The Death of Video Game Box Art
Vložit
- čas přidán 27. 08. 2016
- Mega Legs & Horn Boy Take Care of Business
Subscribe for weekly Jakey
Support Hot Boy Nation - / nakeyjakey
Support Gamer Girls
- / nakeyjakey
Dog Ass Fashions
- teespring.com/stores/nakeyjakey
Twitter
- / jakeychristy
Instagram
- jakeychrist...
SoundCloud
- / jakeychristy
Snapchat
- dingusjacob
Twitch
- / nakeyjakeystreamerboy
Spotify
- open.spotify.com/artist/3q1NK... - Hry
Upon seeing the Japanese coverart for Dark Souls...
I am genuinely pissed.
I came
Say what you want about the game dark souls 2 had some fantastic boxart
The box art for dark souls in America is thought to be artorias traversing the abyss which is cool I guess.... but your right the Japanese box art is way better
Invictus _1 But still, the japanese art looks 100000 times better than the american cover
Just go to the nearest school store, order a print of the alternate box art, slide it in and done. Just remember to take the measures beforehand
Remember when you got the game and stared the boxart while driving home to play it
and the read the manual on a night drive home not able to read shit but so hyped anyways
I miss these times...
i remember looking at the back of the box to
Yo thats dangerous. You gotta keep your eye on the road when you're driving
Gold SeMan It was usually parents driving us home
Can't believe he stole dunkeys idea 4 years before dunkey even made the video.
Lmao
@Steven Murphy You are nitpicking and bias I win bye bye
@Steven Murphy Steven Murphy is nitpicking and bias I win bye bye
@Steven Murphy "he gave TLOU 2 a good rating" and your point is?
@Steven Murphy I like tlou2 and that makes me shit and gay
I'm glad DOOM Eternal actually has art.
PogU
Yeah Eternals box art actually looks pretty good
@@AdamWest1290 its a call back to the original
Arthur Siprut it’s called copy the doom 2016 alternative art
Nega Well with that logic Doom 2016’s box art is copying the original Doom box art
UPDATE: The U.S Dark Souls cover is Artorias, which is why the dude is left handed. I sincerely apologize for my actions and revoke my status as a Soul Boy. Dog forgive me. Japanese one is still better though so actually still dog blessed
It's not Artorias, it's some generic ass knight, whoever told you that is bullshitting you. Just compare armor, he doesn't even have that hair/feather/whatever thingy on his helmet. Also Artorias wasn't even in main game, and he's on box art of the version("Prepare to Die") he's in. Designer of the international cover even said this about what it is based on: "When designing our cover I have to admit, I was at a complete loss as to what to do, I was told I had to "face the darkness inside myself", which didn't really help at all.".
+Infantry Helm hahaha goddammit I got tricked once again. I just can't win huh
PlayStation exclusives (and a few others) have reversible box art as well. Albeit Uncharted 4's is still drake shooting, at least he's not standing up?
Wut.
It's not artorias it was just badly drawn artorias isn't left handed either.
Red dead is a good combo of guy with a gun and actual art
@Chandler Burse yes Rockstar is the best at making games and also knowing how to make the theme of the game fit in the box art
And the red dead revolver boxart? lmao
@@themoike_prod They are in no way the best at making a GAME. They just know how to make a movie into a boring game
@@dylanj950 boring? Thanks for sharing your thought but no, it's not boring
@@themoike_prod the gameplay is ass garbage, it's only worth playing for the story that can somehow make degraded mechanics look like a slight oversight
I'm glad rockstar kept the tile style version of their boxart
Ik its fricking cool
Well, not very hard considering how rarely they publish new games today.
Imagine if they did a cliche with the main character showing the back or close up to their face like most covers.
lol their games suck since gta 4
@@arkfounder7056like red dead
RDR2 cover art is just a guy with a gun, but it also looked so good because of the colouring and it looks hand-drawn and not just a photo of the game character
Agreed! I don't mind the "main character just standing there" template as much if it looks hand-drawn
The Red Dead series is great when it comes to stylized box art with that violent red background. Undead Nightmare is my favourite of the lot.
The main thing for me is just the colours of it, like the red in red dead.
And hud is also red, yes, that box art just feels like a complete package.
Even Hello Games put more effort into the No Man's Sky box art than most companies.
However, some games did master the "Character showcase" style of box art. The Halo series did it well, especially with ODST.
Cannon Fodder I LOVE the Halo 3 box art. I will never be able to get it out of my head, because it looks so good.
