American Box Art Sucks

[Uncle_Brainhorn]

"You're wrong because you're different." A very American way of looking at it, Yahtzee.


And I know for a fact the American cover for God Hand was waaaay better than the Japanese version.

 

[Jack Macaque]

I was gonna post about the RE games but I see someone thinks like me! Yay!

Look at American movies though(I`m Canadian, so yes, YOU people are american), Transformers is just 3 hours+/- of explosions and "hot chicks", it seems that nothing is good unless you cram it with too much crap, seemingly like how a lot of Americans cram too much crap down their throats, you guys love to over-bloat things to the point where splitting an atom in half would get the same point across.

Theres a Robot Chicken clip about Micheal Bay's "new movie" and it's a splosiongasm for 30 seconds, and it makes a point, people wanna watch something for as little time as possible and run away.

So if you look at a game case and pretty much figure the entire game out, like in RE4, then you waste less time with it.

Does this make sense? Not at all, but people go for it, they want everything explained to them in the first second of looking at something so they don't have to do any real thinking once the game starts, if they look at the art for the Japan RE4 then they think oh Ok maybe I'm a lumberjack in a forest of black trees, then they play the game and a few hours later back to Gamestop it goes for being misleading.

I'm not kidding, people really are this stupid, I'm not sure why or how, but it happens.

PS
Don't 'hate' on me for saying American this blah blah eff you blah blah, I'm just saying something that easy for people to get. I know Canada is cold blah blah igloos blah blah.

Love you guys, cheap gas and booze when I drive down there, few nice girls too.

 

[Uncle_Brainhorn]

Because most Americans are egotists, with the attention span of a goldfish high on LSD. If you want to get there attention, you've got to show tit's, vag, or large men with larger guns. otherwise, the dipshits wont pay it a second glance.

Amusing you call someone a "dipshit" while you yourself don't know the difference between "there" and "their."

 

[SilentHunter7]

It's a trade off. You Aussies get good box art. We Yankees get games before they become irrelevant.

Good games don't become irrelevant. American ADD at work as usual?

American ADD? We own psychological disorders now? I didn't know that was possible.

 

[JoelChenFA]

It's a trade off. You Aussies get good box art. We Yankees get games before they become irrelevant.

Good games don't become irrelevant. American ADD at work as usual?

American ADD? We own psychological disorders now? I didn't know that was possible.

Americans own everything. EVERYTHING!

 

[Decabo]

Another good example of this is Radiata Stories, my favorite JRPG of all time. Here's the awesome Japanese box art:

[http://square.wikia.com/index.php?title=Radiata_Storiesℑ=RadiataJapanArt-png]

And here's the bland North American box art: http://www.answers.com/topic/radiata-stories

It's not horrible, just... lame. And not at all indicative of the game, like the Japanese one.

 

[Redsennacy2189]

I was gonna post about the RE games but I see someone thinks like me! Yay!

Look at American movies though(I`m Canadian, so yes, YOU people are american), Transformers is just 3 hours+/- of explosions and "hot chicks", it seems that nothing is good unless you cram it with too much crap, seemingly like how a lot of Americans cram too much crap down their throats, you guys love to over-bloat things to the point where splitting an atom in half would get the same point across.

Theres a Robot Chicken clip about Micheal Bay's "new movie" and it's a splosiongasm for 30 seconds, and it makes a point, people wanna watch something for as little time as possible and run away.

So if you look at a game case and pretty much figure the entire game out, like in RE4, then you waste less time with it.

Does this make sense? Not at all, but people go for it, they want everything explained to them in the first second of looking at something so they don't have to do any real thinking once the game starts, if they look at the art for the Japan RE4 then they think oh Ok maybe I'm a lumberjack in a forest of black trees, then they play the game and a few hours later back to Gamestop it goes for being misleading.

I'm not kidding, people really are this stupid, I'm not sure why or how, but it happens.

PS
Don't 'hate' on me for saying American this blah blah eff you blah blah, I'm just saying something that easy for people to get. I know Canada is cold blah blah igloos blah blah.

Love you guys, cheap gas and booze when I drive down there, few nice girls too.

Regardless of *anything* that I type or post, because of my worldly location and birthplace, I will always be considered American and have to take on the stereotypes that encompass that title. It's awful, shitty and often times I claim I'm Canadian when I go overseas, but c'est la vie... you can't always pick up and go live to where your heart feels at home in the world. There are plenty of Americans who feel like a rose amongst a field of dandelions because majority and money make our economy go round (or down? our economy is shit) and would love for things to be different.

Our culture does not relish art; Our culture thrives around what makes money. We seriously cannot always control what we are shown. I barely watch TV anymore because the shows are either uninteresting, or make my IQ feel like it's falling in the single digits the longer I watch. Same goes with movies and any form of art. There are gems occasionally, but the most that the American public can do is support those forms over others. For Americans who want to feel like they're a part of the world, you have to pay extra.

The US of A is still extremely young. Our country doesn't have the elegance or class that the rest of the world has had thousands of years to develop. We've been breeding innovation out of the population over the past few generations, and the movie Idiocracy is the perfect example to where our country is headed.

Any American who is intelligent will realize that there are a number of things that are particularly upsetting about how things go down here, and how the rest of the world laughs at us. The most we can do is try to be that one person who goes completely against the grain. That's difficult to keep up in a country that cherishes popularity and lime light.

