Did Capcom Take RE5 Box Art From a Fan?

[John Funk]

Did Capcom Take RE5 Box Art From a Fan?

Capcom finds itself in yet another possible box art blunder with a Resident Evil 5 design that looks suspiciously familiar to a fan-made mock-up posted on the Internet this June.

This has not been a good year for the box artists at Capcom. Back in April, gamers noticed that the art for the Wii version of Okami a fan-made image [http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/20/uh-ohkami-capcom-botches-okami-wii-box-art-inadvertently-adver/] posted on VGBoxArt by a user called DeathSpawn11 back in June.

At first glance, the official Capcom art and DeathSpawn11's version seem almost identical; upon closer viewing there are certainly differences between the two - the background, the lettering, the position and pose of Chris Redfield's female sidekick - but things might not be looking so good for Capcom.

Let's give them the benefit of the doubt for a second. Unless DeathSpawn11 is a fantastic artist, the mock-up probably uses official Capcom art for both the characters and the logo, the main things that stand out as identical between the two versions. This could be more a case of Capcom feeling lazy and/or not particularly inspired and reusing stock art - rather than a case of blatantly stealing a fan's creation.

Or are the similarities between the two versions just too large to handwave? What do you think?

(Via N4G [http://n4g.com/NewsCom-249051.aspx?CT=1])

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[DamienHell]

Oh Capcom when will you learn?

 

[Dr Pussymagnet]

The box art with IGN I could understand, but this was just a fan made cover and like you said, it wasn't even his art, so I don't think this really going to be a problem.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

A fan made image that uses the Logo Designed by Capcom, with the Promo Shot Graphics designed by Capcom...

Yeah, the fan cover is a similar composite, not "art", I mean why wouldn't Capcom use

A) Their own Logo for the game
B) The main promo shot of the two leads.
C) The RE5 color scheme.

 

[xitel]

Are they even trying anymore? I mean, honestly...

 

[l33tabix]

i have to admit. the fan made one looks better
but yeah, they wont get in trouble at all, it's all capcom's source material.

 

[Korhal]

Stock art, stock logo, the color scheme all their stuff has had... Not a rip-off. So far. Let's see the back of the box as well before we truly decide.

 

[incal11]

redfield's arms are ridiculous .
How much muscle do you need to fire a pistol anyway ?
he should be the one holding the rifle at least

 

[Angron]

i agree i think the fan one looks better, but i also agree with PedroSteckecilo in the fact that they havent ripped it off, they used theyre own resources to put together a box art and a fan used the same materials to make one...

unless the work is all by the fan and they simply ripped em off him, which would make ita whole different story...but thats unlikely...

 

[Novajam]

I can see the differences between the two, and I think the fan-made version is better looking.

 

[Sigenrecht]

facepalm ascii

 

[dcheppy]

It just goes to show that capcom has no creativity in its layouts. No they didn't steal it from a fun but they did steal it from every generic movie poster ever.

 

[Copter400]

redfield's arms are ridiculous .
How much muscle do you need to fire a pistol anyway ?
he should be the one holding the rifle at least

I think he saw Leon make peoples' heads explode with a single kick in the last game, and figured he'd better bulk up.

 

[ZombieFace]

Who cares RESIDENT EVIL FTW

 

[Lt. Sera]

As long as it's still all Capcom's property, I don't see how this will be a problem.

 

[cleverlymadeup]

actually if you read what the guy said on the site, he used all of capcom's images for the box art, it's just a photoshop of stuff capcom had already released

 

[Arionis]

The box art used images from the game, and while I prefer the fan made one, since it looks better to me, I don't think Capcom can get in trouble.

Still, would be nice if they at least sent him a free copy or something as a way of saying , "Hey, thanks for doing our work for us." or something.

 

[Virgil]

He didn't 'create' anything, he just dropped a bunch of concept art into a box-sized template. Capcom's artists work from the same source art that they release as PR - there's nothing interesting happening here other than a pretty close guess by a fan.

Capcom's version is the better one too. Fewer rough edges and a more balanced composition. Putting the main character direct center and then the female to the right makes the fan image lopsided. It's harder to see it in the fan image though, since it's a mockup of a full, open box.

 

[DeathSpawn11]

Hahaha alright everyone.
Thanks for the compliments on my box guys I appreciate it. =)

As for the whole "Capcom-stole-my-box" issue. I doubt they honestly took the idea from me. Chris and Sheva were made that way (In the artwork) to be positioned back to back. While I sure wouldn't mind something from Capcom =p, it's their artwork not mine, and the only similarities are the placement of Chris and Sheva and the red color scheme.

I'm honestly surprised that it's getting so much controversy. xD