Cannon Fodder even halo 5's box art would have been good if the story had been about locke and chiefs conflict
Cannon Fodder h2
anniversarys box is sick with the grey colouring
The No Man's Sky cover was actually made by Simon Stalenhag. If you don't know who he is I recommend checking out his website, he has some pretty cool artwork on there.
NMSs cover art is very pretty, grabs you with its vibrant colors and sense of mystery.
Halo 3's box art is perhaps the most gorgeous "heroic" looking cover ever made.
Reach had a bunch of cool wallpapers I wish they'd used instead of the one they did, I really like the one where Noble is standing on the upside-down horizon
That japanese ico cover is a thing of beauty
You should look at Persona 5’s cover that’s amazing
Reminds me a lot of Journey
@@matiaschacana5768 Journey was inspired by it, so yeah, it makes sense
That's a work of art !
it's clearly inspired by De Chirico, but yeah, fuck new box art
Fun Fact: Bioshock Infinite actually has amazing box art. You just have to flip cover paper.
Final Fantasy XV has a reversible sleeve too, at least my european one, it's more in line with old style even if it's logo on black instead of white.
Using Evanescence to describe American box art is absolutely perfect.
Fuckin correct
@@hmuphilly9129hey watch your profanity
I miss the old days of good video game manuals.
Call of Duty 1 had around 20-30 pages and every weapon in the game was explained. The weapon stats + some history behind the weapon.
Also the addon "Babarian Invasion" for Rome Total War I had around 100(!) pages.
Everything was explained: how to play, fractions, historical context and so on.
Today we got 1 page which says that we should buy the season pass
gg wp gaming industry
Look at the old DnD game books man, those things were amazing. They came with cloth maps, laminated quick sheets, big ass 200+ page books with a quality ring binding. They didn't have "special editions", it was just the basics and it cost $40-60 like a normal game. These days it costs an extra $20 for in-game content and exclusive items, BULLSHIT!
LauchusRexus I hated the game manuals they're a waste of paper
I still like how GTA comes with a map in the box
the old mortal kombat games for snes had a story for every character and a moves list... now you have a single piece of paper with a link...fuck that!
LauchusRexus Kids don't read unfortunately...
Nakey Jakey: The only CZcamsr that talks about every aspect of a game, except for the game.
And that's why I love his channel
Because there are already plenty of reviews out there for any game
@@The-Big-Boss he wasn't complaining lol
Box art is part of the game. Or it use to be. Which is the point.
Scott the woz
Personally I love the Dark Souls 3 cover art. The way the character looks down and lets the dirt fall through his fingers is tragic and epic at the same time. It fits the game's theme's perfectly.
dont look down!
Nah, it looks awful with a sickly pissy yellow green background.
DS3's cover art is great, just like 1 and Elden Ring, all of them are trying to tell a story. I'm guessing when it comes to Bloodborne, Sony was the one who decided to make the cover art.
I didn’t even know there was an American cover for heavy rain it looks so taccy
*Kirby's angry eyebrows*
KIRBY'S FUCKING PISSED
LEL
Americans must relate better to pissed characters.
Andy Mcp OH RESISTANCE!!!! How I miss you.😢😢😭
Good news! The upcoming Kirby game is going to have him happy across all boxart.
I feel your pain man. box arts are declining in quality, but dude...DID YOU SEE the fuckin Doom 2016 reverse cover! That cover restores my faith in artist, that it's possible to bring back amazing designs.
+Steven Barnes yeah that reverse cover is flames on flames
Too bad they didn't use it for the digital version. :(
When I discovered the alternate DOOM cover on my xbox one copy I immediatly switched it round and never changed it back. Clearly the default cover was made to sell copies to the masses of the CoD loving 12 year olds, and the reverse cover was to appeal to fans and say 'Hey, we're still that early 90s brutal shooter remember?'
Steven Barnes fallout 4 had a pretty sweet reverse cover and Dishonored as well
Oliver Yo...same. Never again will I look at tht tacky shit
For those wondering about the song at the end (9:10) The song is "Like the wind" from Gran Turismo
I just want you to know that when you left this comment you probably didn’t know if it would help anybody but it did may you live a prosperous life
As a graphic designer I got hit in the feels.. Thank you for the video!
I think America is in its emo phase, hopefully we’ll be out of it by 2034
Quote of the year.
emo round 2
as if the 90's werent bad enough .
maybe its because all of our institutions have been raw dogging us so hard our assholes are so prolapsed that when we try to party (early 2000's) we just get right back to emo (2015-now) cuz we cant take anyone home from the party to bang
America is a pretty young country it makes sense.
>out by 2034
I am stuck between this being a Metro Series refference or pure coincidence.
> It's not a phase!
