New 1up article - Box artwork

[recap]

Nice. These things do always interest me, especially since I often miss the Western iterations. Though, to be honest, I don't agree with the article's ending point at all. I just don't believe that Western people is so stupid or undocumented to be fine with Western covers of Japanese games, especially if they know the original ones. They don't need oversized logos, nor characters everywhere, nor pieces of artwork which indeed weren't conceived as cover illustration. I still prefer to believe that the stupid ones here are the people behind the US marketing. And their minds did only change a bit because of the anime boom.

In my opinion, the US Kamigami no Triforce cover is awful. As is the whole series' covers, or Konami's covers for the SNES. If you ask me, a cover illustration, much like the whole artwork, is part of the game itself, hence changing it more or less is a form of censorship.

Oh, and Strider, an "anime-inspired title"?

[YourAverageJoe]

mp83 said:

Thanks Capcom of Europe!!!

Funny thing is that since Capcom of Europe left all of its sales rights to the Nordic Countries to EA, that's the only Zero game that made it to Finland and Iceland.

[recap]

[Shinigami]

Original version.


What we got.

SNK NEOGEO USA CONSUMER CORPORATION sure knows how to ruin a perfectly good cover.

[recap]

Yeah. They of course will tell you that in the original cover the title logo was too small, and placed too down for marketing purposes. That is, they're stupid for thinking that the Western public is that stupid. Nice show.

[Deleted]

youraveragejoe said:

Funny thing is that since Capcom of Europe left all of its sales rights to the Nordic Countries to EA, that's the only Zero game that made it to Finland and Iceland.

No wonder MMZ2 is the only game in the series I've seen on sale here. Meh, doesn't matter. The ugly euro covers makes me to import the US versions anyway. ;D

[grad]

One thing I don't understand: You mention Half-Life 2 as an example of characters being the focus of U.S. box art--instead of mentioning it as an example of a U.S. cover changed to suit a Japanese audience. I'm not even sure if the latter is true, but as is I don't see the point really. Half-Life 2 is just a single example and can't prove much.

It's a good article, and I enjoyed reading it. Thanks for mentioning it here, as I probably wouldn't have been able to enjoy it otherwise.

[Discoalucard]

It goes along with the same concept - a lot of RPGs change the focus to feature the characters (usually more than one), and Half Life 2 is another example of that, even though it's an American game. I brought it up because I found it odd, especially in the Xbox version where you never even see Gordon's face at all in game, when he's on the cover.

[ed]

recap said:

...As is the whole series' [Zelda's] covers, or Konami's covers for the SNES. If you ask me, a cover illustration, much like the whole artwork, is part of the game itself, hence changing it more or less is a form of censorship.

What? The US artwork for Super Castlevania IV and Contra III is better than the originals. Well, certainly in the case of Castlevania.

Oh, and Strider, an "anime-inspired title"?

Well, not exactly. Capcom and Kadokawa Shoten teamed up to release a game/manga combination (Synergy, you know), and so the manga came first. It was penned by Tatsumi Wada.

[recap]

ed said:

recap said:

...As is the whole series' [Zelda's] covers, or Konami's covers for the SNES. If you ask me, a cover illustration, much like the whole artwork, is part of the game itself, hence changing it more or less is a form of censorship.

What? The US artwork for Super Castlevania IV and Contra III is better than the originals. Well, certainly in the case of Castlevania.

Nah.

Oh, and Strider, an "anime-inspired title"?

Well, not exactly. Capcom and Kadokawa Shoten teamed up to release a game/manga combination (Synergy, you know), and so the manga came first. It was penned by Tatsumi Wada.

Sure, I know. He's the artist behind the Tenchi wo Kurau comic too, which Capcom licensed for its popular game series.

But it doesn't mean Strider Hiryu is too anime/manga-inspired, despite the ninja theme, and especially the game's artwork. Capcom did always worry about the Western tastes for its games, trying to not do them too 'Japanese'-looking. There are exceptions, of course.

[grad]

You can't see Gordon's face at all--ever? Hehe, that's pretty funny for some reason.

[YourAverageJoe]

It actually makes the game more awesome, gives the game a little more immersion.

[ed]

recap said:

ed said:

What? The US artwork for Super Castlevania IV and Contra III is better than the originals. Well, certainly in the case of Castlevania.

Nah.

European (same base artwork as the US version, better scan but it still needs to be replaced)

Japanese

The Japanese box artwork (that scan's actually cut off around the corners, I should replace it as well) has way too much going on, but ironically doesn't convey much in the way of action or character - Simon just looks constipated, like Ralph on Akumajo Densetsu; small details are apparently outside this artist's ability. The little vignette of Simon swinging underneath a chandelier (??) above two (??) reapers is particularly bad, and not simply because it's doing a poor job conveying the gameplay mechanics (this composition might be from the early days of game development; I'll be willing to assume that much). The color scheme is alright, the trees are okay, and Dracula looks like he does ingame - but that's all I can say for it. Nothing dynamic is happening; even the chandelier shot suffers from the appearance of having been posed.

On the other hand the US/European boxes show actual elements from the game and add in some action - Simon's swinging out and around as if he's just launched himself off a platform; the platform a skeleton is standing on crumbles dynamically. One of the series' trademark damaged statues stands over the action. On the whole it's reminiscent of Castlevania III's box, and that's not a bad thing.