friend Mario has a Katamari of his own going on here! The concentration of Mario-themed fun is so dangerously high here, anyone who has yet to cut thier teeth on lighter fare such as Mario Kart will probably end up looking like victims of the Joker upon opening this box.
Man, this game is so rock-fucking-solid it's only fitting that the game box follows suit. Not only is the sinister-looking man of an indescernable race (PSSST! It's supposed to be YOU!) holding NYC like a crown jewel, his cracked fingernails and taped knuckles show that he damn well earned that shit.
This game isn't out yet, but do you want to know what it's about? Of course you do! If you get to play as the little man on the horse, then yes! Please! Well, you basically hunt enormous creatures and engage in epic battles which result in you literally climbing on top of them and jabbing them in the brain. This box does such a great job of giving you an idea of the scale of these fights. Fingers crossed that it won't suck.
OK we're going back into the vaults with this one, but man, Smash TV had such a great Running Man-esque premise that was perfectly captured by the box art. Look at all those Benjamins! Would you take on an army of cyborg-Donatellos for a new VCR? Yeah it's cheesy, but honestly, making fun of an 80s game for being cheesy is like making fun of a Pet Shop Boys album for being gay.
Check back soon for the DON'Ts!
DOS:
This game box works great for so many reasons. The artistic director at Capcom clearly wanted to let people know that this game wasn't fucking around. The stern font and violent imagery of an old man surrounded by blood-red broken glass displaying his multiple personalities practically leaps off the wall. If someone asks if we have this game at EB, I can usually spot it at a glace regardless of where I'm standing in the store.
Good stuff Capcom! Instead of boring us all and showing legions of zombies or a close-up of our protagonist's face, we get this clever candid shot of some dude (who's clearly fucked at this point) trying desparately not to get eaten while his buddy lends him a helping hand. One can only imagine why he's handing him a gun! Perhaps one of those "kill me before I become one of them" moments? Spooky!
Now here's an overlooked game with awesome artwork. You basically play a skinny, tormented anti-hero who clearly has personal issues with all the shit he has to do. The font is a bit typical, but the striking reds do the box a good service. At least he's not posing like all those clowns in my previous entry.
Now, the artwork for the US version of my game of the year was pretty good, but nowhere near legendary. The European version however, takes the piss out of every other survival horror game box out there and gives you a great idea of what to expect from the game. The balance of cleverness with creepyness must have been measured in a lab somewhere using a finely-tuned apparatus. It's one of those images where you go "Uh huh, so what am I...ohhhhhhhhh".
This game box looks good enough to eat. Your eyes become immediately drawn to it, like it was a sizzling T-Bone steak and you've been eating sunflower seeds for weeks. You know this game is going to be wicked fun just by looking at it. And for those who are playing the early levels and are starting to get bored with rolling around in living rooms, at least they can always look to this box as a beacon of light showing how awesome things get later on.
Well! It looks like our friend Mario has a Katamari of his own going on here! The concentration of Mario-themed fun is so dangerously high here, anyone who has yet to cut thier teeth on lighter fare such as Mario Kart will probably end up looking like victims of the Joker upon opening this box.
Man, this game is so rock-fucking-solid it's only fitting that the game box follows suit. Not only is the sinister-looking man of an indescernable race (PSSST! It's supposed to be YOU!) holding NYC like a crown jewel, his cracked fingernails and taped knuckles show that he damn well earned that shit.
This game isn't out yet, but do you want to know what it's about? Of course you do! If you get to play as the little man on the horse, then yes! Please! Well, you basically hunt enormous creatures and engage in epic battles which result in you literally climbing on top of them and jabbing them in the brain. This box does such a great job of giving you an idea of the scale of these fights. Fingers crossed that it won't suck.
OK we're going back into the vaults with this one, but man, Smash TV had such a great Running Man-esque premise that was perfectly captured by the box art. Look at all those Benjamins! Would you take on an army of cyborg-Donatellos for a new VCR? Yeah it's cheesy, but honestly, making fun of an 80s game for being cheesy is like making fun of a Pet Shop Boys album for being gay.
Check back soon for the DON'Ts!