Don't even get me started on instruction manuals
What instruction manuals 😒
Michael Russell Lol exactly
Oh my god, instruction manuals use to be my favorite part about getting games. Fallout 3 and Oblivion were some of the greatest. So much stuff to just read
playing games? Nah fuck that i bought it for them manuals xD good read
When they gave character bios and race bios and gave you glimpses of the world
I know you used Alien: Isolation as an example of a “bad” box art, but I actually really like it. It gives you a sense of dread as you can see the alien in the reflection of her helmet, which cues you into the fact that you will have to face the alien.
NakeyJakey, Scott the Woz, and Dunkey have all done videos on video game box art. While they've all said many of the same things, they've also all had some unique insights, and have communicated their thoughts with wildly different, and wildly entertaining, videos.
And each one of them has shit all over Mega Man 1, which is hilarious.
Nitpicking and biased
Gaming Brit also
Box art is dead because now they prefer to promote with a good trailer and don't care too much box art anymore. Before, Box art was so god damn important to attract people to buy the game, now video game companies know that with a bad ass trailer, they get better results. Same with superhero movies except the new JL poster.
if almost no actual gameplay is shown in the trailer don't get the game easy.
but its all about that clickbait
My U.S. copy of Heavy Rain is the origami one. I've never even seen the "character" cover.
Same, I've never seen the "character" cover before
I got it. Brazilian release.
I'm UK and that blew my mind, when he began to mention it I was confused because I remember loving the cover for my game
The american cover looks like porn somehow
Same here in india.
The thing that annoys me even more is what has happened to the back of game cases and console boxes. Game Boxes used to get several nice screenshots with some description of the game or the story covering most of the rear. Now, huge chunks of that backside real estate are taken up by various disclaimers and region info. It's so ugly.
The back of console boxes used to be filled with tons of screenshots of a bunch of different games. I used to love looking at those and seeing what other cool stuff I could get. Now, system boxes will just show features, a picture of the console, a giant logo, or the stupid character with a gun box art. It's so freakin' boring.
Agreed. After staring at the front of a new cover, naturally I flip it over and check to see what awaits in the game getting me more excited to get home and play.
8:23 while I am sad that they dropped the white background, that box art actually represents the game (or at least the start of it) pretty well.
Much better than alternatively having just Noctis looking edgy with a sword.
All the plain white background Japanese ones are lazy and suck. Square Enix has plain black/white text spines all the time too
Box art is a wash, no generation wins. I miss the shit out of manuals though.
Chrisjb1983 they should have a little set of instructions for people to print a digital manual themselves so its still enviromentaly friendly but gives people the option
and the smell of a freshly opened case with that crisp new manual???? maybe? just me?
When I was a kid I would be so excited to play the new game I just bought, so I’d read the manual over and over on the way home. Rip manuals :(
Also, that new manual smell is the bomb.
Totally with you, used to spend hours watching at the manuals, some of them were art, as a mini guide that now you have to pay 20 dollars to get
I love how GTA always has a physical map in the box. Makes the world seem a little bit more real.
Thanks for mentioning the cover of GTA san Andreas, I remember my father bringing back a copy of it and before I opened it, I spent like a full 10 minutes just staring at the cover art and having all kinds of crazy ideas about the game.
Same but with Vice City.
gta covers all look the same
@@mcj2219
It’s kinda the point. The brackets make it recognizable, and the bold colors and outlines also do. If you were at gamestop, you’d easily recognize the games, because of those things. The point of the cover is the stick in your head, and also make you think about what’s in the game. They look similar, but each are different.
Such a good fucking game man
Same but with GTA 4, i loved it
I am SO glad I watched this. As a PAL gamer, I was always quite repulsed by American box art and confused as to how the hell they thought they were better than the original Japanese versions. PAL tends to stick to the Japanese ones thank god.
Jakey really just sat here and made a video about box art without mentioning Kingdom Hearts which has had simultaneous beautiful masterpieces of box art in every region for the last eighteen years.
Goddamn, they nail it every game! I’m surprised Jakey didn’t mention any of them
I personally don't have a problem with current covers but I wouldn't mind seeing some more creative stuff.
NeonFish710 try Japanese or region 3 disks -- they have better cover arts and sometimes full English support)
europian covers are almost always the better ones, at least with old games
Japanese box arts are still the best.
The Jovian if I know a game is good then I genuinely don’t even spare a single thought about the box cover, so this video was a surprise to me as the box art has never ever affected me
My theory to the decline of good looking box art is that studios think no one cares about box art anymore because of the rise of DIGITAL downloads
Farldie Manie This sounds a lot more plausible than just saying that America killed it. Why put so much effort into cover art or instruction manuals when people are just going to download the game instead of collecting the boxes?
jackpress15 I do miss instruction manuals
Because I still collect the boxes. Lol.
