It may have to do with the attitude we approach box art with as opposed to the attitude other countries do. American Game companies (or the advertising firms they might hire to design the box art) don't care as much about the box art. So what you end up with is a cookie cutter "by-the-American-advertising-book" art that holds no artistic merit and doesn't give a clear impression of the game. I also don't just believe its just about identifying the main character because some of the American art is pretty bland in contrast to their international counterparts .Its pretty obvious that they're just not putting as much effort into it.
American Box Art Sucks
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
- Start date
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My guess would be fear regarding foreign cultures. They want to be careful when bringing in foreign advertisement because they're not sure if what they bring in is going to attract audiences or alienate them because the art is just too different. So general policy is to 'Americanize' it, then slap it on the shelf.
Yahtzee wrote something about how stupid he thinks America is and can never do anything correctly ever? SAY IT ISN'T SO
I live in Oklahoma and box art is probably the most disappointing thing to me ever. This in turn makes me want to ignore the rest of the world since they get such better box art. I bet the government really controls the marketing division of America to get us not to pay attention while they blow up the rest of the world because we don't want to be depressed at how shitty our box art is. I mean, its really bad and seeing it better someone else is almost enough to make me buy it digitally. Almost.
I've actually been on this topic for awhile now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHM1nTocNwM
Cover Art Fail! It's good to look back at box art.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHM1nTocNwM
Cover Art Fail! It's good to look back at box art.
I've been thinking about how bad movie art(and game box art, etc.)is ever since I saw Crank 2 next to The Chase in the Netflix lineup. They're exactly(and I REALLY mean exactly)the same. If you've got Netflix take alook. Look at those and then check out the art for some Akira Kurosawa movies and just see which stands out and which blends in with the background noise.
Why do you assume that all Americans actually like the marketing that we receive? I myself can't even watch American television because it's obnoxious, pretentious, condescending and insults peoples intelligence. It's like watching a strobe light. I watch British television using a proxy.
No, I'm not kidding. I actually use expat shield to watch British television through iplayer. It's bliss. There is nothing quite like watching TV and not getting a seizure. Sure there are British programs that are shite, but at least it's watchable shite. I have a 40inch 1080p LCD HDTV, and I literally don't even have a cable line going into it. I use it as a computer monitor.
Yes, there are stupid fat people in America. We get it. But for the sake of us few who have an I.Q. above 100, try to think about what it's like to live here among the morons. We do exist here, and no, we don't enjoy the marketing we are served. It's revolting.
No, I'm not kidding. I actually use expat shield to watch British television through iplayer. It's bliss. There is nothing quite like watching TV and not getting a seizure. Sure there are British programs that are shite, but at least it's watchable shite. I have a 40inch 1080p LCD HDTV, and I literally don't even have a cable line going into it. I use it as a computer monitor.
Yes, there are stupid fat people in America. We get it. But for the sake of us few who have an I.Q. above 100, try to think about what it's like to live here among the morons. We do exist here, and no, we don't enjoy the marketing we are served. It's revolting.
Translation: hay guise im american but i hate americans too am i cool yet please dont hate mexilix said:
I agree with you yahtzee from a artistic standpoint. Looking at most of those covers I find the non-american one better. But I have to state that not all american box art sucks. Case in point Eat lead:
I actually bought Eat lead based off of the cover art. Or more accurately I bought it because the box art drew me in. Let me describe what I thought as I looked at the box in the store: Generic over the top shooter with generic name... maybe a bit TOO generic... wait is that guy on the left 2D? And I bought it and it's one of my favorite games.
No the gameplay is nothing new, but the overall game plot of a "Duke Nukem" style washed up game hero forced to fight for his life through his entire library of bad games is hilarious.
I actually bought Eat lead based off of the cover art. Or more accurately I bought it because the box art drew me in. Let me describe what I thought as I looked at the box in the store: Generic over the top shooter with generic name... maybe a bit TOO generic... wait is that guy on the left 2D? And I bought it and it's one of my favorite games.
No the gameplay is nothing new, but the overall game plot of a "Duke Nukem" style washed up game hero forced to fight for his life through his entire library of bad games is hilarious.
I'm American, and I think the European Heavy Rain box art is the best by far. It looks subtly ominous and mysterious.
Yeah, the UK version is seriously a crapload better there. Seriously, WTF is wrong with the US when it comes to box art? Not that it's good to buy a game based on the box art, but geez...Subject7 said:
Someone posts about the trouble they take to avoid the bad taste of their country's culture and you assume they're doing it all to impress you? Someone writes and thinks in correct English and you feel they need to be "translated," as you put it, into sub-literate net cliches about adolescent insecurities that never once came up in the original post? Doesn't matter whether you yourself are British or American -- that's just stereotype-spewing ignorance.Uncle_Brainhorn said:
I like how you changed that last part to be less retarded. It looks better now.Agh-a-meme-knottle said:
American marketers, like all other employees, must do their work in a way that will please their intended audience. Which unfortunately aren't the end customers. The marketers' real audience is their own company's executives, and the presentation of their work is their ultimate opportunity to be recognized.
Because they have 1 opportunity per product, it's a formal presentation, and all the people watching are really important to the marketers' careers, they will always choose something that has a clear message and an immediate visual impact. It's not like the executives actually understand what the game is about - the just have a brief to go on and are there to rubberstamp whatever looks like it will sell.
And it's easy to hold up a competitor's product with flashy colors, Chuck Rockjaw kicking @ss in the foreground, and half-dressed women in the background next to your spare, deeply meaningful, artistically pure evocation of the game's true character and make the subjective evaluation that your sales numbers didn't meet expectations because "their cover just looks better". No American marketer is going to risk career suicide in order to create art when they can put out something that looks good on the shelf and adds job security.
Because they have 1 opportunity per product, it's a formal presentation, and all the people watching are really important to the marketers' careers, they will always choose something that has a clear message and an immediate visual impact. It's not like the executives actually understand what the game is about - the just have a brief to go on and are there to rubberstamp whatever looks like it will sell.
And it's easy to hold up a competitor's product with flashy colors, Chuck Rockjaw kicking @ss in the foreground, and half-dressed women in the background next to your spare, deeply meaningful, artistically pure evocation of the game's true character and make the subjective evaluation that your sales numbers didn't meet expectations because "their cover just looks better". No American marketer is going to risk career suicide in order to create art when they can put out something that looks good on the shelf and adds job security.
I think it's just because the people behind it don't care and neither do a lot of the people on our side of the pond. I know I don't, really, but I've never been shopping for games, I just buy the one I'm out to get. I don't personally see any real problem with American box art, but I do prefer PAL box art.