BUT... I have to adhere to my stereotype since I was born in PA, so DERP DERP blah blah blah Canada is cold

 

[Redsennacy2189]

Btw, something that my brothers started years and years ago... don't like your cover art? Download the one you like, print it out, put in the game's clear sleeve.

 

[CrawlingPastaHellion]

What about renaming French fries into the freedom fries?

 

[Darkwolf22]

Because most Americans are egotists, with the attention span of a goldfish high on LSD. If you want to get there attention, you've got to show tit's, vag, or large men with larger guns. otherwise, the dipshits wont pay it a second glance.

Amusing you call someone a "dipshit" while you yourself don't know the difference between "there" and "their."

Ahh i wasn't paying attention. I was a little high. but you do have to admit. I had somewhat of a point, a not entirely cohesive point. but a point none the less

 

[hexFrank202]

Well Yatzhee, if you're honestly asking, I'd say that most of the time it's just sort of random. Sometimes, the UK box art is a lot worse than the American. Sometimes US and UK have the same at and Japan's version is the worst of all (by far). Some examples... US/UK vs. Japan in the first two Mario & Luigi games. Can't believe how boring they are in comparison.

Also. Left for dead 2. Seriously, I didn't know a fucking hand could underact so horribly. It officially bans anyone from saying America is the only place where box art is ruined; it happens all over the world.

 

[hexFrank202]

What about renaming French fries into the freedom fries?

That never, ever, ever, ever caught on, nor will it ever. Just a few politicians/celebrities/media people or whatever proposed the idea. It doesn't work.

 

[Nocturnal Gentleman]

I don't know. Maybe you think our box art sucks but most of the time I prefer ours because it pretty much tells you what you're going to get. Most of it follows the design of:
1) Here is your main protagonist(s)
2) the background shows what you'll mostly be doing

Minimalist is nice but for me it only works when I definitely know who the developers are and what kind of games they produce. I account it far less to lack of intelligence or lack of taste (Seriously? You judge that from game boxes?) and more to "We're not going to lie, here's what the product is."
It might not be pretty but it's informative enough. I learned the hard way in my childhood that some of the prettiest box art covers the worst games I've ever played. I'd much rather they be up front to me than make me guess what's inside. In fact, some of the ones people ***** about the most are the most clear examples to me.

Resident Evil 4: you're going to be playing a shoot em up with infected people starring Leon. Exactly what you get.

Ico: you're playing as some kid with horns that often leads around/protects some girl. That's true.

Final Fantasy X: Don't pay attention to the dancer/summoner on the PAL box, you're really going to be stuck with some whiny man-woman thing. Very true.

So I guess my point is, you can keep your pretty box art and get the stick out of your ass. Box art makes no one superior. Our version is just the up front advertisement lacking all the surreal eye candy. We get minimalist and artsy when our developers create a name for themselves. Plus, I've seen plenty of box art from japan and PAL versions that look atrocious so no one can really say they don't produce some ugly boxes.

Also, when my country has so many parents that buy games on the box art alone I'd like them to be at least somewhat informed on what they're getting. This may also be the big reason why ours are uglier but upfront on their subject.

 

[Morganan]

With all due respect, people giving a damn about the box art is what's wrong with this industry, and why we cant have nice things. Do you care about the box art on your windows OS? Why should you? I'm more interested in the quality of the product inside the box then what's on the outside. Sure, in a perfect world what's outside the box and what's inside would both be of equally good quality, but as you all know, we aren't in a perfect world. Lets stick to badgering the game devs to put quality work inside the box before we worry about what's on the box cover, okay?

 

[Furrama]

Not all designers in America, (USA), are bad. But the publishers and commissioners of the art are the worst. They try to control EVERYTHING without knowing anything because they think it will help their bottom line. They aren't out to make art, they're out to make money, and they think the American audience is too stupid to understand other countries or what they consider to be art/good.

Really, ask any graphic designer over here, you'll find out the craptastic people we have to work with over here.

 

[reeper4444]

Has anyone seen the North Amercan boxart for Amnesia the dark descent?
It's terrible.

http://www.frictionalgames.com/forum/thread-6434.html

 

[walkerofskies]

As hinted in your article, the main reason for this trend has a lot to do with the culture of America.

Due to the revitalization of the faith in the "American Dream" during the 40's and 50's, the middle class man with the suburban home and the white picket fence became the new ideal for people to aspire to.

As such, America has had an absolute hardon the middle class, so it is safe to assume things will be tailored to fit their taste.

This is where the problem begins, because of the nature of the middle class they don't have the time or money to consume & contemplate art. (total generalization but that's the best way I can quantify it) However, the middle class does have time for entertainment, a short burst of fun that breaks up the rigmorol inherent within a middle class lifestyle. Thus, media tends to be tailored towards looking more like entertainment, even if the work in question is more in line with art.

 

[SFR]

I agree with your examples, but they're also pretty old. Things are getting better, though they're still more generic than I'd like. Stylistic is always good. The really bad examples you gave... I'm not sure what was up with box art in those days. It's not like Americans don't understand art... but it's like they forgot boxart has art in the word.

One thing though, what's with everything being minimalistic somehow always being considered good? Seriously, if a box cover has little on it, it's always considered better than something with more. Oh! They're so artsy! They can put less effort into things; it must have meaning! For example, Portal 1's boxart had barely anything on it. People liked it. I like it. Portal 2 has quite a bit on it. People don't like it as much (I like it still, but yeah).

 

[TheAmerikahn]

Yes, because when I play video games all I think about is the box art.

"What's this game? RE4? ME2? what shitty cover art I'll never play this game"