Games have cover art in digital form too. Thats not an excuse to stop putting effort into it.
Gamer_X Right? as if we just click on words to start games now. I mean it's an option in Steam to view games in a word list but it's not enticing at all.
I went to art school wanting to be an illustrator for video game box art and movie posters. Sadly I think there’s no longer a market for such things within the entertainment industry. It kinda makes me wonder if eventually the visual arts will die out commercially.
Although I live in Indiana, so maybe it’s different somewhere else, but around here it’s just factories and retail. There is no creative sector.
Even book covers are getting generic even a book even has one...
But yeah i think your fear are well founded visual arts industry is dying just about everywhere
Shame because sometimes a poster / box art can be a piece of art itself expanding on what the work is and what it represents
Case and point the best movie poster of all time the poster of the thing
@@valletas yeah, I think the advent of AI image generators is probably one of the last nails in the coffin here. Although I think we may see a resurgence of western academic realism as a result. I’ve heard people argue that we as Americans consume more art than ever, but this argument is usually made by people that just blindly accept postmodernism as a rule rather than a point of view. If anything hopefully we will see a new indie scene pop up within the visual industries. I think it’s time to shake these 1960’s paradigms up, though interestingly traditional forms of beauty are now the counterculture. The avant garde is now old and stodgy.
Gran Turismo‘s cover for the US looks like someone just put their trashbag somewhere and the art director went all „THIS.“
The problem is not only with the outside of the box, but with the inside that is really empty these days.
I remember having like 2 or 3 instruction papers and maybe some art or something, with the FF X-2 I got a small bestiary or something like that
as a kid I would just read manuals for fun, they used to have so much effort put in.
Yes, pin this comment to the top. With game studios becoming stingy and charging heftier amount for that collector's edition and giving absolutely nothing to the standard edition! :-(
The good old days of instruction manuals. I remember the Vice City one that was made like a tourist guide and it even came with a full map. Would be cool if this was a thing nowdays...
@@ToxicBastard The F-Zero manual had a comic in it, and in the Art of fighting II one every character had its own illustration made by a Japanese artist.
As an illustrator, comic book artist and occasional art coach/teacher, thank you so much for this video.
The cover for the PS4 Spiderman game, for example, actually got me pissed off at first sight; like, literally - to the point of fuming about it for hours to my wife first and then, for the next couple of days, to anyone who would listen. Not only because I myself - and almost every one of the contacts in my personal agenda of friends and co-workers - could do WAY better than what we got, but because what we got was an embarrassing mess that barely managed to not crap all over any major rule for art design almost by accident, sticking so much to the bare bone basics of the trade that I was left wondering at some point if there had been any humans involved in its making and editing or it was entirely done by a string of algorithms or something. You could almost heard some exec's voice going "Hey, why bother, it's effin' Spider-Man, it's going to sell like hotcakes anyway so who cares?" while looking at that so-called box art. So, so infuriating.
There's so many other example, of course; as you implied, the shelves are full of them currently. I just emphasized the Spider-Man example because of how close it struck to home, if you know what I mean.
I think because of digital copies, cover art needed to be simplified and can be identified from far away, i think they didnt bother with the physical copies and so they just slapped spidey in there, but still its a fantastic ass game
shows how bad it is and forgettable that i had to go and look again to se how bad it was and your right se it i feel every cell in my body going "this is diarrhea in print" as i just cringe of knowing one could do something far greater for a comic-book character, even better if one excuse for games are thumbnail designs its still a hog of shit as give a artist requirement we can easy do something more appealing.
At least it's reversible so you can flip it around and the alternate box art is pretty good
See what I would've done is make it look like an old school comic cover, with the spidey head in the corner and a comic code approval.
They probably did because: oh it’s Spiderman, it sells.
And for me the game fucking sells because it’s amazing.
So it’s enraging a game I love has such a terrible cover art
This is why I love Steelbooks! For the most part, they still have amazing art. One of the examples you gave - Dark Souls 3 - has an awesome steelbook edition. Same with Uncharted 4 and so many others.
This is why I love reversible insert covers. Where you can take the cover art slip and flip it around and suddenly BAM- the case looks so much cooler. No more gaudy logos, and information boxes, warning labels, rating box, etc. - just cool art on the front and back. Bloodborne is actually one that I think looks good like this. After flpping the instert around, tne the front now has the Hunter looking down a street of Yarnahm as the moon hangs high in the sky, and on the back it just says "Bloodborne" in white text in that unique font against a solid black background. It gives such a better sense of how this game presents itself.
I never had any idea America had such shit box art, I'm so sorry
biggles the gamer it’s true it sucks over here you can look at any of my ps4 games and they all look the same except a few
Nothing to be sorry about, Box art is a small touch
+Serpent no there is definitely a lot to be sorry about
who cares it doesnt mean shit to the game anyways
@@MROREOCAKESTER126 then stfu
Doom and Dark Souls finally got the box art they deserved with their recent re-releases and I love them so much
av4d
If you actually have a copy of DOOM 2016 for console you can flip the cover over and see the orginal art which Btw is amazing same thing with bioshock infinite.
Lord Jenkum I did that with my DOOM copy.
LYFE HAX! (sorry)
Lord Jenkum the only thing about it on PS4/XB1 that I wasn't a fan of was that the flipped cover didn't have any labels for the console, making it inconsistent with other games when paired next to each other. That might just be a me thing though..
av4d easy fix... Xbox One version. Xbox One boxes have the system logo on the actual box not on the paper inlay
av4d if you flip the paper of the game you'll get another art with doom,it shows him grabbing a demon by the throat with a shotgun in his other hand
"Box art has lost its style"
Doom eternal: "allow me to introduce myself."
Its just a modernized version of the original Doom
@@chrismaxwell2274 exactly
@@chrismaxwell2274 hell yeah it is and it’s great
the dlc art is soooo good too
lol that's the ONE example everyone is using
this video is still so good!! would love an updated version of this video talking about the good/bad art of the tiles on online stores/streaming services. Every time I pull up Netflix I see so many that are just awful.
"GeneSNES"
Brilliant.
I died when I heard that
JJE990 no GeneSNes
Genesis snes nes all in one
I think the Borderlands games had some pretty dope box art
Hell yeah they did!!!!
Eric Burke until the handsome collection
Still waiting for number three
Йосиф Сталин Aren't we all, my man?
Malik Barbrie
Sadly yes fingers crossed tho
Breath of the wild, sonic maina, super smash Bros ultamate, and Mario odessey all have great box art
Yay nintendo
@@tehynprk and Sega for Sonic Mania
breath of the wild is literally the shit he was talking about. Link is just standing on a rock with his back to the camera looking at nothing.....Unless you dont mean the US version?
And call of duty
Because I don’t live in America i never realised that it was this bad, I’ve never seen half the American box arts
The GENESNES. 😂
*quickly checks box cover art of game collection*
That's exactly what I did
@@LetsGoGetThem you don't?
@@LetsGoGetThem what kinda nerd doesnt own at least 347 videogames
@@LetsGoGetThem All my console games are physical copies. PC all digital tho. I also still have all my old gamecube and ps2 games that I play on occasion. Most people I know have at least 8-10 physical games collected.
im all about physical copies even my movie dvd bluray collection
I just saw this but wanted to say I like this a lot. I think it's a valid point too- there are so many artists on Twitter that you could throw like $120 and get an amazing, unique, or otherwise clean-looking piece that it really is shameful some of these studios push out the same starwars derivative styled art release after release.
As someone in the U.S. who's played way too much heavy rain, I've actually never seen the U.S. cover. Idk if it's because the online stores pick which cover to use but I've actually known a lot of European/Japanese box art as just being the icon I click on whenever I try to boot up the game
"America Killed it" you can say that about so many things. So many of the bad decisions that Capcom and Square Enix have made were due to their attempts to be more like the west.
You know what I miss more then good box art? Instruction Manuals.
Amen to the instruction manuals. I remember buying a game from a store and reading the instructions on the ride home or getting a Christmas gift at a relatives' house and reading it there while anticipating what I'm gonna play. I get trying to go green(although they probably want to save money by making it digital), but I WANT that paper the same way I want that disc/cartridge. There was artwork of characters and enemies inside the booklet and you also got a glimpse of the story.
good point. But some games got it.
fuck yes manuals please
You know who doesnt miss instruction manuals? The environment.
Fuck I used to love the old Halo instruction manuals that had details about all the enemy types, weapons and vehicles. The Halo 2 special edition even had a different version of the manual written from the Covenant's perspective.
Nah dude the reason why it is dead is because they don't NEED box art to sell a game anymore. Games have so much hype associated with them between trailers, demos, and so forth. Whereas back in the 90s you really didn't have much media covering a game so they needed boxart to be what made you pick it up, especially during the over population of games on NES and SNES. Also, digital distribution kills it as well.
Ivan Rogers II ty just wrote the same comment!! :D
Ivan Rogers II it would be nice to have nice box art. and the guide books and all that like you used to get with almost every game. need it or not, it's just part of the package. i think alot of people, like myself, who like having physical copies of things like games, movies, music, etc., it has a lot to do with the artistic and hands on value of it that comes with stuff like unique artwork and booklets and all that.
He said this
Ivan Rogers II They should at least try to put the good, gorgeous box art as the image for the digital version of the game.
Ivan Rogers II Smh, the box art holds tremendous value, it showcases what the game is about. All the trailers, demos, and hype don't mean a thing when you go and buy the game or when you download it. It's the last thing you're gonna see before playing the game, in a way a gatekeeper of the game that tells the story of what is about to come. It might not be necessary for marketing but it still has value, I don't think games are just mechanical where you pop them in play for hours and never remember again. They're art, they hold memories and merit, some more than others but it's impact is still ever present. You at least have to admit the new cover art is a cheap exploit to try to get people to reach the lowest denominator for higher sales. I dont think anyone is asking for a Picasso for each cover art, but today cover art is a lazy photoshop 10 minute work, no real effort went into it. Taking the time to smell the flowers isn't bad yknow.
We watched this in game art class and it was hilarious but also real educational. thx for this video :D
"dude with a gun" sometimes works
especially black ops's iconic pose with the guy sitting down with two guns. (only for BO 1, 2 & 3)
dude, boring box art makes me SO MAD as an artist. like, my art teacher is always like, "hey, straight on and profiles or closeups of eyeballs are boring. take it from a weird perspective or put a new twist on it!" and thats really true. when you work on a piece (especially when you want to sell it) you put thought and time into what you want the audience to think and why. the whole "straight on view of a guy with a gun or maybe boobs" is like my edgy sketches from eighth grade all taken from the same angle
a guy with a gun or boobs
@@j00sey78 A guy with boobs and a gun, now that would sell some cropies
@@jobelthirty1294 LOOOOOOOOOL
I remember when I was in second grade and my dad told me he was gonna get me a ps2 for christmas and I nearly shit my pants and that's when he said "shut down the sawmill, that log can't come out yet" and then he handed me a gamestop catalogue and told me to circle the games I wanted for the ps2 (as you can already tell, it was the best christmas ever). The only game console I ever owned prior to this was an N64, so I didn't know jack diddly about these fanciful playstation games and I was just a second grader. Back then we couldn't just go on youtube and look up gameplay trailers on the internet whenever we pleased because youtube hadn't been invented yet and the internet was still mostly a lawless wasteland of pop up ads and webpages so ugly they'd melt your eyeballs if you looked at them for too long, so the only information I had to base my decisions off of were box art. Boy, I can still remember the box arts for Kingdom Hearts, Sly Cooper, and Marvel Vs Capcom 2 catching my eye. To this day, Sly Cooper's box art gives me a feeling that nothing else in the world can and I can't even describe what it is, it's not like it has a crazy box art or anything, but it's unique and I love it. Anyway, I said all this to say that box art was a huge factor in what games I bought as a kid, and I'd like to see cool box art make a comeback.
Luca DeAdam then everyone clapped
same, that's how it always was back in the day. we all just popped into gamestop and bought whatever games had the coolest covers.
1. I love it when the "parents getting something you really want" kinda thing happens. Love it.
2. I want the box art to come back, too.
"Shut down the sawmill, that log can't come out yet" made this comment 10/10
Interesting to come back to this in 2020. Games like Hades, Disco Elysium, and Hypnospace Outlaw all have striking and beautiful box-art. Disco technically falls into the "main character with a gun" trope, but gets a pass because it's a gorgeous illustration and a clever subversion of expectations with how little action there really is.
And call of duty
The Brash Paintings of Snake in MGS games are some of my favorite art covers
I don’t know how I feel about Red Dead Redemption 2’s Box Art. It’s almost as if it’s generic and unique at the same time
That might sum up the entire game actually. So I guess it fits perfectly.
At least the cover isn't a 3D model of the character.
Eh, its a stylised callback to the RDR 1 boxart, shows the whole gang on horses in silhouette. its got the american flag on there, the forest behind him, all captured in a sunset. I think its pretty dope Tbh, they could have just had arthur point a gun and called it a day, people would have still ate it like fucking hotcakes
well i love it
It’s also dope that you actually get to play through the moment where the cover art comes from
Bioshock Infinite had an alternate box art. You just need to flip the cover.
True, that one is extremely badass btw
Karma
I love the box art on the back of the cover as well it is beautiful
Karma I never knew this and just flipped my case and I can't thank you enough
Karma I've had infinite since it came out and I literally never noticed, i just changed it as soon as I saw this comment, bless your soul.
Karma I didn't know flipping the cover was something they did! Now I'm excited to try it with all my games!
“NES, S-NES and Genes-nes” that one kinda got me.
This was the most dunkey video without even trying to be one(I'm a new subscriber binging your videos, apologies in advance)
The best example of beautiful box art in the current gen of games has to be Resident Evil 7
TheSaltedSnail Agreed and the game is awesome.
Nah, RE 6 box art was way better. Nothing beats someone giving giraffe a blowjob.
No.
Yes.
Resident evil 4 wii edition box art was sick and nothing like the one he showed on the video
Back again after seeing the incredibly shitty Cyberpunk artwork
welp at least it's yellow
I know right so boring and generic.
I got poor taste i guess, cuz i like it...
777 777
Yeah, you legit have poor, dare I even say, shit fucking taste, man.
So, CDPR did the same with the Witcher 3 so its no surprise, imo! But I still wish the box art was better than what we unfortunately got...
5:09 and in Europe, I always loved these minimalist designs. Glad I got them in the UK
Oh man those MGS art covers and FFs ones are A MA ZING.
*Looks at The Last of Us Box Art*
That looks amazing
*Looks at The Last of Us Part II Box Art*
Oh for f*cks sake
no
Art sucks just like the game
@@user-no9sh7li9e Nah.
@@makimahater911 yeah.
you are so right
I feel that marvel’s Spider-Man had the laziest box art
Flip the cover
It looks boring
shivam sharma the sequel will probably be even more boring. the players that go in photo mode could probably make a better cover
bostonc335 oh my god, that’s such a good idea. The cover art is from photo mode, that would be awesome
Shit cover art for a good game
I feel like the best way to do the box art with just a character is something like Hotline Miami 2. The drained and shocked look on the Beard’s face serves as a tone setter for the game and plus, it’s just drawn beautifully.
Most box art now a days look great because of the lighting and detail, they are still creative
Why did I leave that comment as well? Facepalms
lmao that mega man box art still gives me the creeps xD
Vampires Crypt what are you talking about , its not creepy
czcams.com/video/dTj80onUOV4/video.html
Vampires Crypt S
holy shit, after watching the intro to this video i looked at all my games to the ps4 and 80% af the games follow the "main character posing" idea, fuck me.
who is here after reading the comments on Dunkey's video?
Consoles with clear plastic game boxes like the Switch sometimes feature some fun artwork printed on the reverse side of the paper insert. I always like to flip the paper around and display the art on the outside of the box.
I remember looking at the covers for games for hours when I was younger. They were so pretty but idk maybe I grew up and lost interest in the covers but I'm pretty sure I stopped looking at the covers because they were so boring and didn't tell me anything about the game.
Ethan Please enter a name Holy shit we are the same
Willy_Th3_ Walrus thats what sold me a game when i saw cod 2 cover for the first time in stores i picked it up the guy yelling and gun fire on normandy was simply stunning to me and i wanted to be that character playing in that situation
Willy_Th3_ Walrus *Grade A comment*
Willy_Th3_ Walrus I remember staring at the halo 2 box fot the xbox360 for ages every few days lol the shots were so cool
So basically you said the same shit the video said. Grade A comment.
Bioshocks box art: Whats that big, lumbering scuba thing with all the eyes? What was the deal with the little girl holding a big ass siringe? Wait, are they fucking under water? Why does everything look like we're in the 40s - 50s? Whats going on, I gots tah know!
Bioshock Infinite: Burly dude with gun.
I remember when I was little seeing that at a Hollywood video and being completely in awe. The little sister stuck with me so much and I wanted to get that game with years. That cover has stuck with me to this day as one of the greatest cover arts ever.
5:45 that's very familiar theme. legend Of the Dragoon?!
I think the God of War 2 cover actually looks good. It really conveys that ''Kratos against the whole world'' vibe. Like, if you buy that game based on that cover art, you will get what you expect to get.
ye I thought out of all the ones he used as examples of lazy PS2 box art, that one looked by far the best.
The Elder Scrolls always did a good job, making its box art look like an ancient book of some sort
Totally :)!
An ancient book like an
Elder Scroll?
definitely
probably spelled it wrong sorry
Yep
Bioshock Collection art, though.
That was really sweet !
You're right lad! that cover was fucking A!
Nah the skyrim art boi 😎👌
Infinite had an awesome alternative cover (www.mobygames.com/images/covers/l/260812-bioshock-infinite-xbox-360-inside-cover.jpg)
yeah that inner cover was so fucking good, like why do they do this double cover shit when they can just give us the one with some mad DECENT art
Crazy to think how this video introduced me to the beautiful art of Ico. Now years later that’s going to be the name of my first born son (haven’t played the game just thought it looked amazing). Thank you naked Jacob
It's really cool you pointed out Resistance 3's box art. Imo Resistance 1 and 3 had some of the most memorable covers ever.
For the X1 and PS4 era, I can't think of many cool game covers, maybe just Sunset Overdrive, ARMS, and Nioh 2. Those were solid. For third party, maybe Rainbow 6 Siege... I like how simplistic it was but how effectively it communicated the essence of the gameplay.
I'm from u.k and i got the gorgeous ico cover but I just laughed when I just saw the u.s cover now 😂
same
But I don’t remember that cover, like I’m in the U.S and I got the ico game ( which I love) but I have that cover, I never saw that other one
The Evil Within 2 has some great box art
The first one had also some great art, with the brain cover.
Cool fact : the creator of the souls series
hidetaka miyazaki
The reason he became a game developer is ICO
Thank you ICO very cool
I’m glad We get all the euro box art here in aus. I definitely used to judge a book by it’s cover game shopping back in the day
At least the Smash Ultimate box art looks CRAZY good.
Owen Apple
I disagree completely. Both are essentially Link just standing on a cliff overlooking some scenery, the bland character problem discussed in this video, but I would argue that the US cover art better represents the somber tone of the entire game, and overlooking the corrupted Hyrule castle is much more appropriate than Death Mountain. Also, I think Link's pose in the EU art is just silly. Why is he looking at the camera?
@@_owen9 Tbh, I like the US version a lot more. The art focuses on the "Wild" rather than Link
@@_owen9 i really need to bully you . . .
I must resist!
.
.
.
Ur mom GAY
@@_owen9 The american boxart for Zelda botw looks way better. it better represents the sombre tone of the game
I love finding Good CZcams channels.
Edgy contrarian comment + liking your own comment, doesn't get better than this.
5 years later...still love this one Jakey!
I like Far Cry 5's box art
I luckily got the shadow of the colossus and Ico back to back game, and when you’re booting up the game to choose which one you wanna play, they have the original box art versions and I love that so much... I am so glad I didn’t even know about the American version until this video •-•
I really like Alien: Isolation's cover art. It would be different if the Xenomorph weren't being reflected in the visor, but the fact that it is is awesome.
Hollywood all over again.
Compare movie posters and cover art to the ones back in the day. I used to frequent Blockbuster just to look at all the amazing covers and then randomly rent a DBZ tape. 😆
I hope this never happens to album covers... oh wait it is starting to!
Mission Impossible Fallout and Uncharted The Nathan Drake Collect. Ethan and Nathan are litteraly in the same pose.
The only great posters in Hollywood would be Tarantino's film posters e.g. Pulp Fiction, The Whole Bloody Affair, Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood, and my favourite, The Hateful Eight (that is if it is hand drawn and not having the actor have a photoshoot
@@marshallemmet1366 no, it's not going to, and I don't think it's starting to, album cover are insanely important to the album's, & idk why, but dope album cover really helps a dope album, so yeah I don't think it will happen.
I was in a walmart today. The movie section had La La land, Warm bodies, Dirty Dancing, 5 feet apart, and like one other semi romance type movie, all of them lined up next to each other and each were shades of pastel pink backgrounds, and they had the two main characters posed together, so it created this uncanny samey manufactured look with movies that essentially were unrelated
fucking love the commentary, especially mega legs! had me dying!
The Red and Black cover art for Resi 4 still gives me chills
You forgot to mention bethesda/id's greatly appreciated decision to make doom's box art reversable, sure the one they chose to face outwards was just.....cheesy and uninspired, but the alternate design that they included was GORGEOUS and a badass nod to the game's origin.
SpaztallicA speaking of Bethesda the elder scrolls games have great covers.
thats nearly a great offense to me, you put the effort in to make the great art and then switched it because you dont have faith in the fans or think people are too stupid to buy it if its not generic
SpaztallicA I didn't even realize it was reversible. THANK YOU DUDE
SpaztallicA true I've never used the main side that alternative is fucking gorgeous
SpaztallicA holy shit I just reversed it looks soooooo much better thanks man!
I just watched a nerd talking about video game boxes for way too long. Wasn't disappointed.
I feel as if the cover of heavy rain in the u.s. gave away who the origami killer was
the quality of a video game's box art is why people still remember psychonauts and not the most recent cod game